“…The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory to be revealed to us.” 

~Romans 8:18, ESV

The number of pastors sharing their struggles, hopes and dreams for life and ministry during this year’s meetings, prayer groups and events is encouraging. Our best moments include pastors expressing their appreciation for their wives with a desire to support and encourage them.

Loving our wives includes seeing her as a daughter of God, spouse and mother of our children. 1 Peter tells husbands to live in an understanding way with their wives, showing her honor, so that their prayers are not hindered (3:7). We embrace the sacred call to love our wives as Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:25). Pastors who want the best for their families make for good pastors.

Persevering for God’s Glory

We are hearing our pastors and wives express the strength of their faith and commitment to Christ and His Kingdom. This faith and commitment are important in our society where those who most need help are often suspicious of those who offer to provide it, and assume that those who offer will fail to follow through on their promises. So, if God has called you to something, do it until it is done.

It takes character and maturity to remain faithful when God places you in a unique and challenging ministry. Our non-Anglo pastors are examples of facing life with faith over time. Pastors with growing families or special needs live sacrificial lives. It is an honor to serve PSBA pastors.

Helping and strengthening pastors and their marriages is in the best interest of the Kingdom and the local church. Long-tenured pastors understand their city and are more likely to be trusted in the community. We encourage churches to provide appropriate care and support for their pastors. In addition to personal time off, benefits and reimbursement of ministry expenses, churches should establish a paid sabbatical policy for rest, spiritual renewal and professional growth.

There are some common considerations towards healthy, longer tenured pastors:

1. Long-tenured pastors usually receive adequate resourcing, allowing them to focus on the work of the ministry instead of survival. Some pastors have moved to another ministry setting due to under-resourcing.
2. Long-tenured pastors personally keep doing ministry and uniquely influence others to maximize individual and church impact. These pastors share the ministry because churches cannot claim the mountain tops unless they survive the valleys in between. 
3. Churches with long-tenured pastors learn from their mistakes and recognize when something is not working. They are willing to abandon what is not effective. Persevering may have much to do with knowing when to let go of methods in favor of principles.  

While understanding that God moves his pastors from one place to another, we strongly advocate for renewed, persevering pastors. We recognize that not every pastor can lead his church to revitalize, restart or replant, so new leaders are also needed. 

Transition Team Process and Report

The PSBA transition team facilitated seven Pastor Listening Sessions with 66 pastors. Some pastors participated in multiple sessions for a total attendance of 95. Additionally, I met with over 50 pastors, including several who did not make it to a listening session. Altogether, about 110 pastors participated. We developed a new purpose statement that was agreed upon in the May 2018 report session and voted on in the August 28, 2018 Executive Board meeting as part of the constitution changes (with the second and final vote tonight).

The Pastor Listening Sessions Executive Summary (pages 6-12) condenses 122 pages of notes from the listening sessions into three areas: 1. Values and Key Issues; 2. Struggles and Difficulties; 3. Change Opportunities: difficult choices where values/convictions are greater than comfort, challenges or threats.

We worked to listen deeply and encourage pastors to speak freely about matters important to them. In The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni suggests that teams become effective when the members speak the truth to each other. They speak the truth to each other when they trust each other. They trust each other when they come to like each other. They come to like each other when they’ve gotten to know each other. I recently talked with a pastor who said that “In Houston we need to know each other so that we know how to communicate when the next hurricane comes in.”

One church can make a world of difference, but many churches can make a different world. We value and need active relationships with one another.

Ministry Teams

The ministry teams are an important outcome of the listening sessions. We will do all that we can to empower and fund the teams as a Kingdom investment in the Lord’s churches and His shepherds/leaders.

The ministry teams and the team leaders will create their own strategies. They may look something like the Apple iPhone development process: prototype it and then make it to explore it. Our renewed commitment to field-based strategy will look and feel like research and development. We want the ministry teams to try new things. We are more interested in learning from what they do rather than continuing what they do.

We will share encouraging, unique, and catalytic stories. The PSBA website will be updated and include a new section: “Stories from the Field.” We hope for content that suggests reproducible ministry that touches our children, wives and pastoral brotherhood. The three ministry teams are:

1. Care & Connections Team (see team report on page 15).
2. Church Strengthening Team (helping churches make new disciples). 
3. Church Planting Team (focusing on local church planters). 

Prayer

The national and local failings of multiple spiritual leaders have unsettled the Church. Past and recent personal failures, including within SBC life, have given pause as we consider not just the boundaries, but the heart of ministry. We need to do more than pray, but prayer must saturate our lives and our work. Practicing righteousness is vital for the Christian soldier in their battle against the powers of evil, as well as the flesh. “By truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left” (2 Corinthians 6:7). Coaching and accountability are important, but we need more. We desire…

• to have a life centered around meeting with God.  
• to pursue encounters with God that help us align with Him.  
• to walk in a way that regularly exercises faith. 
• to daily decide on things in preparation for the life beyond because God’s presence is the best part of life.   

The spiritual dynamic in life calls us to press into prayer. In addition to long prayer lists, we want to pause and meditate to create a place/space for us to really deal with things (Psalm 1). 

Financial Strategy and Budget

In response to the pastor listening sessions, we are allocating increased funds for use by the ministry teams and for ministry work in general. The teams will develop and work within approved strategies and spending plans to help PSBA churches in the Puget Sound.

The PSBA is fiscally conservative and we continue to minister within our means. We closed the 2017 calendar (fiscal) year in the black and are on track to do so again in 2018 (see page 30). We had an extensive procedural audit this summer and are implementing recommendations in keeping with new regulations and standard accounting principles.

