To the Nova ChurchEXPLORING MEMBERSHIP Group

This 4 week class is designed to introduce participants to:

1.Biblical Discipleship – 2 weeks

2.Nova Church Membership – 2 weeks

Who are Southern Baptists?

The organizational structure of the SBC was the brain-child of Richard Furman;

He was instrumental in the founding of the Charleston Baptist Association in 1792 and the South Carolina Baptist Convention in 1821;

Furman died in 1825, 20 years before his vision for a unified organization of Baptists in America was fulfilled;

The SBC was formed in Augusta, Ga. in 1845

Who are Southern Baptists?

The purpose statement adopted by the original 236 messengers established the SBC “for the purpose of carrying into effect the benevolent intentions of our constituents by organizing a plan for eliciting, combining, and directing the energies of the who denomination in one sacred effort – for the propagation of the gospel . . .”

That ‘plan’ became a reality 80 years later with the adoption of “The Cooperative Program;”

The CP allows the 45,000 churches of the SBC to support over 10,000 career missionaries and 6 seminaries;

Who are Southern Baptists?

There are 42 State Conventions, 1,125 local Associations, 45,000 churches and over 16 million members making it the largest protestant denomination in the country;

Over 5,000 career missionaries serve in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, and American Samoa as North American Mission Board missionaries or church planters;

Over 5,000 career missionaries serve in 153 other nations around the world ;

Who are Southern Baptists?

By design, every Southern Baptist Church is a fully autonomous body. A church “cooperates” by choice, but no ecclesiastical hierarchy exists to issue mandates;

Each church decides what portion of their funds are forwarded to the Cooperative Program. Currently Nova Church is giving 5% of undesignated funds to the CP. Some churches give as much as 25%;

Funds are forwarded to the state Baptist convention, which keeps a portion for missions within the state. The rest is forwarded to the national convention for dispersal;

Who are Southern Baptists?

SC Baptists are working toward a 50/50 split, beginning this year;

This kind of giving allows Southern Baptists to support Missions, Education, & Benevolence. We fund colleges, seminaries, & Bible institutes. We fund children’s homes, homes for the aged, and hospitals. We fund crisis pregnancy centers, disaster relief ministries, & counseling services;

One missionary is quoted as saying, ‘The sun never sets on your Cooperative Program dollars at work.’

Who are Southern Baptists?

www.sbc.net

www.namb.net

www.imb.org

www.wmu.com

These websites can provide most of the information needed to clearly understand the vision, purpose, plan, & work of Southern Baptists around the world.

Who are Southern Baptists?

Locally, Southern Baptist Churches choose to cooperate in local Baptist Associations. There are 1,125 local Baptist associations nationally;

Some, but not all, associations benefit from Cooperative Program funding. Colleton Baptist Association receives NO CP funding;

Local associations are comprised of autonomous churches joining together to accomplish missions that most churches could not do alone;

Who are Southern Baptists?

Local Baptist Associations depend on the direct missions gifts from member churches;

Nova Church currently gives 5% of undesignated funds to the Colleton Baptist Association;

Our local association helps to support: ABC Regional Hispanic Ministry, Covenant Counseling Center, Colleton Christian Women’s/Men’s Job Corps;

Our Association consists of 31 cooperating churches, all of which average less than 200 in attendance;

Who are Southern Baptists?

Southern Baptists practice baptism by immersion as an ordinance. This means that baptism is symbolic as a representation of death to sin & self and resurrection to a new life in Christ;

Southern Baptists view communion/Lord’s Supper as an ordinance – the drink symbolizing the blood of Christ and the wafer/bread symbolizing the body of Christ. This ordinance is served as a memorial to the sacrificial death of Christ;

Southern Baptists view the Bible as the inspired word of God without error & authority for issues of faith and life;

What is the Nova Nation?

Nova Church launched on January 8, 2012, after being birthed by God in August of 2011;

Nova’s “Rules of Order” are contained throughout a book called “The Bible;”

To be a part of Nova’s leadership constellation, one must be comfortable with servanthood;

Nova’s 11 core values reveal the priorities of the church community;

What is the Nova Nation?

Nova’s vision can be stated succinctly as ‘Removing Barriers, Building Bridges, and Sharing the Love of Christ.’

We seek to engage our context with a ‘Great Commission’ mentality that seeks to use creative, Christ-honoring methods to reach, win, & develop those apart from Christ and deploy them into the world as ministers of the gospel in everyday life;

Nova Church will have expectations of members, primarily that they strive to live according to the teachings of God’s word;