According to North American Mission Board research, approximately 2.8 million Kentuckians have yet to place their faith in Christ and experience salvation. That reality alone justifies the existence of the Kentucky Baptist Convention as a missions agency created by churches, for churches, to help churches reach Kentucky and the world for Christ.
Great Commission obedience requires our investment of resources in reaching the panta ta enthne dispersed around the planet. It also requires our investment of resources in reaching the people groups found in our Judea, i.e., Kentucky. Those peoples have come to us from Asia, Africa, India, China, Europe, and Central and South America. For now, the majority of them are from North America. Regardless of national or ethnic heritage, every resident of Kentucky holds one thing in common: without Christ they are destined to spend eternity in hell.
In 1837, Baptists in Kentucky determined they could do more to reach the lost in Kentucky and around the world by cooperating together and so formed the KBC. That decision has been bearing eternal fruit for 175 years and I am convinced our cooperative mission efforts can continue to bear fruit until Christ’s coming.
On May 8, our Mission Board embraced a new vision for the future. A careful look at the components of that vision reveals, however, that the vision is more old than new. It is, in fact, an intentional recovery of the vision that pulled together Kentucky Baptist churches 175 years ago: working together to reach Kentucky and the world for Christ.
As a missions agency facilitating that vision, what, specifically will the KBC do? The following bullet points set the parameters for the ministry of the KBC moving forward.
- Provide comprehensive ministry consulting for KBC churches.
- Facilitate training and networking opportunities for leaders and churches.
- Facilitate missions partnerships and church planting opportunities in Kentucky, North America, and to the ends of the earth.
- Facilitate relationships between Kentucky Baptist churches and their agencies and institutions.
- Promote and process Cooperative Program giving in order to assist churches in their Great Commission obedience.
- Mobilize Kentucky Baptist churches to influence society with the Christian principles of righteousness, truth, and brotherly love.
These parameters provide focus for our Mission Board staff by helping us limit our ministry to the essential roles of a state convention. In so doing, they allow us to set priorities for utilizing the Cooperative Program funds that will be invested in reaching Kentucky and enable us to invest a growing percentage of those funds in getting the gospel to places in the world where it is yet to be proclaimed. That equals Great Commission obedience at home and abroad.
