I hope you’re as encouraged about the future of God’s work in Montana as I am. I feel like we’ve made great strides since the Covid years shut down so much. Many of our churches have experienced significant growth as Christians have felt permission or the need to find new church homes. Attendance is also up at our state and regional meetings. We’re starting to get out again, and that’s a good sign.
We’re not in the same place as we were before Covid hit, though. We still have ground to regain, and communities are still in great need. Until our pastors and churches are truly spiritually healthy, we will struggle to be and do all that God wants.
That’s what MPact 2023 will be about. We’re going to focus on personal and church health. The schedule is already available at www.mtsbc.org/mpact. when you go there, you’ll see that we have two fantastic speakers coming to be with us to help us learn how to achieve new levels of spiritual and organizational health.
Ken Sande will be with us to talk about individual spiritual health. To serve each other and our communities in the way we need to, we need spiritually healthy Christians in the pulpit and in the pew. Ken has been helping Christians reach new levels of spiritual health for decades. I can assure you that he will speak into our lives.
We also have Dr. John Yeats coming to be with us. Dr. Yeats has been the Executive Director of the Missouri Baptist Convention for more than a decade. He has had successful pastorates for more than two decades. John knows what a spiritually healthy church and leadership team looks like and how to help them get there. I know he will have some really helpful counsel for us.
In addition to our two great lead speakers, the worship team from Crossway Baptist will be back with us to lead us in worship. They always do a wonderful job. They always help me sing praise to God.
You’ll also see that we have set aside two hours for affinity group time again. This was very well received last year, so we’re doing it again. Reach out to some people you want to spend some time with to talk about areas of ministry you have in common or to pray together. That time is just for you and whatever you want to do with it. If you’d like to have a place to meet, let Jeannie know right away so we can reserve it for you. It will be first come, first served. There are plenty of places in the hotel, so I’m sure you can find a spot if you want to be more spontaneous, too.
Planning for the breakout sessions is almost completed, too. In keeping with our theme of church health, we’re going to have a special 2 1/2 hour deacon training time on Friday, March 3. It’s hard for churches to reach and maintain true spiritual health without an effective deacon team. Perhaps you have some new deacons that have not had any training, or maybe your deacons could use a refresher. This breakout will be just for them.
The MTSBC is going reimburse a hotel night for one deacon from each of our churches that are more than 100 miles from Helena so cost is not a factor in getting this training for at least one of your deacons. We’ll have more for you about this soon. Right now, please plan on having at least one deacon attend this training and get him registered to attend MPact right away so we can make sure we have enough space.
MPact 2023 will be a powerful time in the Lord. I’m already looking forward to it. I hope you are, too. I encourage you to register for it now and to reserve your hotel room at the Marriott Delta before they’re all taken. You’re going to want to be there for this. And, remember, the MTSBC is still paying for two hotel nights for our pastors to attend, so if you are an MTSBC pastor, we will make your reservation for you.
Until then, my brothers and sisters, I hope you have a blessed Christmas celebration, and may the new year be your best year yet.
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