Conference encourages Asian-American leadership in church planting

On Saturday, Oct. 17, Southwestern Seminary’s Asian-American students and professors gathered at the Student Center to listen to Paul Kim, speaker for the A2CP2 (Asian-American Church Planting/Cooperative Program) conference. Kim, who serves as Asian-American relations consultant for the executive committee of the Southern Baptist Convention and is also a Southwestern trustee, discussed the importance of Asian-American leadership in preparation for next-generation discipleship and church planting.

Kim called on Asian-American pastors to participate actively in advancing the Kingdom of God through the SBC. “You are called to change this society, this community,” he said. With more Asian-Americans serving in leadership positions in SBC now, he continued, “there is more room for you to be involved in Southern Baptist life, Southern Baptist ministry and Southern Baptist work.”

Kim emphasized that God has chosen Southwestern students to become the leaders of the next generation. “You have a great responsibility from God. God has assigned you to be prepared and equipped to preach the Word,” he said. Kim urged the audience to use their time at Southwestern to learn as much as they can about discipleship, church planting and ministry.

When planting new churches after graduating from the seminary, Kim noted, some pastors may get discouraged by the small size and slow growth of their congregations. “The key is not size, but the measure of faith,” he advised. Citing the 2011 summary report of the Asian-American Advisory Council of the SBC, Kim pointed out that 85 percent of all Southern Baptist churches in the United States were small churches with a worship size of less than 250 members. Numbers do not determine influence, he stressed, because small churches make the greatest contribution to the Cooperative Program, which funds Southern Baptist missions and ministry.

Church growth, Kim explained, should not be measured by a simple increase in membership but by the quality of godly relationships. “It’s not about the number,” he said. “It’s about people’s life relationships—with God and with one another. The Bible tells us to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and strength, and to love your neighbors. The church is the family of God, and numbers do not determine the love and care we have for each other.”

Asian-American familial culture can also help the church planting process, Kim added. “We have a familial concept in church planting,” he said. Giving his own lifelong church planting ministry as an example, Kim presented a model of church planting in which the sponsoring “parent” church continually takes care of newly planted churches with financial support and spiritual mentorship. As a living example of this model, Antioch Baptist Church in Cambridge, Mass. (previously Berkland Baptist Church), which Kim planted and pastored for 30 years, planted 13 churches in the U.S. and 13 churches overseas—in countries such as Japan, China, Russia and Turkey—and continues to nurture them.

Whether planting churches in the U.S. or overseas, Kim said, pastors must focus on making true disciples of the next generation. “Whatever you do, you are to do one thing: to make disciples of all nations,” he emphasized. “I want you to have a vision, a heart and a commitment to prepare for the next generation to come.”