Pastors Conference to focus on endurance

“I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7)

During a dark period in the pastoral ministry of Brad Goodale, he received and remembered five words of challenge from a friend: “Do it right. Don’t quit.”

Those words have now been translated into the theme of the 2012 South Carolina Baptist Pastors Conference. “Enduring to the End” will be the emphasis at the annual meeting set for Nov. 12 at Brushy Creek Baptist Church in Taylors.

Goodale, who is president of the Pastors Conference, is hopeful that conference participants – especially pastors – will take to heart and draw strength from the words of the apostle Paul, who in 2 Timothy 4:7, could say triumphantly as he drew near his own finish line in life, “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.” And the conference itself, said Goodale, pastor of Philippi Baptist Church in Union, will be a call to “do those three things.”

A key to enduring to the end and finishing well, Goodale told the Courier, is for pastors to “live with conviction, with commitment – and to take care of themselves.”

As evidence of the importance to be placed on self-care by the pastors, Goodale is giving this meeting a new twist by offering get-away packages to three winners of drawings held at the close of each conference session. To win, it will be necessary to register and to be present at the drawing. “Three families from Philippi are donating three vacation packages at the lake, the mountains or beach, and a cruise.

Goodale

Goodale also told the Courier that the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention has partnered with the Pastors Conference, providing financial assistance and also hosting a buffet barbecue lunch for up to 300 pastors and staff. “The barbecue,” Goodale explained, “will come from Midway BBQ in Union.”

Continuing his conversation with the Courier on the conference theme, Goodale told of his concern for those pastors who “leave their ministries thinking that they have made no real difference in the lives of their church members.”

He also is painfully aware of the high number of suicides by pastors in South Carolina – seven in the past seven years.

Goodale cited as a major obstacle to pastors enduring and finishing well the “loss of focus on the finish line,” veering away from their appointed paths or simply dropping by the wayside for any number of reasons.

The Pastors Conference president recalled the story of an Olympic athlete, Derek Redmond, as he reflected on the endurance theme. Redmond, a young British runner who had shattered his country’s 400-meter record at the age of 19, was forced by an Achilles tendon injury to withdraw from the 1988 Olympic Games in Korea and endured five surgeries. Desiring a medal, he entered the 1992 games in Spain.

On the day of the 400-meter race, 65,000 fans streamed into the stadium to witness one of sports’ most thrilling events. In the stands was Derek’s father, Jim, a faithful witness to every of his son’s world competitions.

“Keep it up, keep it up,” Derek’s dad said to himself. Down the backstretch, only 175 meters from the finish line, Derek looked like a shoo-in to win the semi-final heat and qualify for the finals.

Suddenly Derek heard a pop in his leg, pulled up lame, and began to hop on the other leg until he slowed and finally fell. Jim Redmond, seeing his son in trouble, raced down from his top-row seat and rushed toward his son, even though he had no credentials or permission to be on the track.

Derek realized his dream of an Olympic medal had vanished. He was alone as other runners streaked across the finish line. Tears poured down his face as he thought, “I don’t want to take a DNF (Did Not Finish).” Refusing to be carried off on a stretcher, Derek slowly got to his feet and began hobbling down the track. As Derek limped along, the crowd, realizing he had not dropped out of the race, began to cheer ever louder. At that moment, Jim Redmond reached the bottom of the stands, vaulted over the fence, dodged a security guard and ran to his son. “That’s my son out there,” he yelled at those chasing him, “and I’m going to help him.”

Redmond reached his son at the final turn some 120 meters from the finish line. “I’m here, son. We’ll finish together.”Arm in arm, they struggled toward the finish line. Just a few steps from the end, Redmond released his grip on his son so he could cross the finish line by himself.

The story of Derek and Jim Redmond can serve as an inspiration to pastors and other ministers who perhaps cannot see the finish line in sight and fear that they can no longer stay the course. Goodale says that God, who is our spiritual father, already has “come out of the stands and carries us toward the finish line. We are never by ourselves.”

For the second year, Anderson University will present its South Carolina Baptist Pastor of the Year Awards recognizing Cooperative Program support and faithfulness and integrity in ministry.

To be honored during the evening session will be three pastors from churches of up to 300 members, churches with 301 – 1,000 members, and congregations numbering more than 1,000. A new fourth award will go to an associational director of missions.