Under the leadership of the chairman, Dr. Clif Johnson, the Coordinating Council of the Baptist Missionary Association of America met on Monday, Sept. 9, in Hope, at Garrett Memorial Baptist Church to fulfill their responsibilities to the churches of the BMA. The BMAA’s Principles of Cooperation outline the Coordinating Council’s purpose in Article VIII. The council’s purpose is to “cast a unified vision and promote cooperation between the departments and/or agencies of the BMAA.” Leaders from each national department (except Moral Action) were present to contribute to the Council’s business.
The BMAA exists “to provide cooperating departments and agencies that will inspire a mission vision and assist each local church in carrying out the Great Commission, Matthew 28:19-20.” Therefore, inspiring a mission vision and assisting local churches is the purpose of our association. The association accomplishes this by providing our churches with cooperating departments and agencies. The Coordinating Council and department leaders agreed that our purpose statement accurately represents the association. Nevertheless, the council and department leaders see the need to make the same purpose statement mentioned above more easily conveyable for the person who asks, “What is the BMA?”, “What does the BMA stand for?”, “Where is the BMA going?” and “Why should my church be involved in the BMA?” The Coordinating Council’s aim to “cast a unified vision” and “promote cooperation” hinges on making our formal purpose statement portable for all the churches we belong to. The discussion around this topic was fruitful and helpful for all involved. There was consensus among the group that making disciples of all nations was at the heart of who we are as the BMA. At this point in time, we are praying about the best way to phrase that very statement so that it is “portable.” In other words, we want every pastor in the BMA and every departmental leader, to be able to answer the questions, “Who is the BMA? Why should my church be involved?” with the same type of answer. Council members discussed their suggestions for answering these questions and found inspiration through each other’s contributions. Furthermore, we discussed how each department played a crucial role in the task and calling of making disciples of all nations.
Our efforts are more than just coming up with a catchy phrase. This task is about understanding who we are at the core and being able to communicate with conviction and clarity.
Another area in which the Coordinating Council has been helping our national departments concerns protections against frivolous litigations. This has not been an issue in the present, but we have seen this happen with other organizations, to their harm.
James Greene and Associates have been advisers to the BMAA for several years, and their expertise in the matter has been sought out as to how to best protect national departments from being taken to court for issues that does not necessarily pertain to them. We will continue working with James Greene and the departments to develop policies to address this matter
The BMA believes the Great Commission belongs to the local New Testament Church. The Great Commission contains a single imperative, to make disciples in every tribe, tongue and nation. As an association of churches, we desire to inspire and promote disciple-making to all the world through local churches.
