Churches front and center in proposed BGCT strategic plan

Adapted from an article by Marv Knox, Baptist Standard

Local churches—not the Baptist General Convention of Texas—command the lion’s share of attention in documents that could guide the state convention through the coming decades.

The first recommendations involve the mission, vision, values and priority statements.

If BGCT messengers approve, Wade will spend the next couple of years implementing the overall strategic plan. This will involve restructuring the convention’s staff organization and budget.

And if the trajectory of that strategic plan follows the course set by the mission, vision, values and priority statements, the BGCT will hone in on helping churches as never before.

Mission

The proposed mission statement declares: “The Baptist General Convention of Texas encourages, facilitates and connects churches in their work to fulfill God’s mission of reconciling the world to himself.”

In an interview, Wade affirmed the BGCT’s 4-year-old mission statement but said the time has come to redirect the convention’s emphasis.

“I love our current mission statement. It commits our convention to assist churches in ‘being the presence of Christ’ in the world,” he said. “The last four years, we have focused on being. We have wanted to assist our churches to be Christlike.

“But a mission statement is about activity. This new mission statement will make it clearer what our work, what our function actually is.” And that is building strong churches, he said.

Vision

If approved by the convention, here is a vision of the BGCT of the future:

“We are a fellowship of transformational churches sacrificially giving ourselves to God’s redemptive purpose. We join together to experience lives continually being transformed to be Christlike and to transform our communities and the world. We engage culture to reach the people where they are for an encounter with Jesus Christ.

“We are on mission with God to continue Jesus’ ministry of teaching, sharing the good news and meeting human needs through our churches, institutions and organizations. Our ministries reflect the heart of Jesus Christ.

“We share a vision of the world’s peoples coming to know Jesus Christ and to become transformed in his image. As a fellowship of diverse churches, we recognize that we belong to the larger body of Christ’s church. Together, we advance the kingdom in ways that individual churches cannot do alone.

“Individuals with diverse backgrounds, experiences. Languages, education, abilities and cultures who love Jesus Christ and his church carry out our work. Ordinary Christian disciples taking extraordinary steps of faith in obedience to God effect tremendous change—lives, families, communities, cities and nations are transformed.”

Values

The eight proposed BGCT values, like the other statements, emphasize the importance of the local church, as well as several other qualities:

The values are:

1. Bible—God’s written word. “We value the Bible as the divinely inspired record of God’s revelation of himself to us. It serves as the authoritative guide for life and ministry.”

2. Transformational church. “We value transformational churches that help believers to become Christlike and prepare them to engage culture and advance the kingdom of God. We value being on mission with God in our communities and in reaching a lost world. The church is the body that God has called to carry out his purposes according to his will.”

3. Spiritual formation—discipleship. “We value intimacy with God that forms the image of Christ in us. We submit our lives to be shaped by God through feeding on his word, praying continually and living in community with other believers.”

4. Servant leadership. “We value servant leadership that models the ministry of Jesus as he called people to become his disciples and to serve all the interests of his kingdom. We value the nurture and development of courageous servant leadership in our churches.”

5. Worth of all persons. “We value every person, for all are created in God’s image. We embrace the mosaic of God’s family and include all those redeemed by his grace and called to his service in the work of this convention.”

6. Baptist heritage. “We value those biblical distinctives that have shaped Baptist life and history, including the soul’s competency before God, freedom in religion, the priesthood of the believer and the autonomy of the local church.”

7. Integrity. “We value integrity in our lives and in our churches, demonstrated by mutual trust, accountability, excellence in ministry and teamwork. We value Christlike attitudes and actions that are consistent in all aspects of our lives.”

8. Inclusiveness.

“These values represent what is best about us,” Wade said. “They describe who we are and what we want to be. As they resonate in the hearts of our people, they will shape our behavior and witness in the world.”

Priorities

The strategic planning committee also suggests six priorities for the state convention in the coming years.

1. “Starting, developing and strengthening transformational churches.”

2. “Meeting human needs.”

3. “Identifying and developing transformational leadership for churches and institutions.”

4. “Providing a comprehensive strategy of ‘giving and going’ to enable churches and individuals to share Christ and be on mission in their communities and the world.”

5. “Providing research and development for cutting-edge ministries, methods and processes and for understanding multiple cultures.”

6. “Being a multicultural organization.”

“I believe the possibility that we can make a difference for Christ in someone’s life is the most powerful motivator in a Christian’s life,” Wade stressed. “These priorities are about being present with people in our churches and in our daily lives so that they get a glimpse of what and who Jesus Christ cares about. When people get a sense of Jesus, they are drawn to him, they experience new birth and everything in their lives begins to change.”

The proposed priorities will guide the BGCT as it develops strategies for accomplishing its work, he predicted. “

Our staff will be organized and trained so they can be the best friend a church can have if it wants to be a transformational church—a church that has been changed by the Spirit of God and is actively, intentionally making a difference for Christ in their community, in this state and in the world.

“The question I am trying to address is this: When we stand before our Lord, will he be able to say the BGCT made a real and Christlike difference or that we simply took up space?”

October 2004