By Staff, Baptist Message
ALEXANDRIA – The 2010 annual meeting of the Louisiana Baptist Convention with its theme “Be filled with the Spirit” from Ephesians 5:18 is to celebrate what God has done through His Louisiana Southern Baptists over the last year, and to look ahead at what He will – or could – do over the next year.
“I am celebrating what God has done this year in our LBC. We’ve really tried to renew the focus of humbling ourselves in prayer, desperately seeking Him.” said Rod Masteller, president of the Louisiana Baptist Convention and pastor of Summer Grove Baptist Church in Shreveport. “If we want to see church growth, we are going to have to fall on our knees in prayer, asking God to send revival and awakening across our state.”
“We know that if we would come together as pastors and leaders, seeking Him, I believe He will raise us up,” Masteller continued. “We know that church business as usual will not turn our churches or our culture back to Christ.”
Set for Nov. 15-16 at the Riverfront Center in Alexandria, the annual meeting is to feature Louisiana’s own as well as nationally-known speakers. Additional information relating to available hotels and scheduled meetings is available on pages 8-9 of this issue of the Baptist Message, and at www.LBC.org.
Al Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Ky., is to lead Bible studies. Richard Land, president of the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, is to speak Tuesday afternoon, as is James Merritt, former president of the SBC and pastor of CrossPointe in Duluth, Ga.
Lindsey Burns, pastor of First Baptist Church in DeRidder, is to bring the convention sermon. Rod Masteller, president of the Louisiana Baptist Convention and pastor of Summer Grove Baptist Church in Shreveport, is to bring the president’s address.
“We see weekly how the moral changes in our nation are shaping our future. If we will come together as pastors and leaders across this state, on our knees seeking His Spirit, I believe we can make a difference” Masteller said. “In the end, Christ has won the victory and I’m calling all of us to be on our knees asking God to fill us with His Spirit. He’s already secured the victory for us. We need that victory to take on this culture. We can’t do it alone.”
The LBC president continued. “We have to admit there’s evil in our state because of Satan’s attacks. There’s a verse – Matt. 24:12 – it’s really gotten my attention recently: ‘Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.’ I believe we have a culture, even in our churches, that’s so focused on the world, our hearts are cold. We’re never going to turn this culture around until we have tender hearts for God and His Word.”
In addition to hearing reports of the ministries done by LBC teams, committees and entities over the last year, messengers to the annual meeting will be electing officers, passing the 2011 budget, and voting on 10 resolutions.
At press time, no candidates other than President Masteller have announced for LBC president. The other officers elected in 2009 to serve one-year terms are Darryl Hoychick, pastor of Trinity Pineville as first vice-president; and Bob Adams, pastor of First Bogalusa as second vice-president. Nominations from the floor are anticipated.
The proposed Cooperative Program allocation budget, approved by the LBC executive board during its Sept. 28 meeting, is $21,284,217, or 5.58 percent less than last year’s budget.
“It’s a pretty significant reduction,” Dale Lingenfelter, LBC Business and Information Services Director, told the executive board. “Each year, much like a local church budget, the LBC entities base their budgets off the hope that at least that much will come in. When it doesn’t and reductions like this take place, ministries suffer.”
“The amount of the budget is determined from the CP receipts from our churches from Aug. 1 to July 31 each year, as determined by the executive board’s conservative budget policy,” Lingenfelter explained. “That total is the cap for the next year’s budget.”
The Resolutions Committee has completed its work so far, and has 10 resolutions that will be in the LBC’s 2010 Book of Reports, said John Yeats, LBC Director of Communications.
Resolutions will be accepted by the Resolutions Committee through the LBC Communications Team office up to 15 days before the Annual Meeting, Yeats added.
Resolutions are no longer presented to the Convention from the floor, unless there is a 2/3 majority for consideration. Email is preferred: John.Yeats@LBC.org. Additional information on the policy for resolutions is on pages 10-11 of the LBC 2009 Annual.
A procedural item in this year’s proceedings was approved last year by messengers, Yeats said. Any new business will immediately be referred to the Order of Business Committee, with disposition determined by that committee, Yeats said.
“The value of this in our day is that we have a process for exploring the legality and ramifications of a motion before proceeding with action by the Convention,” Yeats explained. “This is the process taken at the Southern Baptist Convention’s Annual Meeting.”
Leading praise and worship at LBC’s annual meeting this year: Jeremy Christ, minister of music at Calvary Baptist Church in Alexandria.
“We’re not making a difference like we can and should,” Masteller said. “This annual meeting will give us an opportunity to renew our hearts in a new surrender and dependence on Him [so] that He might fill us to make a difference in this world. We need to show that our state is victorious in Christ by being filled with the Spirit.”