The chosen theme for the 2023 national meeting of the BMA was “GO: To the Word. To the World. Together.” I believe this chosen theme was implemented well throughout the meeting with the schedule and the faithfulness of those that shared God’s Word.
A number of things were different about this year’s meeting. One was a start on a Tuesday night rather than a Monday night. This year’s Tuesday evening session, which included the traditional message from the president, was an amazing time of worship led by Antioch’s Worship Arts Pastor Travis Sellers and their choir and a reminder that our basis for operating together is the doctrine we find in the Word of God.
Another difference, and highlight of the meeting was, according to many I talked with, the presence of most of our American missionaries that serve both abroad and in the United States. A time of fellowship with the missionaries followed Tuesday night’s service. It was so great for many to put a face with the name they have been supporting and praying for as they carry out their work on the field.
The BMA Global Missions Center opened for tours beginning Tuesday morning and continuing throughout the meeting. Many took advantage of their time in Conway to visit and see the new warehouse that was recently completed, along with the new television production suite.
Central Baptist College invited pastors and friends to the campus for breakfast on Wednesday morning. CBC President Terry Kimbrow shared that it was great to see many visit the campus who had never been there before.
The Women’s Missionary Auxiliary (WMA) hosted their National Women’s Conference in the Burgess Auditorium at CBC. They enjoyed having the CBC Singers during their meeting. They also had a special recognition for all of the missionary wives that were able to attend. National Miss GMA Audrey Johnson (daughter of Eric Johnson) shared a devotional with the group. There was a challenge between Arkansas and Texas this year regarding the National Project for Daniel Springs. It was reported that Arkansas beat Texas, but the real winner was Daniel Springs with over $45,000 raised for the camp. The keynote speaker for the meeting was Trumpet Editor Emeritus Diane Spriggs. There were also breakout sessions for the ladies to attend. Brenda Hornaday was elected as the new president for 2023-2024, and the project chosen for the coming year will be the Jeevan Prakash School in India.
The National Brotherhood also met on Wednesday morning.
In addition, there was some intentional time for those attending the national meeting to gain some knowledge and ministry help. Steve Crawley led in the general session of the Pastor’s Conference presented by Healthy Church Solutions on Wednesday morning and talked about the importance of leadership development. This was followed by the option to attend two breakout sessions of your choice. The topics covered included Preventing Abuse and Protecting Your Church by Brotherhood Mutual, Helping and Resources for Mental Health by Lee Poe and Leading for Growth by Pastor Bill Eliff. BMA Global Hispanic Ministry Coordinator Elvis Garcia led a breakout session for Spanish speakers.
Wednesday afternoon included a time of worship and a message by David McMurray. He continued the emphasis of the mission to “Go” and shared about the importance of taking the message of the gospel to world.
At the 3 p.m session, Legacy Missionaries Jack and Latrell Bateman and Bobby and Ruth Bowman were honored. It was a special time to remember and remind everyone of our mission.
The highlight of Wednesday was the “Dinner on the Grounds” with all the missionaries. It took place at the Conway Expo Center, where over 1,000 people gathered to enjoy a catfish and chicken dinner and hear the annual message from BMA Global Regional Coordinator for South America Buddy Johnson. He shared about the importance of going “together” as we carry out the mission of God. (His message can be found at page 1 of this issue.)
The meeting concluded on Thursday morning with a streamlined business session. We heard from each of the national departments about how God has been working over the past year. All officers were re-elected to serve for 2023-2024.
Some discussion occurred about the updated meeting format since the body voted to move the production of the meeting to the conferences division of BMA of America. The regular rules for the meeting were suspended for two years so some new things could be tried this year and next year. Donny Parrish leads the conference production for the BMA of America and he shared that there would be recommendations at the meeting next year regarding future meetings and production. Next year’s meeting is scheduled for April 16-18, 2024 At the Chateau on the Lake in Branson, Mo. Tentative plans have been made for the 2025 meeting to return to Waxahachie, Texas hosted by Pathway Baptist Church (formerly Farley Street Baptist Church).
The video from Tuesday night’s opening session is available now at bmaamerica.org/nationalmeeting and videos from the other sessions will be available there soon.
