New EKG timeline detailed
At the 1991 SC Baptist Convention Annual Meeting, messengers approved a sweeping new vision for the state’s Baptist churches that has remained a standard for fifteen years. Empowering Kingdom Growth (EKG) become the benchmark for serving South Carolina churches through a series of goals and objectives covering baptisms, church planting, evangelism and missions.
In 2002, the Southern Baptist Convention adopted the initiative nationally and Empowering Kingdom Growth spread from the borders of this state to all over the country and even beyond.
This November, EKG as originally adopted in 1991, will conclude and the process will begin to reconstruct the emphasis for serving South Carolina churches. In October, the Convention’s Executive Board approved a timeline beginning in September 2007 and lasting through January 2009 for formulating changes to EKG.
The timeline includes opportunities for input from constituents including a survey available both at this year’s Annual Meeting in Florence and online. Listening sessions with Executive Director-Treasurer Dr. Jim Austin will also continue next September. Brainstorming sessions among Convention staff and Executive Board members are also scheduled. Directors of Mission and the Woman’s Missionary Union will be briefed on the new vision as it begins to take shape.
In April, the Executive Board will consider the new vision plan and in October the Executive Board’s Administrative committee will review a new staff structure which will reflect the direction of the initiative. The new vision will be presented for messenger approval at the November 2008 Annual Meeting in Columbia.
Any person wanting to give input to the new EKG vision, may log on to the online survey at www.scbaptist.org. The survey is found under the links sections of the home page and will be accessible until December 31, 2007.
