BRANSON – Sometimes pastors and their families just need a little down time – a chance to relax, recharge, and be encouraged. This especially can be true for bi-vocational pastors and pastors of smaller churches, where they shoulder many responsibilities on shoestring budgets.
That is why the church strengthening team at the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) three years ago launched mb125, a leadership development training event tailored for pastors of churches with attendance of 125 or fewer.
This year’s conference, held July 29- Aug. 1 here at Skyline Baptist Church, was crafted from feedback of previous events, making the combination of worship, rest and training an even more attractive venue for the nearly 30 families in attendance.
Frank Page, president and chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Executive Committee, and John Yeats, MBC executive director, welcomed this year’s attendees. Page encouraged pastors each morning with keynote
addresses, and both Page and Yeats provided pastors with intimate times to chat over coffee at the end of the day.
In addition, pastors chose from 14 workshops ranging from sermon preparation to avoiding the pitfalls of daily ministry issues. Their spouses, meanwhile, were offered eight workshops on topics from building a sturdy marriage to resting in the eye of the storm.
The conference also provided activities for children and youth. Mark Mathes of Broadway Baptist Church in Springfield led in worship, and the musically diverse Dunn Family entertained during an evening banquet.
Yeats closed out the conference with a challenge to pastors from Joshua 11, urging them to hear what God says, trust what God says, and act decisively on what God says.
Skyline has hosted the conference all three years. Pastor Norm Howell and his staff and members provided exceptional support services throughout the conference, according to Spencer Hutson, MBC church strengthening team leader.
“We feel the conference is a success when pastors and their families tell us that it met their needs – and that was the case this year,” said Hutson. “We hope next year many more pastors will take advantage of this great conference.”
Kenny and Tracy Shumate traveled from Bear Creek Baptist Church in Holden. After the conference they wrote, “We just wanted to say how much we enjoyed the conference in Branson. The classes were great, the food was amazing and it was so much fun getting to know new people and hearing their stories. You all did so much and we really want to thank all of you. We also want to thank the children’s workers. It was so nice to have our kids with us and know that they were having fun. Hope to see you next year!”
The conference will return to Skyline next year June 16-19.