LIVERPOOL, New York – During the Annual Gathering of the Baptist Convention of New York (BCNY) Sept. 26-27, executive director-treasurer Frank Williams shared news of Send Network New York, a new agreement between the North American Mission Board’s (NAMB) church planting arm and the BCNY.
“The hope for this Send Network New York partnership is to better facilitate a more collaborative approach to church planting within the BCNY territory,” Williams said, “one that brings relevant parties to the same table more consistently to discus and decide protocols of collaboration that are mutually beneficial.”
The BCNY includes churches in New York state, northern New Jersey, southern Connecticut, and even some churches in Massachusetts.
“New York is one of the most influential and complex places in North America,” said Steve Canter, Send Network’s regional director for the Northeast. “This partnership allows us to meet that challenge together—with the strength of local relationships and the support of a national network.”
Send Network New York opens the door for greater collaboration between Send Network’s leaders and the leadership at the state convention and associational level, “working together and praying together to discern, develop, and deploy tailored church planting approaches for specific areas within our State Convention,” Williams said.
In 2024, baptisms in the BCNY rose by 38 percent over the previous year, and Southern Baptist church plants increased by five percent between 2023 and 2024 after doubling from 2022 to 2023.
“Together, we’re choosing to work in unity,” said Canter. “We are choosing to dream bigger and serve better so that pastors and churches are strengthened and equipped to plant churches everywhere for everyone.”
Both Send Network and the BCNY share the same goal, Williams said, to see communities reached with the gospel, churches planted, and church planting families to thrive no matter where they are planting.
“Planting churches ‘everywhere for everyone’ includes areas that are economically depressed, hard-to-reach, small towns, middle-class and affluent neighborhoods, and even among specific groups like the Deaf community,” Williams said.
NAMB partners with every state convention in the areas of evangelism and church planting, but Send Network state agreements extend that cooperation even further.
Canter emphasized how Send Network New York will enhance NAMB’s partnership in the state convention.
“The BCNY has always been committed to cooperation and mission,” said Canter. “This partnership strengthens that commitment and ensures that every church—large or small—has a role to play in reaching our cities, towns, and neighborhoods.”
Another goal of the collaboration is to cultivate greater longevity by helping new church plants develop deeper relationships with sister churches, associations, as well as the BCNY.
“I believe that this kind of collaboration will go a long way in helping us foster vision compatibility and alignment, nurture relational equity, and move at the speed of trust, i.e. our trust in God, and in each other,” Williams said. “With NAMB’s Send Network New York partnership, the prayerful outcome is that we can observe a measurable increase in bearing fruit that remains for years and decades to come.”
Published October 3, 2025