A family gathering of Alabama Baptists is now just a few weeks away. I hope your church will elect messengers to attend the annual meeting of the Alabama Baptist State Convention, November 12-13 at Whitesburg Baptist Church in Huntsville.
Our theme this year is Life Changers, a testimony to the power of God to change lives and to use us in outreach to people with the Gospel and for ministry.
The meeting is open to all Alabama Baptists who wish to attend. Please consider this a special invitation to come to Whitesburg for the Tuesday evening celebration. Two much-beloved Southern Baptists will lead us in worship: Frank Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee and Charles Billingsley, a former Alabamian who is now worship leader at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va.
During the meeting, we will also gladly hear sermons by John Killian, our Convention president, and Kevin Wilburn, pastor of First Baptist Church of Scottsboro.This year’s business sessions will feature a different format with fewer formal reports in favor of more stories about how the Lord is changing lives through ministries that are possible because of the gifts of Alabama Baptists through the Cooperative Program.
If you’d like more detail about the State Convention meeting, please visit www.alsbom.org/convention.
Website Upgrades
As you check out the Convention resources, such as a map of hotels and the order of business, please explore other parts of the www.alsbom.org site which recently underwent redesign.
Thanks to our web minister, State Missionary Brian Harris, who has been upgrading our online presence to make it more user-friendly and accessible for Alabama Baptists.
Many Alabama Baptist churches and ministers are already familiar with our Online Resume System at http://resume.alsbom.org.
With Brian’s leadership, we have initiated a companion site where churches may list staff openings. Check it out at www.ALBaptistStaffing.org.
Cooperative Program
About two months remain in your State Board of Missions’ fiscal year. Thanks to all Alabama Baptist churches that have given through the Cooperative Program to date during 2013. Your faithfulness, often sacrificial, is much appreciated as together we provide support for ministries in Alabama, through the U.S. and around the world.
Alabama Baptists are glad to be part of a family of 42 state conventions that provide support for SBC-level ministries. Only one state convention, ours, provides support for Alabama Baptist ministries – gratefully so, because if Alabama were a foreign country, Southern Baptists would be sending missionaries here.
Remember that the command of our Lord in Acts 1 (regarding Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth) is simultaneous, not sequential. The Cooperative Program offers a way to support missions throughout all the world, all the time, at the same time.
If your State Board of Missions can provide additional information regarding Cooperative Program, please contact State Missionary Jim Swedenburg at 1-800-264-1225, ext. 283, or (334) 613-2283, jswedenburg@alsbom.org.
