This message was part of the Ministry with the Small Rural Church Workshop. Selz Cabot Mayo was an emeritus professor from North Carolina State University. The lecture begins with Mayo introducing himself, and he states that his lecture will be divided into two parts (00:00-01:00). In the first part of the lecture, Mayo discusses the changing statistics of rural and urban population growth, education, life expectancy, and cost of living over the past ten years (01:01-31:58). In the second part of the lecture, Mayo discusses the changes in the culture, specifically the fact that pastors know their parishioners less than they did in years past (31:59-43:13). Mayo opens for comments, observations, and questions (43:14-46:31).
This message was part of the Ministry with the Small Rural Church Workshop. Quentin Lockwood was Director of the Rural Missions Department of the Home Mission Board. The conference begins with Lockwood introducing himself, and he gives the title of his lecture, “The Call of the Small” (00:00-00:48). Lockwood begins his lecture with the subject of calling, and he reminds the audience that the call of God comes to people regardless of location or size of service (00:49-05:45). Lockwood moves the subject of “small,” and he lays out the demographic numbers of Southern Baptist churches across America (05:46-09:30). Lockwood gives six factors on the size of churches, and the first is knowing everyone in the congregation, the second is the relationships among members, the third is the transiency of pastors, the fourth is financial resources, the fifth is the pastor’s workload, and the sixth is congregational leadership (09:31-20:35). Lockwood speaks about the many advantages of being a small church pastor throughout the rest of his lecture (20:36-47:05).
Audio quality is very poor. Thomas H. Conley was the senior minister of North Side Drive Baptist Church in Atlanta, GA. The service begins with organ music (00:00-02:50). The speaker gives a word of prayer (02:51-04:18). Thomas H. Conley is introduced as the Adams Lecturer, and the speaker reads from 2 Timothy 4:1-8 (04:19-09:30). The choir sings the anthem (09:31-12:00). The title of Conley’s lecture is “The Preacher As.” He begins his lecture by thanking everyone for their gratitude during his visit, and he states his belief that the Baptist tradition can be wedded to the greater liturgical tradition to the universal and historic church (12:01-14:12). Conley’s major point is the preacher as a theologian, and he says that the preacher’s responsibility is to always be prepared to deliver good theological truth and train their people to be good theologians as well. Most of the lecture is inaudible (14:13-55:39). The service ends with a benediction (55:40-56:05).