By Brian Blackwell, Message staff writer
ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – Messengers and guests to the 2021 Louisiana Baptist Convention Annual Meeting, Nov. 16, will be encouraged to seek personal revival.
At the meeting, a 28-day personal revival guide authored by Louisiana Baptist Executive Director Steve Horn will be distributed and those in attendance will be encouraged to complete the “Change Me” booklet.
“Our Convention president, Dr. David Cranford, has been gracious in working with me to establish the theme of our meeting — ‘Change Me,’” Horn told the Baptist Message. “‘Change Me’ is the title of a 28-day personal revival guide I’ve authored. Every messenger and attendee will have the opportunity to receive a copy of this resource during our Tuesday morning session. We’ve also enlisted the talents of ‘The Skit Guys’ to help us visualize and apply the themes of this emphasis. I’m asking God to use this year’s annual meeting, followed by hundreds of Louisiana Baptists using this tool, to bring personal revival to all of us. I have become more and more convinced that ‘great awakening’ begins at the individual level. God needs to work in us so revival can spread among us.”
OTHER BUSINESS
Messengers also will consider whether to adopt a proposed reduced Cooperative Program budget. Approved during the Executive Board’s Sept. 28 meeting at Tall Timbers Baptist Conference Center in Woodworth, the 2022 financial plan is based on Cooperative Program contributions of $17,626,136, a decrease of $1,027,564, or 5.5 percent. Cooperative Program projections are based on actual receipts from August 2020 through July 2021.
Other highlights for the meeting include an update on the massive disaster relief response to Hurricane Ida and messages by Horn, Cranford and First Baptist Church, Baton Rouge, Pastor Oren Conner.
Additional items on the agenda include a Bible study led by Steve Echols, president of Brewton-Parker College in Mount Vernon, Georgia; reports by the Convention’s entities; other updates on state missions; consideration of motions and resolutions; and election of officers.
At press time, Reggie Bridges, pastor of Temple Baptist Church, Ruston, will have his name placed in nomination for the office of LBC president. Steven Kelly, pastor of Bayou Vista Baptist Church, Morgan City, and director of missions for Gulf Coast Baptist Association, is expected to have his name placed in nomination for the office of first vice president, and Price Harris, an evangelist and layman from Calvary Baptist Church in Shreveport, is expected to be nominated for the office of second vice president. They are the only known candidates for their respective offices.
NOTABLES
Gatherings for Nov. 15 include:
— Louisiana Baptist Christian Education Association luncheon, 11 a.m., Fellowship Mall
— African-American Fellowship, 4 p.m., East Venue
— Asian Fellowship, 4:30 p.m., (location pending)
— Minister of Missions roundtable, 4:30 p.m., RJ 103
— New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary dinner, 4:45 p.m., Fellowship Mall
Gatherings for Nov. 16 include:
— Partnership Missions breakfast, 7 a.m., Fellowship Mall
— Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary lunch, 12:15 p.m., RJ 110 (may move offsite)
— Missions and Ministry lunch, 12:15 p.m., East Venue
— Retiree/Bi-vocational luncheon, 12:15 p.m., Fellowship Mall
