The Blog

What does it mean to be a misisonal church? There is a lot of talking going around these days about churches being on mission both in their local communities and around the world. I believe one really good answer has come to us in the book written by Ed Stetzer titled, Breaking the Missional Code.

Stetzer makes the point that churches who have broken the missional code have discovered what makes a community tick. These churches are connecting with people in their communities. As I began to think about my own personal experiences, I would like to mention a few churches in my past where I have seen churches break the missional code.

In New Jersey, there is a Presbyterian church in New Providence that provides an event once a month to youth called “Fire Escape.” Fire Escape is essentially a coffee house, a place to dance, and a place for teenagers to socialize. This youth ministry uses Fire Escape as one of the main entry points for teenagers to connect in a socially relevant way.

Another church that I experienced recently is the famous Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas led by Ed Young, Jr. Young seems to connect with people on a regular basis with his creativity talking on relevant subjects. Although the service that I attended did not make a strong connection with me, it was obvious that Young and his entire ministry are connecting with thousands of people in relevant ways.

I could probably go on and on about churches that are connecting in relevant ways so the gospel message of Jesus Christ can be shared. How about you? What churches have you attended in the past or know about that are breaking the missional code?

The missional code is different for every community. It is up to us as Christian leaders to figure out how we can best reach the people of our local communities. Ask the Lord for insight how you can break the missional code in your community. Share Jesus as you meet the needs of people in relevant ways.

Over the past few months Friendship Baptist Church in Ft. Atkinson, WI has begun the process of retooling their church. It began back in August when the church agreed to take a Church Health Survey put together by Church Central (www.churchcentral.com). In the following weeks, the survey was completed by the congregation and the results were delivered to the congregation.

On November 5, Robert and Sherry Timmons announced the resignation of Robert as pastor from Friendship. Sicne that time, Clint Calvert and his church health team from the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention (www.mwbc.org) has come in and officially begun the process of transitioning.

The church now has a transition team at work. Team members are made up of three members of the church and three members of the MWBC church health team. I am grateful to be working with this team as we experience a new beginning. Please be in prayer for Friendship Church as they select a new pastor to guide them through the transition.

Please be in prayer for the transition team as they work together to see God’s will accomplished at Fort Atkinson.

We have two new churches starting in 2007. One will be planted by Chad Cummings, who is currently the Associate Pastor at First Baptist Winthrop Harbor in Chicago. Chad will be coming to the field starting his official day on February 1, 2007. Please be in prayer for Chad to sell his home and for the start of Three Rivers Fellowship Church in Lacrosse.

The second church will be started by Paul Fries who is coming from Graceville, Florida. Paul is currently serving as the Director of Missions for the Holmes County Baptist Association in Florida. Paul, a native of Richland County, is coming back home to plant a church in Richland Center which he will call Heartland Church.

There are three ways you can be a partner with these two church planters:

1. Prayer – Be in prayer for them ast they move. They both need to sell their homes. Also, be in prayer for them as move and begin to build core groups.

2. People – Bring a misison team for your church or consider volunteering to help them.

3. Provisions – Help contribute to their church plant financially. Both of these men and their families have stepped out in faith God will provide.

If you would like to be a partner in any way please contact me, Mark Millman, in the Central Association office at 608-825-9946 or e-mail me at mark@cbaow.net.

After a number of weeks of getting settled, our office has officially moved to 2340 Manley Drive, also the the home of Prairie Springs Church. Below is the information how you can contact us:

Central Baptist Associaiton
2340 Manley Drive
Sun Prairie, WI 53590
Phone: 608-825-9946

You can continue to e-mail me at mark@cbaow.net.

We have great news as we have several different volunteer groups planning to come to Madison. From November 16-21, a group of 69 people will be coming from Louisiana Tech to help the campus ministry at UW-Madison. They will also be leading worship in four of our churhces in the area.

Next summer two more groups will be coming in July to support the work of the ministry in Madison. This past week Pastor Craig Carlisle and his Minister of Education, Ken Bush, came for a pre-mission visit to meet with our Madison pastors. They toured all of our Madison area churches and the community. Their group will be here from July 22-28.

Another group wil be here next summer from the Greater Cleveland County Baptist Association in North Carolina. Led by their Director of Missions, Keith Dixon, their group will be here from July 6-15 to also meet needs in the churches and communities of Madison.

Please be in prayer for these groups as they prepare and come to help us in the CBA. We praise God for raising up laborers for the harvest here in southern Wisconsin!

On Sunday, November 5, Robert Timmons resigned as pastor of Friendship Baptist Church in Ft. Atkinson. Robert and his wife Sherry have felt the Lord leading them to interim work as pastor and being a Director of Missions. We are grateful for the service they provided in our association, especially his work as interim DOM for the CBA. May God bless Robert and Sherry as they explore the next step God has for them in their lives.

On October 13-14 in Portage at River of Life Church, we had over 100 people gather from 12 different churches in the Central Baptist Associaiton. This attendance was the highest in many years for an annual meeting or training event for the CBA.

Building Powerful Ministry Teams Workshop

Our workshop was conducted on Friday evening and Saturday morning. Doug Jividen, pastor of Plymouth Baptist Church in Plymouth, Indiana led the workshop. Jividen’s church has grown from 40 to 500 during his tenure as pastor. Many principles on teamwork were shared over the course of the two days.

Annual Meeting

The annual meeting was also well attended and reports were given from the Church Planting Team and the Church Development Team. One highlight that stood out was the adoption of the Madison Hmong Baptist Church into the CBA. Lao Po Vang, the minister of education represented the Hmong church during the meeting.

Children’s Camp

There were 35 children who attended the children’s camp led by Randy Smith and her team from the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention. The camp allowed many people to attend from churches.

Thanks for your participation

Thank you to all of you who came and were part of the weekend. Many people were encouraged by the weekend as training was conducted, new friendships were started, and important business was completed. We look forward to seeing you next year when Pastor Mike Milburn of First Baptist Burleson, Texas will be with us as the featured speaker.

Please take note that the Central Association office has officially moved to 2340 Manley Road in Sun Prairie. Thanks for your patience as we unpack and settle in over the next few days. Our phone number, e-mail, and fax number will continue to be the same.

Today I visited Midvale Baptist Church, the first Southern Baptist church in the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention. The congregation of Midvale said goodbye today to Paul Harwood, pastor, and his wife Jerry. Paul and Jerry will be moving to Nevada next week as Paul becomes the Director of Missions for the Northeast Baptist Association in Nevada.

Paul served as the pastor at Midvale for eight years and he brought stability to the congregation. After the service today, the congregation had a potluck dinner which included a tribute to Paul and Jerry.

Please be in prayer for the Harwoods as they move to Nevada and for Midvale Baptist as they search for a new pastor in the weeks and months to come.

This week 13 of our 14 pastors in the Central Baptist Association were interviewed by a team from the North American Mission Board. The purpose of these interviews was for specific needs to be revealed so the CBA can do a better job resourcing our churches. The results will be compiled and studied and then a prescription meeting will be held in early January 2007.

Why have these interviews? The main reason to have these interviews is so we as an association can become relevant to our churches. Our vision is to resource churches to fulfill the Great Commission in their own community. I belive many needs were surfaced this week and our association will be challenged by the answers given during the interview process.

If you have any questions about the results or findings of the diagnostic survey, please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at mark@cbaow.net or call the office at 608-825-9946.