Mark Wingfield
Texas Baptist Standard
It is a question some longtime Baptists have been heard to ask during more
than 20 years of denominational fighting among Southern Baptists – “Whatever
happened to Bold Mission Thrust?”
It is a question some longtime Baptists have been heard to ask during more
than 20 years of denominational fighting among Southern Baptists – “Whatever
happened to Bold Mission Thrust?”
The 25-year plan to take the gospel to every person on earth
by the turn of the century sometimes appeared to take a back seat to controversy
in the years after its launch in 1976.
But despite those appearances, denominational officials continued
to keep track of goals and measure successes and failures.
Still, finding an answer to whether Bold Mission Thrust was
a success or a failure is not so easy. That is due in part to a labyrinth of
goals set during the 25-year period and to the difficulty in tracking numbers
related to some of those goals.
The overarching Bold Mission Thrust goal was adopted in 1976
– to pray, give and work so that “every person in the world shall
have the opportunity to hear the gospel of Christ in the next 25 years.”
The “Bold Mission Thrust” name was adopted in 1979
– the same year the controversy between fundamental/conservatives and moderate/conservatives
openly erupted.
Since then, even in the midst of controversy, Southern Baptists
have adopted periodic goals and emphases for the effort. They also have issued
annual progress reports.
Earlier this month, the Southern Baptist Convention Executive
Committee filed its final annual report on Bold Mission Thrust.
The report received by Southern Baptist Convention messengers
in New Orleans closed the book on an effort that set the agenda for Southern
Baptist missions work.
Despite its overall goal, the Bold Mission Thrust effort was
not constructed as a single set of specific aims for the 25-year period. It
developed in stages, with goals becoming more and more detailed.
The first basic goals were set for the period 1977-1979. Those
goals encouraged inter-agency cooperation, increased Bible teaching, more witnessing
and an emphasis on mission action.
The next set of goals (for 1979-1982) focused on the church
“growing, … going and giving.” Sub-categories called for a 12 percent
gain in Sunday School enrollment, a 10 percent increase per year in baptisms,
5,800 new churches, a net gain of 1,000 career missionaries and doubling Cooperative
Program giving in the convention.
The mechanism continued to evolve, until the goals for the
final period of 1995-2000 fell into 13 specific categories. Among other things,
the goals called for 2.5 million baptisms in the five-year period, a total of
50,000 congregations, Sunday School enrollment of 13 million, a total of 5,000
North American missionaries and 5,600 international missionaries, 400,000 missions
volunteers and $2.5 billion given to the Cooperative Program during the five
years.
So were all the goals met?
Answers fall into three categories: Yes, no and only God knows.
Some goals clearly were exceeded. Other goals are difficult
to track. And in hindsight, some of the goals were unrealistic. For example,
the goal of increasing giving 10 percent per year was adopted in a time of economic
inflation that did not last.
One of the clearest reports on Bold Mission Thrust was given
to Southern Baptist International Mission Board trustees in March. Officials
reported on several goals related to Bold Mission Thrust, including:
International missionaries. In 1975, the
convention had 2,667 international missionaries, mainly long-term career workers.
One Bold Mission Thrust goal called for increasing to 5,000 missionaries, while
another called for increasing to 5,600. The actual total at the end of 2000
was 4,946, an increase of 85.5 percent but slightly short of the goal. That
number includes persons serving two years or longer but does not include volunteers
serving less than two years.
Countries served. In 1975, missionaries were
in 82 nations. The Bold Mission Thrust goal was to reach 125. By the end of
last year, the actual number of countries served was 153, surpassing the goal.
Volunteers. The phenomenal increase in Southern
Baptist missions volunteers is by all accounts one of the greatest successes
of the Bold Mission Thrust era. In 1975, the International Mission Board reported
only 1,200 missions volunteers. By the end of 2000, that number had soared to
30,362, an increase of 2,430 percent. Meanwhile, the SBC North American Mission
Board reported 250,000 volunteers serving during the five-year period from 1995-2000.
Overseas churches. In 1975, the convention
related to 7,584 overseas churches. By the end of 2000, the number had grown
to 60,988, an increase of 704 percent but short of the goal of 75,840.
Overseas church membership. In 1975, overseas
churches related to the International Mission Board recorded 896,063 members.
A goal was set to increase that to 8,960,630. The final total was 5,624,018,
an increase of 528 percent but short of the goal.
Overseas baptisms. In 1975, Southern Baptist
missionaries and the overseas churches they related to baptized 80,747 new believers.
The goal was to increase baptisms to 807,470 annually. Although the 2000 total
of 451,301 was a gain of 459 percent, it fell short of the goal.
A spokesman for North American Mission Board said that agency
does not produce an annual Bold Mission Thrust report. However, the final report
received by convention messengers sheds some light on stateside and other goals.
They include:
North American missionaries. By year 2000,
Southern Baptists had 5,081 North American missionaries, exceeding the established
goal of 5,000.
Baptisms. Various goals were set for increasing
baptisms in the United States. One goal called for a 10 percent gain each year.
Another called for a total of 2.5 million baptisms in the final five years of
Bold Mission Thrust. In reality, Southern Baptist baptisms totaled 421,809 in
1975 and 414,657 in year 2000, a 1.7 percent decrease. The five-year total of
2,032,634 fell short of the 2.5 million goal for 1995-2000.
New congregations. A clear goal throughout
the years was to reach the 50,000 mark in number of churches and missions. The
actual total at the end of 2000 was 46,831, a gain of 34 percent from the 34,902
churches and missions reported in 1975.
Bible study enrollment. Despite several
years of significant growth, total Bible study enrollment in Southern Baptist
churches grew only from 7,281,532 to 8,186,415. That is a gain of 12.4 percent
but is far short of the goal of 13 million.
Worship attendance. The goal for 1995-2000
called for Southern Baptists to average a morning worship attendance equal to
60 percent of their resident church membership. By year 2000, the average had
reached 5,544,439 persons, representing 49.8 percent of resident membership.
Discipleship. Southern Baptists set
a goal of reaching an enrollment of 3 million in Discipleship Training by the
year 2000. The actual number reached 2,208,427.
Missions education. A goal was set to reach
a combined enrollment of 2.3 million in Womans Missionary Union and men
and boys missions education. By year 2000, enrollment has reached 1,379,567.
Missions support. Southern Baptists gave a total of $2,231,472,997
through the Cooperative Program from 1995-2000, shy of the set goal of $2.5
billion.