Report of the SBCV Vision 20/20 Team

                                                                                                                                                                  Vol. XXII, No. 9, Nov/Dec 2009

 


[Intro: Readers will note some repetition between this article and the report of the SBCV Annual Homecoming. This subject is so important that I want every reader to have the full Vision 20/20 Team report. TCP]

 

Beginning in the late 1970s, a conservative resurgence swept the Southern Baptist Convention. The convention’s boards, agencies, and faculties shifted clearly and definitively to a conservative theological stance. There was widespread anticipation that this conservative resurgence would result in an evangelistic harvest and a surge in global missions activity.

By many estimates, however, the anticipated uptick in evangelism and missions has yet to materialize. This is a burden that is rightly bringing many of us within our fellowship to our knees. God is stirring His people to a renewed emphasis on the Great Commission. This is visible in several initiatives within Southern Baptist life. Here are three examples:

The formation of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force (www.pray4gcr.com). In its 2009 annual meeting, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) voted overwhelmingly to form a task force to examine every level of our work so as to determine ways in which we might better pursue the Great Commission. The urgent cry is that the conservative resurgence result in a Great Commission resurgence.

 

The reorganization of the International Mission Board (IMB). The IMB restructured globally. Changes include: eleven geographic regions became eight people-affinity groups and administrative offices globally were reduced from eleven to four. The intent was to focus more personnel and financial resources on the harvest.

 

The national evangelism strategy of the North American Mission Board. GPS – God’s Plan for Sharing – is a decade-long initiative designed to enable every believer to share and every person in North America to hear the Gospel.

 

What the Lord is doing on a national scale, He has also been doing in our midst. In its January 2009 meeting, the Executive Board of the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (SBCV) formed the Vision 20/20 Team (V20/20 Team). This team’s assignment was to review the SBCV’s past, examine its present, and envision a preferred future that would bring our God great glory. Their charge was to formulate a vision that focuses on the next decade, culminating in the year 2020. The primary issue was to consider how the SBCV might better assist local congregations in their task of fulfilling the Great Commission.

Members of that team included key leaders from across the state. These leaders represented a broad cross-section of our convention regionally, ethnically, and generationally. Participating members included:

 

SBCV Convention Officers:

Tim Hight (Main St., Christiansburg), President

Mike Palmer (Green Ridge, Roanoke), 1st Vice President

Brian Autry (Parkway, Moseley), 2nd Vice President

Mike Smith (Norview, Norfolk), Secretary

 

SBCV Leadership Team:

Jeff Ginn, Executive Director

Doyle Chauncey, President of the SBCV Foundation and Church Ministry Services

Steve Bradshaw, Director of Maturing Churches

Mark Custalow, Director of Multiplying Churches

Mark Gauthier, Director of Mobilizing Churches

 

At-Large Representatives:

Gordon Ellsworth (Virginia Beach Beacon), Executive Board member

Daniel Floyd (Lifepoint, Fredericksburg)

Wendell Horton (Sky View, Fancy Gap), Executive Board member

Clovis Pause (Iglesia El Camino, Richmond)

Amy Stewart (Beaverdam), Executive Board member

Jim Stone (Spotswood, Fredericksburg), Executive Board member

Carl Weiser (Hyland Heights, Rustburg), Executive Board member & chairman

 

The team pursued its mission from January to November 2009. It met in plenary session four times during the year. The team brought updates to each meeting of the Executive Board. Between board meetings, focus groups carried out assigned tasks. This included a comprehensive survey of constituent church leaders. As a part of its work, the team also dialoged with Dr. Johnny Hunt, president of the SBC.

The Executive Board approved the V20/20 Team’s report at its October meeting and recommended that it be presented to the full convention at its November 2009 meeting at First Baptist Church, Norfolk.

The purpose statement, doctrinal parameters, and core values of the SBCV were revisited. The team embraced these wholeheartedly and without any recommendation of revision. It was an affirmation of the foundational convictions of the convention.

Historical ministry emphases and patterns of growth were reviewed. God’s hand of blessing is obvious and not to be taken for granted.