We want to be the best possible partner, helping pastors and churches help one another. The 2019 budget shows changes made by the Council and includes benefits for the office manager and a 3% cost of living increase for the Executive Director. The ministry teams are funded through restricted funds. Please see the 2019 Budget (pages 22-23).

Summary

By God’s grace, we planted four new churches this year (seven last year). We also saw thirteen churches close (eleven last year; see pages 25-29). We are now an association of 173 churches. Many of these closings reflect a lack of effectiveness in reaching and keeping new people.

We hope that our new PSBA life cycle will encourage a church evangelism culture that establishes new disciples. We want to be a part of the growing national evangelical Christian concern towards reaching pre-Christians, particularly among young adults and students.

Personally, this year has been an intense and important year. A lot went in to the transition team process with great results. Patty’s twelve-month journey of a reversed diagnosis and recent surgery took its toll. We will look back on 2018 as a strategic year setting new directions in life, marriage and ministry.

We are deeply grateful for our relationships with the pastors and churches known as the PSBA. Thank you for the joy and privilege of serving Christ alongside of you.

In His Service,

Ron Shepard, Executive Director

“…Let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken…”

~Hebrews 12:28, ESV

Transition Team/New Life Cycle

The PSBA leadership believes this is the proper time to begin a new life cycle in the Association with the focus on our churches (see appendix B). We are committed to become a kingdom-focused church network that helps the PSBA churches fulfill the great commission and make new disciples within their own context (Matthew 28:18-20).

A transition team, approved by the Executive Board Council, will oversee this refocus in vision. They will join me in meeting with our pastors to discover what the Father is saying through our churches. The transition team will…

• Assess information gathered from small groups and one-on-one listening sessions with PSBA pastors
• Develop the unique kingdom ministry focus God has for the PSBA
• Modify the documented structure of the Association to reflect what God reveals during this process

At the heart of this process will be small group listening sessions with our pastors. These will take place from February through April of 2018. We will use proven materials to guide us in discussing the strengths and weaknesses of both pastor and church (see appendix C). This is turn will help our dialogue about the PSBA. Applying all that we learn, we will then rewrite the Association’s documents, including our constitution. The new life cycle focus and PSBA structure will then be presented for two PSBA votes in August and October 2018. 

My Role

Between 2004 and 2005, the PSBA developed a new ministry framework which included The Master’s Plan for Puget Sound. In 2008, the NWBC developed a renewed ministry strategy, based in part on the PSBA. This led to us giving up our full-time staff in 2009, including me going to part-time as your Executive Director when I became the NWBC Regional Team Leader. Additionally, in 2012, I was asked to adopt the part-time role of NAMB City Missionary (then known as the City Coordinator).

The increased impact of this new role led me to go full-time with NAMB in 2015, a move which necessitated me giving up the NWBC position. Over time, however, these moves reduced my freedom to serve the PSBA. Therefore, in May 2017, the Executive Board Council voted unanimously for me to go back to full-time with the PSBA effective October 1. These past months I have worked to wrap up several NAMB projects, bringing my staff position with them to a close on September 30.  

We are grateful for the support of the denominational and out-of-state partnerships that we have had over the years. Many of our pastors are here thanks to them. At the same time, adjustments in the direction of many of our partners has accentuated the need for the PSBA to articulate our own direction. We will continue to cooperate with the partners who helped to get us to this point, but we are ready to establish and support the unique strategy that God has for the Puget Sound metro region.

Staff Changes

Over the years, the PSBA staff was developed around our partners: we gained new staff members with new strategies and lost them when those strategies were replaced. With NAMB’s 2001 Strategic Focus Cities we added and lost 4. In 2008, the NWBC renewed strategy prompted us to bring on and lose 3. Finally, came NAMB’s 2012 Send Seattle and we added 2 more.

As we move toward a PSBA-focused strategy and adjust to local funding, two positions will be affected. In 2016, we made the decision to extend the two-year commitment for the 2014 Church Leader Care Director to a half-time commitment in 2017. We decided not to extend this position beyond December 31. Gordon Groseclose has been well received in his role and has been effective in connecting with and helping many of our pastors. 

Additionally, the Executive Director Assistant position, which has been in place since 2005, was eliminated earlier this year. While serving mostly in the background, Patty Shepard has done a great job supporting me. She has provided invaluable assistance through her writing, assessments, prayer, partnership development, and personal evangelism.

Church Health Partners

God easily presides over His world and His church. The scriptures present what is normal and healthy and they stand in sharp contrast to the unchurched and to new believers. Even so, it can be difficult to understand what health is in today’s interconnected, unpredictable, and tumultuous culture. Some of our churches have struggling members who may be well adjusted to an unhealthy life. We want to help our churches discover and develop health.

Several key partners are increasing their commitment to work with the pastors of existing churches, as well as church plants. We are grateful for these who are willing to come alongside our pastors:

• David Dykes and Dale Pond (Green Acres Baptist, Tyler, TX)
• Gary Smith (Fielder Road Baptist Church, Arlington, TX)
• Russ Barksdale (Rush Creek Church, Arlington, TX)
• Greg Pickering (Brazos Point Church, Lake Jackson, TX)

Church Planting Grant Guidelines

The PSBA is blessed with resources to provide grants to our churches. These grants are gifts that we hope will go through our existing, growing churches to help them support planting new churches and leverage other gifts. PSBA grants invest in healthy, cooperative churches with effective ministries that want to go to the next level of new disciple making.

