As nearly 1,000 church leaders from the Midwest convened in Illinois, Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) President Ed Litton saluted organizers and those in attendance for the unique regional event, before speaking briefly about pressures facing the convention.

“You’re a testimony to the nation,” Litton said. “If all our regions would be so united together to perfect our skills and each other, that would be amazing.”

He also praised Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers, citing the example of Michigan teams working in Colorado after wildfires. “At our best, we are brothers and sisters in Christ, working together to spread the gospel,” he said.

Unity was an underlying theme in Litton’s brief comments.

“My hope for Southern Baptists to discover the power of crying out to God,” he said. “Even with ‘our stains’ – past stains and abuse – God is moving through Southern Baptists to address these stains. Let’s make sure first to deal with the source of the stain.”

Litton was one of a variety of representatives of SBC entities scheduled to appear at the Midwest Leadership Summit Jan. 18-20. Hance Dilbeck, incoming CEO of GuideStone Financial Resources, one of the sponsors of the summit, praised his predecessor, O. S. Hawkins, and his efforts to expand Mission: Dignity, which supports financially strapped retired pastors and their widows. “I want you all to know we have a heart for shepherds.” Dilbeck said.

He then urged pastors to support Mission: Dignity, even as they give attention to their own wellbeing.

The event, which meets every two years, brings together church leaders from 12 states and nine Baptist conventions. About 1,000 leaders were registered, but the numbers dropped slightly as COVID-19 cases rose. Still, those attending will choose six breakouts from among 70 scheduled, in addition to three plenary worship sessions, prayer times and missions focus.

The Midwest Leadership Summit began as the North Central States Rally as part of a church planting movement in the 1950s to address the unique ministry challenges faced by churches outside the South. “God is at work in the Midwest,” said Jeremy Westbrook, recently elected executive director of the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio, who emceed the large group sessions. “That’s one of the blessings of the summit, we get to talk about what God is doing in our churches.”

The state convention partners are Dakota Baptist Convention, Illinois Baptist State Association, State Convention of Baptists in Indiana, Baptist Convention of Iowa, Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists, Baptist State Convention of Michigan, Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention, Missouri Baptist Convention and the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio.

Each plenary session also featured a practitioner or planter from the region. Kirk Kirkland, planter and pastor of Revive City Church in Cincinnati, told of ministry among homeless and addicted people – and seeing God at work.

“Yes, ministry in the Midwest can be hard. Ministry in the city, ministry in the pandemic. We have moved our location 11 times…. But it’s really hard when you start getting job offers,” Kirkland told the crowd that included many pastors. “The gospel is able to break up the hardest of soils,” he said. “God can give you the grace of grit.”

Read the full story here.

(EDITOR’S NOTE – Eric Reed is editor of Illinois Baptist media.)