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We invite you to spend some time here at our Web Site and we trust that it will be time well spent to either encourage you or to help you find the information, people, or resources that you may need to help you in your personal walk with the Lord, or to help your church, group, or association with anything they may need.
In order to find your way, it is helpful to understand how the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board is set up to do their work. The responsibilities of the Convention Board fall into three natural divisions. One division is Business Services – the funds that are received and distributed to Kingdom causes are handled following Biblical guidelines of Christian stewardship and absolute fiscal responsibility. The second division, Church Growth, oversees those areas of church ministries that strengthen, equip, and enable the church and its functions. The third division, Mission Strategy, is entrusted with the responsibility of the work beyond just the walls and doors of the church. Our mission is to reach the world across Mississippi, the nation, and the uttermost parts of the earth.
Dr. Jim Futral
Several years ago, I was speaking at a church in Enterprise, Alabama. I was excited about being there not only to be at the church but also to take the journey downtown and see the one and only statue memorializing the boll weevil. Probably most of you have heard the story and, no doubt, many of you have seen the statue. The story, of course, is related to the cotton industry across that part of Southern Alabama that was devastated because of the mean little boll weevil that came and destroyed the cotton crop. The boll weevil was honored because with the destruction of the cotton industry came the establishment and growth of the peanut industry. For the folks in that area of Alabama while cotton use to be important the peanut is even more important today. To the little destructive bug that came through and changed their way of life they say, “Thank you!” In fact, at the bottom of the statue are these words – "In profound appreciation of the Boll Weevil and what it has done as the herald of prosperity, this monument is erected by the citizens of Enterprise -- December 11, 1919.”
It is a similar sort of thought process that I trust for me and all of you would be a spiritual dimension that would cause us to focus on what God may be bringing about for good and for His glory out of some very difficult times. Although you and I are people destined for glorious new things – new heaven, new earth, streets of gold, no shortages, and life in total perfection, that is not where we have our existence today. A backward glance over the last five years will just about take your breath and make you wonder how in this world we are still going.
Katrina, a storm with unequal destructive powers, walked across not only our coast but also the southern part of our state. What she did to the people and the places of the coast are indescribable whether by word or picture. The storm was followed by economic devastation. Here in Mississippi more than one out of every two people is without work. Add to that the kind of economic pain that comes when credit is unavailable and the housing market has collapsed. Those are simple statements of the realities that have brought fear, uncertainty, insecurity, and pain to family after family.
Then came the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which is the greatest manmade disaster that our country has ever experienced. Even if the oil was not on our beaches, the fear of its coming and its destructive powers to the seafood industry and a depressed tourist industry has shaken our coast and much of the region again. Many of the people are still struggling with disaster fatigue and can hardly muster the strength to fight a new kind of battle.
With those realities before us, it is no wonder that our churches are struggling and our people are hurting. When you look at those issues and their ramifications on members of our churches and on folks across our state, you see how amazing it is that God would come and strengthen His people and we would respond to faithfully give to support His Kingdom work. God is still on His throne and God’s people are loving, caring, and have a passionate desire to see a world come to Christ. Recently, I heard a man say something to the affect that when things really are tough don’t look to the things for answers. We are never instructed or encouraged to put our hope, faith, and confidence in things but in the Lord and so, we will.
Over five years ago, a large glass container was built on the corner of the Baptist Building’s lot. It was designed to hold 50 million pennies. Under the leadership of the Christian Action Commission of our Convention, churches across our state were invited and encouraged to collect sacks filled with pennies to become a part of a memorial dedicated to all of the children whose lives never came to fruition and whose influence would never be known because of abortion. Since the Supreme Court ruling over 50 million children have been aborted in the United States. Mississippi Baptists – boys, girls, moms, and dads gathered their pennies together and sent or brought them to be poured into the huge container to help create a visible, incredible representation of all of these missing children.
The Memorial to the Missing has stood there to speak silently and loudly to remind us of what abortion has done. Now The Memorial to the Missing has been taken down. At the very outset the ultimate goal was not just to have the pennies to be seen but in time that those pennies would be placed in a trust in the Mississippi Baptist Foundation so that the earnings could be used to help support pro life issues and work such as that done by Crisis Pregnancy Centers. In the days and years ahead, those pennies, those dollars will continue to have tremendous impact in caring for people in crisis. A huge thank you must be expressed to Dr. Jimmy Porter and the Christian Action Commission, to pastors and church leaders across our state who encouraged and helped to gather all of these pennies, to associational missions directors who helped to accumulate all of the pennies for transfer to the memorial, and for the hundreds who helped process the pennies to be taken to the bank. To every one of you, we say thanks and remind you that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
This part of the report is an anniversary marker that we wish had never happened. On August 29, 2005, Katrina came on shore at the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The eye of the storm crossed over somewhere around the Bay St. Louis/Waveland area but the enormity of the storm affected the bottom one third of our state. For people who came to any area to help in the south one third of Mississippi, they could probably express that they had never seen anything like the devastation. From Picayune to Pascagoula, from Long Beach to Laurel, from Tylertown to Lucedale, and across the coast one could see nothing but destruction and debris. In the face of all of that loss and pain brought by the greatest natural disaster in the history of our land there was an outpouring of love, help, and support that literally came from across the state and across the entire nation to Waveland, Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian, Long Beach, Gulfport, Biloxi, Pascagoula, and all of the communities in between.
