by Linzy Slayden
“The Baptist Bible Fellowship is a fellowship of pastors. The churches that they pastor have as their purpose the propagation of the Gospel throughout the world. We have no ecclesiastical hierarchy dictating to our churches their mode of operation or program. Our doctrine is simply stated in and based on the Articles of Faith as presented by our Constitution and By-Laws. In carrying out our purpose of propagating the Gospel we agreed to work together in a common effort as churches in missions and education.”
These are the words of then BBFI President Verle Ackerman in a 1983 “President’s Perspective” article. He goes on to say there is a great need to keep the conviction of strong pastoral leadership to maintain pure doctrine and an aggressive evangelistic thrust: “The authority of our Fellowship does not lie in Springfield, but in the local churches and their pastors. We are thankful for the Mission office, our colleges and the Tribune but our power base is in the grass roots where pastors gather in state meetings for preaching and those business matters necessary to maintain pure doctrine and consistent philosophy.”
This article reminds us that much of our Fellowship’s success in the early and middle years was due to the strong participation of pastors in our state organizations. It is on this grass-roots level that churches are started, missionaries are supported, and young people surrender to full-time ministry. It is back to those same roots that these same young people must return pure in doctrine with a vision to help win a lost world to Christ.
2014 can be a great year for the BBFI. I encourage all pastors to have a part in this great work of God. We can build our Fellowship together. Our present operation provides for a flow of leadership, input, and openness from pastors at the grass-roots level of the states to the leadership of our Fellowship, and we are constantly trying to improve this communication.
When all is said and done, it is on our pastors that both the responsibility and accountability lie. I believe this local church and pastoral emphasis is a strength of the BBFI.
So it begins with the pastors! I encourage all pastors to accept this responsibility. It is a simple thing to invite another pastor to join them for a state or national meeting, but it means a lot. If there is no state fellowship, start one. If it has been inactive, jumpstart it back to life. Each church, under the pastor’s leadership, can pray for the Lord to call folks into the ministry and send more young people to our colleges; each church can be a sending church for a missionary, and each church can set a goal of starting a church as soon as possible.
Life is a journey and every journey has a destination. Everybody ends up somewhere. A few people end up somewhere on purpose. The great work of the Fellowship depends on pastors working together on purpose.