January 1, 2001
Maryland/Delaware open to gospel
___COLUMBIA, Md.--Maryland and Delaware are nestled neatly along the mid-Atlantic Coast, not large in size, but important to the world, said David Lee, executive director of the Baptist convention serving the two states.
___The Baltimore-Washington corridor has made the area "one of the most strategic areas in the whole country," Lee said. It is the "21st century equivalent of New Testament Rome."
___"If revival could break out here, it could have a ripple effect" throughout the country, he said. And "doors are opening. ... Never in my lifetime have I seen such openness" to spiritual matters.
SEVENTH BAPTIST CHURCH in Baltimore has a magnificent building and is giving birth to new ministries. This is the church where Annie Armstrong, whose name is attached to Southern Baptists' annual offering for North American missions, was baptized.
___Still, Baptist work in Maryland/Delaware is small when compared to the South. Houston has more Baptist churches than his two-state convention, and some churches in Texas have larger budgets than the state convention, Lee said.
___Money could be a big help to work in the region, but Texas has something else to offer, Lee said. "God has blessed Texas churches with expertise."
___Few Maryland/ Delaware congregations have multiple staffs, and the pastor often is expected to know and do more than one person reasonably can.
___"It would be so great to have church-to-church connections" to provide both on-site and long-distance support, Lee said. "We need those who are willing to come in and connect and to keep the connection going."
___He expressed a concern for the largest city in the two-state area. "We're losing Baltimore," Lee said. "We just don't have the resources." He would like to see either Houston or Dallas Baptists adopt Baltimore.
___Volunteers who want serve will find that Maryland and Delaware are "not a whole lot different" from Texas, he said. People from rural areas in the South can be connected with "good old home folks" in the Northeast. Those from Galveston can find resort areas. "It's not a foreign land," but it is a different culture.
___The churches of Maryland/ Delaware also could be of help to Texas churches. Baptist leaders have noted that Texas culture is becoming more pagan, Lee said. "One of the things we can give back is we know what it's like to plant churches in a pre-Christian environment."
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