Refresh Montana Recap

It was a joy to be with many of you in Missoula on October 6-7th for our first Refresh Montana. Our hope was that it would have the feel of a Mission’s Conference, with the impact of a Revival Service and it delivered on both fronts. Dr. Steve Gaines, our SBC President, stoked the fire for spiritual renewal through prayer and our Prayer Summit with Don Pierson provided the opportunity for some focused time of prayer. We corporately cried out to the Lord for repentance and refreshing in our own walk with the Lord and for the collective mission we share. It was such a blessing to see so many pastors praying over one another and it set the stage for us to set a new course in Montana with the election of Dr. Barrett Duke as our new Executive Director.

There were overwhelming approvals of our new budget, nominations to boards, and for the reports from our Strategy Team, Starting Team, and Next Gen Team. I was honored to be chosen again to serve as the MTSBC President, and I will work with Lee Merck as the Vice President over the next year to lead the Administrative Team and the Executive Board. If you did not receive a Ministry Overview (formerly the Book of Reports) you can contact the MTSBC office for a copy.

We will enter 2017 with new momentum and new leadership. Dr. Barrett Duke officially begins his duties on January 1st. In this time of transition, Barrett will finish his responsibilities with the Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission and prepare to move to Billings in December. The ERLC has been so gracious in this process and will allow him to communicate continually with the MTSBC office and begin preparations for MPACT Montana in March. The Administrative Team has given Barrett the authority to serve as the Executive Director “Elect” until January. Stan Bricker will help with some administrative duties over the next three months and Bree and Jeannie have our full confidence to handle the day to day needs of the MTSBC.

Fred Hewett will be passing on the executive director duties to Barrett Duke.

SBC President Dr. Steve Gaines presents his message on prayer to the attendees.

Refresh 2016 was held at Crosspoint Community Church in Missoula, MT.

Attendees at Refresh enjoy catching up with their friends and co-laborers.

As we evaluate the reformatted annual meeting, we will consider ideas to make it even better next year. We have already had many requests to include a lunch for our pastor’s wives and possibly one more session for more breakouts for equipping. These add value to gathering. We believe the video format allowed us to streamline much of the annual reports, while highlighting the work of the SBC around the world. We want to continue this high quality communication and have even more interaction with missionaries from the field. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to send me an email.