Proof that I am not the only Assimilation Minister in the country - I am currently in Marco Island, Florida, attending the 2008 Assimilation Ministers Metro Conference. It is a great time to visit with other ministers around the country to see what is working in their churches, trends, success reports, and good old fashioned fellowship. I will be here until Thursday - then flying back to DFW. Assimilation is a new word around Southern Baptist Churches. About 7 years ago churches realized they were attracting a lot of new people but their "back doors" were huge. In other words, they were not successfully connecting the new people to the body. So, the position of Assimilation Minister is ushered in (ha... inside joke!) and plans are put in place to help new people get truly connected to churches. In some churches, these positions are referred to as Membership Pastors or Development Pastors... It really is all the same. The exciting thing is that these positions are fairly new and are evolving. Who knows what this position will become over the next two to three years. The realization has been that it is going to continue to be a vital part of church growth and individual discipleship within church life.
One sad note to bring. One of my counterparts here at the conference had to fly home early to her church. Their pastor was killed in a plane crash early Monday morning. Please pray for Bell Shoals Baptist Church in Brandon, Florida and for the family of Dr. Forrest Pollack, pastor of that great church. Have a blessed week everyone....I will post again once we are back in DFW.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment