FAYETTEVILLE — Harry Black made his first conscious commitment to Christ as a 5- or 6-year-old child. He answered the altar call at a Southern Baptist church in Amarillo, Texas, impelled by a sudden recognition that he was not in a right relationship with God.
At age 17, he took his faith deeper. He realized that being a disciple of Christ means more than just trusting in him for forgiveness of sins, Black said. It means turning over one’s entire life to his service.
“To receive salvation, you give him your life. It’s absolute surrender,” said Black, associational missionary for the Washington Madison Baptist Association until the end of the month. In March, Black will follow a new call to Oklahoma City. He’s been named associational missionary for the Capital Baptist Association, which encompasses 167 Southern Baptist churches and missions in thecentral part of the state.
Black is excited by the new challenge, but sad at leaving the pastors he’s worked with for many years. The 57-year-old has served the Washington Madison association since 2000. He spent more than five years with the Arkansas Baptist State Convention before that.
The position of associational missionary might be unique among Protestant churches. Unlike many denominations, where a centralizedbody makes decisions for member churches, Southern Baptist churches are autonomous. They voluntarily join in local, state and national networks.
The local networks are known as associations. The Washington Madison association comprises 60 churches and missions in the two counties. The Northwest Baptist Association has 71 churches and missions in the Benton County area.
The associational missionary works for the churches, serving as an adviser and a resource, Black explained. He sees his role as helping churches fulfill their commitment to the Great Commission in the ways that work best for them.
“We don’t tell them how to do it.
We don’t tell them what to do. We help the churches develop their vision of (their place in) the world.” A Focus On Missions
The Rev. Joe Jones, pastor of Shiloh Community Church in Fayetteville, said churches in theWashington Madison Baptist Association have developed a newfound sense of unity under Black’s leadership.
“What he brought to the association was a missions emphasis,” Jones said. “It brought a unity in our association. Southern Baptists do a lot better working together than separately, contrary to what people think. Harry brought us all together.”
The association coordinates mission efforts on four levels each year. These follow the model set forth in Acts 1:8: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Jerusalem represents the home town Christians find themselves in, Black said. Judea is the state - a larger area that shares the same culture. Samaria is the still broader geographical region of the entire United States. “The ends of the earth” are nations overseas.
Black returned Monday from a three-week trip to West Africa. He’s laying the groundwork for sustained mission work in an area with very little Christian influence, he said. The work is deeply meaningful for him, as is the mission work he does in Northwest Arkansas every day.
“I feel a tremendous sense of burden for people who don’t know Christ,” Black said. “To me, that’s like walking down the railroad tracks with the train coming from behind. ...
“Do we look and let them go - or do we run and plead with them, grab them by the arms and pull them off the tracks?” he elaborated in a previous interview.
“Southern Baptists believe, through evangelism, that we are saving people’s lives for all eternity.”
Experiences Prepare Pastor For Role
Black’s varied background in ministry prepared him for the role of adviser to pastors, another component of an associational missionary’s work.
He’s served as a pastor, a music minister, a youth minister and an education minister, Black said. He’s been a board member for several Christian organizations and has served on the international mission fi eld.
“It was all part of the process,” he said. “God was preparing me to bring experienced and intentional leadership to the association.”
Black began his path to ministry as a music education major at what was then Southern Baptist College in Walnut Ridge, where he met his wife, Ivetta. He finished his degree at Hardin-Simmons Bible College in Abilene, Texas, serving a small church as music and education director.
The young couple spent two years in Ghana after graduation. Black was thrown in overhis head, he said. The field evangelist who was supposed to supervise him had a health crisis and never came to the country. Black did the best he could, a trait that would serve him well in other unfamiliar situations.
After his return, Black spent two years on staff at Southern Baptist College (now Williams Baptist College). A call to ministry led him to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, where he earned a master of divinity degree.
He later earned a doctorate from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in San Francisco.
Black served several churches in Arkansas for 10 years before joining the staff of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention in 1994. He served as brotherhood director and then coordinator of mission partnerships and cooperative program promotion.
By the time he left in 2000,there were more than 1,400 churches in the statewide convention.
The late 1990s were a time of growing involvement with missions around the world, Black said. People began to serve short-term missions alongside the field evangelists.
“They saw the impact. They saw the work the missionaries did. They saw the ‘three-fourths’ world and the condition they live in,” Black said.
Consistent And Passionate
Black’s office is decorated with photos and artwork from his visits to Africa. Pictures of his family also hang on the wall. He and Ivetta have two sons, Shadrach, 29, and Matthan, 25.
The congenial missionary off ers visitors the easy chairs in his office. He perches on a folding chair rather thanretreat behind his desk. Such humility is characteristic of Black, said his secretary, Mary Kay Weathers. Her boss is as likely to bring her coff ee as to ask her to pour his, she said. He pitches in wherever needed, whether it’s answering the telephone or making coff ee.
“Harry is the absolute best boss,” she said. “He treats everyone with equal respect. Harry is a servant leader. (You matter to him.) He is consistently the same in that.”
The Rev. Douglas Falknor,senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Fayetteville, also used the word consistent to describe Black.
“Harry is the same in every setting I’ve ever seen him in, whether it’s a professional setting or in the restaurant having coffee. He’s very consistent,” Falknor said. “He is always available if I need advice.”
Jones, the pastor of Shiloh Community Church, summed up his longtime friend with the word “passionate.”
“He’s a very energeticperson, very sincere. He loves the pastors. He’s very highly thought of throughout the state.”
Tears rise easily to the surface for Black, who accepts them unashamedly.
“This is who I am,” he said. “I have a tenderness of heart God gave me. ... I have a great deal of empathy for people who are hurting. I feel a real burden for people and the world who have never had the opportunity to hear the word of Jesus Christ in a redemptive way.”
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AT A GLANCE
FAREWELL RECEPTION
Date: 2 to 4 p.m. Feb. 27
Venue: University Baptist Church, Fayetteville
Celebrates: Harry and Ivetta Black and Harry’s 10 years of service as associational missionary for the Washington Madison Baptist Association
Information: 521-1295, www.wmbaonline.net
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
Religion, Pages 6 on 02/19/2011