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The Great Commission Collective is the California Southern Baptist Convention's new podcast featuring Pete Ramirez, Jason Robertson, and Sarah Graham. This every-other-week show provides unique insights into what the CSBC really does, while celebrating some amazing stories of Kingdom work being done by the collective of church leaders here in California!
You know, it really is so important. I've really found this through this process for us as state convention folks to be able to go out, be among the practitioners. Right? The the ones that are doing the real ministry, and and just to to to get their heartbeat, to see their realities. So that when we come back, we are actually doing those things that really matter for the church.
Pete:And that's what this whole thing has been about. Right? And, I know Jason that, you know, you're still pastoring in your church. You're still very much connected in that way. Do you have the sense that pastors felt like they were heard, understood?
Pete:What are some things that would make you that would lead you to believe that?
Jason:Yes. A lot of the pastors came up to, to me and were so thankful. And, you know, a lot of times they would say things like, man, I've been a Southern Baptist, you know, for x amount of years, and I've never really met an executive director or met certain leaders or or I've gone to certain meetings and I felt like it was always I was being told something and then told how much money that we need to be giving. But this was totally different. And they felt more like a family.
Jason:They felt like being heard, And they felt like it was a collaboration of ideas and the things that their church was almost like a pilot test thing for certain, ministries that they're doing. And now they're sharing that with others, and they're very open and honest about what's going right, what's going wrong, and I need help. And I really think that's the secret sauce of what we're seeing out there. Some of our legacy churches that are really large and healthy, back in the day, they were the most collaborative churches. They were the ones that were the most connected with the convention and that's why they are healthy.
Jason:They knew how to tap into the resources, not just the money, but the people resources and the movement of the Southern Baptists. And I see another generation, a new generation that's starting to see that that is the key to it. They they didn't just come to hear from the executive director and you you have your hand out for money or they have, you know, their hand out for giving me stuff. No, it was like, let's get to know each other and find out how we can help each other.
Pete:Right. Right.
Jason:And that's the kind of tone and attitude that it's gonna take to do great things for God.
Pete:Well, we've been preaching the better together Yeah. And we were actually living out the better together as we were asking one another's questions and and just being among one another.
Jason:In fact, someone said, I think in more than one session, just you coming and doing this was like huge. If you just kept doing that, just coming and having listening sessions, they feel like that alone would help bring momentum to their church and their association.
Pete:Sure. We we've heard the this is building trust. Mhmm. Yes. This is building trust, and it's so important for us to to be involved in one another's ministry and speak into it and and to demonstrate that love so that when we say let's go, people are more willing to go and serve together and go after a crazy goal like 2%.
Pete:And again, I just I'm just really excited about that. Sarah, how about you? What
Sarah:what you know? I was just thinking, Jason, you said something that reminded me. You said something about our legacy churches and the strength of the history and working together. Do you remember, Pete, when we were at the church planting 1, Joanne Hilton from, Brister? He said something, and everybody took our breath away.
Sarah:He said, I believe that it is the responsibility of the older pastor to help the younger pastor start strong, and it is the responsibility of the younger pastor to help the older pastor end strong. And we were like, say it again. We all have to write it down. And I might have messed up the words a little bit, but the sentiment was exactly that that, you know, the both of them are supposed to be helping the other with their own legacy in their ministry. And so that's chiller.
Jason:Very true. And we're seeing ministries that are rising up targeting both ends of that spectrum, the the next gen guys coming in as well as the transition of that that generation that now has been in this state for 50 years serving and planting and building and and, and and really laying the foundation of what we have today. And now they're getting ready to retire. And how can we make this a smooth handoff so that we don't lose any momentum? We can actually turn it into a blessing.
Jason:And these are the kind of ministries that had started through time. They're always gonna be there, but right now everything's being reimagined and recreated because times have changed, technology has changed, the culture has changed, and so we need new fresh thinking, which really means everybody that shows up is valuable. And if you're not in that room, please don't complain about what comes out of the room. Show up and speak into that room and speak your voice and speak your wisdom. God's called you to be part of this movement.
