In our Southern Baptist Convention, the SBC churches in an area form themselves into an association. Usually, it’s the churches within one county, but often several counties (in Louisiana, counties are called “parishes”) go together to form an association. Our New Orleans Baptist Association (called NOBA) comprises churches from the tip of the Mississippi River, 100 miles northward into New Orleans and beyond, which takes in the parishes of Plaquemines, St. Bernard, Orleans, Jefferson, St. Charles, and some in St. John the Baptist.
Here’s what often happens, as it did recently.
I’ll be preaching a revival in a middle-sized town somewhere in the South. Often, I’ll meet with the pastors’ in the city and speak to them, maybe give them copies of one of my books. At some point, I’ll ask the host pastor, “Does the pastor of the First Baptist Church attend these meetings?”
You would be distressed to know the answer is frequently, “Never. They don’t participate in anything the association does.”
Big, big mistake.