WAKE FOREST, N.C. — Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) welcomed pastors and associational leaders from across nine states for its annual Associational Mission Strategist (AMS) conference earlier this week.

More than 60 leaders gathered on campus Aug. 13-14 to learn from key speakers and engage in breakout sessions centering around the theme of missional vitality.

Southeastern has hosted the conference for the past six years, and the event gives associational leaders the opportunity to connect with one another and be strategically equipped to serve local churches.

“You’re in a situation where your job is trying to steward vitality in your churches,” said Keelan Cook, Southeastern’s George Liele director for the Center for Great Commission Studies, who spoke at the conference. “Well, how do we do it? How do we serve our churches in such a way that we enliven them?”

This year, the AMS conference was hosted in partnership with the International Mission Board (IMB), the North American Mission Board (NAMB) and the Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Leaders. Keynote speakers included Cook; Jeff Ginn, IMB vice president of mobilization; and Rick Curtis, NAMB assistant to the president for convention and associational relations. Southeastern faculty members Chuck Lawless, Steven Wade and Steven McKinion challenged and encouraged attendees with devotions between sessions.

Each speaker approached missional vitality from a different angle, addressing the practical and strategic elements of building vibrant, unified associations of local churches.

Toby Neal, associational mission strategist with the Pee Dee Baptist Association in Rockingham, N.C., has attended the AMS conference for three years.

“Each year has been beneficial in helping guide me through steps to help guide churches,” Neal said. “Especially this one with the discussions on missional alignment and engagement and deployment.”

Curtis opened the conference by guiding attendees through the practical steps of missional alignment within their associations, which he called “a spiritual endeavor more than it is a logistical one.”

His lecture was built on by Cook who then addressed missional engagement and what it looks like to build an associational culture that desires and pursues unified engagement in missions.

In the second half of the conference, Ginn spoke on missional deployment and the ways associations could partner with the IMB.

Jeff Mingee, a first-time attendee who serves as a regional strategist with the Southern Baptist Convention of Virginia, said the conference was beneficial.

“It’s been a tremendously helpful experience thinking through missional engagement and how to help pastors lead their churches well in the Great Commission,” Mingee said. “It’s been beneficial to connect with other associational, missional leaders who are doing this and to learn from them and from the speakers.”

Conference sponsors included the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, Provision Financial Resources of N.C. Baptists, Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina and Christian Adoption Services.

The AMS conference is a reflection of Southeastern’s heart to equip leaders and pastors to serve the church and fulfill the Great Commission wherever God has called them.

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Mary Asta Mountain serves as news and marketing writer in Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary’s Office of Marketing and Communications.)