Five Core Values in Ministry

Dear Birmingham Baptists,

I am honored to serve the Birmingham Metro Baptist Association as your new Executive Director! I have prayed for a long, long time for our Association. I was born at Princeton Baptist Hospital in West Birmingham. My first seminary pastorate was in the Sandusky community. As a pastor and church planter in East Birmingham, I volunteered on many occasions to serve the Association. Now, you have given me the challenge to lead the BMBA at this critical moment.

Times are changing. Many Baby Boomer pastors and SBC entity leaders are retiring. In light of inevitable transition, the Birmingham Association churches and entities need a missions focus for a new era. Cooperating in missions is not just what we do. It is who we are as Southern Baptists. We must activate and mobilize a new generation seeking to engage in the Gospel work in Birmingham.

Positive change must come. It is time for a respectful, thoughtful, and cooperative change that enfranchises all generations for the sake of the Gospel. Polls inform us that younger leaders distrust institutions. Even so, I believe that Southern Baptists have the most effective missionary organization in history. A new generation must be challenged to believe that cooperation is the best stewardship of our time and resources. Birmingham Baptists have got to provide a return on the Kingdom investments made by our member churches and partners.

What makes the new Executive Director “tick?” Core values are guiding principles that dictate a person’s behavior. On my best days, these five core values inform my approach to ministry:

  • In Touch: I seek to be a relevant and relational leader who stays in contact with our churches and leaders. More important, I pray and study God’s Word for wisdom to stay in touch with Jesus Christ.

  • On Mission: My heart beats for missions. I desire for our team to carry themselves as missionaries, not as mere religious professionals. We exist to serve the churches; they don’t exist to serve us.

  • On Purpose: I purpose to do a few things that matter and do them well. Dad would say, “Don’t be a jack of all trades and a master of none.” Associations could learn much from Dad.

  • About Truth: I believe in the authority of Scriptures and the autonomy of the local church, along with our Baptist distinctives.

  • For the Church and Church Leaders: I endeavor to cultivate healthy, disciple-making churches for the glory of God. As we serve the Lord together, church leaders are our number-one customer in the Association.

Birmingham Baptists will see in the years to come that God will lead us through change. I envision a close and dynamic working relationship between the pastors, churches, and ministries. A new generation will begin to take up the mantle of leadership and work together. Let’s make a covenant together to encourage, equip, and engage biblically faithful churches in the Great Commission for the glory of God!

Thank you for your generous support of the Birmingham Metro Baptist Association. Pray for your Association team in 2020. We have much work to do at the Association.

Carol, Lauren (15), Carianne (13), and Jackson (12) and I look forward to getting to know you. Please remember the Crains when you pray!

With sincere gratitude,

Dr. Christopher (Chris) Crain, Executive Director

Birmingham Metro Baptist Association