CHURCH GRANT PRIORITY GUIDELINES

• PSBA member church in good relationship with the PSBA and other PSBA churches
• Church body with awareness of and active participation in the PSBA, NWBC, and NAMB/SBC, including appropriate missions giving
• Church and leadership (including pastors) are missional, grace-filled, redemptive, forgiving, relational, and Kingdom-minded
• Growing church with a vision, strategy, and budget for going to the next level and becoming self-supporting*
• Church guided by teachable leaders
• Church practicing effective and intentional evangelism
• Church implementing a clear plan for multiplying leaders, groups, and other churches

* Church vision, strategy, and budget should accompany the grant request

GRANT REQUEST COMPONENTS

• Endorsement by a PSBA Council Member
• Brief summary of the church’s recent progress
• Purpose of the grant and how it aligns with an approved church strategy to further their ministry
• Specific amounts needed and for what items
• List of other local and non-local partners that are (or may be) contributing to meet the need and how much they are contributing
• Approval by the PSBA Executive Director, a funding partner, and the PSBA moderator, in consultation with others as deemed appropriate. There will be a signed agreement that includes reporting on expected outcomes

Spiritual Assessment and Renewal

The Spiritual Assessment and Renewal process is a resource designed to start a new life cycle in churches (see appendix D). This has the potential to be a resource for the PSBA in 2018. A recent example of this process being put used successfully is Silver Lake Baptist Church.

We went through the renewal process with Silver Lake in Spring 2017. Thirteen people shared sixteen times in over an hour of uninterrupted testimonies. The church received these words from God and is working five recommendations from the process. I am hopeful that Silver Lake will continue its trajectory to becoming a PSBA member church again. One of the greatest measurements is the church breaking a long-standing pattern of resisting their pastoral leadership. God has given Pastor Chuck Orr favor with the church.

Financial Strategy

The PSBA is fiscally conservative and we continue to minister within our means. We closed the calendar (fiscal) year in 2016 in the black and are on track to do so again in 2017:

January 1 to December 31, 2016 Budget* (see appendix A)

Income: $ 305,519.18

Expenses: $ 284,196.50

Net Income: $ 21,322.68

January 1 to September 30, 2017 Budget* (see appendix A)

Income: $ 192,881.69

Expenses: $ 141,588.61

Net Income: $ 51,293.08

* = not audited, balanced with QuickBooks and bank statements

The 2018 budget (see page 14) shows changes made by the Executive Board Council. Church planting has been reduced due to planting increases through grants. The budget reflects locally funded staff and includes a 3% cost of living increase for our Facilities Director, Bookkeeper and Office Manager.

The past five years have included some major transactions. We are planning a comprehensive, five-year audit.

Summary

By God’s grace, we planted seven new churches this year. We also saw eleven churches close, some long-standing and some newer (see pages 16-20). This includes one church that closed and replanted in a new area. We are now an association of 182 churches. We are in a season of settling in and adjusting. This is a good time for me to go full time and prayerfully focus on our churches.

We are facing a time like no other. With the multiple national storms, flooding, and West Coast fires, Disaster Relief has recently taken a front seat. The PSBA and NWBC have responded to the needs these bring and NAMB has effectively deployed Southern Baptists on a large scale. David Melber, NAMB VP of Send Relief wrote me that the hurricane, “has changed everything.” Please see the Disaster Relief report.

I am excited and committed to focus on the Puget Sound in the days and years ahead. This has been a challenging year. We are likely soon losing my dad and brother to illness. Patty is adjusting to the likelihood of permanent, high levels of pain. As always, we appreciate your prayers and support.

The Council initiated and approved a sabbatical for me October 30 to January 7. This will be the first sabbatical that I have ever taken. Patty and I are deeply grateful. The goal is for me to start 2018 revitalized and ready for the new life cycle that God has for us.

Thank you for the joy and privilege of serving Christ alongside of you towards the end of making His name known among all peoples in Puget Sound.

In His Service,

Ron Shepard, Executive Director

“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.”

~Colossians 3:2, ESV

No one climbs to a mountaintop without determination.  The air thins; the path has turns and obstacles that we do not anticipate.  There are peaks and valleys.  Our journey this year includes:

Silver Lake Church (SLC): The Executive Board Council affirmed our desire to make every effort towards a biblical solution for the broken relationship with SLC.  Since January of 2014, the PSBA has been involved in a legal action, which was brought by a member of SLC against the PSBA and Gary Irby. Also, in June of 2014, SLC joined the suit as a co-plaintiff.  As of September 21, 2016, this dispute has been tentatively settled by mediation to the parties’ mutual satisfaction. We covet your prayers as the parties intentionally pursue reconciliation and restoration using the Spiritual Assessment and Renewal process (see page 28) with the hope of avoiding renewed litigation in the future.   

Staff: The full Executive Board (all PSBA churches) approved the Church Leader Care Director  position for two years using designated funds, dependent upon increased budget funds to continue.  While our pastors appreciate Gordon, this has not happened.  Rather than eliminating this position, the Executive Board Council has extended it as a half-time position through 2017.  We are pleased that Gordon will continue in this important role, focusing on two days per week plus a half-day on Sunday.  The PSBA hired Gary Irby as the part-time Church Planting Director.  He continues as the Northwest Baptist Convention Church Planting Director.  Jim Anderson, our Facilities Manager, will go from half-time to quarter-time in 2017.

Leader Care Focus: Gordon’s general reports from existing churches are in keeping with what churches have said in the past.  His focus with pastors will be on life, work and relationship balance.  His goals going forward include Gordon and me jointly meeting with small groups of pastors towards increasing identity and group cohesion with peer pastors and the PSBA. 

