The Baptist Center for Ethics is partnering with Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Global Missions and three state CBF organizations to offer a resource to help churches discover and fulfill their mission in the 21st century.
Leading Churches into 21st Century Missions: 13 Lessons in Acts is the newest line of undated, online Sunday school curriculum published by Acacia Resources, publishing division of the Baptist Center for Ethics. The 13-week study explores how local churches can be the center and primary agent of global missions in the 21st century.
“Missionary-sending agencies have historically played key roles in advancing the gospel message,” Acacia Resources Managing Editor Jan Turrentine writes in the unit introduction. “But the changing world landscape demands constant assessment of mission strategies and priorities.”
The lessons are produced in partnership with the Alabama Baptist Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Cooperative Baptist Fellowships of Georgia and South Carolina and Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Global Missions in Atlanta.
“Helping churches navigate the new waters of partnership missions is one of our top priorities,” said Alabama CBF Coordinator Mart Gray. “This curriculum is a great way to foster healthy conversation within congregations regarding their rediscovered role at the center of future missions strategy.”
Writers for the lessons are from diverse backgrounds and bring an international perspective to the subject. Various lesson writers represent Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Germany, Great Britain and the United States.
Lesson writers are Mark McEntire, an associate professor of religion at Belmont University; Bob Allen, managing editor of EthicsDaily.com; John Upton, executive director of the Baptist General Association of Virginia; Tony Cupit, director of evangelism and education at the Baptist World Alliance; Erich Geldbach, professor emeritus of ecumenical studies at Ruhr University Bochum in Germany; Parush Parushev, a Bulgarian who is academic dean at International Baptist Theological Seminary in Prague, Czech Republic; Laurence Barber, area minister of Toronto Area Association of Baptist Churches; Bob Fox, pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Georgetown, Ky.; Jan Turrentine, managing editor of Acacia Resources; Paul Montacute, director of Baptist World Aid; Rick Burnette, a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship missionary in Thailand; and Ken Hall, president of Buckner Baptist Benevolences in Dallas.
Leading Churches into 21st Century Missions: 13 Lessons in Acts is the seventh unit of quarterly Sunday school material produced on-line by Acacia Resources since the beginning of 2003.
Earlier units were Honoring the Ten Commandments; Walk His Way: Discipleship Lessons from Mark’s Gospel; Looking at Leadership; Doing the Will of God: Studies in Matthew; Living Wisely, Living Well: Lessons from The Proverbs; and Courageous Churches.
The curriculum is now available for ordering on EthicsDaily.com. Churches purchase a license for the number of copies they need and then make as many copies as they have purchased. The lessons are delivered by e-mail as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file that can be opened with a free download of Adobe Reader from Adobe.com.
Bob Allen is managing editor of EthicsDaily.com.
Managing editor at EthicsDaily.com from 2003-2009, Allen wrote more than 1,500 news stories during his tenure.
