Dear Pastor,

I trust that you have been praying for the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force (GCRTF) over the course of the last year.  As you know, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) formed the GCRTF to look at how we as a convention could more faithfully and effectively fulfill the Great Commission.

The GCRTF has released its final report.  The SBC will consider the report in Orlando at this year’s convention.  We all owe a debt of gratitude to the GCRTF members for their tireless work.

Some have asked where the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (SBCV) stands on the report.  Others have asked how it will affect our work if approved.  This brief note seeks to answers these questions.

First of all, the SBCV is a fellowship of churches, each of which is autonomous.  Furthermore, each church that contributes to the Cooperative Program has the opportunity to send messengers to the convention.  Those messengers are charged to seek the Lord’s will and make decisions about issues that are presented there.  Thus, in the strictest sense, the SBCV will not cast a vote on the matter.  Messengers from our churches will vote their conscience before the Lord, and this is as it should be.

Having acknowledged this, there are some things one can readily affirm regarding the SBCV and a Great Commission resurgence.  Chief among them is that the SBCV exists for the Great Commission.  Our purpose statement is.

The Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia is a fellowship of Southern Baptist Convention churches cooperating to assist local congregations in their task of fulfilling the Great Commission as commanded by our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thus, the sentiment and effort to pursue with abandon the Great Commission resonates well with our network.  Also, the SBCV’s purpose statement recognizes that we exist to assist churches in fulfilling the Great Commission.  As one of its principles, the GCRTF calls for a recognition of the primacy of the local church.  We gladly affirm this principle and seek to operate in accord with it. 

Previous to the formation of the GCRTF, the SBCV launched its own internal study to see how we might more faithfully and effectively assist local congregations in fulfilling the Great Commission.  The result was the Vision 20/20 Report.  It was approved unanimously by our messengers in our 2009 Annual Homecoming.  It calls for the SBCV to be a:

• Multiplying missional network in which we double the number of churches from over 500 to over 1,000;
• Mobilizing missional network in which 500 churches commit to the Acts 1:8 Challenge;
• Maturing missional network in which 500 churches move to the next level in congregational health;
• Sacrificial missional network in which an additional .25% of Cooperative Program receipts will be forwarded to SBC mission causes each year for the next decade, subject to an annual review;
• Streamlined missional network in which our staff and calendar are streamlined for optimal Kingdom impact;
• Contextualized missional network in which the unchanging message of the Gospel is communicated in the most effective manner possible for our context.

Where the GCRTF Report coincides with our God-given vision, there is obvious agreement.  Points of commonality are many and significant.

The GCRTF report also issues 11 challenges directly to state conventions such as the SBCV.  I rejoice that we embody the bulk of these already.  Let me cite three examples and comment on each:

• "Make church planting a priority and develop church planting partnerships with North American urban centers and underserved regions outside of the Southeast.”  Half of all CP monies that are retained by the SBCV are dedicated to church planting.  Church planting is our convention’s first priority and is a recognized hallmark of our network. We also target one of the world’s great urban centers in Washington, DC.
• “Determine to return to the historic ideal of a 50/50 Cooperative Program distribution between the state convention and the SBC.”  We historically followed this distribution plan but have since surpassed this ideal and have adopted a plan to incrementally go to a 47.5/52.5 distribution.
• “Recognize the powerful witness of Disaster Relief programs as Southern Baptists have touched millions of lives in the aftermath of disaster and in a moment of acute need.”  By the grace of God, we have a very active and growing Disaster Relief Ministry that is nationally recognized for its effectiveness.

The bottom line is that the GCRTF Report has a compelling goal.  The strategies for pursuing that goal are outlined in the report, but the specifics of implementation will fall to respective autonomous boards and entities.  It is likely that the implementation phase will result in outcomes that differ, to one degree or another, from the original proposals. 

The viability of it all depends upon our honesty before God.  Let me explain.  The GCRTF’s proposals can succeed if everyone who votes for the recommendations does so with the utmost of integrity.  One of the core values set forth in the GCRTF Report is that: “We tell each other the truth in love and do what we say we will do.” 

Let me give an example of an issue that depends upon us “do[ing] what we say we will do.”  At numerous places within the report, the Cooperative Program is affirmed.  Every church is challenged to increase its giving through that specific channel: “We call upon the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention to increase the percentage of their Cooperative Program giving.”  I take this to mean that a vote for the GCRTF Report carries with it a commitment to return to one’s local church and set about the task of increasing CP giving.

At the SBCV, we intend to live with integrity.  The same report that challenges churches to increase CP giving issues a challenge to state networks: “We call upon the state conventions to increase the percentage of Cooperative Program funds directed to the Southern Baptist Convention.”  We have begun that process and, as mentioned above, have a 10-year plan to continue incremental increases.  Projections indicate that this will result in an additional $1.2 million over the next decade for our national/international SBC causes. 

Someone might ask, “But how can the SBCV give an additional $1.2 million to the SBC while receiving $600,000 less per year (due to the elimination of cooperative agreements) and assuming more responsibilities (for duties such as CP promotion, assisting pioneer state conventions, etc.)?”  Let me be clear—we can only do this as individual believers, families, and local churches take up the challenge with us.

If we, as a people, lack integrity, the adoption of this report may mean the slow demise of the SBC, whose cooperative efforts have spanned the globe in an unprecedented fashion.   If we are a people of integrity, the adoption of this report can mean our greatest days of ministry are ahead.  May God grant that the latter be so!

Jeff Ginn
Executive Director
SBC of Virginia
4101 Cox Road, Suite 100?
Glen Allen, VA 23060?
888.234.7716
www.sbcv.org

"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace" (Acts 20:24).

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