Purple Door Property: The PSBA authorized the sale of the Purple Door (our UW, Seattle property) at last year’s annual meeting.  We successfully closed on the property and received all funds.  In the final negotiations, we received a further $100,000.00 on the sales price, and reduced costs by $115,000.00.  Additionally, we have preferred and continuing use of the property for our events and groups, including summer time, and have continuing use of the buyer’s nearby dorm house.  We can place three women at a time in the house as missionaries.  The sales price was $3,000,000.00, which is approximately $1,000,000.00 over appraised and broker valuation.

Seattle International Learning Center (SILC):  The SILC, formed in partnership with the International Mission Board (IMB) and as part of our North American Mission Board (NAMB) SEND Seattle strategy, is on hold.  Approvals and funding were in place to launch in September, including the selection of four Chinese interns from mainland China and Korea.  Despite repeated attempts, however, the U.S. embassy did not grant visas.  Our current hope is to find the necessary help for this to go forward next summer.

Intern Housing: Our strategy includes providing intern housing to assist outward focused churches whether they are new plants or existing churches.  The goal is to assist a host church and other nearby PSBA churches by providing accommodations and help for their respective local church. We are granting three churches up to $2,500.00 per month for up to 12 months to prove this ministry.  If this strategy proves to be effective, then the PSBA will make long-term commitments to strategic churches that cooperate with other churches.

Existing Churches: The Executive Board Council allocated $200,000.00 as part of our 2017-2022 strategy update to train and assess pastors of existing PSBA churches in developing personal and leadership ability toward making new disciples.  This training and assessment will use processes and tools provided to new church planters.  There will be some criteria, one of which is that core church members will support and follow their pastor towards church transformation.

City Strategy: We will be concentrating our efforts on new disciple making, largely through church planting.  This is the most effective way to make and establish new disciples, including in existing churches that both start new groups and plant new churches.  Over the next five years we are focusing on church planting streams for the inner city of our key cities (Tacoma, Bellevue and Seattle), church planting among military communities (CPMC) and among the Mandarin Chinese communities.  We have favor with these groups and engaged partners.  Through a process that began in the hearts of others, a March partnership trip led to increased funding for our SEND Seattle city strategy that includes working with local churches.  We have $2.2million in commitments and funds, with the hope of increasing to $3million.  Our partners believe in us and in our strategy that is new disciple making based.

Summary: By God’s grace, we planted ten new churches this year and are now a network of 186 churches.  Our 2017-2022 SEND Seattle strategy (that includes the Mt. Baker Baptist Association) includes a goal of breaking the PSBA two hundred church barrier and having a net 250 or more churches.  Our church planting streams focus will be key.  I am presently working with five prospective military communities church planters.  We have a third and local prospective Mandarin Chinese planter.  New planters have recently launched in Tacoma and two newer apprentices will be working in downtown Seattle.

Financial Strategy:

             We are fiscally conservative and continue to minister within our means.  While we have not yet processed all of our commitments, we anticipate closing our fiscal (calendar) budget year close to our income.  The following is our profit and loss report to date and does not include yearend transfers:

January 1 to October 1, 2016 (unaudited and uncorrected)

Income: $ 235,262.87

Expenses: $ 215,485.41

Net Income: $ 19,777.46

             The 2017 budget reflects various decisions by the Executive Board Council.  The reduced budget reflects funding for pastors of existing churches through the $200,000.00 allocation. 

             I encourage every church to consider prayerfully giving no less than 6% to the Cooperative Program and 4% to the PSBA.  Not every church will be able to do that in the near future, but every church can move in that direction as part of our cooperation.

Prayer Request:

Several pastors have recently left Puget Sound.  Some transitions related to pressure, fatigue and finances.  Pray that newer churches become self-supporting and that long-time churches can transition towards an outward focus on the types of people in proximity to their location.

Please be in prayer as we work through future PSBA leadership.  My current agreement with NAMB is to complete my service as the PSBA Executive Director on December 31, 2017.  If that becomes a reality, then the PSBA will need to fund a full-time position, something that will require other staffing changes as well.  Should this be necessary, it is my strong recommendation that the PSBA call someone with proven long-time West Coast pastoral experience in leading a middle- to large-size church who understands complex organizations, and who is proven in developing and managing large resources.

Thank you for your personal support.  Living outside of Seattle has increased my workload.  Extended driving times and exponentially busy pastors require greater time investment to accomplish the work.  Thank you for your prayer support concerning Patty’s health.  Her prognosis is good as she continues her eighteen-month recovery from back surgery.

It is a privilege and joy to continue serving Christ in Puget Sound through the PSBA.  Our strengths include our cooperation and unity, often tied to many of the commitments made by pastors, planters and partners.

Respectfully submitted,

Ron Shepard, Executive Director

“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons…” 

~Romans 8:15, ESV

Romans 8:12-17 calls us forward in dealing with our flesh. This develops an affection for the Father, revealing that God is not only who we need, but all that we truly desire. Our weaknesses and sufferings do not risk our relationship with God, but rather assures our inheritance in the life beyond.

The global persecuted church affirms that joy and passion for God await us on the other side of difficulties associated with the gospel faith and ministry. Several are now struggling through this. We trust in God that extended difficulties will produce the fruit that glorifies Him.

The fear of a slave toward a master has been replaced with the love of a son toward a father. This provides an avenue for those in ministry to stay at it. As a friend recently shared with some church planters, “It is OK to fail but not to leave.” We know what and Who waits ahead for us.

Here are some highlights and indications of how God is working among us and through us.

