One of a Thousand

Can the Bivocational and Small Church Leadership Network realistically expect to raise its annual receipts to a level that will enable it to support a salaried National Coordinator, including office and travel expenses?

We believe that it can!

There are approximately 37,000 churches in the Southern Baptist Convention who have 124 or less in Sunday School. This is 80% of the SBC and we hear over and over again that many of these churches and their pastors feel isolated. These are the churches and pastors that the BSCLN will focus on. Our goal is to bridge the gap, bring these churches into fellowship with each other and to provide resources that "FIT" them and their pastors.

Can you envision 1,000 (either churches or pastors) who would place $120 in their annual budget to a ministry that is designed to:

• Serve as an advocate for bivocational and small church SBC pastors on the national, state and associational level
• Generate conferences, seminars and retreats for pastors and their wives across our nation
• Establish resource centers for pastors at Baptist colleges and universities
• Provide and recommend resources that will be of value to pastors
• Maintain a website that will be valued by the 37,000 pastors and their churches, who it seeks to serve.

We can!

We believe that the old Baptist adage “tell the people and trust the Lord” will enable us to find 1,000 pastors and/or churches who will give $120 per year to the Bivocational and Smaller Church Leadership Network. They will be One in a Thousand who will provide the financial support per year and enable the BSCLN to establish an adequate and continuing financial base to accomplish this ministry.

By placing the BSCLN in your church budget as a line item at $10.00/ month YOU will be the base of this ministry's financial support. This ministry is not new, we have been around for a long time; but, with the proper financial support, we intend to have solid Bible based S/S material available through our web site (www.bivosmallchurch.net) at no cost.

We already have 8 Resource Centers and Educational Partners that have joined our ranks to assist with educational issues.
We had 147 bivocational pastors and their wives from 14 states come to New Orleans for Katrina cleanup.
We chose to help those that were being overlooked.

If you are interested in being involved with the expansion of this ministry,
contact our National Coordinator, Ray Gilder at rgilder@tnbaptist.org
or
Bivocational & Smaller Church Leadership Network
% Joyce Byrd
5111 Marc Ct.
Nashville, TN 37211
Email: joyce.byrd@belmont.edu

Do you want to join a team that is committed to enriching, encouraging and equipping Southern Baptist pastors who serve churches of 100 or less in worship attendance? Do you want to provide pastors who serve bivocationally the opportunity to be fully equipped for preaching, pastoral ministries and leadership? Do you want to encourage Southern Baptist agencies and entities to remember that the vast majority of our churches, though small, have much to offer in service to our Lord.

You can do this and more by being One of a Thousand who support the Bivocational and Small Church Leadership Network with a contribution of $120 per year. The BSCLN is a growing fellowship of pastors, associational and state convention personnel, and laypersons who are committed to the well being of smaller membership churches and their pastors.

The Bivocational and Small Church Leadership Network is already:

• Providing national coordination for efforts to equip pastors to fulfill God’s calling
• Developing Regional Resource Centers for bivocational pastors across the United States
• Providing an E-newsletter for members
• Encouraging and providing local, state and national Celebrations and Retreats for pastors and their wives
• Providing a website for bivocational and small church pastors
• Assisting associations and state conventions with ministries to bivocational pastors

If 1,000 individuals, churches, associations and state conventions would contribute $120 (or more) to the BSCLN each year, the current efforts could be multiplied ten-fold.

If you want to become “One In A Thousand”
send your check marked BSCLN One In A Thousand
to our treasurer Joyce Byrd.
Her address is:
5111 Marc Court,
Nashville, Tn. 37211.
or
CLICK ON the Membership Page in LEFT SIDEBAR and join using Pay Pal