Ensmallment campaign

Take football, for example. The last time I put on shoulder pads and a football helmet, I weighed 129 pounds. Even "back in the day," that was small. My boyhood dreams of playing for the Dallas Cowboys evaporated by the time I was 17. Just too small.

And take Baptist meetings, for another example. This year, only 1,891 people registered as messengers to the Baptist General Convention of Texas' annual meeting. That's the smallest crowd in 59 years. Small wasn't good. Sure, the folks who showed up in Fort Worth had a grand time. The sermons and speeches were excellent. The missions presentation was stimulating. The business was … businesslike. The training was on target. And the fellowship was warm.

A little meeting

But too few Texas Baptists showed up. Registration averaged only one messenger per three churches. At the least, we ought to average three messengers per church.

My concern isn't numbers for numbers' sake. Registration totals reflect the involvement of people. Folks who attend annual meetings find inspiration in one another. They learn more about the convention. By investing their time and attention, they increase their expectations for the convention. So, small crowds hurt the convention.

Of course, we can make excuses. The economy stinks. Even though the price of gas has dropped, our mental image of travel was warped by the price of gas this summer and early fall, so we still think travel is more expensive than it actually is. Also, hurricanes took their toll on Southeast Texas, limiting travel by many Baptists from that region.

The reason: Apathy

But the bottom line is fewer and fewer Texas Baptists cared enough to show up.

I've been trying to think about how we could increase attendance at our annual meetings.

One blogger, Ken Coffee, suggests the BGCT should hold its annual meeting in regional satellite locations.  He predicts the convention could involve 10,000 to 15,000 messengers if Baptists didn't have to travel far to attend the meeting. Technology would make participation possible.

I respect the idea, and I affirm large numbers of Texas Baptists involved in the decision-making process. But I'm not sure raw numbers of messengers would have the intended effect. One of the great values of the annual meeting is the fellowship. If you attend a regional meeting, you see the same folks you see often throughout the year. But when you go to a statewide meeting, you get to see folks you only see once a year. Friendships are made and renewed. And there's something about the spirit of being all in the same room together.

Digital suggestion box

I'm thinking the BGCT Executive Board, which is responsible for putting on the annual meeting, should ask folks what it would take for them to come to the event each year. They could create a space on the Executive Board's website where folks could write in and comment. 

Some of it has to do with the annual meeting itself. By harvesting far and wide, perhaps the Executive Board could glean fresh ideas "from the field" that would make the annual meeting more meaningful and engaging. (Of course, we're bound by bylaws to do some items of business. But the rest is pretty much wide-open.)

Much of the low attendance can be attributed to what happens the other 363 days a year. Fewer and fewer folks attend the annual meeting because more and more folks don't think the convention is relevant for them or helpful for their churches. We could argue the truth of this forever, but this is a case where perception shapes its own reality.

So, maybe ideas for making the convention more relevant, effective and useful would come out of an open communication system.

Developing ideas for improving the convention—including its annual meetings—is the domain of the Future Focus Committee, the group that is halfway into a study of the convention. This committee will make its report to the annual meeting next year. Pray for these Texas Baptists. They need divine wisdom and supernatural courage.

Speak up

Meantime, if you've got ideas for improving the convention, tell me. Post them here, and I'll pass them along.