• This year’s Executive Board Council (EBC) has been the most engaged and active since being established in 2005. Many churches and individuals have been helped in growing forward.
• The EBC authorized moving investment funds to GuideStone Financial Resources. 
• The full Executive Board approved selling the Pioneer Valley property and created an $117,841.26 fund for established church plants in the South Sound. NAMB has given preliminary approval to add $40,000.00, and we hope to use these funds to raise an additional $100,000.00. 
• Tim Shepard was moved from interim to full-time Office Manager beginning June 2015. 
• Gordon Groseclose met with all 85 PSBA pastors who wanted a personal visit and attended worship services in 30 different churches (see Church Leader Care report). 
• We are reporting 15 new church plants/newly affiliated churches, 8 pending church plants and 7 church planting apprentices for a total of 180 PSBA churches in about 30 languages (see Reports). 
• The EBC brings the following motion regarding the Purple Door: The Executive Board Council moves that the PSBA Executive Board approve the sale of the Purple Door for no less than $2.9 million cash or cash and other property, subject to final approval by the Executive Board Council. 

The EBC and moderator Brent Fore went the extra mile this year in addressing foundational issues demonstrating serious commitment to the purpose and mission of the PSBA. Perhaps most significant is the “ownership” displayed by the Council members in their work through the Council.

Three new area coalitions are in different stages of formation as pastor led and supported church planting groups. This includes Keith Carpenter leading a Seattle city focus, Warren Mainard focusing on the Seattle Eastside, and the beginnings of pastors discussing a South Sound church planting emphasis.

Silver Lake Church refused our repeated offer to seek reconciliation and hopeful restoration through the spiritual assessment and renewal process. We are grieved over this, including the litigation that will continue for months. The EBC separated Silver Lake Church from the PSBA and the full PSBA Executive Board (made up of all churches) accepted this report on May 26, 2015. We look forward to a day when we reconcile, regardless of restoration of membership.

The International Mission Board (IMB) reported a $210 million cumulative spending deficit in recent years. Reserves and selling global properties enabled this. The IMB now has $90 million left: less than a year’s operating budget. The IMB hopes to reduce their mission force by 600-800 personnel, while also hoping to send 300 new missionaries this year and next year. We have already begun receiving inquiries from IMB missionaries who are considering returning to the U.S. We will consider how the PSBA can leverage resources and develop partnerships which meet the needs of returning missionaries and our undeserved people groups. Be in prayer for the IMB staff who are praying about a voluntary early retirement.

Financial Strategy

We are fiscally conservative and continue to minister within our means. While we have not yet processed all of our commitments, we anticipate closing our fiscal (calendar) budget year close to our income. The following is our profit and loss report to date and does not include year-end transfers:

January 1 to October 1, 2015 (unaudited and uncorrected)

Income: $ 241,831.31

Expenses: $ 233,768.79

Net Income: $ 8,062.52

The 2016 budget reflects various decisions by the EBC regarding staffing and includes specific requests made by ministry leaders. We have reduced the budget in keeping with actual expenditures in 2015 and spending plans for 2016. We supplemented the budget with planned reserves to fund the Church Leader Care Director in 2015 and 2016. Budget gifts from churches need to increase in order to keep this position beyond next year.

While we continue to strongly endorse the Cooperative Program as our first priority, PSBA member churches have made a commitment to also support the association. We hope that all churches will prayerfully consider their level of giving.

We are in negotiations with two groups, both of whom have assured me that they will soon make an offer to purchase the Purple Door, our University District ministry house. The agreed upon strategy is to purchase multiple smaller houses in proximity of churches for year round interns. This will help newer churches and established churches that want to transition towards an outward focus. We would still maintain a presence at UW Seattle, but likely with a smaller facility. Churches will have free use of the houses, only paying maintenance and operation costs. Our properties strategy is for each property to be self-supporting. We will reconsider keeping any property that is unable to meet this criterion.

Due to changes with the IMB, we are holding off next steps in establishing our partnership creating the International Learning Center in Federal Way (see Appendix D). We still foresee this ministry, but it may look very different than originally envisioned. We are in discussions with the IMB about how we can help with the staff transitions.

There are two clear trends and opportunities in Seattle area church planting: planting churches among military communities and Asians, Mandarin Chinese in particular. We are seeing community needs best met by the Church as the early soldiers from recent wars have passed the ten-year mark of deployments. Deployed military personnel, their spouses and children are facing the delayed consequences that include post-traumatic stress disorder and moral injury. Major General Doug Carver, retired, is leading our efforts at NAMB to help us address this need. Colonel Gordon Groseclose, retired, our Church Leader Care director is helping us locally. We are hosting NAMB’s national gathering of military church planting leaders in Seattle this February. 

We have two Mandarin planters, Steven Sun (on hold, pending his R-1 visa) and Jacob Zhang, currently serving as apprentices. The IMB formerly helped us identify a church planting couple from mainland China. The National Chinese Baptist Association has committed to helping us in Seattle and hope to help place two church planting couples in the next two years. The recent visit by President Xi from China accented the increasing presence of Chinese. We believe that the Chinese will have a major influence in shaping the Puget Sound culture. We are committed to impacting the Chinese as they impact us.

Prayer Request

Gospel ministry in Puget Sound is challenging. Some areas, such as the I-405 corridor from Renton to Lynnwood, are seeing good results. Conversely, I-5, particularly near Seattle is more difficult. The highly populated areas near our key cities (Seattle, Bellevue and Tacoma) are the most challenging, yet are the most impactful. Regardless of political and market place influence, as well as expense and difficulty, our mission is to reach the lost for Christ. Please pray that God will raise up as well as send church planters and planting team members to the unreached and undeserved neighborhoods and communities.

