BSCNC and IMB Announce Commissioning Service, Release Latest InSight Podcast
By Douglas Baker

CARY (BSCNC Communications) - The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSCNC) and the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention (IMB) announced today a joint commissioning service for Southern Baptist missionaries on Nov. 11, 2008, at the 178th annual session of the Convention. The IMB Commissioning Service is a time when missionaries and the churches from which they come gather for worship, prayer, the reading of Holy Scripture, and preaching in preparation for their deployment to the field of service.  Rarely are they convened outside of local churches, but at the request of North Carolina Baptist leadership, the IMB approved the appointment service to coincide with the state convention’s annual meeting.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for North Carolina Baptists,” stated Milton A. Hollifield, Jr., BSCNC Executive Director-Treasurer.  “This convention of churches resides in a strategic partnership with the mission boards of the Southern Baptist Convention, and this service of worship will dynamically reveal just how magnificent the work of the International Mission Board truly is because of the faithful sacrifice and investment of local Southern Baptist churches.”

“We are living in crucial times for the proclamation of the gospel,” said Dr. Jerry Rankin, President of the International Mission Board, “and it is during moments like these when we come together as a family of Southern Baptist churches where we thank God for His mighty power in calling out men and women for missionary service. It’s a time to recommit our lives and our churches to investing in the missionary imperative given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ.”

“We stand on the shoulders of giants who have left us a legacy of faithfulness and zeal for the gospel that we dare not abandon,” Hollifield said. “I am prayerfully anticipating that this service of worship will be a time when all North Carolina Baptists come together expecting a mighty move of God in our midst. I hope every church throughout the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina will send a large delegation to Greensboro to participate and display before a watching world the vital connection between local churches, state conventions, and the national entities of the Southern Baptist Convention. It is here we find our purpose as a denomination – to go into all the world and preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The IMB Commissioning Service will coincide with an entire evening focused on missions and mission partnerships through the various outreaches of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina and the Southern Baptist Convention. A parade of flags representing the SBC missionary presence in the world will highlight the vast engagement of local churches and their impact through their gifts to the Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions, and the North Carolina Missions Offering. The service will begin at 6:30 p.m.  at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, N.C.

To highlight the importance of both the ongoing partnership between the BSCNC, the IMB and the Commissioning Service, the BSCNC also released its latest podcast detailing the work of the IMB and the role the Commissioning Service serves for missionaries, their families, and their local churches.

“Most Southern Baptists have no idea what the IMB does every day for the missionaries who are serving on international fields of service,” said Douglas Baker, BSCNC Director of Public Relations and host of the InSight Podcast. “Since the early days of our Convention’s founding a critical concern has been for the nations of the world and the mandate of Jesus to proclaim the gospel to every creature.  This podcast shows how that priority continues to be accomplished – from the early beginnings in 1845 to the present.”

The InSight Podcast features Dr. Tom Eliff, Senior Vice-President for Spiritual Nurture and Church Relations for the IMB; Jim Riddell, Team Leader for the Personnel Consulting Team; and John (last name withheld for security purposes), Regional Leader for the North Africa/Middle East (NAME) section of the world.

The two-part interview begins with an overview of the IMB and its method for identifying, assessing, training, deploying, and nurturing Southern Baptist missionaries. The thorough process for missionary selection reflects “the sacred trust given us by the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention,” said Riddell whose office is often the first contact for potential missionaries. “We are about making sure that those who are called of God for service with us are prepared and carefully deployed in ways which would be the best for them and their family as they work to win people to the Lord.”

The second part of the interview details various strategies employed by the IMB to reach various cultures with the gospel.  It highlights the work of the IMB to avoid “gospel reductionism” and stresses that each missionary be able to carefully share the gospel as articulated by Holy Scripture. “Becoming a Christian is more than praying a prayer,” stated John, “and we do not allow or any sort of magical thinking to enter our work especially in Muslim countries where becoming a Christian could easily result in death.”

The writings and work of Dr. Bruce Ashford, Director of the Center for Great Commission Studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, are also reviewed and assessed as foundational for any sort of cultural engagement which seeks to avoid any misconstrued view of salvation. 

“Anyone who listens to this podcast will come away with not only a better understanding of the mission and day to day operations of the International Mission Board, but a greater understanding of missiology in general and how the IMB is working to saturate the world with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ,” Baker said.  “The vital work of the IMB and the partnerships of local churches to pray, give, and encourage cannot be overstated, and these IMB leaders represent some of Southern Baptist’s finest statesmen.”

Access the InSight Podcast here.  Learn more about the mission and work of the IMB here.  Learn more about the Lewis A. Drummond Center for Great Commission Studies here.

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