Associational leaders face changing environment amid diverse churches_90803

Posted: 9/5/03

Associational leaders face changing
environment amid diverse churches

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

Diversity, politics and ministry issues are challenging existing associational structures, according to directors of missions across the state.

In recent years, churches left some associations to form new groups because of these issues, making directors of missions' work more complex, said Lorenzo Peña, director of associational missions for the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Tom Billings, director of missions for Union Baptist Association, has seen a strictly Southern Baptists of Texas Convention-aligned association form in the Houston area as well as a largely Hispanic association form during his tenure.

Like many associational leaders, he is working to unify churches that serve different population segments. Houston is an extremely diverse area where one-third of the population in Harris Country does not speak English. Different ethnicities are less inclined to assimilate into American society but prefer a “mosaic” society where each culture retains its distinctiveness, he reported.

To accommodate their churches, Union Baptist Association leaders have designed materials in multiple languages, and several staff members are fluent in Spanish. The association tries to honor what various cultures add to its ministry, Billings said.

For Tim Randolph, director of missions for Tri-Rivers Baptist Association, diversity occurs in the form of ministries. While his area consists of many traditional congregations, he also serves contemporary, cowboy and emerging generation churches. Each must be dealt with differently.

“The monolithic approach is gone,” he reported. “We're having to assist our churches individually.”

Because of their proximity to churches, associations deal with population shifts and emerging cultures before conventions, Peña said. The association will feel the movement of an ethnic population in an area before a state or national convention.

“They're really the frontline,” Peña said. “Associations are the first ones to know how it is changing and what they need.”

While associations are the first group beyond the church to feel diversity issues, political ideologies have trickled down from the national and state levels to affect their work.

Churches are choosing sides between the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. Seven new associations are uniquely affiliated with the SBTC, while one association is uniquely aligned with the BGCT. That association has not been formally recognized or funded by the BGCT.

There also are about four SBTC fellowships within Baptist associations. Although the SBTC does not encourage churches to form new associations, one fellowship recently grew into an association, according to Casey Perry, director of the newer convention's minister-church relations office.

However, 111 associations call churches from both conventions together to cooperate in ministry, Perry said.

The BGCT continues to provide significant funding for associational missions. In 2004, the BGCT will budget $388,000 to help with associational training and development opportunities and program support. Associations also will receive a projected $500,000 through the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas missions. Those funds will help support associational projects statewide, with about $210,000 going to the five metropolitan associations–Tarrant Baptist Association, Union Baptist Association, Dallas Baptist Association, San Antonio Baptist Association and El Paso Baptist Association.

The dual convention system makes associational work more convoluted, according to leaders. Choosing speakers and materials for conferences is more difficult because associations do not want to exclude churches. Directors of missions also must remember convention affiliation when supplying resources to congregations.

“You have some associations that are 50/50,” Randolph said. “That complicates everything we do. It's just more complex than it ought to be.”

Wayne Keller, director of missions for Midland-Odessa Baptist Area, said the formation of an SBTC association in the Permian Basin has not changed the way he approaches his work.

“I just do business like I've always done–try to care for them as much as I can,” he said.

Politics also can be a divisive issue in some associations, and each director must make personal choices on how to handle it, Peña said. While some directors are trying to remain neutral, he advocates taking a stand for personal beliefs.

“I personally don't think you need to maintain neutrality,” he asserted. “Just because you take a stand doesn't mean you can't help all your churches.”

A newer development is the emergence of non-geographic associations. The BGCT has recognized and started funding the efforts of Asociacion Bautista Norte Centro. A group of largely Hispanic churches started the Asociacion Bautista Latino Americano.

Most recently, a group of South Texas churches formed the Borderlands Baptist Association, a BGCT-only group. Director of Missions Eliud Guzman indicated the group emerged from a desire to focus on church starting.

The emergence of non-geographic associations caused the State Missions Commission to further define its funding channels. A BGCT church can receive State Missions Commission funds only through one association. If a church believes its association is unable to meet the congregation's financial needs, it can apply directly to the BGCT for funding.

Rather than focusing on the differences churches have within an association, leaders should seek to find the purpose of their organization, according to Peña. In today's rapidly changing world, knowing the association's mission is vitally important.

“Associations are constantly having to define their purpose,” Peña said. “The big question is why do associations exist? I think where the association answers that question they'll find their purpose and God-given mission.”

Billings agreed that with a mission field as big as Texas, Baptists must unite around reaching the non-believers, not dividing among themselves.

“What we need is a commonly shared vision we can be bound around,” he said.

“The monolithic approach is gone. We're having to assist our churches individually.”