Please pray for Patty’s full recovery from an injury due to an incident on the streets in Seattle. She injured her knee as she stepped into the street to avoid a man lunging at her. This was just one of dozens of similar incidents the past four years. Patty and I are making necessary adjustments through the end of 2015 to balance effective ministry with needed rest.

We rejoice over God’s favor in the inner city and for all that God established and accomplished while we were full-time residents. We were protected during our most dangerous assignment to date. Yet, we look forward to establishing a shared residence in Seattle so that we can continue the good work that the Father has begun.

Patty and I regularly rejoice that God brought us to Puget Sound and to the Puget Sound Baptist Association. It is a joy to serve alongside our staff, volunteer leaders and churches. Thank you for the privilege of continuing service with you.

Respectfully submitted,

Ron Shepard, Executive Director

“Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ…”

~Philippians 1:27, ESV

In Philippians 1:27-30, Paul unfolds the importance of cooperative ministry.  He stresses “standing firm,” “striving,” and “not (being) frightened in anything.”  It is the unseen spiritual warfare that most unsettles us.  God has given us resilience.  Together we struggle to live worthy of the gospel of Christ.

David Young restarted our pastor’s prayer ministry.  I have missed our extended times in his living room since his summer move to California.  Praying through weighty matters revealed what God would have us do about multiple things this year.  We literally prayed our way into and through multiple decisions, including…

• Creating a new kind of position in the Director of Church Leader Care and calling Gordon Groseclose to lead us (see church leader care report).
• Approving and finalizing the sale of the Victory Center to the Russian Baptist Church of Auburn, who will continue to use the property for multiple churches (see facilities report).
• Releasing Brian Harper to New York City, recognizing that our Hispanic leaders will need to become largely self-sufficient.
• Creating a non-resident staff position to serve as a church planting catalyst.
• Choosing Tim Howe as our new church planting catalyst, focusing on the greater Tacoma area.
• Subject to PSBA approval, developing a campus with the IMB to create an International Learning Center, focusing on developing interns from Asia (see the Seattle-China ILC).

10-5-1 Church Planting:

We are an association of 173 churches, including the 10 churches started this past year.  Some former church plants did not continue, accounting for our decreased number.  Nevertheless, we are still seeing an 85% success rate among churches planted in recent years.  This speaks well of our newer church planters.

Our general strategy is threefold: 1. Prayer walking in a way that we sit down and share the gospel.  2. Identify and get ourselves invited to groups where we add value.  3. Ensure that spirituality and the gospel are an upfront part of the conversation.  This year God revealed His next step.

We are 4% or less churched.  Our goal is to become largely self-sustaining through a 10% evangelical churched population (based on typical weekly worship attendance).  That likely means going from 173 SBC churches (nearly one percent of the population) to one thousand through sacrificial cooperation.  We have a 10-5-1 strategy that will reach this goal through mobilizing partner churches: 10% evangelical churched with 5% SBC by mobilizing 1% of attenders in our partner churches to Seattle for five to ten years.

On Sunday, November 17, 2013, Jason Smith of Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, TX had me speak to Sunday school classes before being interviewed by Pastor David Dykes during two of their morning services.  God gave the new strategy in Sunday school.  I received permission to share it in the service: our vision that 1% of their attendance would seek jobs in Seattle and move to help plant churches.  Over 60 people have now made varying levels of commitment to do just that.  In partnership with NAMB, Green Acres has changed Jason’s position to that of church planting catalyst so that he can serve as a volunteer staff member for us here in the PSBA.  It is a joy to have Jason here tonight.

Properties Strategy:

The Purple Door is our University District ministry house, adjacent to UW Seattle.  We anticipate selling this building in order to secure a larger facility, doubling or tripling the number of beds.  NAMB has agreed to fund 20 summer missionaries in 2015 and selected us for Generation Send with 44 summer missionaries in 2016.

We formed a University District pastors’ coalition that is developing a student-focused U District strategy to reach and disciple future national and global leaders.  We see these leaders serving throughout the Seattle area and in other key cities.  This marks a PSBA strategy shift that will include the PSBA and our partners helping groups of churches where the pastors are accountable to one another for the outcomes.  If there are other pastors interested in engaging the U District strategy, please contact Keith Carpenter.  The U District ministry house will support the local pastor’s strategy.

The Federal Way campus could develop into the International Church Planting and International Learning Center.  As reported in previous years, we have the resources to build out this campus with three additional worship centers for church planting incubation sites and with intern and couples housing.  Housing could be used for the International Learning Center, for partners, stateside global missionaries and local pastor couples.  Tim Howe will help us tie the Federal Way campus to the expanded greater Tacoma ministry.

Financial Strategy:

We are fiscally conservative and continue to minister within our means.  While we have not yet processed all of our commitments, we anticipate closing our fiscal (calendar) budget year close to our income.  The following is our profit and loss report to date and does not include year end transfers:

January 1 to September 30, 2014 (unaudited and uncorrected)

Income: $ 175,199.50

Expenses: $ 161,171.15

Net Income: $ 14,028.35

The 2015 budget reflects various decisions by the Executive Board Council, including the new full time church leader care director.  As promised in our pastor listening and dialogue meetings, we will use reserves to fund this position for up to two years, giving churches time to increase their giving to the PSBA.

The Northwest Baptist Foundation wrote down our trusts by $75,000.00 or more due to the California foundation church loans losses.  We drew on budget reserves to fund our ministries (specifically church planting) and remain in the black.

