October 2021
Chicagoland Baptists,
Why do Baptists seem to like business meetings? Well, at the local church level it’s because we hold to ‘the priesthood of all believers’. God gives leaders to churches to guide them (Heb. 13:7), but the ultimate authority lies in the congregation itself (Mt. 18:17), not in pastors, presbyteries, or popes. So we meet together to make important decisions pertaining to the life of the church.
And then Baptist churches cooperate together at local (CMBA), state (IBSA), and national (SBC) levels to advance the gospel and start new churches. Each local church can send ‘messengers’ (2Cor. 8:23) to these meetings to represent the will of their churches in those decisions. See below for a couple of these types of business meetings coming up soon!
Here are some people to know about – Pastors Jeremy Crowe, Leandro Gomez, and Steve Laughlin. It’s been a whirlwind of a season for Armitage Baptist Church! In 2019, their long-time senior pastor resigned after an extended leave of absence, followed quickly by the COVID-19 pandemic. The three remaining pastors (Jeremy, Leandro, and Steve) resonated with the Apostle Paul – “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead” (2Cor. 1:8-9). They’ve had to rely deeply on God’s ever-present grace to endure this season, but they have found the Lord faithful!
One big lesson they believe God is teaching them is the importance of a team – and more specifically of truly collaborative leadership. They had to quickly learn to function in plurality out of necessity; they needed each other’s support, experience, gifts and balance. But this led to a decision to transition to a plural model of eldership, or a Council of Pastors, as described in Alexander Strauch’s book Biblical Eldership. As they describe it, in this model there is no hierarchy in the pastoral team. There is often a leader, but leadership is based on gifting, not position. Each elder/pastor on the team has unique gifts and strengths, and is deferred to in matters related to those strengths. They are excited to see the church get behind this decision with real conviction. They are also finding out that approaches to church and urban ministry that perhaps worked well in previous decades fall flat now and are having to relearn how to be missional in their rapidly changing context in Logan Square. They are currently in a search for a new lead pastor (as opposed to senior pastor), who is passionate about the city, plurality, and the challenges of disciple-making in a post-Christian context. The challenges have been profound, and continue to refine, but they can testify to the sustaining grace of Jesus, which is sufficient.
Here are some events to know about –
Want to get away with some men from your church? Check out the Refocus Retreat for Men October 29th to 30th at nearby Streator Baptist Camp. More info here.
Have some teen girls in your church? Consider bringing them to AWSOM, a discipleship conference November 5th and 6th in Decatur. More info here.
THRIVE, the IBSA Pastors’ Conference and Annual Meeting is coming up November 2nd through 4th. This is a great way to fellowship and participate in what we are doing together. More info here.
Are there women leaders in your church that could benefit from some training? There’s a free, one-day IBSA event on Women's Ministry Leadership Essentials November 8th at Alpha Baptist Church in Bolingbrook. Breakfast and lunch are provided. More info here.
The CMBA Annual Meeting is on November 20th. More details to come.
Here’s something else to know about – Have you done your estate planning? Have all the members of your church? IBSA has partnered with FreeWill to make this important part of financial stewardship simple, quick, and FREE! Check it out here.
As always, feel free to reach out to us with questions, prayer requests, needs, announcements, etc…!
Grateful for Grace,
Bryan R. Price
Zone 1 Church Consultant
Leadership Development Team
Illinois Baptist State Association – Chicagoland
630-908-0853 (Cell)
Nathan Carter
Zone 1 Church Consultant
Leadership Development Team
Illinois Baptist State Association – Chicagoland
312-493-3726 (Cell)
Follow @ChicagolandBaptists on Facebook
Prayer Calls every Wednesday from 9:00 to 9:30 AM!
First Wednesdays of the Month are discussions from 9:00 to 10:00 AM.