Annual Meeting Attendees Asked to Consider How “Multiplication Matters” When Growing Churches for New Englanders

More than two hundred representatives of New England Baptist churches, mission partners from Southern Baptist entities, and interested guests were enthusiastic about multiplication when they gathered November 1-2, 2024, at First Baptist Church of Manchester, CT, for the Baptist Churches of New England Annual Meeting. 

They voiced little interest in church development by addition, felt no need to discuss subtraction since their numbers have been increasing in recent years, and expressed absolutely no interest whatsoever in the type of division or controversies that are crippling other church groups nationwide. 

“Multiplication Matters” Was the Theme

Dr. Terry Dorsett speaks during the Annual Meeting

“Multiplication matters because more people need Jesus, more Christians need to be discipled, more leaders need to be developed, more churches need to be started, and more financial resources need to be developed to reach New England with the gospel,” BCNE Executive Director Terry Dorsett challenged. 

Basing his remarks on Luke 19:10, which says that Jesus Christ “came to seek and to save the lost,” Dorsett reported that in 2023 “New England Baptists set a new record by baptizing 2,075 new believers, which is cause for great celebration! Sadly, though, 170 of our churches baptized zero.” 

Rather than blame pastors and churches that have not baptized anyone in several years, he challenged attendees to consider “what we have to do to make sure that doesn’t happen over and over and over again.” He outlined online and in-person training options that will help churches and pastors experiencing tough times. 

“What are we doing wrong? Aren’t we supposed to be helping them figure out a way to evangelize their community? What can we do to help a church that has a zero year, year after year after year after year?” he asked. “Imagine what would happen next year if those 170 churches who baptized no one last year, just baptized one each.”

“Brothers and sisters, we know what we need to do,” concluded Dorsett, whose tenth anniversary as executive director will be April 1, 2025. “Do we have the courage to do it . . . or will we be afraid to say yes to the possibilities?”

“If you don't change your mindset from addition to a multiplication approach, you’re going to be in a bad place. Multiplication matters in New England,” proclaimed Lierte Soares Jr. in the presidential sermon that kicked off the preaching, reporting, learning, and worshipping marathon. “If the mission is too big, I need a multiplying God,” he added. 

Read the interview with Lierte Soares Jr., the recently re-elected BCNE president

Phil Waldrep takes the stage at the Annual Meeting

Evangelist Phil Waldrep of Decatur, AL, a longtime supporter of New England Baptist ministries and pastors— who started his sermon by saying, “I just so appreciate what you are doing in New England. You are my heroes. My role is to be your cheerleader”—stressed the need for Christians to rediscover the awe and wonder of Jesus. He urged the pastors and leaders present to preach repentance and believe in the Gospel. 

Waldrep then turned to Mark’s gospel and discussed three events that, he said, seem unrelated: the baptism, temptation, and early preaching of Jesus. “I think maybe Mark is giving us an overview of the life of Christ, so we can see who he is.”

The first message Jesus preached, he said, “was very simple. It took less than 30 seconds to deliver.”“The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15, ESV). 

“If you took everything Jesus said in all of the gospels and you had to write a thesis statement to summarize it in one statement,” Waldrep said, “you could not improve upon that verse because in that one statement Jesus said everything he would say in his lifetime.” 

Waldrep then illustrated the transformative power of Jesus’s ministry by telling heart-rending stories about a girl and her father who attended revivals he preached at a church in Alabama. 

Shaun Pillay, Minister of Evangelism and Discipleship at Olive Baptist Church, Pensacola, FL, who planted Cornerstone City Church, Norwich, CT, urged BCNE pastors and leaders to live out their faith authentically and engage with their communities beyond church walls. 

Shaun Pillay challenges an attentive audience

He called for training leaders to be effective in the real world, emphasizing the need for personal, genuine relationships and a focus on Jesus as the ultimate source of transformation and multiplication.

Pillay then summarized the story of leadership transition from the death of Moses and the call of Joshua (see Joshua 1 and Exodus 33) and urged pastors to courageously “shepherd God’s people that he has entrusted to your care, help them to know what it is to spend time in God’s presence.” 