Despite weak giving by PSBA churches this year, we have been blessed to expand our ministry.  This coming year, 2015, will be the first in five years that the PSBA has not subsidized the NWBC.  The convention has been and remains our best partner.  The NWBC has now paid off the NWBC Vancouver building and NAMB has significantly increased convention resources.

Both the NWBC and PSBA are debt free (excepting a Purple Door renovation loan).  Our secondary and partner funding is strong.  The key financial need is for continued and growing budget gifts from churches to the Cooperative Program and the PSBA.  We do not want to make the mistake of relaxing budget gifts and using up reserves.  When reserves go to operations and staffing, ministry to the churches is cut, leading to decline.

I encourage every church to prayerfully consider giving 10% to the Cooperative Program and 4% to the PSBA.  Not every church will be able to do that in the near future, but every church can move in that direction as part of our sacrificial cooperation value.

The PSBA will begin resourcing churches in a way and at a level never seen.  The PSBA will support multiple churches working together when we are invited in to develop an agreed upon strategy and where the churches are mutually accountable to one another through the lead pastors.  Specifically, we want to help stable churches running about 65 become self-supporting, or growing to about 150 in weekly attendance.  We also want to help churches running about 175 to become stronger and see 300-400 in weekly attendance.  We have several proven leaders here and in partner churches that can help us accomplish this.  Gary Smith, our national church planting partnership chairman is already influencing others like himself to come and help through coaching relationships.

Prayer Request:

Most of our newer church planters follow the example of many long time PSBA pastors: remaining where God placed them.  This character quality helps explain why church planting has gone well and why some of the best planters and partners have come to Puget Sound.  It also explains what God is doing in leading out of state lay people to move to greater Seattle, Tacoma, and Bellevue.  Please pray for yourself and one another that we will all walk in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ as we face persecution.

Please pray for our inner city Seattle living and ministry.  We are concerned for personal safety, but are becoming appropriately desperate for two or three full-time church planters to follow up on interested seekers in downtown Seattle.  Patty is often on the streets by herself, engaging all types of people in the course of living.

This year reflects what has been accomplished through you, the pastors and churches.  Thank you for your grace, understanding, love, and commitment to make new disciples of Jesus Christ.  It is a pleasure to serve Christ together with you.

Respectfully submitted,

Ron Shepard, Executive Director

“…A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”

~Matthew 5:14, ESV

We emphasize evangelism and making new disciples of Jesus Christ.  We encourage church leaders towards three things.  First, initiating relationships where we serve.  Second, getting invited to existing groups.  Third, ensuring that spirituality is an early part of the conversations in new relationships.  The PSBA encourages personal evangelism as a primary approach to be seen and heard.  We support this both within and beyond Puget Sound.

Cooperation

Our core values include working with cooperating spiritual leaders for the sake of the kingdom of God.  The PSBA sacrifices to maintain our direction, strategy and finances on this basis.  We are committed to the great commandment of loving God and others, manifested in living out the great commission.

Increasingly we touch those beyond our local affiliation.  PSBA pastors are missionally engaged with others in their city.  Our pastors strategically serve with the IMB and other churches to make new disciples of people groups and in places where the gospel has not yet been established (Acts 14:21-23).  We pool our resources to help other cities with partnership, training and funding.  This year God used our cooperative and team philosophy to connect fifty new partners.  We are particularly grateful for Gary Smith (Fielder Road Church, Arlington, TX), our partnership coalition chairman.

We want to strengthen the cooperative program through personal missional living.  We hope to become stronger Christians, measured in part by taking the gospel to those who are not coming to our churches and by cooperating with financial support to the cooperative program and the PSBA.

Support Existing Churches

From November through March 2013 I led six extended church consultations and interventions.  Painful things transpired along with serious and formal threats.  This rose up from some leaders (pastors and volunteers) continuing down paths that led them increasingly further away from God.  In each case, they either did not consult with other churches or else discarded wise counsel.  Our Baptist distinctive includes the right and obligation of Christians and churches to consult with one another.  We need God’s protection by the spiritual armor (Ephesians 6), walking in the Spirit (Galatians 6) and from other Christians and churches (Ephesians 5).

We hope that personal evangelism through T4T (Great Commission Initiative and Ying Kai), our NWBC Evangelism Consultants and the coming MY316 emphasis from Dr. Adams will help connect us to one another for effective gospel ministry.  It is not good for Christians, pastors or churches of any size to be alone.

Kevin Ezell has led the North American Mission Board (NAMB) to add an evangelism strategy for existing churches.  NAMB believes that about 10-15% of churches are healthy, that 10-15% of churches are dying, with all other churches falling somewhere in between.  They believe that associations and state conventions are best equipped to work with the healthy and “in between” churches.  NAMB’s Legacy Church Strategy for declining churches now funds church restarts as well as new church plants.  Churches must meet the following three criteria to qualify: 1. there must be a new and approved leader; 2. the church must deed all its property and assets to one of the following: the new leader’s sending church, the association, or the state convention; and 3. the church must go through a missions assessment.  Let me know if you would like to meet and discuss this.

Our long-time philosophy has been to invest in willing churches, while providing limited support to all churches.  The PSBA has defined willing churches as grace filled, redemptive and forgiving.  Legacy Church restarting depends on churches trusting others to act in the best interests of the kingdom.

Planting New Churches

As you can see in the church planting report, nine new churches have been planted so far in 2013.  We have another four or more that should start by the year end.  This is down from last year (twenty two in 2012) and represents focusing on developing our Send North American farm system.  The church planting farm system identifies and places student missionaries, interns and apprentice church planters.  We have about ten church planters who will likely start in 2014.  Our Hispanic church planting network continues to be our most effective multiplying and reproducing group.