Jason:So step up and and get involved now, so that so that what we're doing going forward is reflective of your convictions and your values because this is your family as a Southern Baptist.
Sarah:Welcome to the GC collective podcast brought to you by the California Southern Baptist Convention.
Pete:Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the GC Collective podcast. Brought to you by Sarah, Jason, and Pete.
Sarah:Oh, this is how it goes down when we're all back together. I see.
Jason:Good times.
Pete:Yes, sir.
Jason:Well, how how have things been going, Pete?
Pete:I you know, we're still alive. The Lord hasn't come back for us, so we're still waiting.
Sarah:Oh, so
Pete:Things have been going well, you
Sarah:know. Prime mission.
Jason:Oh, my gosh. Even so come Lord Jesus.
Pete:Yes. Right? Yes. Yes. Well, we we've been going up and down the state of California.
Pete:You know, we had a little bit of of a break, you know, with the annual meeting. But, you know, since we've come back, it's just been go go go. Serving our churches, listening to our pastors, and trying to do the best that we can to to, be a resource and a blessing to those that we serve.
Jason:Absolutely. It's been one of the busiest seasons in my department, with Church Matters. We have, over the last couple of months, resourced over 400 churches with different things they need for revitalization. One of the things I'm praising God about is in our women's ministry network events. Alright.
Jason:There's been like 350 women attend our events.
Pete:You know, and that's not the normal for you guys. Right? I mean It's growing.
Jason:It's taken some time Yes.
Pete:To get here. Right? Yes. Right. Right.
Pete:And the women are fired up. Right. And what's some of the things that Kathy has been doing with her team that has really raised, engagement? Engagement. Mhmm.
Jason:Well, she's been doing so much. There's been newsletters going out. There's been all sorts of contacts and Kathy is everywhere. Everything that's going on across the state that involves, the, wives of the directors of missions or the wives of pastors or whatever. Kathy's there.
Pete:Now didn't she do something with like one of the ethnic groups that really brought a lot of people and she was all excited about?
Jason:Yes. She, for example, been meeting with different ethnic groups and fellowships like the one with the, the Hispanic women?
Pete:Right. They had, Sister Yesenia Jimenez from San Diego area. Her husband's a church planter and, also one of our catalyst. And she she works for, David Jeremiah. And she also works with David Jeremiah in their, program, Turning Point, and she is the Hispanic, director for for that program.
Pete:She came, spoke to the women and really challenged the women Yeah.
Sarah:I was really
Pete:plugged into ministry. Yeah.
Sarah:It was really interesting when Kathy gave that report today and she said the women were feeling particularly convicted because it it was as if they knew they were supposed to be working, and they kind of had been holding back a little bit. And, so she she kinda lit the fire in them, and so I expect to see kind of a movement in our Spanish speaking women here in California. Yeah. Yeah. It's I
Jason:think we're gonna see a real revival
Sarah:Yeah.
Jason:Of, these women, really taking on great challenges across the state in our state convention. It's gonna be an exciting time, a great time to get involved if you're not involved.
Sarah:And Yesenia is a new member on our board.
Pete:She is. You know, again, her daughter is at CBU.
Sarah:Mhmm.
Pete:Husband's at church planter. I mean, these people are totally buying into who we are. Yeah. Just just wonderful people, and you we've seen her in one of our meetings up to now, and you can tell she's got a lot to bring to the table. She's actually on your committee right now.
Sarah:I didn't wanna brag, but she's on my subcommittee, which is exciting because she works specifically in marketing and communications in anybody out there
Jason:wants to give more information,
Sarah:go to
Jason:our website,
Pete:look up
Jason:the, women's ministry, and you'll see links there to, to get involved and share everything you find with everybody in your church, including your pastor. And,
Sarah:reach out to Kathy if you wanna get connected to her newsletter because that goes out quarterly. It's got a lot of information on it. It's a real good piece.
