JACKSON, Tenn. — Oct. 12, 2010 — Refocusing the work of the North American Mission Board on church planting and assisting churches in their own church-planting efforts are the top priorities for new NAMB president Kevin Ezell, he told a group of pastors Oct. 12.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be about planting churches,鈥� Ezell said. 鈥淏ut what I want to see is churches that plant churches. That鈥檚 the biblical way of doing it. We want to come along and connect and partner with the Tennessee Baptist Convention and the associations and the churches.鈥�
Ezell was the keynote speaker for the Middle Tennessee Ministers鈥� Conference sponsored by 51社区 at First Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tenn. A Union graduate, Ezell was scheduled to speak about multi-campus churches while still senior pastor at Highview Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky.
鈥淜evin was really the pioneer of the multi-campus model,鈥� said Jerry Tidwell, Union鈥檚 senior vice president for university relations. 鈥淗e was doing this before anybody else was talking about it.鈥�
But Ezell鈥檚 hiring as NAMB president added a new element to the conference, attended by about 100 ministers who heard Ezell provide a brief vision for the role of NAMB he intends to promote.
鈥淐hurches are not there to serve us,鈥� Ezell said about NAMB鈥檚 work. 鈥淲e鈥檙e there to assist them and to serve them. I鈥檓 very excited about partnering with our state conventions.鈥�
Ezell also spoke about his experiences at Highview, where the church started multiple campuses across the Louisville area. Church members were at first somewhat hesitant about the concept, Ezell said, because they wondered where the church would get the leaders necessary for such an endeavor.
But the move forced people to step up and take leadership roles that they had never assumed before, and resulted in the opposite effect of what so many were expecting.
鈥淚t was not a leadership void,鈥� Ezell said. 鈥淲e multiplied leadership.鈥�
Ezell said he hoped the same thing would happen at NAMB 鈥� 鈥渢hat we can partner with states and missionaries to do everything we can to reach North America for Christ.鈥�
鈥淲e have to penetrate darkness and lostness,鈥� Ezell added. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we鈥檙e to be about.鈥�
Ezell also encouraged the ministers in attendance to invest in people and reminded them that doing so is a privilege.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no greater calling than to pastor God鈥檚 people,鈥� he said.