2022 Annual Meeting Report

The Annual Meeting weekend featured a new format on Friday that included collaborative workshops and a banquet to honor pastors and their wives. Speaking at the Pastors & Wives Banquet on 2 Timothy 4, Pastor Dan Rude of the host church, Walnut Creek Church, encouraged pastors and their wives about the “noble task” of pastoring.

Building relationships and camaraderie among pastors and church leaders is one of the main purposes of our annual gathering. BCI Executive Director Tim Lubinus said, “I was so encouraged by the many interactions among BCI leaders. The Annual Meeting is a great place to deepen our relationships and connections.”

On Saturday morning, the focused Annual Meeting program featured updates on multiple BCI initiatives in Iowa along with keynote presentations from North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell and SBC Executive Committee Vice President for Communications Jonathan Howe.

Announcing SEND Network Iowa

NAMB President Kevin Ezell started his keynote address by thanking Iowa churches for their strong giving to the Cooperative Program and to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering, which hit a record high of $68.9 million in 2022. Since 2012, BCI giving to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering has increased by 400%, with a 10-year total of $887,841. 

Ezell also made a very special announcement about the launch of SEND Network Iowa. “We could not be more excited about this partnership that we have.” SEND Network Iowa is a church planting partnership between SEND Network and BCI. “SEND Iowa doesn’t belong to NAMB. It doesn’t belong to the Iowa Convention. It belongs to us. We want to continue to build a strong church planting network in Iowa. SEND Network Iowa symbolizes the partnership in a beautiful way.”

Iowa Baptists’ Generous Giving Continues

During his annual report, BCI Executive Director Tim Lubinus shared encouraging statistics about the strength of Iowa Cooperative Program giving. Last year, BCI Messengers approved the recommendation made by the Executive Board to increase Cooperative Program giving to 75%, which will continue in 2023.  Lubinus highlighted several additional encouraging statistics about BCI Cooperative Program giving:

• In the last 8 years, BCI Cooperative Program giving has increased 777%.

• BCI Cooperative Program giving in 2022 was 2 times the entire BCI budget of 8 years ago.

• BCI is the only state convention giving more to the IMB through the Cooperative Program than we use in our state.

• 75% of funds given through BCI go to the Cooperative Program, representing 0% change from last year.

Partnerships New & Old

Celebrating fruitful, gospel-centered partnerships is another core element to the Annual Meeting. This year, we had more than 20 partner ministries present to share with our church leaders at an exhibit. Many of these are long-standing partnerships with many years of history of partnership, including our SBC national entities. 

There were also a few new partnerships highlighted, including a recent partnership with Full Strength Network to provide counseling and coaching at no cost to BCI pastors, a greater need than ever in these challenging times.

We were also blessed by the powerful testimony of Vitaliy Sorokun, Pastor of New Hope Church in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and Regional Director for Burnham Ministries International. Pastor “V“ shared his experience of fleeing from his home prior to attacks from Russian forces. Even in the face of harm and the risk of losing all his earthly possessions, he remained focused on the Great Commission of Jesus Christ.

Enthusiastic Participation in Convention Life

During the business portion of the event, BCI Messengers approved recommendations to update the BCI Constitution & Bylaws. One change to the Constitution establishes the “current version of the Baptist Faith and Message (BF&M) as Statement of Faith” for BCI. 

Messengers approved the 2023 Budget which included a projected $1.2 Million of income from Cooperative Program giving, an increase of 9% above the 2022 budget. Included in the budget is 75% allocation to the Cooperative Program. This represents the second year the BCI will allocate 75% to the Cooperative Program.

Messengers also elected the following men as officers: President Tim Trudeau, pastor of Grace Community Church in Boone; First Vice President Todd Stiles, pastor of First Family Church in Ankeny; Second Vice President Eric Trout, pastor of Restoration Church in Adel; Secretary: Jerome Risting of Temple Baptist Church in Mason City.

Especially exciting for our convention are the number of young pastors and church leaders who are actively engaging in convention life. One leader who had not attended the convention for several years inquired, “Where have all these young people come from?” Not only are we seeing them participate in BCI events but they are also stepping up into leadership, a great sign for the future of our convention.

2023 BCI Annual Meeting

The 2023 BCI Annual Meeting will be held November 3-4, 2022, location to be determined, with guest speaker Ben Mandrell, President of Lifeway Christian Resources.