The Greater Orlando Baptist Association:
From your Executive Director of Missions
Dr. Tom Cheyney
tcheyney@goba.org
407-293-0450 office
One of the most beautiful descriptions of the Greater Orlando Baptist Association is: a family of committed churches and missions seeking to reach all of Central Florida in Jesus’ name.
Earthly families share a common heritage whether by birth, marriage or adoption. Regardless how family members may differ in other ways; they share something in common because they are kinfolks. That is fundamental to an association. It is formed by Southern Baptist churches who are who recognize they are spiritually kin.
That does not mean however that everyone in the family is the same. A healthy family is not developed by a cloning process. No human group progresses in any dimension of life through conformity or by compliance. A healthy family enhances personhood and individuality and provides an environment conducive to continuous maturing. Likewise, a healthy Southern Baptist Association family and family of churches encourages an appreciation for the uniqueness of the churches that make up the local Association.
In a family, individuals do not get their worth from their size (adults are not “worth” more than kids because they are bigger), their economic impact (that is the main breadwinner is not “worth” more than the infant whose economic impact is all expense at that time), their intelligence, their physical abilities or any other such thing. That is not the case! No! That very notion in the family is repulsive. In a family, everyone is invaluable and all are worth more to one another than could ever be possibly counted.
In a healthy family everyone cares for one another. Oh sure, they may have occasional fusses and fights, but that is within the protective framework of mutual care. While the kids will fight, in a family they learn to fight fair. But when anyone in the family hurts: whether it's because of the broken arm, headache, loss dog, hurt feelings or whatever; a healthy family provides care and support just because that is what is needed.
Families do things together! They work together, play together, eat together, pray together and families of churches do things together as well. There is a special joy in the Christian life, I believe, when the family of churches expressed its spiritual kinship through its life and work together through the local Southern Baptist Association.
Dr. Tom Cheyney
Posted on
Thu, July 14, 2011
by Staff