Recommendations from theExecutive Director Search Team Members

September 2010

I strongly support Bobby Gilstrap as our next Executive Director. I have observed him serving as Director of Missions in the Southeastern Association for the past nine years. He has a heart for Pastors. Before serving as a DOM, he served as a Pastor; and a Church Planter, both, bi-vocationally and also fully-

funded. While he has a strong resume and is highly qualifi ed both educationally and experientially, he sees this role as a ministry and sees himself as a “servant.” He is passionate about the work of God’s Kingdom. He is creative and innovative, always open to new ideas. I have seen him work with people of varied back-grounds and philosophies of ministry and lead our association through change that makes us more effec-tive and functional today. He has a burden for the lost people of Michigan and a hope for Southern Baptists being used of God in reaching the lost people of our state. He is innovative and open to “new things” that will serve to assist us in fulfi lling the Great Commission, reaching lost people, and planting a myriad of new churches. His relationships with people across the SBC will be of great value as we move into the future and the changes coming from the North American Missions Board as a result of the recommendations of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force being approved by the SBC. He maintains a healthy and well balanced life. He is a family man who takes time for his wife and two sons always modeling the faith and a disciplined life. He is brilliant. He is a leader. I believe Bobby Gilstrap is God’s man, prepared in God’s way, for God’s appointment as our next Executive Director. George FountainSearch Team Leader, Southeastern Association, Bi-vo. Church Planter; Bi-vo. Pastor; Fully funded Pas-tor; Exec. Board; Exec. Committee; BSCM Second Vice President; BSCM President, 26 Years Total Service in BSCM

I am delighted to be able to recommend Dr. Bobby Gilstrap to you as the future Executive Director of the Baptist State Convention of Michigan. Dr. Gilstrap loves the Lord and has a great desire to see the peo-ple of Michigan come to know the Lord. He is future focused, innovative, resourceful, creative. Mostly

I believe he is God’s choice for Michigan. I wish each of you could have seen how God worked through your search team as we came to this decision. I have no doubt that God led us to this decision. I recom-mend Dr. Gilstrap because I believe he is perfectly suited to lead our convention into the future. I have hope for Michigan Baptist under his leadership.

Larry Q. AllenSenior Pastor, Warren Woods Baptist Church, Blue Water Association, previous Cooperative Ministries Team Leader BSCM, 9 years service in Michigan

I believe that Dr. Bobby Gilstrap is God’s man for the hour and I highly support his appointment as the next Executive Director for our state convention. He loves the Lord and is a solid family man and knows our state. Bobby is creative, connected and cutting edge. He supports the cooperative program, he un-

derstands the implications of the GCR and he has a church planter’s heart. If Michigan Southern Baptists are to win this state for Jesus Christ we must be willing to make changes. I believe that Bobby Gilstrap is God’s agent of change for just such a time as this, and that he will provide the leadership necessary to help get God’s work accomplished.

Roscoe BeltonPastor, Middlebelt Baptist Church, Greater Detroit Association, Current First Vice President BSCM, 13 years experience of in Michigan

I support Dr. Bobby Gilstrap as our next Executive Director believing he is a man of integrity and tenac-ity. He is not afraid to take a position and take a stand without wavering. He “has an understanding of the times in which we live,” and “knows what Michigan should do.” He has both the educational back-

ground and the experience of a DOM to be a qualifi ed leader. He has the national connections and respect to bring a focus on Michigan like never before. He has the leadership and knowledge based ability to guide us to become the model of excellence for all State Conventions. He is a man of character who openly loves his wife and family and his family holds him in the highest regard.

Marc Burnett Sr.Pastor, Springview Community Church, Davisburg, Oakland Association, 11 years service in Michigan

I support the calling of Bobby Gilstrap as our next Executive Director because of his great knowledge of the resourcing model that our state has moved toward in the 2010 And Beyond recommendation adopted by our convention last year. Bobby is a leader that will help take us forward in reaching Michigan with

the Gospel of Christ with his vision, creativity, and tenacity. He has a vision for our state convention to be a place of service to the churches resourcing them in the task that God has called each of them to do. He has the creativity to help spur us on to think outside our box, and the tenacity to fi ght for our churches and our state as we move forward together with our denomination in the Great Commission. Ed EmmerlingPastor, Westside Church, Flushing, Genesee Association. Former BSCM Executive Board and Executive Committee member. Served full time for 13 years in the BSCM, 10 years part time.

I support Bobby Gilstrap because of his determination to support and fi ght for Michigan with our national agencies. He sees the vision of what Michigan Baptists can do to change our state for Christ, and he sees our ADOM’s leading out in this venture. He is vested in our state and our churches but desires to see

more churches planted and more lost saved. Dr. Gilstrap also supports without hesitation our cooperative program.

Sharon FishellLayperson, Pines Association, current Second Vice President BSCM, 25 years service in Michigan South-ern Baptist churches.

