A Convention in Unity

Last weekend, Faith Baptist Church hosted the 58^th annual meeting of the Baptist State Convention of Michigan (BSCM).  It was a blessing to serve our brothers and sisters – and sister churches – from around the state of Michigan as they gathered to discuss the business of God’s convention of churches.  All fourteen associations in our state were represented, with our sanctuary being almost filled.  From the worship through song to the preaching of the Word to the handling of business, the Holy Spirit’s presence was prominent throughout the weekend.

In terms of business, the Convention had to decide on a new constitution and some major revisions to our by-laws.  Over the past several years, these documents had been a source of great division among our churches and people.  Sadly, that division was, at times, exacerbated by some of the leadership of the Convention in past years because they were perceived, rightly or wrongly, as not being willing to listen to the concerns the churches had with these documents.  As an officer of the Convention, I know there was some concern about whether these documents would pass this year.  I am happy to report that not only were both documents adopted, but they were adopted unanimously!  Again, it is hard to overstate the change in the spirit of this meeting in comparison with the previous years.  The business portions of the Convention went quickly and smoothly, with much joy.

There is no doubt we continue to face challenging times here in Michigan as a convention of churches.  One of the statistics shared during the Church Starting Team report caught my attention.  In Detroit, almost 94% of the population has no affiliation with an evangelical church.  Now, I’m not suggesting salvation can only come through evangelicalism, but in light of the current state of mainline Protestantism, we must realize the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not being proclaimed in those churches as it once was many years ago.  As such, when we see that 94% of the population of Detroit is outside of an evangelical church, we must assume that is nearly 94% of the population who is lost – and that is just one city in Michigan.  My suspicion is Battle Creek is not much different.  It is not too much to say that Battle Creek is our mission field.  With that in mind, our Missions Committee is working to develop partnerships here in our city that will allow us to take the Gospel out into the community around us and be the light Christ has said we are (Matt. 5:14-16).  We are, in many ways, starting from scratch on this committee, but I am excited to see the desire to reach people with the Gospel that exists with the members.

Though the challenge is great before us, both as Faith Baptist and as the BSCM, we serve a God who is infinitely bigger.  He has called us, His Church, to work together in unity in the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20), and praise be to Him, we are seeing the return of that unity and harmony.  People kept saying, “It’s a new day in Michigan,” and I believe they are right.  In the coming years, God will provide many opportunities for us to join Him in the new work He is doing here.  Let’s be ready to enthusiastically join Him!  Just something to think about…