SBC President Johnny Hunt visits Baltimore and leaves church planters enthusiastic about the future
By Shannon Mager
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Dr. Johnny Hunt greets guests at a banquet in Baltimore.
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Southern Baptist Convention President and Pastor of First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Dr. Johnny Hunt, told Baltimore church planters if we don’t reach the cities we won’t reach America. Hunt shared his passion for church starting, relating stories from his own life, answering candid questions and encouraging the young men who are boldly stepping out to begin new churches today. Hunt also invited a group of pastors and missions leaders from strategic churches in the Bible belt to come to Baltimore with him to see and hear first hand about the excitement and growth God is bringing to Baltimore through Embrace Baltimore, a Strategic Focus City effort of the North American Mission Board. He encouraged and challenged them to invest in that growth. Many of those visitors were excited about encouraging their churches to partner with new works in Baltimore and offer financial and/or mission team support.
Hunt arrived in Baltimore on March 31 for a two-day whirlwind of meetings, luncheons and dinners. He even preached a one-day revival. Hunt spent much of that time with planters, listening as the young men cast their visions. He toured the neighborhoods the planters want to reach.
“He was very encouraging,” Tally Wilgis, lead pastor of Captivate Church, Towson, said. Captivate is a new plant Wilgis plans to launch in September. “He’s the real deal. When you talk to Dr. Hunt he’s not pretentious. He’s a pastor’s pastor.”
“Both his message and tone were refreshing,” Joel Rainey, Mid-Maryland Director of Missions said. “And while he stands unapologetically on the authority of Scripture, he made it clear to our guys in the field that he is not interested in continuing to narrow the parameters of cooperation. His responses to questions from our church planters were candid, transparent, and full of passion regarding the future of the Southern Baptist Convention.”
Rainey said Hunt also made it clear to young leaders that “walking away” because they sometimes disagree is not the way to affect the kind of change they want to see.
“He knows there’s tough terrain within the denomination and he responded frankly to the questions we asked him,” Aaron Pankey said. Pankey is pastor of Infinity Church in Laurel, MD and is planting a new church in Baltimore. He too plans to launch the church in September.
Pankey asked Hunt about recent articles in USA Today and The Christian Science Monitor about the forecasted collapse of the evangelical church within ten years.
“Dr. Hunt’s response was that the word evangelize means spreading the good news. As long as the church continues to share the good news there is no threat to the evangelical church dying like that. He said church planters are a cause for celebration,” Pankey said.
“He (Hunt) said we are Christ’s church. As long as there is a prophet proclaiming Christ there will be evangelical Christianity,” Wilgis added. “He told us not to buy into the surveys and polls out there and just be faithful to what God has called us to. As church planters we are the future of Christianity in our country.”
Hunt plans to personally be involved in ministering with Baltimore churches.
“I desire to lead First Baptist Church, Woodstock, and the churches the Lord would choose to allow me to influence to become engaged in your great city. I will be challenging my missions staff to really seek to be engaged at a level that we could really make a difference,” Hunt said.
“Time is short and we must engage the culture now! We are sending a missions team to help with sports outreach in June and hope we can really be involved with our youth and college students in 2010,” he said.
“He’s a champion for what’s going on in Baltimore,” Pankey said.
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