- Baptist Press - https://www.baptistpress.com -

SBC entities plan together for stewardship revivals

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Eight Southern Baptist-related entities have begun planning for a jointly sponsored call to stewardship revivals in the year 2000.
In a meeting at LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville, Tenn., representatives of the Annuity Board, International Mission Board, North American Mission Board, Woman’s Missionary Union and the Florida, Mississippi, Alabama and California state Baptist conventions agreed to work together. Other state Baptist conventions are expected to join the process as plans progress.
Participants discussed “evidence of our failure to be obedient in giving ourselves, our time, our giftedness and our financial resources,” according to Gary Aylor of LifeWay’s church stewardship services. He said they also dealt with “the impact of this disobedience on fulfilling the Great Commission.”
The goal of the cooperative planning effort, he said, is to encourage Southern Baptists “to focus on total lifestyle stewardship. Christians are actually God’s asset managers, and that assignment carries with it both blessing and accountability,” he said. Results of revivals are expected to include persons accepting Christ, others accepting the call to vocational ministry and still others committing to a lifestyle of financial freedom.
Among examples of focusing on total lifestyle stewardship, he said, are Sunday school lessons planned for the Life & Work curriculum for January 2000. Lessons for the first five Sundays of that year will deal with stewardship as it relates to the environment, time, life, spiritual gifts and money.
He said the year 2000 is expected to be “a launching time, with some churches scheduling stewardship revivals that year and others planning revivals for subsequent years.”
Aylor said the planning group will meet again in Nashville on Sept. 23 to include input from participants in the Sept. 21-22 annual meeting of state stewardship directors, also at LifeWay Christian Resources.