After a year of uncertainty and chaotic times, we gather this month in Greensboro to celebrate being On Mission Together. We have meals, meetings and moving presentations planned for the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina’s annual meeting. I’ve even planned a basketball game for messengers to fellowship and shoot hoops after the Monday evening session. 

However, what I look forward to most is the excitement that we can be together again. We’ll get to see old friends and make new ones. Last year we briefly gathered in Charlotte to take care of essential business. In May we met to elect our new executive director-treasurer. Now we can enjoy a full-length pastors’ conference and a two-day convention like we have for years. 

I hope we keep in mind that many things have changed since the last time we had a “normal convention.” The pandemic proved to be a tumultuous time for many of our churches and many of our brothers and sisters. There have been pronouncements of doom and gloom on churches. Many said this will be the end for those struggling long before we ever heard of COVID-19.

I believe, however, that N.C. Baptists are a resilient lot. It takes more than a pandemic to stop the work we’ve been called to do.

While a great deal has changed, our mission has not. We press on. We continue to preach the truth of God’s unchanging Word. “We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed” (Hebrews 10:39). There is much work to be done in the harvest fields of North Carolina and around the globe. We come to Greensboro to acknowledge God’s goodness among North Carolina Baptists, celebrate what He has accomplished and return to the work set before us.

During the 2019 meeting, my predecessor and friend Steve Scoggins preached from Nehemiah 6. Nehemiah tells those who wished him to stop building the wall, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.” As I traveled across the state this last year and spoke with hundreds of pastors, I heard this sentiment often. Our work is immense and urgent. The distractions and uncertainty are great. However, our work must continue. It is too important to stop.

I’m thankful that as we gather in Greensboro, you will hear that not only has the work continued, the state convention’s impact continues to grow. On Mission Together is not a slogan thrown around, but a reality as we unite around a common belief and mission. Welcome to the convention, I’m excited we can be On Mission Together.

(EDITOR’S NOTE – Micheal Pardue is president of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.)