By Lindsey Williams
Writing Specialist
Rev. Lowell Walker, African American ministry consultant of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board (MBCB) and Pastor of Mt. Sinai Church, Tupelo, could not remember another instance when so many African American brothers and sisters in Christ had gathered during his time.
On April 26-27, the Leadership Retreat held at Calvary Christian Oak Forest Church, Jackson, served 95 pastors, first ladies, and laypeople. With an emphasis on empowering the men and women with the Word of God, connecting them in the bond of Christ, and thriving in a dysfunctional and divided world together, the Multicultural Ministries of the MBCB invited guest speakers, Dr. Wade Stevens, Rev. George Smith, Rev. Eddie Jones, and Rev. Brian Crawford, to refresh the hearts of attendees.
Go and make disciples
“All of us can say that we could do better in making disciples,” said Walker, Friday night. “The difference between a disciple and a church member is that a church member will come to church when they get ready. They will not be committed to the ministry, and they will use the church as a revolving door. But a disciple does the work of the ministry. They are growing and being transformed into Christlikeness, and you never have to worry about them going out the back door. Matter of fact, a disciple is one who really brings people through the front door, and they become a part of the discipling.”
As the Senior Pastor of Longview Point Church, Hernando, which has seeded and watered many church plants, Stevens spoke on church discipleship issues. In his session, he identified the problem of a disciple-making deficiency, despite effective preaching and teaching on Sundays. “We have limited ourselves to a single day of the week to make disciples,” Stevens addressed, “one-seventh of what God has entrusted to us. Jesus did not say go and make disciples on Sunday. Jesus said, go and make disciples, as though we are to be perpetually involved in the work of disciple-making.”
Additionally, Stevens stressed the difference between corporate and individual responsibility in fulfilling the Great Commission, of which churches mainly function on the former. Stevens, however, stated, “You and I, as Christians, have a personal responsibility to fulfill the Great Commission.”
Setting the stage for the weekend, Stevens’ presentation exhorted, encouraged, and energized the attending pastors and their wives, who returned Saturday morning to hear Smith, Jones, and Crawford.
Be mission-minded
Having served with the International Mission Board (IMB) in Uganda for 20 years, Smith urged the assembly on how to be a mission-minded church. His heartfelt transparency in how God transformed him for the work of missions inspired those in attendance. Of the 3,000 IMB missionaries on the field, Smith showed that, statistically, only about 20 are African American. He shared that the Ugandans loved and were grateful for whoever was sent but were puzzled that there were not more missionaries and visiting pastors who looked like themselves.
“Our hope,” remarked Walker, “is to strategize for 12 or 13 African American pastors on a vision trip to Uganda, to see how the Lord may impress upon them to do missions.”
Evangelize through Sunday school
Pastor Eddie Jones of Victory Temple Church, Greenville, led the second Saturday session on how to evangelize through Sunday school.
“To my surprise,” said Walker, “a lot of our churches do not even do Sunday school. Pastor Jones was very informative and challenged us to look at how evangelizing is a great way to get the young involved.”
Jon Martin, the MBCB Chief Strategy Officer, commented, “The retreat was an amazing experience. Lowell Walker and Paula Smith [MBCB Director of Multicultural Ministries] led the conference and equipped those in attendance very well. In particular, George Smith’s challenge to lead our churches to become missional was fantastic. We were convicted and encouraged to commit to sending missionaries from our churches to serve the nations.
“Pastor Eddie Jones exceptionally challenged us to use our Sunday schools as an evangelistic arm of our churches. His insight and personal testimony of how Sunday school positively affected his congregation reminded us to take seriously that hour of our Sunday to reach those in our communities.
“Personally, the retreat was a great encouragement,” said Martin. “The fellowship was sweet, reminding me that God has called us to great cooperative work as we strive to see Mississippi reached and churches equipped.”
Strengthen marriages
Crawford, President of Missions Mississippi, and his wife, Candi, led the closing session on marriage and ministry. Crawford’s interactive teaching captivated the audience as they openly answered his questions. With a bright sense of humor, he highlighted the busyness of life which so often cuts communication between a couple, and the room of ministers came alive with sincere and responsive reception.
Paula Smith recounted the wholesome atmosphere of the final session, “One of our pastor’s wives, Carl Johnson’s wife, got up and said, ‘I don’t tell him enough, but these are the things I truly treasure in Carl.’ She went through four or five things, and then later, at another opportunity for the audience to speak up, Carl got up and said, ‘Well, I have to admit I was really tired and just on the edge of burnout when I came in here. But after my wife said that, I got the energy I needed.’”
Invite to the altar
“After all of this,” Smith continued, “Pastor Lowell gave an invitation to an altar call, and I’m telling you, everybody came up to the altar to start praying. Then they decided, ‘Let’s all pray together.’ Everybody up there grabbed hands and prayed together. And people didn’t want to leave. They hung around, talked, and swapped notes. It ended on a high note; it was good.”
On his choice to end with an altar call, Walker remarked, “I just sensed that was our way of wanting to love the pastors and their wives, because this past year has been very challenging. A lot of the pastors are just so overwhelmed. They have been very discouraged ever since COVID, and all of it has caused a lot of anxiety.
“I’m very thankful of the support from our MBCB staff as we strive to work together to equip our pastors and their wives with the tools and encouragement they need.”
Moreover, Pastor Keith Ratliff, his wife, first lady Jennifer, and members of Calvary Christian Oak Forest were an exemplary picture of servant-hearted hospitality. From table to table, Ratliff and his wife wholeheartedly served dinner to the attendees and visited with the guests. Although the retreat was their first time hosting outside guests, the church displayed Christlike kindness and perseverance.
Twice, Calvary Christian Oak Forest has fallen victim to robbers, who stole the copper wiring within their lighting, cutting off electricity in the building. One such robbery occurred two weeks before the retreat, and no electrician would come in time to fix it. Rather than cancel their hospitality, however, the church ran cables throughout the building in order to have enough electricity and Wi-Fi for the retreat.
Pray for harmony
Ratliff urged Mississippi Baptists to pray for the harmony of the body of Christ. “One of the challenges I recognize tonight is the unity. When we’re talking about unity, we’re talking about the whole entire body of Christ. We’re talking about coming together, abiding in Christ, and not only personal responsibility but accountability. Because we are accountable to one another in Christ as brothers and sisters. If we take the scales off our eyes and see really who Christ is, there is no color, no denomination — none of that. Because we are all one in Christ.”
Your gifts to the Cooperative Program help support Multicultural Ministries. To learn more about the work God is doing through our African American brothers and sisters in Christ, contact Lowell Walker at lwalker@mbcb.org or 662-422-2609, or the Multicultural Ministries Assistant at jmcilwain@mbcb.org or 601-292-3288.
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