Jason:Yes.
Sarah:Yeah. Alright. What are we here to talk about, fellas?
Pete:Listening sessions.
Sarah:Listening sessions. Wow.
Jason:We have been on a tour. There has been about 14 sessions that we have been part of, what you have called listening to the heart or heart to heart listening sessions.
Pete:That's what Sarah came up with.
Sarah:It's called hear the heart.
Jason:Hear the heart. Yes.
Sarah:Hear the heart.
Pete:And really it's to hear the heart of the churches, not so much to hear my heart.
Sarah:Right.
Pete:You know? And a lot of people, you know, they they heard listening session and they thought, okay, what's Pete gonna tell us?
Sarah:Mhmm.
Pete:And really it's not about that. I mean, I do get to share about the the vision that God has placed on my heart of seeing 2% of the population of California by the year 2033 to be sitting in our in our churches. Right?
Sarah:Right.
Pete:Week in week out. And for that, we're gonna need to be able to count. But it's really been about finding out from our churches. What are your challenges? Yes.
Pete:What are your challenges to growth? What are your challenges that are keeping you from multiplying? And and, what can CSBC do to help you
Jason:Yes.
Pete:In those areas? Those are those have been the 2 questions that we have asked at every one of the listening sessions. Right. Yeah. And we've just been hearing all kinds of of really good stuff.
Pete:And I know, Jason, you've been to some of the meetings and, what has been your sense? What was some of your takes from, attending these?
Jason:Well, first of all, one of my big takeaways was the fact that to be in that room with so many, pastors and a lot of what we might call next gen leaders, there was a lot of buy in. There was a lot of young faces as well as some of our legacy churches that are in there, and we're all talking about the same thing, and that is how to reach souls in California. And it was amazing. There was a lot of energy, a lot of creativity, a lot of transparency and honesty. There's a little bit of talk about how things were in the past few decades versus what we need to do to go forward for the next decade.
Jason:And it was a lot of really good camaraderie and discussion.
Pete:Yeah. Sarah, what what did you see when you went into the meetings?
Sarah:It was really interesting because it's a it seems to be a new day for the way we do church. I think sometimes we kinda get, stuck, you know, in the formula of church. And what I though I've been in California my whole life, there were some things that I was hearing, that really made me think we're going to have to be very innovative about the way church functions. There's facility issues and, leadership issues. You know, a lot of just kind of upper level changes that I have not that have not crossed my mind before.
Jason:Yeah. And also there was a sort of like a team spirit. Instead like, we would be in these rooms and there might be represent there representation from a dozen or 20 churches, but as the conversation went on, it felt like it was all one church, you know, because they were all talking about the same things and agreeing with each other. And I mean, I've been doing this now for nearly 40 years and I remember the day when churches were in competition with each other and might not even share their best practices with each other. And these guys are totally different.
Pete:Right. I I like what, Jeff Orch has said, and others have said this in the past about the churches in the West. We can't be fighting one another. We can't be competing against one another. In the West, our churches need to work together.
Pete:If we're gonna do the work that God has called us to do, we can't afford to be fighting one another. And you really saw, in these meetings, just people coming together. They had the same mind, same spirit, and my prayer was when we were in these meetings that the holy spirit would really just allow us to hear over and over some of the same things, which we're really not going to discuss here today because we still have we're still in the process of evaluating the data, but just the listening sessions themselves from my perspective, especially with some of the ethnic groups that we met with, they were very open. They were honest. They were kind, which which is nice.
Pete:There was good tone in everything that was said. I'm so grateful to the director of missions that, partnered with us in having these meetings in the different areas. And, you know, like like you guys know, I promise that once we evaluate the data with our staff and some of our board members and some pastors and partners, Once we do that, we will go back and we will report to them what our findings are. So people should actually be waiting to find out when those dates are, where we're gonna be, and and and so that they can hear, the things that we've heard from our pastors and things that they need to help them grow, in their churches to make disciples of Jesus and us reach that 2% of California. So so, tell me, what what else really stuck out to you guys from the listening sessions that we went to?
