5 Goals for the 1st Decade of the New Millenium

Please, indulge me to use this publication to give you a “pre-release” of things affecting our life together in the Great Rivers Region.

About two weeks ago, the Executive Committee of the Great Rivers Region held a retreat for the purpose of establishing goals for the Region, and discussing how we might function more effectively. Out of that retreat came five goals for the next decade. These goals will be subject to the approval of the Board of Managers at the May meeting, and the language is not in final form. Nevertheless, you deserve to know the dreams of your Executive Committee. They are in no particular order.

GOAL ONE: To plant 50 new churches. This goal was adopted by the Board of Managers two years ago, and we have already begun implementing it through staff and resource allocation. Its inclusion here will be an opportunity for the Board to affirm the goal as part of a “package” of goals for the next decade.

GOAL TWO: To welcome 25,000 new believers. The Executive Committee takes the Great Commission seriously—and believes most other Baptists do also. We believe it is fundamental to the Gospel of Jesus Christ that persons be invited to respond to God’s initiative and join in a life-long pilgrimage of discipleship. We recognize that the Region is not a church, and that such invitations are appropriately part of a local congregation’s functioning. So, the Region’s role will be to create a climate of expectancy with respect to discipleship; to provide resources, etc., for effective discipleship; to promote the global mission of American Baptists; and to structure regional activities (especially camping and youth events) so that they issue an invitation to discipleship.

GOAL THREE: To upgrade/update ministry tools. This includes lots of things. It recognizes that many of our congregations worship and study in deteriorating facilities; facilities that are inaccessible to handicapped persons; or facilities that may be limited in space. In addition, many church facilities and pastors are not positioned to make the best use of technology. So, the Region’s role will be to provide resources, conferences, and training about new ministry tools; encouraging churches to use appropriate technology in their ministry; challenging churches to upgrade, remodel, or build facilities appropriate for the new century by attending to accessibility, technology, and ministry goals; and to model our commitment through a new Regional Resource Center.

GOAL FOUR: To identify, recruit, and train 20 ministerial leaders each year. All churches are experiencing a dearth of ministerial leadership. As we plant new congregations, the problem will only grow. So, the Region will create a climate of expectancy with respect to “called ministry;” provide resources to recruit and train ministers; will use regional events (e.g. camping & youth conferences) to issue an invitation to Christian ministry; and will attend to the care and effectiveness of existing ministers through continuing education, spiritual self-care, mentoring, and networking.

GOAL FIVE: To promote and understand our identity as Christians and heritage as American Baptists. Because we live and minister in a non-Christian culture, and because increasing numbers of our members have little or no American Baptist experience, we think it is important to be “up front” and clear about our identity. To that end, we will demonstrate both the extent and limit of our shared identity with other Christians; we will promote American Baptist relationships; and we will provide resources and conferences which churches can use to clarify our rich heritage as American Baptists, and to better understand who we are.

Even though this is not the approved, final form of these goals, they excite me because they are the kinds of things I am willing to invest my life in. I am especially energized by the fact that our Executive Committee found it desirable to begin talking about goal-based resource allocation and goal-based meeting agendas, rather than the department-based system which has existed since the early days of the Great Rivers Region.

Besides informing, I would hope that these goals would challenge YOUR congregation to think about their four or five goals for the next few years. More than that, what would happen if your budgeting, staffing, and programming were based on realizing those goals rather than perpetuating the past?

God has a great vision that involves the entire cosmos.
God has a great vision for the Great Rivers Region.
God has a great vision for YOUR congregation.

What will we do about it?

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