![]() The purpose of the local Association is to assist, encourage, and resource churches to participate in the Great Commission and the two Great Commandments. There are two central truths that define the Association and help clarify what the local Association is and what it is not. First, the Association is not a church. It is a para-church organization. The Association is a network of churches, which voluntarily work together in cooperation to accomplish more together than apart. Churches give to and receive assistance from the Association and each other. The Church, the Bride of Christ, in the New Testament, is God-ordained to carry out His purposes on earth. Second, the role and function of the association is to assist, support and resource the unique, God-given vision of churches to carry out the Great Commission and the two Great Commandments. The role of the association is to ‘assist’ in ministry and not to ‘do’ ministry. Associations do not compete with churches to fulfill ministry. Churches ‘do’, associations ‘assist and resource.’ Jerry Rankin in his booked titled, To The Ends Of The Earth, correctly identifies the purpose of the local Association. He states the following “Every SBC entity – whether an association, a state convention, or missions agency – exists only to serve, equip, and enable churches and the people of God to fulfill the Great Commission.” He further clarifies, “The Holy Spirit can empower the growth of the kingdom. But it is the role of the denominations at every level to empower the churches in the sense of facilitating, equipping, and enabling them to fulfill God’s purpose.”
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Darrell L. HornArchives
January 2016
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