Milwaukee: This week I had the opportunity to go “home” of sorts and participate in the annual meeting of the Minnesota Wisconsin Baptist Convention (MWBC) at Northwest Baptist Church of Milwaukee. I had the honor of being the pastor of Northwest Baptist Church for 1997-2001 (or four winters as my wife refers to our days there). One of my favorite Wisconsin memories was when the summer came on a “weekend.” Seriously, Milwaukee is a wonderful upper Midwestern city with some of the finest followers of Jesus I have ever had the honor to serve with in my ministry.
Northwest Baptist hosted the convention in the new sanctuary and fellowship hall built by faith and with the cooperation of volunteer teams of Baptist men from across the nation. It was exciting for me to see the tangible growth of the church under the leadership of their pastor Tom Harrington, who served with me as an associate pastor during my days. Tom is a tenacious leader who moved to Milwaukee to earn a PhD in Theology from Marquette, and invested his heart and life into this historic Baptist fellowship.
The MWBC strangely enough started as an association of the Baptist General Convention of Texas over fifty years ago. I guess you would consider this fellowship of church “far North Texas!” Originally it was a small cluster of Southern Baptist churches founded to offer southerners who moved north a worship expression closer to home. Today, the MWBC is an innovated, committed convention of churches striving to be indigenous to the upper Midwest and share the hope of Christ among a very religious region that strangely enough needs the hope of the gospel clearly articulated. Minnesota and Wisconsin are dotted with cathedral and church buildings, yet most of the people live religious lives devoid of the power of a personal relationship with God.
One of the things I love about the MWBC is the fellowship and deep personally relationships. This is a convention that fights over important matters like “football.” Especially since Bret Favre “fell from grace” and abandoned the Green Bay Packers to leader their arch rivals the Minnesota Vikings. Seriously, apart from the fun rivalries of the region these Baptist have much to teach us about Christian fellowship and cooperation.
Leo Endel is the Executive Director of the MWBC and has done a wonderful job leading the convention through some very challenging days of transition. The BGCT decided a few years ago to change its historic relationship with the MWBC and began cutting its financial support to the convention. These cuts have created quite a challenge and opportunity for this struggling convention. One lost fact in the change of funding was that the multiplied impact. The North American Mission Board matched the Texas funding with doubled its impact, and now doubles the loss. (The actual percentage is 4 to 1, so a gift to MWBC will be multiplied by four). Personally I wish we could have continued our investment in the work up north, but I realize that this kind of relationship could not last forever in light of the BGCT current financial struggles. Fifty years of support was a wonderful expression of partnership and cooperation.
The theme of the convention was “Right here, Right Now.” It was a challenge for the MWBC to step up and meet the challenge of today. Endel in his address challenged the messengers of the convention to focus on the goal of “transformed lives” by making disciples of Jesus. Les Stevens, president of the convention, pointed out the weakness and struggles of the churches, yet how they were uniquely positioned to experience the power and presence of the Lord through a touch of revival. In tough economic times the leaders of the MWBC called the attention of the people to trusting in God.
One of the highlights of the convention was the special music provided by the worship team from Northwest Baptist Church and the choir from Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church. The Northwest worship team led the congregation in a variety of contemporary worship songs with great passion. Since I knew most of the worship team personally from my days in Milwaukee it was a moving experience for me to worship with them again. It was exciting to see how they had matured and developed in their faith and musical expressions.
The large choir from Mt. Pilgrim brought heaven down with their powerful expressions of worship from the African-American gospel tradition. Since I was sitting on the front row, I was moved by the power and the passion of the singers. It was clear these songs of worship were coming straight from the heart. It was also fun watching the other messengers from the stoic upper Midwest clapping, standing, and celebrating with me. I think I had a small glimpse of heaven, but I hope when I get there I get a bit more soul and rhythm so I can at least keep up!
Baptist life in Minnesota and Wisconsin is alive and well. Hard days are ahead, but these hardy souls are ready for the task with their eyes fixed on Jesus.
5 Comments
November 3, 2009 at 4:54 pm
One of the jobs I inherited when I took over many of Gene Greer’s responsibilities, upon his retirement from the BGCT, was the Texas coordinator position for MWBC. I enjoyed making trips to the north occasionally and always enjoyed the fellowship of the pastors who sacrifically served in these two wonderful states. Even before that I enjoyed going occasionally to help with Sunday school projects. I remember well one March 15, when I was to lead a Sunday school growth camapign at South St. Paul Baptist Church. It snowed seventeen inches and my host, who was the S.S. Director of the church, “allowed” me to shovel snow from his driveway. Actually I enjoyed it and my time there. That was the week the church caught a vision of being more than just a church for displaced southerners. Thanks for reminding me.
November 4, 2009 at 4:36 pm
David,
Thank you for a very warm, insightful article on your visit to Minnesota/Wisconsin. I echo your thoughts and feelings on the great job that our “northern” friends are doing in sharing the Gospel and planting churches in their area.
Even though the BGCT and the MWBC came to the realization that the former nature of financial relationship had to change, I am glad to report that a close, fraternal relationship, forged over years of working together, still remains. As director of the Texas Partnerships ministry of the BGCT, I have the privilege to work closely with Leo Endel and his dedicated staff to continue to promote Minnesota/Wisconsin ministry opportunities throughout the churches and associations of the BGCT.
A number of BGCT associations have formed multi-year ministry commitments with a sister association in MWBC in recent months. These relationships have proven to be very fruitful in many ways – in both Texas and in Minnesota/Wisconsin. I would invite and encourage all Texas Baptists to consider making a ministry commitment to work alongside some of God’s finest among our “northern brothers”. They will find it to be a rewarding experience indeed.
November 5, 2009 at 12:28 am
Steve,
Thank you for your insights and your hard work.
Your encouragement for our churches and associations to explore new relationships and possibilities was a great idea. In fact, I shared with our friends up north that I suspected that the Lord has chosen to work in a more direct personal way (church to church, association to association, person to person). It appears in the days ahead God is calling us to a much more personal touch and investment in each others lives.
In some ways I like this new touch because the relationships are much more intimate and personal.
David Lowrie
November 11, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Very interesting and possible great resource! Please read and explore this news release from Faith-JIVE. http://www.martinpenny.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=44&catid=3:blogs
November 11, 2009 at 7:23 pm
I was in Milwaukee a couple of weeks ago, to meet with a couple of friends I made at a Willow Creek conference two years ago, a pastor and associate pastor at a Lutheran church, and we drove up to Sheboygan for dinner at Rupp’s Lodge. The fall colors were at their full peak, it was cold, overcast, drizzling and windy, perfect weather! If God ever called me to Wisconsin, I don’t think I’d ever want to leave.