The statistics tell a story but they do not tell the whole story because there are many acts of kindness, heroism, and sacrifice that are not documented anywhere or recorded except in peoples’ hearts. According to the Mississippi Baptist Disaster report, here is what has been done in these five years. Over $21 million have been given to help with church rebuild, home rebuild, and salary support for hundreds of our pastors and staff members. Of the many churches that were either damaged severely or destroyed, 163 received significant financial support in order to rebuild. One thousand, five hundred and thirty-one homes that had been destroyed or damaged beyond use have been repaired or rebuilt. Over 50 of our churches have received on-going aid to help provide for their pastors or staff members.
Beyond that across Mississippi and across the entire Southern Baptist Convention 1,134 churches adopted a congregation on the Mississippi coast or in the southern part of the state to help in hundreds of ways. Southern Baptist Disaster Relief units came from all across our nation. Twenty-eight feedings sights were setup just on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Over 100,000 volunteers participated in those feeding units and prepared and served over 3,500,000 meals. As most of you are aware, Katrina not only affected our coast but also Alabama and Louisiana including the tragedy of New Orleans.
So what is happening now that we are five years removed from Katrina? Well a great deal of work continues. While church facilities have been restored and rebuilt, congregations have not been restored mainly because so many people have not returned to rebuild their homes and businesses or to live on the coast. The numbers slightly vary and I suppose the 2010 Census will be revealing but somewhere around one fourth to one third of the population of our coast has not returned or rebuilt. Nevertheless, good things have happened, are happening, and the future is bright in the Lord.
There is absolutely no way to describe or to adequately say thanks to the army of volunteers who showed up to help from our own state of Mississippi, from our neighboring states of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas and Virginia. They not only rescued us they blessed us. We give thanks to God for His provisions through them, and we thank them for being willing to come.
Like the churches we serve, the strength of the Convention is found in its gifted people. During these difficult economic times, we have not had a personnel freeze but we are definitely living with a personnel hold. We have asked people to take on added responsibilities, to work more efficiently and more effectively if possible. They have done a magnificent job. At the same time, it has been with sadness and a great sense of loss that some of our folks have come to retirement.
Graham Smith retired after serving as the director of our Church Music Department for 26 years. For these two decades plus he led us in sharing the song of Jesus. His great voice and strong spirit are deeply missed in the leadership role that he held while we carefully search for the person to take his place.
Also from the Church Music Department, Sarah Talley retired after 33 years of joyful and effective ministry to the children of Mississippi. In camps and conferences and in help to our churches and associations, Sarah brought such a delightful, winsome spirit along with her great knowledge of the work. She will be missed.
One other person who left this past year was Huey Dedmon, adult ministry and church growth specialist in the Sunday School Department. Although Huey was only with us for three years, his ministry to folks across our state continues. He left only to continue serving on staff at one of our churches. While he now serves in a different capacity, his presence is missed but he continues to make a great contribution to Kingdom work.
In a world filled with challenges, uncertainties, sometimes turmoil, and limitations, what in the world is good? Baptisms have shown an upward turn, some churches are beginning to report better attendance, and some churches are growing. We can rejoice that Jesus is still on His throne. He is alive, well, and working among His people. We are not a finished product. All that needs to be done has not yet been done, and so we get on with the program. We will continue to do what He asks us to do until He calls us home.
Recently, I heard that Billy Graham’s wife, Ruth, had this statement at her grave, “End of Construction.” She wanted that because at times when they would be driving or traveling somewhere she had seen the sign that says, “Entering Construction Zone.” Somewhere down the road, they would come across another sign that said, “End of Construction.” Everything had been finished. She considered herself to be under construction by the hand of the great architect and engineer Jesus. Some day at the conclusion of this life, all of the shaping, tending, building, and work would be complete and she would be at the end of the construction zone. We are under construction, we are still in the building process, and we will give ourselves to the best of our ability to do what the Lord Jesus has called us to do until the day that we cross that line that proudly announces, “End of Construction.”
Focused on the year just ahead of us we will enlist an army of men and women who will join together in Covering Mississippi in Prayer. Covering our state in prayer, we trust that the Lord will cover our state with His glory.
The Business Services Division is responsible for the areas of accounting, audits, communications, encampments, finance, insurance, annuity, legal issues, policy matters, and the management of all real and personal property. All work in this division is of a service nature as it undergirds the programs and ministries of the Convention.
The Mission Strategy Division of the Mississippi Baptist Convention encourages churches to participate in a worldwide strategy of missions collaboration. The work is coordinated through emphases in Missions Mobilization, Men’s Ministry, Woman’s Missionary Union, Collegiate Ministry, Church Planting, and Stewardship & Cooperative Program Promotion. The division nurtures relationships with sixty-eight Associational Missions Directors to facilitate and strengthen church mission response. The goal of the Mission Strategy Division is to mobilize an ever increasing number of Mississippi Baptists in missions projects which help fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus Christ.
The Church Growth Division exists to provide resources, revitalization, and leadership development to the local church and association and consists of the following departments: Sunday School, Evangelism, Discipleship and Family Ministry, Church Music, Pastor/Leadership Development, and Church-Minister Relations. Our current organizational structure allows the Church Growth Division to focus on specific needs with the church. Directors and consultants offer expertise in their respected areas and are available to serve a single church or multiple churches in our associations.
Directions is a weekly article by Dr. Futral that appears in The Baptist Record.
Hear Dr. Futral’s Easter Week services messages in the message archive.
For more information, please contact our office at (601) 292-3201 or contact our staff by e-mail:
