A week from Sunday, on October 11, the annual meeting of the Palo Pinto Baptist Association (PPBA) will take place at the First Baptist Church of Gordon, Texas.

I haven’t placed much emphasis on the fact that Indian Creek participates in the PPBA. But it is an important part of our history and identity.

For early Baptists in America, a regional association like the PPBA was the primary means of cooperation between churches. The reasons for this are obvious if you think about it. Before cars, interstate highways, and cheap air travel, it was rare, expensive, and difficult to collaborate with believers from across the state, country, or the world. If you wanted to get together with likeminded believers in other congregations, you just didn’t have very many choices!

Not only that, but if you go back far enough, it’s clear that Baptists had a lot more uniformity of belief and practice than they do today. There was less variation from one congregation to another. For example, I recently learned that the church where my parents came to Christ (First Baptist Church of Wycombe, PA) was founded in 1901 using the exact same statement of faith and church covenant as Indian Creek in the 1880s (The New Hampshire Confession first published in 1853 as well as the covenant published by Dr. J. Newton Brown that same year).

Back then, and almost up to the turn of the century, if you were a member of a Baptist church in Texas, you could visit another Baptist church in a different state while on vacation and sing the same songs and hear the same Sunday School lesson you were missing back home.

Not so today (and that’s OK!). No two Baptist churches are alike. There are a dozen or more affinities within the Southern Baptist Convention, and those differences are apparent even at the regional level. We all love Jesus, preach the same gospel, and embrace the distinctive beliefs that make us Baptist, buy beyond that, there is a lot of diversity from one church to another.

I’m digressing a little, so here’s my point. Our cooperation with fellow Baptists in Palo Pinto County may look a little different today than it did a generation or two ago. But that doesn’t mean it’s not important. We want to make sure that not just our church but every Baptist church in our county is fulfilling its potential to reach our neighbors for Christ.

This year, several of us had to invest a larger portion of our time in re-imagining the future for the PPBA due to a leadership transition. Facilitated by Pastor Guy Weathers, a small “transition team” worked together to develop a vision for the PPBA. We explored various models of cooperation and consulted with trusted experts who provided valuable insight.

After a year long process, the transition team proposed a new Constitution & Bylaws for the PPBA, and we’ll vote on whether to adopt these changes in our upcoming meeting on October 11.

What does this mean for you? First of all, you’re invited to join us! We’ll meet at 4pm in the sanctuary at FBC Gordon and share a meal together when the meeting is over. It’s always an encouraging time of fellowship as well as an opportunity to take action together.

Second, you might hear more about the PPBA in the months and years to come. I believe our new structure (leaner and more simplified) will enable us to more effectively partner with other Baptist churches in Mineral Wells and throughout the county.

Keep in mind: more than half of our congregations are too small to employ a full-time pastor. These churches rely on the stability of Indian Creek and other relatively large churches to help them reach their communities. I’m sure we’re all eager to help whenever such opportunities present themselves.

Third, pray for Pastor Guy, myself, and the other pastors serving on the “transition team.” We want to be faithful stewards of the PPBA during a vulnerable time and establish healthy leadership for years to come.

One of the things the PPBA will have to do in the next several months (assuming the new Constitution & Bylaws are voted into effect) is hire a new Association Missional Strategist (AMS). The AMS’s job will be to help each of our churches do the best we can to fulfill the great commission in our county. Let’s ask God to provide just the right man.

As Baptists, each of our churches is autonomous. But that doesn’t mean we don’t cooperate. Let’s look for opportunities to partner with likeminded believers through organizations like the PPBA.