Associations: Alive and well or down for the count?

Just as culture and technology have changed at warp speed, denominational life has begun to follow suit. Associational life is not what it was 10 years ago, much less 50 years ago.

I served as a pastor for 21 years in Louisiana. In the old Louisiana system (It has since changed), directors of missions (DOMs) were paid by the state convention. This connectional polity is foreign to Baptist life. In perception or reality, many of the DOMs evidenced more loyalty to the state convention than to the churches of the association. There were few DOMs who modeled evangelism or had a missions strategy. I never considered being a DOM, until a call came from the Northwest Baptist Association in Bentonville, Ark.

Northwest Arkansas was and continues to be a rapidly growing area. It is the economic engine of Arkansas with several blue chip companies located there. The association called me with the understanding that doctrinal accountability, church planting and leadership development would be integral parts of my direction. It was my joy to serve as a director of missions in Arkansas for 3 12 years. God blessed our efforts in an incredible way.

When the search committee of the Southern Baptists of Texas contacted me, I was more than reluctant to be interviewed. Whatever was to be accomplished, it had to be positive, missionary and visionary. My proposal was to have a state convention based on principles similar to those of the Northwest Baptist Association. There had to be mutual doctrinal accountability among the churches. There had to be an emphasis on missions and evangelism. The third strand in the cord (Ecclesiastes 4:12) was the close relationship with the Southern Baptist Convention, particularly through the traditional Cooperative Program. Again God has blessed our efforts in a great way.

Due to my background in associational work as a pastor and service as a DOM in Arkansas, I wanted to have a strong relationship with associations in Texas. Unfortunately, the denominational climate did not provide a positive atmosphere. In 2000, the SBTC invited all DOMs to a luncheon. We threw a party and no one showed up! The next year 20 DOMs ventured out to our meeting. The next year 40 attended. With about 94 DOMs in Texas, we now have a working relationship of some kind with 89. We welcome these partnerships and thank God for the friendships that have developed.

Since churches are autonomous, they can form associations. There are about a dozen associations that have sprung up since 1998 that relate to the SBTC. Policies established by the SBTC determine how associations may be recognized. Virtually all of these new associations face challenges. The SBTC seeks to help these associations when invited to do so.

Dynamics in denominational life have moved to the point where affinity associations have formed. Now there are cowboy church fellowships, ethnic fellowships and church-model associations. Some of the critics of the Baptist system of associations simply form associations of their own. Purpose Driven, Emerging, and Willow Creek churches have their own associationsconventions whether they call them that or not.

Baptist associations in Texas face a double difficulty. Not only do they have to become more of a resource service to churches and less of an assumed membership for many churches, they have to deal with two conventions in Texas. Most Texas associations contain both churches affiliated with the SBTC and those affiliated with another convention. This is the elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about. A further difficulty associations may soon face is deciding if they will include non-Southern Baptist churches in their fellowships.