The Gifts of Fall and Denominational Meetings

Each season bring its own gifts. Fall brings us cooler temperatures, the familiar rhythms of school and work, football, and denominational meetings! Some may be surprised at the last item of that list, so let me explain.

In my Southern Baptist tradition, fall is the time for associational meetings and state meetings. As a denominational person and collegiate minister, I was expected to be present in those gatherings. Associational meetings are made of messengers from local churches in a county (or maybe a combination of two or more) who gather in October (usually) to learn about local and state ministries, worship, and listen to sermons.

My appreciation for these annual associational meetings grew when I was campus minister at Carson Newman College (now University) in east Tennessee. In that role, I would be expected to represent the college in three or four such meetings. Of course, these were usually smaller, more rural associations. The President and cabinet level employees got the urban areas.

So, I would set off with some vague directions (no GPS in those days) of how to find a church in the countryside (usually named something like Little Hope or Rehoboam Baptist Church). I loved it! Being in east Tennessee in the fall is a blessing from God. Trees blazing with color, a bite in the air, beautiful vistas—what more could you ask?

But another blessing was the preaching. Not every message was a winner, but often I heard solid messages offered by men (yes, it was that era) who knew what it meant to be in the trenches with parishioners daily, walking alongside them in good times and bad.

There were downsides. Women were limited to making “nice little talks” about missions and benevolence work (something they did better than the men) and providing the food. Often there were people who wanted to be critical of the “liberalism” at the college. And sometimes, it was a late night getting home to family.

Even so, spending those days in the hills and with those people was a blessing. Our God is a God of surprises, providing blessings where we least expect them.

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