with all my heart that we must consider the worldwide ability to have access to the gospel. “If someone wakes up in Orangeburg, Walterboro, Aiken, or Laurens and that person is under Holy
Spirit conviction, I promise that there is a pastor or leader in those places who would love to share the gospel,” Horton says. “But, for the person in northern Iraq, central Asia, or Moscow who is under con- viction, well, they might have no access to the gospel. How do we say that we believe in missions and yet spend most of the cooperative money on ourselves? That’s the question for local churches and denomi- nations. Are you going to give just 10 percent to improve worldwide access to the gospel while keeping 90 percent of your money at home? It’s great if you are investing that 90 percent in your community, but most churches are not. Those are questions we South Carolina Baptists must wrestle with, and that’s what I hope this year’s annual meeting creates—a launching pad for real, honest conversation about who we are, where we are going, and what we are doing.” Horton, who as president works with the convention’s Order of Business Committee to produce the annual meeting, says there won’t be a catchy theme for this year’s meeting. Instead, the theme will be LiveIT, which is an extension of the convention’s ongoing emphasis Great Commission Living—“living the gospel, living the Great Commission because if we don’t live it then we’re just part of the noise; and there is so much noise surrounding people today. “God’s plan for us in South Carolina is not universities, state convention buildings, institutions—as
great as the mission is for those organizations—God’s plan for South Carolina Baptists is for us—you and me—to live out the gospel through local churches,” Horton says. “As leaders of the convention, my goal—our goal—is to help local churches, who help everyday people live and share the gospel where they work and play. If we do that, I believe we will see our cooperative giving increase. Pastors my age—in their 30s—are not leading churches to give to structure but to movements of the gospel.” “I’m hoping the inspiration of this year’s annual meeting can be used for a long time after the annual meeting has concluded,” he says.
This year’s annual meeting will include:
• A dress-down, modern worship experience on Tuesday afternoon featuring the Anderson Mill Road Baptist Church praise band Ignite.
• A Tuesday evening worship service celebrating South Carolina Baptists with worship led by Charles Billingsley, worship leader at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, VA. Horton will speak at this service with a mass multi-cultural choir.
• A Wednesday morning service featuring the music ministry of Shandon Baptist Church with sermon by Thom Rainer, president and chief executive officer of LifeWay Christian Resources in Nashville. • A free Bojangles chicken supper with a panel discussion about the fu- ture of the South Carolina Baptist Convention. Former South Carolina pastor Frank Page, who is president and chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, will be a part of the panel.
• The South Carolina Baptist Singing Churchmen will lead worship at the Tuesday morning session.
“When the gavel falls on Wednesday, I’m done,” Horton says. “I want people to walk away saying, ‘I’m glad I came this year; I’m not discouraged, and I’m excited about the future. Whether a church gives two or 20 percent to the Cooperative Program, I want them to be proud to have written that check for evangelism and missions in our state and beyond.”
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