In the past ten years, including the twelve new churches reported tonight, the PSBA has gone from 132 to 185 churches.

Properties

At last year’s Annual Meeting, the PSBA approved the Executive Board Council potentially selling real property not being effectively used by PSBA churches.  We have been responding to various requests that include the following:

On February 24, 2013 Nine Lakes Baptist Church gifted their property to the PSBA, which recorded on April 26, 2013.  If feasible, our intention is to develop the property into a multiplying church planting campus under the management of one church.  On April 8, 2013 the PSBA unanimously voted to purchase a multiplying church planting campus in Lynden.  We are still working toward this, including the agreed upon financial resources that would allow us to move from our current lease contract and into a purchase agreement, hopefully in November.  Tonight we are bringing a unanimous motion from the Executive Board Council to sell the Victory Center Campus to the Russian Baptist Church with the proceeds being used to develop the Nine Lakes property.  It is feasible that this sale could close shortly after the beginning of 2014.

The Executive Board Council brings the following motion to the PSBA for action tonight.  The Council will then approve the final contract within the boundaries of this motion:

“The PSBA Executive Board Council recommends selling 100% interest in the Victory Center (Des Moines) campus to the Russian Baptist Church (Auburn) for $1.2million, with $700,000.00 to $800,000.00 in cash in order to close, plus an approximate 7 year note at 3% with no payments due until the note is due, that includes the following rights: 1. To work off agreed upon dollars through the Nine Lakes campus development; 2. Make payments or pay off the loan early without any penalties.”

Magnolia Baptist Church, Seattle, recently voted to gift their property to the PSBA.  We are in the process of doing a quit claim deed.  This property will likely be sold with proceeds going to church planting.

To give proper attention to our expanding properties and the coming build out of Nine Lakes, plus to free me for increased church connections, the Council approved employing Jim Anderson as a part time project manager, with management responsibilities for the PSBA properties.

NAMB’s Send Seattle resourcing and strategy includes purchasing four residences to be used by apprentices for 6-12 months.  We recently closed on the first house in Federal Way and are currently looking for the second residence on the north end of Seattle.  Our goal is to also provide housing in Seattle’s city center and Tacoma to establish and incubate church planters.

Finances

We are fiscally conservative and continue to minister within our means.  While we have not yet processed all of our commitments, we anticipate closing our fiscal (calendar) budget year close to our income.  The following is our profit and loss report to date and does not include year-end transfers:

January 1 to September 30, 2013 (unaudited and uncorrected)

Income: $ 209,019.13

Expenses: $ 194,464.63

Net Income: $ 14,554.50

Sinking Fund Balance (budget reserves): $ 174,009.35

The 2014 budget reflects an extension to the five year NWBC financial support.  The NWBC is in the process of hiring both Gary Irby and Natalie Hammond as full time staff.  They will remain in Seattle and work closely with our Puget Sound Metro Regional Team (Regional Team 1) and the PSBA.  Dr. Adams asked the PSBA to financially assist by contributing partial salary dollars to the NWBC.  The NWBC 2014 budget was developed before the positions were accepted.  This is a shift from helping jointly funded missionaries to supporting NWBC full time staff.  The Executive Board Council budget work group and full council deliberated and approved this.  If approved tonight, the Council is clear that this is a one year request and agreement.

Summary

Potential church planters are encouraged by what they experience on their visits.  Nearly every potential partner church concludes their vision trip saying that they believe God is leading them to partner in Puget Sound.  We are humbled to be a part of so many encouraging responses.

The PSBA staff, past and present, have been missional and devoted servants, consistently working together to advance the kingdom of God through our churches.  Each of our moderators have served with distinction, while putting their unique fingerprint on the Council and the PSBA at large.  The Council has consistently supported and shaped our missional direction.  Tonight Jim Anderson completes his fourth year as moderator.  He has led us through multiple church discipline issues, property challenges, and the resulting transition prompted by the NWBC changes.  The PSBA owes a special thanks to Jim and Trinity Baptist Church, Renton for his faithful and tireless service.

Please accept my gratitude for trusting me to lead you beginning in January 2004.  At that time existing churches and new church plants struggled to cooperate.  We were financially declining and went from $20,000.00 in reserves to $5,000.00 in debt by May.  There were differing opinions about the transition team’s recommendation to reorganize, despite the spring 2004 approval.  Yet God united us through the 2005 Master’s Plan for Puget Sound.  The Lord has granted us favor, guiding our growth and influence on others, including the NWBC field based regional strategy. 

On a personal note, thanks to the PSBA we are able to live in the inner city where we are affecting change among city leaders and on the streets.  Patty recently said that she no longer feels alone (even when I am gone) thanks to those beginning to partner with our ministry on the streets.  There are now about 15 planters who have moved into the city limits of Tacoma, Seattle and Bellevue.  Many are beginning to prayer walk in a way that leads to sitting down and sharing the gospel in the hardest places in Puget Sound.

Patty and I soon complete our tenth year of ministry in Puget Sound through and because of the PSBA.  Coming to Puget Sound has been life and ministry changing.  Both we and our children have thrived through of the PSBA.  That includes our son Matt, who after completing his navy chaplaincy, sees himself pastoring in Puget Sound.

I pray that God renews all of us for kingdom ministry as we initiate relationships, join the unchurched as we live our lives, and bring the gospel into the beginning of our relationships.  It is a pleasure to serve Christ alongside you.

Respectfully Submitted,

Ron Shepard

Executive Director

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