The attention of the team then turned to the future. To accelerate, or even approximate, the growth curve of the SBCV in its early years will be a serious challenge. With earnest prayers that God will enable us to meet that challenge, the V20/20 Team recommends six major emphases. They are that the SBCV be:

 

1.  A multiplying missional network . . . in which the number of congregations grows from over 500 to over 1,000, including the planting of 400 new congregations.

Church planting has been the heartbeat of the SBCV since its inception. The recommendation is that we hold to that priority with an even greater zeal. The V20/20 survey indicated that SBCV respondents strongly held that Virginia and the District of Columbia are both underevangelized and underchurched mission fields. Through the planting of churches, both evangelism and discipleship are accelerated. The SBCV will partner with local congregations to insure that healthy churches plant healthy churches that will plant healthy churches.

 

2.  A maturing missional network . . . in which at least 500 congregations progress to the next level of congregational health.

Churches may be plotted along a spectrum of congregational health. This ranges from churches that are near dissolution to those that are impacting the world in transformational ways. The SBCV will partner with interested local congregations to facilitate an evaluation, prescription, and implementation of a course of action that will, by God’s grace, enable them to reach the next level on the spectrum of congregational health.

 

3.  A mobilizing missional network . . . in which the number of congregations committed to the Acts 1:8 Challenge grows from approximately 50 to over 500.

Churches do not exist merely for the benefit of the local membership. The church exists to fulfill the Great Commission. [Emphasis added] The SBCV will partner with local congregations to facilitate missional impact in their Jersualem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

 

4.  A sacrificial missional network . . . in which ever greater resources are channeled to national and international mission causes through the Cooperative Program (CP).

The SBCV will partner with national entities to fulfill the Great Commission. The SBCV already sets a national standard by forwarding a full 50% of its CP receipts to the SBC. The V20/20 Team recommends that this be increased by a quarter of a percent each year for the next 10 years, subject to an annual review. This is based on the conviction that God’s Word is true: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38). Early estimates are that this will mean an additional 1.2 million dollars for national and international mission causes over the next decade.

The missional needs within the Commonwealth of Virginia and the District of Columbia are staggering. The case could be made that all mission receipts could be kept within our boundaries and put to good use. There is that much lostness within the geographic boundaries of our convention. Local churches might employ a similar argument for keeping their resources localized. However, a paradox is at work here. As we each sacrifice to reach a lost world, the Lord will entrust more resources to us to reach our Jerusalem and Judea. The V20/20 Team urges that this challenge be taken up by every believer and every constituent church in our convention as the SBCV sets the example.

 

5.  A streamlined missional network . . . in which the decentralized model of ministry for which the SBCV is noted nationally will be furthered so that the state convention becomes even more accessible to the local church.

In its last major restructuring, the SBCV emphasized a decentralized model of state ministry that has proven effective. Other conventions from across the nation

have embraced this paradigm. The V20/20 Team recommends an accentuation of the decentralized approach by realigning into five major regions, each of which will have clusters organized around demographic centers.

The streamlining of our convention will also extend to programmatic scheduling. Many of the training events that have historically been offered will be coalesced into a new conference called E412. E412 is an equipping conference that weds together the best elements of many of our conferences, including the Evangelism and Church Leadership Conferences. E412 will be the major spring semester event while the Annual Homecoming will be the major fall semester event.

 

6.  A contextualized missional network . . . in which the timeless principles of God’s Word are communicated effectively in the ever-changing culture in which we live. Further research into the name and branding of our convention should be undertaken.

 

In addition to these six major emphases, the V20/20 Team recommends that a Steering Team be approved that will collaborate with SBCV staff over the next year to develop strategies by which these goals may be pursued. The Steering Team will be comprised of six members who served on the original V20/20 Team. This insures that there will be both continuity and momentum. The proposed members are:

 

1.  Brian Autry

2.  Daniel Floyd

3.  Wendell Horton

4.  Clovis Pause

5.  Amy Stewart

6.  Carl Weiser (Chairman)

 

The V20/20 Steering Team will be charged to bring a subsequent report to the 2010 Annual Homecoming of the SBCV, which will be held November 7-9, 2010 at Hyland Heights Baptist Church in the Greater Lynchburg area.

God’s face has shone upon us. Our past is cause for celebration. Our present is reassuring. Our future is challenging. Thankfully, we do not head there alone. He who has accompanied us from the beginning goes before us. May He grant us grace to keep pace.