For more than 100 years, the Baptist Messenger has been informing and inspiring Oklahoma Baptists. Along with the Cooperate Program and Falls Creek, it is one of the three great points of connection for our churches in Oklahoma that God has used to unite us.
The Bible says in John 13:16, “A messenger is not greater than the one who sent him.” The same is true about your Baptist publication, the Baptist Messenger. We are only as strong as our churches.
Perhaps that is why it is so significant that hundreds of churches across the state choose to provide the Baptist Messenger every week for their members. Some churches take advantage of our newsletter wrap program, whereby the Messenger is mailed to your members along with your church newsletter.
Many have done this through the years, including one longtime Oklahoma pastor who said the Messenger keeps his members more focused on “serving, missions, prayer and giving,” all while providing the church news each week.
Other churches are partnering with the Baptist Messenger once again. One such church is my home church of Bartlesville, First, who recently expanded their Messenger subscriptions list and added a newsletter wrap.
With prices starting as low as $28 per week for the church newsletter, our wrap program is affordable and effective. What’s more, the Baptist Messenger has not raised its prices on the church subscription rate in 10 years. For only $8.50 per year per household—the price of a single meal out—your members enjoy 50 issues of the Messenger, delivered weekly to their mailbox (and email box with the Digital edition).
If your church is interested in a group subscription or the wrap program, please contact our office at 405/942-3800 or baptistmessenger@oklahomabaptists.org and we will put you in touch with our church relations director, Bill Green.
Why would this be so important to write about it today? In today’s world full of nonstop news, it is increasingly difficult for churches to stay connected in our shared work of taking the Gospel to the whole state and the ends of the Earth. Only through a shared publication and communications can we stay connected.
You know, the Messenger remains the third largest publication in paid circulation in Oklahoma and ranks in the top three state publications across the Southern Baptist Convention. Building on the strong printed publication, the Baptist Messenger now offers a mobile app (Look in the iTunes and Google store for the “Messenger Mobile App”), a weekly podcast program and an award-winning website.
We are also reaching out to new segments of the population. Our blog “WordSlingers” (www.WordSlingersOK.com) is reaching out to young adults with posts on hot topics, book reviews, movie reviews and more. We also offer a quarterly edition of the Baptist Messenger in Spanish, in order to help reach the Spanish-speaking population of this state for Jesus Christ.
Another outreach the Baptist Messenger initiated is complimentary copies mailed into all of the correctional facilities throughout the state. If inmates are provided with misleading literature from Jehovah’s Witnesses, they should be able to read about the Truth of Jesus Christ presented in our publication.
The Baptist Messenger is doing that, thanks to our readers and thanks to our great churches. Apart from our churches, however, the Baptist Messenger will fade and could die a slow painful death. But I don’t believe that will happen. With our churches, and God’s good help, we indeed will propel into our second Century of publishing into the bright uplands of the future in Oklahoma.
Won’t you join us for that exciting journey?
