North Florida associations of all sizes cooperate in a myriad of ministries

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Baptist associations in the United States celebrate their 300th anniversary in 2007. The Florida Baptist Witness is honoring Florida's 49 associations in a series of articles that will showcase each association and its ministries. This is the fourth installment.

BEULAH BAPTIST ASSOCIATION

Beulah Baptist Association's Director of Missions James Roberts, on the job for only five months, told Florida Baptist Witness he wants to "build on the groundwork [former DOM Hugh Dampier] laid for us." Roberts was pastor of Pine Grove Baptist Church in Lake City during Dampier's 11-year tenure as DOM. When Dampier retired, Roberts took the reins of Beulah association.

Dampier changed the emphasis in associational missions, moving from "training meetings" to "hands-on" opportunities to minister to communities, and Roberts plans to continue that pattern.

"The association has to change from being program-driven to being ministry-driven," he said. "People today want 'hands on' ministries. They want to see ministry, then they will support it with their money, time and talents."

Roberts plans a three-prong approach to the association becoming a resource for ministry: encouragement, missions and ministry. He wants to start new churches and revitalize declining churches, and mediate and manage issues that affect churches, all the while attending to the needs of pastors and their families, and the needs of the community.

Beulah association touches its communities through several ministries. With the help of a retired licensed counselor, Beulah association offers counseling at its Lake City offices to clients referred by churches. The association underwrites counseling for its churches' pastors and families. Roberts said a fact-finding team is considering the viability of expanding the ministry. Another popular ministry is the annual springtime visit of the Florida Baptist Convention Mobile Dental unit. The association also assists the Baptist Campus Ministry at Lake City Community College.

In ministry outside its north Florida area, construction teams from Beulah association make annual trips to northern West Virginia where they work on and with churches in the Upper Ohio Valley Baptist Association. The 2008 trip will be the fifth early summer ministry excursion to the area.

In its efforts to be a resource to churches, the association recently purchased items that will be available for churches' use. A 4'x 8' portable lighted marquee is useful for promoting special events and "is at a different church every week," Roberts said. Also being outfitted for use is a 6'x 12' trailer called the EMT (Evangelistic Ministry Trailer). Slated for inclusion in the vehicle are a portable generator, bounce house, wet/dry slide, and hot dog, popcorn and cotton candy machines. Roberts expects churches to use the resource for block parties, Vacation Bible School, fall festivals and youth rallies.

Roberts hopes to visit regularly with the pastors of 33 churches, two missions and two at-large church starts of his association, most of which are in Columbia County and within a few miles of the county line in Alachua, Baker, Hamilton, Union and Suwannee counties. Beulah Baptist Association was established in 1879 with the boundaries it maintains 128 years later.

When asked what the work of Beulah association will be like in 10 years as he leads the move "from traditional to contemporary associational work," Roberts said he hopes the number of congregations will double, although it is "a lofty mark to shoot for." What the 58-year-old DOM does not see is his retirement.

"I have no aspiration of ever quitting work," he said. "Retirement is not a good word to me."

HARMONY BAPTIST ASSOCIATION

An advantage of a rural Baptist association is cooperation among the churches, according to Jerry Nash, director of missions of the Harmony Baptist Association in north central Florida. In an association of small churches, you can't worry about getting credit for what you accomplish, he said.

"We need each other," Nash said. "Working together is the key."

Harmony association's 28 churches range in membership from 20 to about 400 "and everything in between," and encompasses small communities including Trenton, Bronson, Cedar Key, Williston and Chiefland. The association was formed 129 years ago from the then-gargantuan Alachua Baptist Association.

When interviewed by Florida Baptist Witness, Nash was in the midst of preparing for several associational events. Harmony association churches participated in a fund-raising banquet to benefit the planned North Central Florida Baptist Children's Home Sept. 21, a trip to Senior Adult jubilee in Gatlinburg, Tenn., and the annual HBA Pastor's Retreat in Daytona. About half of the pastors of Harmony Association had committed to attend the retreat with their wives.

"Every year we question whether we should keep doing the retreat, but every year we come back knowing it was valuable for the ones who participated," Nash said. "Of course, if we dictated all events by a good attendance, we might sit home and do nothing."

The full menu of associational ministries leaves little time for "doing nothing." Harmony is taking the lead in planning a Tri County Crusade in October with evangelist Harold Hunter. The crusade also will welcome the participation of churches of other denominations.

