In November both of our state conventions held their annual meetings. It is a little unique that Texas has two, but the Denton Baptist Association happily works in cooperation with both.
Both conventions had some notable highlights. First, the Texas Baptist celebrated 100 years of Cooperative Program partnership. By God’s grace, for 100 years Texas Baptist churches have pooled their resources to spread the gospel in Texas and around the world! What a testimony! Second, the Southern Baptist of Texas celebrated planting 60 churches last year including holding a commissioning service for a group of planters including two from our cohort. Again, what a testimony of God’s grace!
I love all types of history, but I especially love church history. I had the privilege to get a masters degree in historical theology with a focus on Baptist history. My thesis was on the man who planted two of the first Irish Baptist churches in 1650’s. One of the most helpful aspects of my study was to see how those early English and Irish Baptist churches were intentional to organize and cooperate. In my book I make a case that cooperation is one of the earliest of Baptist distinctions.
Cooperation is difficult. No group of Christians and churches have ever agreed on everything 100% of the time. However, cooperation and unity are actually a mark of maturity. Paul rebukes the Corinthians for their division and puts their tribalism in the category of immaturity (1 Corinthians 3:1-8). I’m getting to see firsthand through the DBA how cooperation enables all our churches and members to have a Kingdom impact beyond what we can accomplish by ourselves. Thank you for partnering in ministry with the Denton Baptist Association. Cooperation is difficult, but it is worth it for the spread of the gospel and the glory of God!