The State Reps of the BBFI, the BBFI Executive Committee, and Randy Harp, the new director of the BBFI Central Office, met in San Antonio, TX, on January 18-19, 2023. This is the third consecutive year the State Reps and Executive Committee have met to focus on the future of the BBFI. Each year the attendance and focus have grown. Even the event’s name was changed from “retreat” to “advance” to focus on advancing the BBFI forward rather than retreating backward.
Harp began the event by sharing some of the work of his doctoral project, which was focused on restoring health to the BBFI. Time was spent both learning from our past and planning for our future. In one exercise, called “Turning Points,” Harp challenged the group to reflect on the 70-plus-year history of the BBFI and pinpoint specific events that had a significant impact on the movement as a whole. Some events highlighted were positive, and some were negative. Time was spent assessing and evaluating the exercise, and a handful of important principles surfaced, such as:
- Leadership cannot be passive.
- Reactionary leadership is generally toxic.
- Clarity is critical.
- Vision is vital.
- Selfishness leads to divisiveness.
- Purpose precedes progress.
One of the primary goals of the first day was to clearly articulate a mission statement for the BBFI. Work on this began in 2018 when the newly elected Executive Committee hired an outside consultant and started the process of a two-year StratOp (strategic operation) for the BBFI. After discussion, the same mission statement developed in 2018 was approved by the State Reps as the official mission statement of the BBFI. This mission statement reads, “The Fellowship exists to serve Baptist pastors and their churches as they fulfill the Great Commission.”
The Fellowship exists to serve Baptist pastors and their churches as they fulfill the Great Commission. Click To TweetThe second day started with BBFI President, Jon Haley, summarizing and applying the book, “The Rise and Fall of Movements,” by Steve Addison. Each of the Fellowship vice presidents took time to work through various strategies such as the BBFI missions strategy, the BBFI education strategy, the BBFI church planting strategy, and finally, the BBFI church development strategy. The last major item discussed was national Fellowship meetings and their primary purpose. Locations for future meetings were also discussed and tentatively planned through September 2026. (These will be announced as soon as they are finalized.)
This was the second time in two months that the new Executive Committee has met in person to pray, brainstorm, and make plans for the BBFI. The previous meeting was held in Springfield, MO, in December 2022. The new BBFI Central Office has been integral in planning these in-person and monthly Zoom meetings with the Executive Committee and State Reps.
To read Kevin Carson’s personal blog reflecting on this event, click here.
BBFI Executive Committee
Jon Haley – President
John Theisen – 1st Vice-President
Kevin Carson – 2nd Vice-President
Randy Abell – 3rd Vice-President
Jason Petermann – 4th Vice-President
Bob Stephenson – Secretary
Gary Fuller – Treasurer
BBFI State Reps (and Their Current Sub-Committee)
Missions Sub-Committee
Dustin Janney (FL)
Don Stone (GA)
Jose Esquebel (HI)
Phil Griffith (IA)
Pat Finley (KY)
John Kerns (MA)
Walt Yeoman (MI)
Kevin Kolb (MO)
David Klass (MT)
Ed Walls (NJ)
Tim Wilson (UT)
Tim Taylor (VT)
Tom Minnick (WA)
Education Sub-Committee
Ken Goodban (CA)
Chris Kondracki (DE)
Dean Hughes (KS)
Linzy Slayden (OK)
James Clidence (MD)
Rob Willis (NH)
Michael Woodward (RI)
Tim Wilcox (VA)
Church Planting Sub-Committee
Daniel Woodcock (AL)
Keith Buttram (AR)
Daniel Dennis (AZ)
Michael Haley (CO)
David Martin (IN)
Jack Alumbaugh (LA)
LaVoid Ford (NM)
John Westfall (NY)
Stuart Coffman (NC-SC)
Kenneth Brock (ND-SD)
Robby Pollard (TX)