Men of Harmony association are committed to disaster relief work, and transported chain saw crews and trailers to Virginia, West Virginia and South Carolina after weather disasters. They worked after every Gulf Coast hurricane since 2004. Nash finds that the ministry builds camaraderie among the men, some of whom close their businesses or take vacations to participate in the work.

A pregnancy center in Chiefland is sponsored by Harmony association and is staffed by a paid director and dozens of volunteers. The center, open three days a week, has made "a difference in the lives of women and children" in the area, and also has provided an opportunity for volunteers to be involved in the community. Nash told Florida Baptist Witness associational leadership will announce at its annual meeting plans to build a permanent home for the Pregnancy Center.

A ministry "just coming onto the radar" of area churches aims to provide hope and support for those affected by homosexuality, Nash said. An October conference in Gainesville, "Forgiven and Free," will offer guidance to church leadership in dealing with both the person involved in homosexuality and his family. Harmony is offering scholarships to church staff members in the association who attend the event.

"Churches and Christian parents are not immune to this," Nash said. "The individual [involved in homosexuality] needs biblical counsel, and the parents need to know whether to embrace their child's 'new truth' or stand firm on biblical truth."

LAFAYETTE BAPTIST ASSOCIATION

Darel Mitchell's five years of experience leading the work of Lafayette Baptist Association has taught him the importance of getting to know pastors. He spends several hours a week nurturing relationship among the pastors of the 26 churches in his rural association.

Almost a third of Lafayette's pastors are bi-vocational, which poses a challenge in scheduling pastors' meetings. Mitchell told Florida Baptist Witness he tried to have meetings in the evenings to accommodate their schedules, but soon found that noontime meetings are best for all concerned. Mitchell's admiration for bi-vocational pastors has grown through the years.

"I just don't know how they do it," he said. "These men do almost everything a full-time pastor does—preach three times and week and visit the hospitals—but they also work at another job 40 hours a week. They amaze me."

Because of the rural nature of the association, and because it is a 50 mile trip from northeast to southwest, Mitchell schedules bi-weekly pastors' lunch gatherings in alternating areas of the association. His effort has resulted in a "corps of men"—pastors—who are devoted to the work of the association.

"As you get to know these men, they buy into whatever we're doing. I know that whatever we plan, they will be there," Mitchell said. "I can count on them."

The 153-year-old association, which includes portions of Lafayette, Gilchrist, Dixie and Suwannee counties, is based "outside of Bell," Mitchell said. The association's ministries involve almost every age group.

The New Life Pregnancy Center in Cross City is sponsored by the Lafayette association. Although the director and associate director are part-time employees, a cadre of volunteers keeps the center running on Mondays and Thursdays, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. The popular ministry can always use more volunteers, Mitchell said, although "when someone has to back away for a while, another volunteer always steps forward."

The same can be said for the association's 75-member team of trained disaster relief volunteers. "For this size association, to have 75...I'm real happy about that," he said.

Saints Alive, the associational senior adult ministry, meets once a quarter, and monthly youth rallies encourage the teenagers.

Mitchell's administrative assistant, Angie Land, is heading up a year-old counseling ministry sponsored by the association. As a lay counselor, she talks with troubled couples and engaged couples. The service is free, and has expanded to her leading marriage and family life conferences and women's conferences in area churches. Mitchell said the association has now hired another assistant to help with clerical chores.

In every ministry Mitchell continues encouraging pastors and their churches.

"I just want to help them find a vision for their churches and a passion for their communities," he said.

SANTA FE RIVER BAPTIST ASSOCIATION

Fifty years before Gainesville was home to the University of Florida, it was home to the Santa Fe River Baptist Association. Since 1857, the association has offered its churches opportunities to minister among the residents of a changing region.

The association's annual meeting at Forest Grove Baptist Church in Alachua Oct. 22 was the sesquicentennial celebration of the association's founding. A multi-media presentation showcased its history, and past directors of missions—Richard Barber and John Parker—addressed the crowd.

Wayne Harvey, DOM for seven years, professes a love for his job and for the churches of his association.

"There is never a dull moment," he said. "People in our churches are always asking what to do about this or that."

Forty-six churches and four church-sponsored missions make up the association which Harvey calls "a microcosm of the Florida Baptist Convention." When asked to describe his association's demographics, he mentioned ministry in city, suburban, rural and inner city areas, and among Anglo, African-American, Korean and Hispanic populations. The association's church planters, which the association helps to support, have started missions among Hispanics, Anglos and African-Americans.

