This week, my wife and I were blessed to participate in our Texas Baptists Church Starters Retreat in Galveston. Approximately 125 people attended and participated. On Sunday night, we recognized Dr. Tom Howe, who has served as director of Church Starting for almost seven years, with about 152 churches started during that period.

As Tom takes on the assignment of director of Church Health and Growth, he passed the baton to Dr. Clay Jacobson, who is moving from director of Cooperative Program to director of Church Starting. We praise God that we currently have about 100 active church starts. Most are in Texas, but several are in other states. Texas Baptists is literally being witnesses in our Jerusalem, our Judea, our Samaria and beyond!

This week, I continue our conversation about our GC2 reimagined from last week. As we think about how Acts 1:8 applies to each of us, our churches and our convention, we ask: “Is GC2 an effort for BGCT to become a national convention as an alternative to the SBC?”

The simple answer is “no.” We don’t want to be a national convention. We don’t need another national convention. We also don’t desire to compete with the SBC or any other Baptist body. There is too much lostness in the state, the country and the world to think in terms of “competition.”

It is important to remember that Texas Baptists is not an agency of the Southern Baptist Convention, although we celebrate our 139-year history of cooperating with it. Texas Baptists is an agency of Texas Baptists churches. The local church is the headquarters of our ministry. Thus, we respect the local churches’ freedom to choose with whom they cooperate for the cause of missions within the Baptist family.

While the autonomy of the local church has been a long-held principle among Baptists, there was a day when churches neatly related geographically with their local association, state convention and national convention. While I liked the simplicity and efficiency of those days, not all churches follow this pattern today.

Some churches relate to a local association that is in a different part of the state. Some bypass the association and relate only to the state convention and the national convention. Yet others relate to two state conventions or two national conventions, including many of our ethnic churches. Some only relate to the local association and/or the state convention.

Historically, many, if not most, of our Texas Baptists churches are also affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. We respect the freedom of churches in directing their Cooperative Program contributions. Some follow the 79% BGCT 21% SBC adopted plan. Some give a lower percentage to BGCT and a higher percentage to SBC. And yet others give 100% to BGCT.

Texas Baptists has working agreements with NAMB for church planting in Texas and in North America, and it has a working agreement with the IMB that includes our Baptist Student Ministry GoNow Missions and our MAP missionaries. Additionally, we have a partnership with the Baptist World Alliance for work with other national Baptist conventions globally.

While we are not trying to become a national convention, we do acknowledge that our footprint has been larger than Texas for quite some time. Churches outside of Texas have affiliated with BGCT since the 1970s. Approximately half of the 70 churches outside of Texas that are affiliated with Texas Baptists are churches that were started by churches in Texas.

Even so, we do not have an expansion agenda or strategy for recruiting more churches outside of Texas. Our “expansion” strategy is to serve our existing churches, whether they are in Texas or in another state, as they reach the lost in their communities and around the world. The Great Commandment and the Great Commission belong to them.

We have had partnerships with national Baptist conventions for decades as we seek to live out Acts 1:8. Being witnesses in our Jerusalem, our Judea, our Samaria and the ends of the earth is the responsibility of every believer, every church, every association and every convention.

Living out the Great Commandment and the Great Commission does not naturally lead to working in isolation or competition with others. On the contrary, the urgency and immensity of the task call for greater cooperation with those who are like-minded biblically and missionally.

We are not trying to be a national convention, but we are a state convention with a national and global network that seeks to cooperate with others. We are a welcoming home for like-minded Baptists.

We do not want to be caught in the polarized political and denominational culture that seeks to pull to the extreme left or right. We resist the drift in either direction. We want to stay focused on the mission. More about doctrinal soundness and mission faithfulness in next week’s update.

For now, let me encourage you to make sure leaders from your church attend our Conclave NextGen event in Arlington on Oct. 6-7. This is a 2-day event that provides encouragement, worship experience, networking, training and resources for those who oversee any component of NextGen or Family ministry in the local church. We have designed Conclave NextGen to fit the needs of individuals who come on their own, as well as the church that brings a team of leaders.