Michael Butler; Chickasha, OK Pastor of Chickasha, First Baptist
“How did you get your start in ministry?”
“I began serving in full-time ministry at Bethany, Council Road in 2000. Our time at Council Road was a wonderful blessing. The people of that church loved us and left an imprint on our lives that will forever shape our ministry. In 2011, I accepted the call to pastor Chickasha, First where I continue to serve today. I consider it an enormous privilege to pastor such an incredible church. I’ve had the tremendous joy of shepherding the people of Chickasha, First for more than 13 years now. By God’s grace we strive together to love all people to faith in Christ and to multiply disciples.”
“You have served Oklahoma Baptists several ways and are in your first year as president. What does it mean to you to lead the convention in this capacity?”
“Serving as president of our state convention is a tremendous honor for me because I am a life-long Oklahoma Baptist. My life was personally impacted by ministries such as Falls Creek and BCM. It is such a privilege to now serve as president of the state convention whose ministries molded me. As president of Oklahoma Baptists, I hope to champion the ways we advance the Gospel together. I am encouraged as I work with our convention staff and many faithful brothers and sisters to maintain a strong state convention. Through partnering together to share the Gospel, our impact is multiplied from our communities to the ends of the earth.”
“How are you and your church involved in serving the community and advancing the Gospel?”
“Our primary strategy for reaching our community is to develop a missional mindset among our people and to deploy the members of our church into our community to influence and impact others for the Gospel. I regularly remind Chickasha, First that God has strategically placed our church in our community to reach Chickasha. Practically speaking, discipleship is a huge part of our approach to reaching our community. We think of discipleship as a directional focus more than a destination. To accomplish this, we work to move people closer to Christ. We multiply disciples by equipping each other to know and obey the Bible, embracing the messiness of ministry and encouraging one another to be more like Jesus.”
“Why is it important for you and Chickasha, First to support the Cooperative Program (CP)?”
“The Cooperative Program enables us to do more together than any of our churches could do alone. The beauty of the Cooperative Program is that it allows every church to play a role in supporting missionaries, sending disaster relief, shaping future leaders of the church and the myriad of other ministries funded through the CP. Together we can leverage our resources far beyond what any of our churches—no matter how big or how small—could accomplish on its own. With the 100th anniversary of the Cooperative Program approaching in 2025, I think it is import- ant for us to remind ourselves of the impact our churches have made together. For example, Oklahoma Baptists have collectively leveraged more than $1 billion toward advancing the Gospel together over the past 100 years. This is also an important time for us to renew our commitment to the Cooperative Program that we might continue working together to spread the Good News from Oklahoma to ends of the earth!”