One of Santa Fe River's oldest ministries is the International Learning Center where volunteers teach conversational English and the Bible. Thousands of international residents of the area have received support and instruction during its more than 30 years of ministry. Presently a dozen teachers teach six levels of English competency to 125 students, many of whom are wives of UF doctoral students and professors, and are of Asian descent, according to Harvey. More than 15,000 internationals live in the area.

A Santa Fe River association team formed five years ago to encourage the formation of a Florida Baptist Childrens' Home campus in the region. Seeing a need to expand the effort, the original team disbanded to form an autonomous organization with the same purpose. The association is still deeply involved and members of its churches serve on the board of directors of Friends of Children. Presently, funds raised in the effort support the work of a social worker who arranges adoptions and provides training for foster parents. A local family donated 10 acres of land for a FBCH campus, and a good portion of the $2.5 million needed to start construction is already on hand.

"This is just getting bigger and bigger," Harvey said.

The association also sponsors a ministry booth at the Alachua County Fair. Churches volunteer to staff the booth in five-hour blocks, and provide varied ministries to fair-goers. Churches offer coffee or cold water, depending on the weather; youth groups perform dramas and puppet shows, while others feature clowns and make animal balloons; other churches offer free blood pressure checks.

"Our churches have had to be creative," Harvey said.

Creativity is a key factor in planning association events, he said. Associational leadership asks three questions of church leadership: 1. What are our churches doing in local ministry? 2. What do they want to do in ministry? 3. How can we help the churches and pastors accomplish the ministries? With the responses, the association will provide information and support in a training event in early 2008.

"We are here for the benefit of the churches. If they are not doing well, we are not doing well," he said.

SUWANNEE BAPTIST ASSOCIATION

Director of Missions Fritz Fountain believes missions is learned by doing, and the Suwannee Baptist Association provides ample opportunities for doing missions. From West Virginia to Jamaica, from Brazil and back to Live Oak, volunteers are active in ministry.

Missions is even built into the official name of the association - Suwannee Missionary Baptist Association. Though seldom used, the official name comes from its days as one of Florida's first associations, formed when Primitive Baptists and Missionary Baptists split about 130 years ago.

Now several generations later, Suwannee association includes 39 churches, including Peace River Baptist Church which was received during the association's annual meeting Oct. 16. The association sponsors two Hispanic missions which minister to the migrants who work in the area. Together, the churches and missions serve the residents of tiny communities and small towns surrounding Live Oak, home of the association's offices.

"Nobody wants to vote to extend the city limits, but everybody wants to live close by," Fountain said.

Individual churches of the association maintain active partnerships with Brazil and Honduras, and Suwannee association annually sends volunteers to work in Jamaica. Most of the trips are arranged through International Impact Ministries, a ministry of Charles Pinkerton, who has worked in relationship with the association and its churches more than 30 years.

Fountain, who has served as DOM four years, initiated annual associational mission trips to West Virginia. On their third trip there, more than 50 volunteers from 10 churches traveled to Fayetteville in July to conduct Vacation Bible School, canvass neighborhoods and transform a former school building into a home for Evangel Fellowship church. Construction workers erected a stage and a steeple for the church, and also worked to furnish an apartment that will be used for future mission volunteers.

In 2006 the Floridian volunteers led VBS in the Beckwith Community in West Virginia, and saw 12 make professions of faith - doubling the membership of the church.

The annual trip, termed "total saturation" by Fountain, has fostered a fellowship among its participants "that overwhelms us," he said. At the end of the trip, crossing Interstate 75 on the way back to Live Oak is the signal for testimonies to begin on the chartered bus. As sharing comes to an end, the group sings "Lord, Prepare Me to be a Sanctuary" as they come into the city limits.

"This trip builds a love for each other you would not believe," Fountain said. "It's like church wishes it was."

The 2008 West Virginia mission trip is scheduled July 18-25, and Fountain is hoping for 70 Suwannee association volunteers.

The association also counts disaster relief as one of its ministries. More than 200 volunteers receive disaster relief training yearly. For several years, especially during the 2004 active hurricane season, the association borrowed a trailer. Then Mount Olive Baptist Church called Pastor John Watkins, who had previously equipped a disaster relief trailer. Now the association has its own trailer available for use.

"Every time we have a problem, God solves it," Fountain said.