Pete:Any anything else, that you guys Well,
Jason:I know speaking of the ethnic groups, we were with the Hispanics and the African Americans and the Chinese fellowship and the Korean fellowship. And each one of those different ethnic groups had unique challenges, while at the same time, there were similar things that were even with the Caucasian churches and and blended churches and things like that. There There was so much going on that there was diversity as well as similarities. And in the room, oftentimes, they weren't just talking to us. You would see them, the cross conversation is they would just start sharing things back and forth with each other and agreeing with each other, or sometimes we saw them disagreeing with each other in in a friendly manner as they were working through some issues right before our eyes.
Pete:Sure. Sure. The the other thing that I saw was that, you know, with the diversity of landscape that we have in California, the needs in the urban Mhmm. Parts of the state versus the suburban and definitely the rural, Just very very different. The needs are are very different and and so, that is gonna be something we're definitely gonna have to pay attention to.
Pete:The the other thing that I found that was very interesting is that our church plants are cutting edge.
Sarah:Mhmm.
Pete:And they have to be. Right? Because if they're gonna survive, they have to be cutting edge. And so I think there's a lot to learn from church plants.
Sarah:I had the exact same thought that I think some of our established churches might need to be going to the church plants to be rethinking how they do church, especially churches that are finding themselves in a dwindling situation. There might need to be a reinvention of how, obviously not scripture, not any of that kind of stuff, but just the practice could be reinvented a little bit.
Pete:Right. And and it's just it's just amazing how God has allowed us to see so much of the wisdom that is out there, such creativity, such a mix of blend of gifts in our pastors and our leaders that really, I believe we have everything we need in our churches to be able to lead the state for God to bless us and see a movement of God among our churches.
Sarah:Mhmm.
Pete:Just really neat. But can I also tell you that, you know, there there are also those that maybe think, man, there's just no way? There's just no way that we're gonna get to this, goal.
Sarah:2% goal?
Pete:Yeah. I mean, did you guys get any sense of that?
Jason:Yeah. Sometimes there would be some that would think, man, that is a impossible task
Sarah:Or maybe they
Jason:to 2% of the population.
Sarah:Or maybe they felt like they couldn't be a part of that. Yeah. Yeah.
Pete:Yeah. There's some that feel like, you know, well, how do we play with this?
Sarah:Yeah.
Pete:Yeah. And I get it. I mean, pastors have a
Sarah:tough job.
Pete:Right? And a lot of them have not grown for years.
Sarah:Yeah. Right.
Pete:And so for some of those, I think they're they're discouraged.
Jason:Right?
Pete:Mhmm. What else did you guys see out of those kind of churches?
Sarah:You know, one of the things that I picked up was, you know, I've been to Southern California my whole life, and for a long time, I thought, you know, Los Angeles is just the darkest place. But there is a a church planting movement happening down there. But the northern region has one of their biggest concerns was a hard heartedness that has really crept in up there. And I think it's it's almost like the state's kind of turned upside down a little bit. Sure.
Sarah:And, I have some concerns, and and the north really needs our help and our prayers and our resources. And, people who are maybe feeling called should consider possibly, the north the northern parts of our state.
Pete:Well, when you see, you know, close to 9,000 people got baptized in Huntington Beach
Sarah:Mhmm. A
Pete:couple of months ago. Right?
Sarah:Mhmm.
Pete:And, in Northern California, people up there or churches up there are just trying to defend themselves and trying to demonstrate to their community that this evangelical church is not a cult.
Sarah:Yeah.
Pete:I mean, the spiritual darkness that you have up in Northern California is one that needs to be approached in a totally different manner.
Sarah:Well, ironically do work
Pete:in evangelism in Southern California.
