VACAVILLE, Calif.—Standing in the midst of the fellowship hall at Orchard Avenue Baptist Church during the Annual Bible Conference, Ron Schrock, state representative of the California Association of Regular Baptist Churches is just watching. The Wednesday evening session has ended, and groups of people remain, deep in conversation with frequent laughter. My 10-month-old daughter is crawling under people’s chairs, much to their amusement. Ron has just shared with me his prayer for the conference: “To see our group come together, to have those family relationships, and good spiritual food.” He stops and just watches, soaking in the moment. Then he adds, “It’s this right here. . . . It’s fun to watch.”
Moments before, I had been sitting with Wilbur Parrish of First Baptist Church, Stockton. The messages from Bernie Augsburger, state representative of the Illinois-Missouri Association of Regular Baptist Churches, on being faithful have encouraged me, but I’m young. What about the impact for someone like Wilbur, who has been faithful through 46 years of ministry?
“Faithfulness is endurance and consistency,” Wilbur says. “You can be faithful today, but tomorrow, that’s not going to work.” I can record his words for you, but not the passion or the sorrow as he speaks of seeing others fail to be faithful at the end of their ministries.
Wilbur’s thoughts ran parallel to those of Bruce McLain, who has spent over 30 years of ministry in the CARBC. Now at Pine Grove Baptist, Santa Maria, Bruce also knows of the heartache from failed examples, plus how easy it can be to say you’ll be faithful when you’re young. He relates how the messages have encouraged him to be faithful; then he adds five words that catch my attention. They aren’t new words to me, but he speaks them with deliberate intensity: “I want to finish well.”
Chips Ross is pastor of Forest Ranch Baptist Church, Forest Ranch, Calif., and editor of the CARBC Messenger, the newsletter of the California Association of Regular Baptist Churches.
