I believe the Lord is providing some new opportunities for pastors and laity. Dr. Michael Lewis, pastor of First Baptist Plant City, has shared with us that he wants to be a partner with our churches and pastors in our Association. He has presented us with this vision and is willing to encourage every pastor and partner with us in training every member. Let us lead our churches to touch each home and be a witness to every person in East Hillsborough County. Here is the partnership vision statement we need to adopt:
*Every Pastor Encouraged
*Every church revitalized
*Every leader trained
*Every family reached
*Every life touched and changed with Gospel
We would like to invite you to a lunch, Wednesday, 12:00 noon, July 22, at FBC Plant City. We'll have a round table discussion on this shared vision. Our Association would like to invite you to attend this special event. This will be one way to discover and act upon God’s plan to turn our church growth around.
During these years of ministry I have focused on the revitalization of churches. Two of the churches the Lord guided us to help in our Association were more like emergency revitalization. God blessed us and our team as we applied the important principles and concepts needed. I will describe later some of the concepts and ways we have had good success.
Research in Shiloh Baptist Association reveals that over the past eight years our total church membership and Sunday school attendance has declined. The total church membership in 2009 , with 37 churches included , was 19,424 compared to 17,951 in 2009; a decline of 1,473 members. The average Sunday School enrollment/attendance decline from 10,523/4,343 in 2000 to 8,721/3,851 in 2009. This represents an 11% decline. Jim Robbinett, Director of the Church Revitalization Division with the Florida Baptist Convention indicated this decline is a trend across the state.
The Lord has touched my heart with the need to ask ministers and laity to pray for revival and revitalization. I invite every pastor and key lay leader with ideas and interest to join us in prayer for a great revival.
Let us fulfill the Church’s Biblical purpose in today’s highly technology focused culture with a focus on evangelism and revitalizing of churches. Let us seek God's presence and execute a plan in our community of churches.
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I wanted you to know that I value the fact that you mention the laity so much. It's sad that many believers think they have to be vocational ministers before they can do anything for the Lord. Thank you for working to fix this. As a lay-leader, I appreciate your thoughts on that.
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