SBCV Homecoming: Worship in Word, in Song, in Learning, and ... oh yes, a bit of business
by T. C. Pinckney Vol. XXIII, No. 9, Nov/Dec 2010
This year’s Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia “Annual Homecoming” was held at Hyland Heights Baptist Church in Lynchburg. The program began Sunday, 7 Nov., and ended about 4:30 Tuesday afternoon. There were 540 messengers from 182 churches and 637 guests for a total attendance of 1,177.Throughout the sessions there was a wonderful spirit of love for Jesus and for each other. And this spirit was evident in each speaker’s presentation, in the music of the choirs and soloists, and even in the program reports and business.
Taking business first, there was good news and bad news. Part of the good news was that each officer was elected by acclamation, there were no other nominees. The officers for 2011 are: President: Dr. Mark Becton, Grove Avenue Baptist Church, Richmond (second term). First VP: Rev. Stewart McCarter, Senior Pastor, Southside Baptist Church, Suffolk Second VP: Dr. Rick Ewing, Senior Pastor, Pleasant View Baptist Church, Lynchburg. Secretary: Rev. Gordon Ellsworth, Senior Pastor, Virginia Beach Beacon Baptist Church, Virginia Beach (second term).
Becton says the Annual Homecoming is about much more than a business meeting: “Annual Homecoming is a celebration. We praise God for allowing us to see lives changed, believers mobilized, and new churches birthed. When you have a convention of churches praying and working together to start 400 new churches in 10 years, there’s an excitement about doing the impossible with God. I’m thrilled to be a part of it.”
Of course, no state convention could operate without a budget, and here there is a mixture of bad and good news. The bad comes in two aspects: We are all aware that the poor economy has impacted giving to our churches, and naturally that carries over to the funds received by the SBCV. For the twelve months ending 31 August 2010 the SBCV received $8.86 million compared to $9.03 million in the previous twelve months, a reduction of 1.9%.
Since its inception the SBCV has always sent 50% of all undesignated gifts to the SBC, but 2010 is the first year of a plan to increase Cooperative Program giving to the SBC by 0.25% annually till we reach 52.5% by 2020. The following table is clear evidence of which Virginia state convention supports the SBC most earnestly.
SBCV BGAV Total
Approx. # of SBC churches in VA 564 1,295 1,859
% of Virginia churches 30% 70% 100%
$ to SBC from VA churches 70% 30% 100%
Rank in $ gifts to CP by state conv’s 15 18 42
Rank in % gifts to CP by state conv’s 2 39 42
A second bit of bad financial news is that the North American Mission Board is revising its method of supporting missions in North America. The impact on the SBCV is that funds from NAMB will decrease from $611,000 in 2009 to $205,000 in 2011, a 66% reduction. Obviously, less income requires adjustments in spending.
Messengers unanimously approved a $9 million ministry investment plan for 2011, which is a 2% decrease. This includes the forwarding of 50.5% to the SBC while retaining 49.5% for SBCV missions and ministries. Almost 50% of the money kept in state will be invested in church planting. The Multiplying Churches Team has a Vision 20/20 goal of assisting SBCV churches to plant 400 new churches by the year 2020.
New Churches: An encouraging statistic was the Church Affiliation Report Sixteen churches asked to join the SBCV this year: 15 uniquely, 1 dually. These additions were enthusiastically approved by the messengers. In three other instances two churches merged into one. Also, two churches moved from dual to unique alignment; four churches withdrew, and five dissolved. After all these changes the SBCV ended the year with 564 churches: 452 uniquely aligned, 46 dually, and 66 church plants
Resolutions: Three resolutions were reported from committee and unanimously approved:
1. “Be it resolved that the churches of the SBCV and across the Southern Baptist Convention be encouraged to give at least 10% of their offerings to the Cooperative Program for the furtherance of God’s Kingdom upon the face of the earth.”
2. “ Whereas the SBCV fully embraces and affirms the Great Commission Resurgence in the S.B.C.,
“Whereas the SBCV recognizes the urgency of fulfilling the Great Commission,
“Therefore, Be it resolved the messengers of the SBCV challenge the SBCV churches to increase their Cooperative program giving by .25% yearly until 2020.” [Note: The proposed increase is not 25% per year, but a quarter of one percent annually. TCP]
3. The third resolution expresses appreciation to Hyland Heights Baptist Church and its pastor, Carl Weiser; to SBCV Executive Director Jeffery B. Ginn; to SBCV officers, committee members, speakers, musicians, and other platform personnel.
One unusual event: On Monday it was announced that Sue Sawyer, for the past 12 years our Women’s Ministries Strategist, is retiring from that role at the end of this year. Sue is held in high regard, and messengers heartily endorsed the strong recognition by Dr. Jeff Ginn. Virtually everyone in attendance assumed that Sue would be leaving. But then, on Tuesday, she was presented as Associate Church Mobilization Strategist. This news was happily received by all present. Sue will henceforth be part-time in that job.
Speakers: The theme for the Annual Homecoming was “Transforming Lives” from Romans 12:1-2. Many of the convention speakers tied their messages to this theme. All the speakers were outstanding, though space does not permit covering every speaker or any one sermon in detail. In order of appearance the main speakers were: SBCV President, Dr. Mark Becton; Rev. Jeff Crook, Blackshear Place Baptist Church, Flowery Branch, GA; Dr. J. D. Grear, The Summit Church, Durham, NC; Dr. Brian Autry, Parkway Baptist Church, Moseley, VA; Dr. Bobby Welch, Strategist for Global Evangelical Relations, SBC, Nashville; Rev. Vance Pitman, Hope Baptist Church, Las Vegas, NC; and Rev. Wendell Horton, Skyview Missionary Church, Fancy Gap, VA; .
You may see and hear all these addresses by going to the SBCV website (www.sbcv.org). On the home page at the top right side in the “Highlights” box click 11/07/10 -SBCV Annual Homecoming. On the next page you can choose between Crook, Grear, Welch, Pitman, and Becton. For other speakers, click the “Theme Challenges” button just above the speakers’ screen.
Awards: Jeff Ginn recognized top churches in CP giving and baptisms. The Macedonia Award for CP giving went to First Baptist of Roanoke (total giving) and Matoaca Baptist in Matoaca (per capita giving). The Pentecost Award for Baptisms went to Highlands Fellowship in Abingdon (total baptisms) and Discipleship Baptist in Buena Vista (per capita).
Music: The music this year was outstanding. Six different groups blessed us with song. In order of appearance they were: The Convention Praise Team sang at every session, often several times. As I recall, they had five vocalists and twelve or fourteen instrumentalists. The excellent, large (c. 88 voices) host choir from Hyland Heights Baptist Church. Special music by Leo Day who sang at every session except Sunday evening. He has a beautiful voice and a very effective personality. Liberty university Praise and the Mass Choirs (over 100) led by David Dalton. (Personal Comment: In my judgment the music this year was more glorifying to God and much less “performing” by the singers and musicians. My only suggestion for future meetings is to reduce the volume a bit. TCP)
Messengers and guests once again had the opportunity to attend a variety of breakout seminars. A special Women’s Ministry dinner featured Cheryl McGuinness, widow of one of the American pilots whose plane was hijacked on September 11, 2001.
The 2011 SBCV Annual Homecoming will be November 13 – 15 at Grove Avenue Baptist Church in Richmond.