“Dear leader in this room today, are you modeling to your apprentice what it is to take off your shoes and be in the presence of God? Multiplication matters when we teach the next generation and the next generation to take off our shoes to be in the presence of God.” 

Steve Thiel, senior pastor of Christ Proclamation Church, Windsor, CT, preached the annual sermon and used Eric Liddell, the Scottish Olympic gold medalist, who chose a missionary life over athletics, to illustrate the endurance and faith needed by New England Baptist pastors and leaders. 

With reference to Hebrews 12:1-3, he noted that Liddell “looked to Jesus, the author and the perfecter of his faith, and considered the joy of seeing his savior face to face in future glory to be of greater wealth than any Olympic gold medal. That’s how he did it, and that's how you and I can do it.” 

Thiel urged those present to “cultivate your own love for the Lord Jesus in order to live for his glory and honor. Praise might be the very best spiritual strengthening exercise you’ve ever done for your faith.”

Pastor Steve Thiel preaches the Annual Sermon

“I would suggest you start planning on how you can better dedicate yourself to running the race that God has uniquely set before you, specifically by writing down any sins that entangle you,” he concluded. “Don’t just identify the sins. Put a strategy in place that you might run with endurance, the race that God has set before you.” 

Leadership training was also on the agenda. Workshops were held on numerous topics including “Reaching Your Second-Gen Neighbors,” “Starting Gospel Conversations,” “Event Planning that Impacts,” and “Effective Fundraising.” In response to the ethical crises in the Southern Baptist Convention, a workshop was held to update participants on sexual-abuse issues, and each participant received a packet of information on the topic. 

The BCNE honored David Saylor, senior pastor since 1994 of First Baptist Church, Manchester, CT, with the 2024 Robert H. Brindle Church Planting Award. Saylor, who plans to retire in early 2025, and First Baptist members have planted several Hispanic churches, a congregation for deaf persons—and they are starting a church with immigrants from Ghana.

Pastor David Saylor is awarded the Robert H. Brindle Church Planting Award

The BCNE also recognized the church revitalization accomplishments of Logan Loveday, lead pastor of First Baptist Church, Marlborough, MA, with the 2024 Raymond C. Allen Award for Excellence in Evangelism and Missions. The church, which opened its doors in April 1868, counted just twelve members three years ago, but since then, with Loveday as pastor, the congregation has experienced dramatic growth and has refurbished its building.

Those present for the sixth annual Baptist Foundation of New England banquet heard appreciative testimonies from several grant recipients. They invested more than $5,300 in various funds including (for the first time) a gift that will help the BCNE endow the Rhode Island regional coordinator’s salary.

In Other Developments

Lierte Soares Jr, a Brazilian reverse missionary to New England, was re-elected to a second one-year term as BCNE president. He is pastor of two Boston-area churches and director of the BCNE’s Multiplication Center. David Um, senior pastor of Antioch Baptist Church, Cambridge, MA, was re-elected vice president.

Sharon Haller and Tim O’Carroll share about developing partnerships

On January 1, Joe Souza, the BCNE’s Ethnic Ministry and Boston Area Regional Coordinator, will begin a new role as the Associate Executive Director for Pastoral Networks. He will continue to lead the Boston regional and immigrant church ministries while also guiding the team of other regional coordinators and associational leaders. 

Regional coordinators and associational leaders shared the stage for a panel that highlighted the state of New England Baptist ministry. Participants this year included (for the first time) Steve Georgeson, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Baptist Association; he is also lead pastor of Rice Memorial Baptist Church, Northborough, MA.

Those present for the report of the Board of Directors, which is chaired by Tim Vamosi, pastor of Cider Mill Christian Fellowship, Tolland, CT, accepted the 2024 financial report, approved a $2,988,700 balanced budget, and welcomed twenty-four new churches and church plants.

Sharon Haller, the BCNE partnership director, updated attendees on several state and associational partnerships and introduced Tim O’Carroll, representing the Treasure Coast Baptist Association (TCBA), Fort Pierce, FL. He expressed appreciation for the “mutual encouragement” being developed between his association and Connecticut Baptists. Haller then gave TCBA a $1,045 gift from the BCNE to help them recover from the recent hurricane damage.