Dr. Tim Lubinus
After a little over a year of searching for the person God has set aside as the next Executive Director/Treasurer of the Baptist Convention of Iowa, Tim Lubinus was elected to the position by the Executive Board on Monday March 10th. Tim Lubinus will be replacing Interim Executive Director/Treasurer Tom Law on March 24th.
Lloyd Eaken, pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Anamosa and president of the Baptist Convention of Iowa said on Monday, “I am pleased to announce the selection of Dr. Tim Lubinus as the new Executive Director/Treasurer. Tim will be a great asset to the work of the Lord here in Iowa. I personally am looking forward to working closely with him in the months ahead. I believe God has led us to this moment and this man. I encourage all Iowa Baptists to support Tim and lift him to the Lord daily.”
After a lengthy process of prayerfully sifting through resumes and interviewing applicants Tim was chosen as the candidate by the Search Committee. Members of the Search Committee appointed by the Executive Board included Dan Doolin (Chair), Mike Carlson (Vice Chair), John Faulkner (alternate), Eugene Guthrie, Ted Keys, Jerome Risting, Chuck Spindler, and Bob Stout. On February 22nd, the search committee recommended Tim Lubinus as the candidate for the position of Executive Director/Treasurer to the BCI executive board.
Ken Livingston, pastor of First Grace Baptist Church in Sheffield and first vice president of the Baptist Convention of Iowa said, “It is wonderful to see how God worked with and through the Search Committee and the Executive Board to bring Tim and Darlene Lubinus to this place in their lives. I see God in this decision and therefore I am anticipating great things for Iowa. It will be an honor to minister with them and support them as we serve the Lord Jesus together.”
Tim Lubinus has most recently been the Regional and Global Ministry Director at Cornerstone Church in Ames, where he has served for the last eight years. While at Cornerstone, Tim was responsible for leading their church planting strategy which has started six new BCI affiliated churches with nearly 2,000 attendees. Tim isn’t done planting churches, telling members of the Search Committee, “I have much more vision and energy for church planting and church health/development across the state.” Tim also lead the Regional and Global Ministry Team at Cornerstone, sending short-term mission volunteers, preparing long-term missionaries, and creating new ministries to reach the needy in Ames.
Tim is a native Iowan who was baptized while attending Iowa State University and became a member of Grand Avenue Baptist Church, while Tom Nesbitt was pastor. Tim was called to the ministry in 1982 saying, “My wife, Darlene and I went forward after IMB missionaries to the Philippines Bill and Lyn Hyde (for whom the Iowa State Missions Offering is named) spoke at Grand Avenue Baptist Church. We pledged to serve Jesus wherever He would call us.” Tim completed his B.S. in Public Service Administration in 1985 at Iowa State University.
Tim and his wife Darlene then moved to Fort Worth Texas where Tim earned a Master of Divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1988. Following graduation, Tim became the University Student Ministry Director at Northern Illinois University for the Illinois Baptist State Association, where he served for two years. In 1990, Tim, Darlene and their children became international missionaries serving in Korea where Tim was a University Student Ministry Director for the Southern Baptist International Mission Board (IMB).
In 1996 the family moved to Central Asia where Tim started, led, and expanded a team of over 100 IMB missionaries in twelve cities in the region while serving as the Strategy Associate on IMB’s Central Asia Regional Leadership Team. In 2005, Tim also became a trainer for ministry supervisors in the Central Asia.
Tim Lubinus says that his service as an IMB missionary has uniquely positioned him for leadership in Iowa, “While in Central Asia I worked hard to create a quality organization that missionaries joined because they wanted to not because they had to. As a result of high growth and low attrition rates, our team became one of the fastest growing IMB teams at that time in one of the most closed countries in the world. I have a similar vision for the Baptist Convention of Iowa in which pastors are excited about participating and inviting their friends to join for the vision, strategy, structure, and excellence provided and because of the benefits they receive from being part of the organization.”
“Tim comes to the BCI with a depth of experience and with a heart to reach not only his community and state where he lives, but also the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is an exciting day for me to think that God has raised up a native Iowan to lead the ministry of the BCI and has given to us a person that not only understands our culture but the cultures of the world” says Pastor Dan Doolin of Solid Rock Baptist Church in Wappelo and chairman of the Executive Director Search Team.
Tim and his family returned to Iowa in 2006 when he began work with Cornerstone Church, Ames. Tim has recently completed his Doctor of Ministry degree with Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City with an emphasis in church planting and church revitalization.
Tim thanks all of the people God has used to bring him to this position saying, “God used Grand Avenue Baptist Church and Tom Nesbitt, the Baptist Student Union and Jack Owens, Bill and Lyn Hyde, the International Mission Board, North American Mission Board, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Cornerstone Church to develop my faith. I love the opportunity to give back to Iowa Baptists what I have received from them!”
Tom Law stated, “I am excited with where God is taking Iowa and that the Search Committee has found someone with vision to help lead the Convention. I know that the future is bright for the expansion of the Kingdom and look forward to how God will show up in the days and months to come.”
