LOUISVILLE—When Bill Mackey talks about the Kentucky Baptist Convention’s new mission study plan, his enthusiasm is obvious.

Picking up a well-worn Bible from his desk, he quickly turns to several passages that reflect the ministry emphasis of the KBC mission.

“The key passage is John 15,” Mackey noted, citing Jesus’ teaching to His disciples that “I am the vine, you are the branches.”

“I think that is one of the key passages describing what we mean by ‘connecting,’” Mackey explained. “It describes connecting people in an intimate relationship to Jesus and the kind of relationship we’re to have with Jesus if we’re to connect other people to Him.”

The KBC’s role in helping Kentucky Baptist churches and associations connect people to Christ is spelled out in a 10-page Mission Study Committee report adopted in May by the KBC Mission Board. The 15-member study committee was established last year to recommend changes needed for KBC ministries “to be more effective in the 21st century.”

The starting point, according to Mackey and committee chairman Scott Kilgore, was to craft a KBC mission statement to guide the work of the state convention in the coming years. The result was a one-sentence, 25-word statement: “The mission of the Kentucky Baptist Convention is to assist Kentucky Baptist Convention churches and ministries and associations in connecting all people to Jesus Christ.”

Once that was finalized, the committee put together a series of objectives and goals addressing such issues as evangelism, missions, leader training, networking and strengthening churches.

“The mission statement grew out of our initial discussions,” said Kilgore, executive pastor of Living Hope Baptist Church in Bowling Green. “As we were trying to come to grips with difference pieces of the puzzle, the concept of connecting was put forth.

“For me, the whole idea of connecting carries the meaning of a conduit and how can we streamline, structure and network so that the power of God is not impeded?” Kilgore added. “It became a statement of how we can get out of the way and allow God to use these various entities and ourselves.”

Emphasizing that the mission statement “speaks more of direction and relationship vs. structure or program,” he noted, “It’s a very intentional statement about recognizing that our strength and effectiveness relies on how we’re connected to each other and connected to God—and that is something you can’t program.”

KBC President Paul Badgett said he is pleased that the mission statement includes a strong focus on evangelism.

“If you look at the whole mission statement, that is the direction we’re headed in,” said Badgett, pastor of First Baptist Church of Pikeville. “It is so biblical and so right. It is something I think all Kentucky Baptists can rally around and support.”

Citing the need for strong evangelistic efforts in many unevangelized counties in Eastern Kentucky, Badgett added, “As a pastor in Eastern Kentucky, I have become keenly aware that I am on a mission field.”

He said the convention’s new mission statement “gives direction for Kentucky Baptist ministry not only here in Kentucky but around the world as we connect people to Jesus.”

As convention leaders prepare to implement strategies to fulfill the KBC mission, Badgett has named a nine-member Mission Advisory Committee to assist and advise Mackey in that process (see related article). Eight of the nine members, including chairman Charles Barnes, also served on the initial Mission Study Committee.

Affirming the KBC’s future ministry direction, Mackey declared, “Our potential is far greater with this proposal than without it.”

Emphasizing that “God will provide the resources” for the plan’s ambitious goals, he added, “I believe that money follows God’s leadership.”

Part of that money will come from a $300,000 transition fund made available from excess KBC post-retirement fund resources.

Mackey said initial goals include launching new ministry strategies by the fall of 2004. “One of the dreams,” he added, “is for every church to look at every street, every neighborhood to discover people who need a touch from God and who would respond to a witness.”

Among ways the KBC will help support such goals is to provide four church development strategists based regionally across the state.

“I see it more as a shifting of resources,” Mackey said. “We’re trying to get personnel closer to the churches so they can customize to the regions as they learn more about the needs of the regions.”

Other goals include providing more customized consultation services to churches “rather than them coming to a conference to receive the services of the convention.” Church-to-church networking and Web-based resources also will be part of the mix.

“Drawing upon people resources is going to be the great strength of this plan,” Mackey said. “God working through people is the foundational principle.”

As Kentucky Baptist leaders seek to implement the mission plan, Kilgore pointed out, “There’s really nothing new in what we’re saying; what can be new is how we go about our mission.

“This is something that has grown out of grassroots observation,” he added. “We hope it will be embraced by those who are in the trenches, doing the front-line work—our people, our churches, our associations and all those under the KBC umbrella.”