Missouri Baptists address restoration and reconciliation at annual meeting

Restoration and reconciliation were the themes of the recent annual meeting of Missouri Baptists in Branson.

“We have come to celebrate restoration,” said John Yeats, executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC), according to Baptist Press. “We truly are better together, believing with all our hearts that the cooperative message is a biblical message for today, When we say we believe the message of cooperation, it is not mere intellectual assent. It means we practice it, we teach it and we glorify our Lord through it.”

Yeats earlier recognized Randy Comer, chairman of the MBC’s agency restoration group, which has overseen the MBC’s efforts during the past two decades to win back its entities.

“Tonight, we would like to share this plaque with you — that is, a plaque with a resolution from the executive board, declaring that your task is finished,” Yeats said. “And we thank God for everyone coming home! Let’s stand and give praise to the Lord!”

MBC President Jeremy Muniz signaled a step toward reconciliation with the Windermere Baptist Conference Center. The MBC’s efforts to restore Windermere ended unsuccessfully in 2014, when the Missouri Supreme Court denied the MBC’s bid for a jury trial to determine legal ownership of the conference center. “The agent of making peace is the blood of Christ. We need to plead the blood of Jesus,” Muniz said, urging messengers to seek reconciliation and peace with God and others

Attendees approved eight resolutions that address Christian citizenship, sexual abuse, religious liberty, racial reconciliation, prison ministry, the sanctity of life and appreciation for and dissolution of the MBC’s agency restoration group.

Gov. Mike Parson and his wife, Teresa, members of First Baptist Church, Bolivar, were special guests. The MBC’s 2020 annual meeting is scheduled for Oct. 26-27 at the St. Charles Convention Center and Hotel in St. Charles, Mo.

–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice