Messengers to the 104th Annual Meeting of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma will help observe Oklahoma Baptist University’s (OBU) Centennial and witness the commissioning of 15 new missionaries by the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board, Nov. 15-16 in Shawnee.
The theme for the annual gathering of Oklahoma Baptists is “Empowered to Act,” based on Acts 4:31, “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God boldly.” (NIV)
General sessions of the Annual Meeting will be held in Potter Auditorium of Raley Chapel on the OBU campus. In conjunction with the university’s Centennial, students will be featured during the two-day meeting reading Scripture and leading in prayer.
Featured speakers include Ed Stetzer, director for the North American Mission Board’s (NAMB) Center for Missional Research, who will close out Monday evening’s session, and Doug Melton, pastor of Oklahoma City, Southern Hills, who will present the Convention’s Annual Sermon. Also, annual addresses will be presented by BGCO President Emerson Falls, pastor of Oklahoma City, Glorieta, who is closing out his second year as BGCO president (Monday evening), and BGCO Executive Director-Treasurer Anthony L. Jordan (Tuesday morning). Representing the IMB will be Clyde Meador, interim president and executive vice president, and Oklahoma native David Steverson, vice president for finance and treasurer.
Other highlights include the presentation of the report by the Convention’s Mission Advance Team (MAT) by chairman, Hance Dilbeck, pastor of Oklahoma City, Quail Springs, Tuesday morning, and reports from BGCO team leaders and affiliate presidents.
The 23-member MAT was approved by the BGCO Board of Directors in February and charged with developing a new strategic plan for the Convention.
“With a desire greater than ever before to be missional and cooperative in reaching our state, nation and world, it is time for us to intensely examine every part of our convention ministries and structure to ensure that we are strategic and intentional in every area for Kingdom advance,” Jordan said at the time.
In conjunction with the Annual Meeting, the State Pastors’ Conference will be held from 8:45 a.m.-4:45 p.m. Nov. 15 in Potter Auditorium with the theme of “Gospel Integrity in Today’s Pulpit,” with a focal Scripture passage of II Tim. 3:16-17, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (NIV)
Pastors’ Conference speakers include David Allen, dean of the School of Theology at Southwestern Seminary; Monty Baggett, pastor, Muskogee, Southeast; Jeremy Freeman, pastor, Newcastle, First; William Noel, pastor, Oklahoma City, Grace and Glory; Tim Russell, pastor, McAlester, First, and Larry Thompson, pastor, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., First.
Worship in music will be led by Matt Roberson, from Broken Arrow, Liberty.
Also, the annual women’s Missions and Ministries Celebration will be held mostly on Nov. 15, but conclude with the IMB Commissioning service Tuesday evening. The theme of the meeting, which will be held in Yarbrough Auditorium in the basement of Raley Chapel, is “Faithful Voices, Kingdom Purpose.” The meeting runs from 1:30-4:30 p.m., but opens at 10 a.m. with the Baptist Nursing Fellowship meeting. It is followed by a dinner honoring current and emeritus IMB personnel from 5-6:30 p.m. in the Geiger Center.
The celebration’s keynote speaker is Kim Davis, compiling editor of The Voices of the Faithful books.
More information about the Missions and Ministries Celebration is available at www.bgco.org/women or by calling 405/942-3800, ext. 4318.
Both the Pastors’ Conference and the Missions and Ministries Celebration are made possible by Oklahoma Baptists’ gifts to the Cooperative Program.
OBU offers 10 bachelor’s degrees with 84 fields of study. The Christian liberal arts university has an overall enrollment of 1,777, with students from 39 states and 14 other countries. The fall enrollment includes 414 freshmen, the first time since 2001 the number of first-time freshmen topped 400.
OBU has been rated as one of the top 10 comprehensive colleges in the West by U.S. News and World Report for 19 consecutive years and has been Oklahoma’s highest rated comprehensive college in the U.S. News rankings for 17 consecutive years. For 2011, Forbes.com ranked OBU as the top university in Oklahoma.
