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, April 11, 1961
The Foreign Mission Board met in semi-annual session on Tuesday and Wednesday,
April 11-12, 1961, with Mr. Jenkins presiding.
Present: State Members: W. 0. Vaught, Jr., Ark.; George Wilson, Ariz.;
Robert D. Hughes, Calif.; Homer G. Lindsey, Fla.; Clifton A. Forrester, Ga.;
Howard F. Giddens, Ga.; Fred T. Moffatt, Ky.; Carroll Hubbard, Ky.; Leslie M.
Bowling, Md.; Leroy Green, Miss.} E. Norfleet Gardner, N.C.; Mrs. W. A. Mitchiner,
N.C.; James A. Canaday, Tenn.; R. Paul Caudill, Tenn. ; M. B. Carroll, Tex.;
T. A. Patterson, Tex.; Mrs. R. L. Mathis, Tex.; Phillip Brown, Tex; C. Bailey
Jones, Va.
Local Members: T. F. Adams, Joseph P. Edmondson, J. Levering Evans, Stuart
Grizzard, Oscar Hite, Josiah Hoover, Mrs. Clyde V. Hickerson, L. Howard Jenkins,
W. Rush Loving, Elton Phillips, Ryland 0. Reamy, Meredith Roberson, Emmett Y.
Robertson, Herman P. Thomas, James Todd, Mrs. John C. Tyree, P. Earle Wood.
Staff : Baker J. Cauthen, Rogers M. Smith, Frank K. Means, Cornell Goerner,
E. L. Deane, Ralph A. Magee, E. L. Wright, Elmer S. West, Edna Frances Dawkins,
Bill Cody, James G. Stertz, Luke B. Smith, Jesse C. Fletcher, E. L. Hill, Fon H.
Scofield, Genevieve Greer, lone Gray, Floyd North, Mary E. Fuqua.
Guests: Cal Guy, Helen Falls, L. A. Brown, Luther Copeland, Herbert Jackson.
Tuesday. April 11
The opening session of the Foreign Mission Board was held at 7:30 p.m. at the
First Baptist Church. Dr. Clifton Forrester led the devotional period.
Dr. Cauthen gave the following report of the Executive Secretary:
REPORT OF EXECUTIVE SECRETARY
First of all, it gives me joy to announce that the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering
now totals $7,962,962. The Offering will continue to be received until May 1st at
which time the final total will be announced. We will make recommendations at
this meeting of the Board for appropriation of this money. We express to Woman’s
Missionary Union our debt of gratitude for the labor of love and the vast support
which this Offering represents. This Offering not only means a gift of love,
but it is a vast encouragement to and reinforcement of total giving of Southern
Baptists through the Cooperative Program.
With the appointment of 13 missionaries tonight, the missionary staff will number
1,500. As we look back through the years, we marvel at the leadership of God.
We give Him the glory and praise for every advance. We are grateful that growth
in personnel and financial resources has gone in parallel lines. This growth
has been well proportioned so that the financial undergirding is solid. God
has given wisdom and direction and we are assured of His leadership for the days
ahead .
As we see missionaries appointed, it is good to remind ourselves of what they go
to do and the ways in which they undertake their tasks.
There can be no question as to the basic objectives of mission work because they
are so clearly defined in the commission given by our Lord. He said: All
authority is given unto Me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore and make
disciples of every nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you. Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age."
It is clear that we are to make disciples, baptize them, and teach them to
observe all things our Lord has commanded.
This means that the basic task of every missionary is that of witnessing in his
Lord’s name and leading people to become His disciples. Evangelism is the heart
of our mission task. Every missionary is an evangelist and considers his v?ork
incomplete until he has seen people follow Christ as saviour. Those who are won
are brought into the fellowship of New Testament churches and are nurtured in the
ways of the Lord. Their transformed lives shine as lights in the darkness.
