Over the last two years, I have been privileged to be part of the Acts 217 visioning process. I have witnessed the Lord’s hand at work throughout the entire journey.
As we gathered in listening sessions, submitted surveys, gave feedback, compiled and interpreted data, discussed challenges and then pieced together a plan for moving forward, our steps were ordered by our Heavenly Father. It has been humbling and gratifying to watch.
However, as I think about the hours of meetings, the thousands of conversations and the mountain of documentation, I believe the Acts 217 vision can be summarized in one four-letter word: more.
The challenges facing Tennessee Baptists and our network of churches are great, but our mandate from Jesus remains the same: make disciples. Our vision of “a collaborative network of spiritually healthy churches reaching Tennessee and beyond for Christ,” is not that different from the vision of the generations of believers who went before us. We work together to expand God’s Kingdom on earth one soul at a time. But in 2024 and beyond we just need to do more.
We need more prayer and collaboration to be even more effective at fulfilling the Great Commission. An old hymn reminds us that “all is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down,” so we must always endeavor to maintain a vital connection to our Lord and one another through life-giving prayer and Spirit-directed collaboration.
Holt
We have a great pattern to follow in the pages of God’s Word and the annals of Southern Baptist history. We just need more.
To meet the challenge of our future as a network of churches, we will need more and stronger gospel leaders. Ministry can be a difficult and lonely life, so we must come together to encourage and strengthen one another for the journey.
Also, we must do more to raise up the next generation of pastors and workers. It has become painfully obvious that the Tennessee Baptist “ministry bench” is nearly empty. Many of our churches struggle to find workers to teach and lead. Our research has also revealed that at any given time, 350 to 400 of our more than 3,000 churches do not have a permanent pastor. We must do more to “call out the called.”
If nearly 60 percent of Tennesseans do not have a relationship with Jesus, then we must do more to reach our state for Christ. The gospel has not changed, and Christ is still able to save, but we must be willing to share our faith with those who have not surrendered to His Lordship.
Our mantra of seeing more Tennesseans “saved, baptized and set on the road to discipleship” is more relevant now than ever before. As a collaborative network of spiritually healthy churches, Tennessee Baptists must remain committed to raising an army of evangelistic disciples.
Finally, to fulfill the Acts 217 challenge, we will need more healthy churches. Our church planting workgroup has determined that Tennessee Baptist churches will need to start 52 churches per year just to keep up with the population growth our state is experiencing. To meet that challenge, our existing churches must be more vital and healthy than ever before.
Nature reminds us that healthy living things reproduce in abundance. Since that is obviously true, we must work together to increase our spiritual health individually and corporately so that we may reproduce more disciples, leaders and churches until every Tennessean hears the gospel! B&R
