FRESNO, Calif. (BP) – A task force commissioned by California Southern Baptist Convention Executive Director Pete Ramirez is preparing its report based on listening sessions going back to the spring of 2024, which will be delivered at the state’s upcoming annual meeting.
The “Hear the Heart” listening sessions took place with Ramirez, Evangelism Team Leader Jason Blankenship and other state staff alongside pastors and church leaders over nine days and across 2,236 miles in May of last year. Feedback was instrumental in Ramriez’s goal of seeing 2 percent of the state’s population in a CSBC church by 2033.
That’s approximately 790,000 people. California experienced a decline in population following the COVID pandemic, but the country’s most populous state has experienced an increase again since 2023.
“This isn’t about rolling out another program,” Ramirez said. “It’s about relationships and people are excited about that. Churches are working together across California to shoulder the weight of ministry together.”
Recently, gatherings occurred with grilled burgers and hot dogs at a home in Rancho Santa Margarita on Aug. 26 and two days later for breakfast in Ventura, where the meeting ran longer and the coffee was stronger at the Black Bear Diner.
Gil De La Rosa, associational mission strategist for Gold Coast Baptist Association, helped organize the Ventura gathering and said the extra time signified an energy around the report and Ramirez’s vision for the state.
“There was a good representation from churches and a good spirit,” he said. “There is a sense of excitement. One of our seasoned pastors told me it was a great time and left him feeling the future was bright in California.”
De La Rosa’s wife, Eve, serves as executive director for California Woman’s Missionary Association (WMU).
“It struck me how people showed up with their pastors and were very receptive to what was discussed,” she said.
Her husband had encouraged pastors to bring along not only other church staff, but deacons, trustees, anyone in a leadership role.
Primary among the task force’s mandates was to address the needs of church leaders. The pandemic exodus that took place from 2020-2022 claimed many who showed potential or were moving into those roles, pastors said. To that point, discipleship and leadership resources are highly valued.
Ramirez said the 10-year vision came about after hearing from pastors across the state. Goals include 500 new church works and as many church revitalizations, alongside 100,000 baptisms.
And even though those goals are specific to the Golden State, the larger effort isn’t limited to California Baptists.
“What excites me the most is that this isn’t about the CSBC getting the win, but about churches winning, as a Baptist family, with all our entities working together,” Ramirez said. “These sessions confirmed to me how our pastors value planting new works but strengthening existing ones. I’ve also been reminded how much our leaders treasure being a part of the SBC family and how having that larger support network matters.”
Eight more listening sessions are scheduled through Oct. 4. The CSBC Annual Meeting will take place Oct. 23-24 at New Vision Church in Milpitas, north of San Jose in the Silicon Valley.
Echoing Ramirez, De La Rosa noted that prayer is the driving force behind the meetings and goals.
“We put a lot of prayer into our meeting; been doing that awhile,” he said. “We believe prayer is going to be the fuel that moves a spiritual awakening of God in California like we’ve never seen before.”
An emphasis on church planning and prayer invigorated the people in his association, De La Rosa added.
“I heard comments,” he said. “Chief among them was, ‘Thank you for making us part of the process.”
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