I support Bobby Gilstrap as the next Executive Director of the Baptist State Convention because of his commitment to church planting. In the years he has been Director of Missions in Southeastern and Hu-ron Associations, these two associations have led all associations in increase in number of churches. In

a time when the number of churches in our state convention has decreased, Dr Gilstrap has shown the way to reaching people by starting new work, and seeing these new plants become churches. We need to start new churches if we are serious about reaching our state for Christ.

Jimmy JonesPastor, FBC, Trenton, Greater Detroit Association, previous Evangelism Team Leader BSCM, 50 years xpe-rience in Michigan Southern Baptist work.

As Southern Baptists in Michigan, we live in a time of uncertainty and speculation, yet our God has not changed nor has His mission for the church. We need a leader who walks daily with our un-changeable God. Bobby Gilstrap is just such a man. We are in a time of spiritual compromise and

hedged responses. We need a leader who will fi ght for God’s truth, God’s plan for evangelization, God’s in-structions for stewardship and giving, and how Michigan Southern Baptists can be a part of doing Kingdom work. Bobby Gilstrap is such a man. We live in a time of deep spiritual darkness and codependency. We need a leader who will help cast a vision for reaching Michigan. One who will empower the local church for greater effectiveness and build trust as we partner together with our Associations and State Convention to reach our neighbors, friends, relatives and a lost world. Bobby Gilstrap is just such a man. Without res-ervation, I recommend him as the Executive Director of the Baptist State Convention of Michigan.

Ron LibeyPastor, FBC, Gwinn, Upper Peninsula Association, Current Executive Board and Executive Committee member, 18 years ministry in Michigan.

I strongly support Bobby Gilstrap as our next Executive Director for the Baptist State Convention of Michigan. Bobby is a driven individual with a proven track record of church planting and church strengthening on an associational level. He knows, loves and has a heart for this state and to see Michi-

gan Baptists become more effective in reaching the lost in their communities. Bobby has the unique ability to help traditional churches grow with traditional methods all the while being able to assist churches who use more non-traditional methods. I am amazed as his ability to dialogue with anyone on almost every church growth topic out there today. He has the education, the experience, the heart, and the drive to make things happen in Michigan. I support Bobby Gilstrap because he is one of the premier missiologists in our nation today.

Ken RenderPastor, Lakeside Community Church, Blue Water Association, Current president BSCM, 20 years of minis-try in Michigan

Dr. Bobby Gilstrap is a godly and visionary leader. He is passionate and very knowledgeable about Kingdom work. He is aggressive and innovative, yet he is willing to listen and learn from others. He understands that the purpose of the Convention is to help and assist the churches fulfi ll the great

commission and not the other way around. I highly recommend him to be our next Executive Director for the Baptist State Convention of Michigan.

Roberto SantosPastor, Philippine International Baptist Church, Greater Detroit Association 35 years in ministry, 20 years in Michigan.

I support the calling of Dr. Bobby Gilstrap as the next Executive Director for the BSCM because of his commitment to the purpose of leading the churches of our convention in fulfi lling the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ. Bobby has proven himself as a leader with vision and experience in the areas

of resourcing and working to help our churches implement and carry out the 2010 and Beyond Committee report that our convention has adopted. Bobby was a key voice for Michigan Southern Baptists during the GCR work and is well respected by the leaders of our convention. He is committed to standing with Michi-gan Southern Baptists and standing for Michigan Southern Baptists as the convention transitions through the coming GCR changes.

Roy SoutherlandPastor, Monroe Missionary Baptist Church, Southeastern Association, 18 years service to Michigan South-ern Baptist churches

I support the calling of Bobby Gilstrap as our next Executive Director because of Bobby’s expertise in resourcing our churches as the convention voted with 2010 and Beyond Committee report. Bobby has a heart for Michigan and will fi ght for Michigan in the GCR recommendations that greatly will impact our

state. Bobby is a change agent as has been shown in his leadership of the Southeastern and Huron Baptist Associations.

Chuck TurnerDOM, Central and Lendale Associations, 16 years of service in the BSCM, Full-time pastor and DOM, 30 years of ministry experience.

I wholeheartedly recommend Dr. Gilstrap to our convention to be our next executive director. Michigan will continue to face some very trying times to say the least and Dr. Gilstrap brings a skill set matched by very few people in our country. His knowledge of local, state and even national trends and issues will

serve us well in the years to come. Dr. Gilstrap has a heart for winning the lost and the vision to make that happen. My prayer is that under his leadership we will be build on the legacy of Dr. Collins and reach our state in ways never seen before in our history.

Arthur WerryPastor, New Life Baptist Church, Blue Water Association, Past Executive Committee and Board member, 21 years service in Michigan

The members of this search team represent over 260 years of ministry experience in the state of Michigan.