As we approach the 2024 N.C. Baptist Pastors' Conference, themed "Growing + Going," it's crucial to understand the powerful connection between local church growth and global mission impact.
This year’s conference will explore how nurturing a thriving, growing congregation can directly contribute to sending more workers to unreached areas around the world. Let’s delve into this vital relationship and see how church growth becomes the catalyst for global missions.
The symbiotic relationship: growth and sending
Church growth and sending missionaries to unreached nations are not mutually exclusive goals. In fact, they form a symbiotic relationship that fuels each other. Here’s how:
- Increased resources: As churches grow, they often experience increased financial resources. This allows for greater investment in global missions, supporting more missionaries and initiatives in unreached areas.
- Larger pool of potential missionaries: A growing church means more members, which naturally leads to a larger pool of potential missionaries. The 2024 Conference President, Pastor Andrew Hopper, has done the math and checked it against dozens of churches with a ‘growing and going’ mindset. At his church, Mercy Hill Church in Greensboro, N.C., and other similar churches, they are seeing 10 first-time guests for every one baptism and 10 baptisms for every ‘sent one.’ That’s the reality of reaching and sending. It’s crucial for us to see more people encountering God if we want to increase the likelihood of sending workers to unreached nations.
- Developed leadership pipeline: Growing churches often focus on leadership development. This creates a stream of well-equipped individuals ready to take on the challenges of cross-cultural ministry.
- Cultural shift toward missions: As churches grow and emphasize global missions, a culture of mission-mindedness develops. This encourages more members to consider long-term missionary work.
Strategies for growth that fuel missions
The 2024 N.C. Baptist Pastors’ Conference will explore several strategies that foster church growth with a missional focus:
- Intentional discipleship: One of our 2024 speakers, Pastor J.D. Greear, is the lead pastor of the Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham. The Summit radically celebrates people leaving as much as it celebrates people coming, and part of the reason why is because Pastor J.D. has been calling out the called for over two decades. Greear can certainly help all of us take practical steps in preaching and discipleship with sending in view.
Another 2024 speaker, Pastor Steven Wade, is leading Faith Baptist Church in Youngsville, N.C., through explosive growth. Wade is experienced in plainly calling people to take next steps of discipleship in things like baptism, giving and committing to live in community. We can all learn from him in how to set a high-challenge environment that gives people the opportunity to respond. - Engaging young adults: Dean Inserra’s session, ‘Mobilizing the Mobile,’ will provide insights into reaching and engaging young adults – a demographic crucial for both church growth and future mission endeavors.
- Contextual ministry: Jerry Lewis will share how understanding and adapting to your local context can drive church growth, which in turn provides more resources for global missions.
- Creating a sending culture: Bryant Wright’s talk on connecting churches to God’s global mission will emphasize how to create a church culture that celebrates sending as much as gathering.
Jason Brinker, lead pastor of Catalyst Church in Jacksonville, N.C., is another 2024 speaker we’ll be able to learn from in this area. Catalyst Church has a deep passion for reaching the lost, which is evident in their culture of baptism, a culture that overflows into a church equipped to send!
Lastly, SendNC Church Planting Strategist and 2024 speaker Antoine Lassiter will speak into this as well. Antoine has a healthy perspective on what God is doing in multiplying churches throughout our state. Being on mission together means that every church in North Carolina can have a hand in helping other churches be planted.
Overcoming challenges
While the connection between church growth and increased mission sending is clear, it’s not without challenges. The conference will address common obstacles such as:
- Balancing local and global focus: How to maintain a strong local ministry while increasing global involvement.
- Preparing missionaries effectively: Ensuring that the increased number of potential missionaries are well-prepared for cross-cultural work.
- Sustainable growth: The conference will offer strategies to ensure that church growth remains sustainable, without compromising the quality of discipleship.
The ripple effect
When churches grow and send more workers to unreached nations, it creates a ripple effect:
- Global impact: More unreached people groups hear the gospel.
- Local inspiration: Stories from the mission field inspire further church growth and commitment to missions at home.
- Partnership opportunities: Growing churches can partner with missionaries and indigenous churches in unreached areas, multiplying their impact.
Growth with purpose
The 2024 N.C. Baptist Pastors’ Conference aims to equip leaders with the tools and vision to foster church growth that naturally leads to increased global mission involvement. By focusing on “Growing + Going,” we recognize that a healthy, growing church is not an end in itself, but a powerful means to fulfill the Great Commission.
Join us at the conference to learn more about how your church can grow in numbers and in missional impact. Together, we can see a movement of growing churches sending more workers to the nations, bringing the hope of the gospel to every corner of the world.