Sarah:Against cults. There's a lot of mysticism up there. Right. A lot of, like, tribal type things that are happening up there. Yeah.
Jason:Right. Right.
Sarah:And the evangelism the evangelists are the cult. Yeah. It's crazy.
Pete:You know, after 17 years of being a pastor and now serving here at our state convention the past 6 years, there are things that I heard in that room of needs and and some stuff that makes sense to me. Right? Stuff that makes sense to me. But then there was stuff that I'm, like, oh, never thought of that and how good that is. And so, I'm really looking forward to, again, taking all that we've heard, and and just all all that God has said through his leaders, through his church Mhmm.
Pete:Coming back, you know, trying to put it into a strategy, and then going back to our same places that we went to before and just saying to them, look, guys. This is what we found. This is where we're landing, and this is where we are going.
Jason:I got a feeling that second go round is gonna be even better than the first.
Sarah:Well, I will say, you know, Pete was very clear with the staff. The people don't know this, so I'm gonna spill the beans. But, Pete had told the staff, you know, no matter what they say in there, you cannot defend yourself because even if they say, I wish for let's say they say, I wish there was a newsletter. You know, Sarah, you can't say this week at CSBC. Right.
Sarah:Because what we will learn is they don't know that we have a newsletter. We need to figure that out. And so there were times where that happened, and we kinda had to sort of sit on our hands. Yep. And so it really was a listening session.
Sarah:We were not allowed to chime in. And there were times when things came up and said, you know, I didn't know. Why don't we have this? Well, we do. So we gotta figure out how to get our resources to the people.
Sarah:So this next go around, we will be publishing those dates when they come out. So be looking for the hear the heart logo. We'll get those dates out to you through this week at CSBC, so make sure you subscribe, on our website. And we should expect those dates when, Pete?
Pete:So currently, when we're recording today, we are in June. Okay. This podcast will probably come out sometime in July.
Sarah:Right.
Pete:So it might be at the end of August. Okay. You know, definitely before September, I expect to be out on the road again, sharing with others what has come out from our strategy meetings. This is a Yeah. Priority for us because, we believe that we have a great work to do, and we have to strategize together.
Pete:Yeah. And I believe God will honor the work of our hands if we work together, if we have a strategy, if we cry out to the Lord, if, you know, if if we're humbling ourselves before Him, being faithful, I believe God will bless the work, however He wants to do it. Yeah. And so I'm looking forward to that. And so, yeah, those days will come and, you know, Sarah, you'll make sure I'll
Sarah:make sure everybody knows.
Pete:Knows about them.
Sarah:And we should probably say thank you to our DOMs and our ethnic leaders for helping coordinate that because that was a mighty effort to Absolutely. Get those states coordinated.
Jason:Yeah. They did a really good job.
Sarah:Yeah. And the meals were pretty good too.
Pete:Okay. So, listening sessions, follow-up listening sessions, all this stuff is coming up. Our strategy, work is gonna happen. Please be in prayer for us as we're going through this process. And and I'm just looking forward to what God is gonna do.
Pete:Now, again, we like to finish our podcast with a funny story. So Yeah. Do any of you guys have a funny story?
Sarah:Well, it just so happens my prayers have been answered. Oh. All those times I've been asking for somebody to submit a funny story about Pete. No. It has happened.
Jason:Right. Oh.
Sarah:It has happened by way of our good friend, Eric Cardenas from First Bilingual Baptist Church of Pico Rivera.
Pete:Oh my goodness.
Sarah:He and I had a little conversation about, he goes, you know, I have a story for you. And ironically, this happened at the listening session. So we've come full circle. He goes, you know, I have this memory of Pete. It was in the early nineties.
Sarah:He said, I was in junior high, and Pete was my camp counselor. Mhmm. So let's see if you remember this. Okay. He goes, we were in our cabin.
Sarah:It was the middle of the night. He goes, all I remember, he said, we were in the junior high cabin. All these high schoolers come running into our room. They were coming in to mess with us. He goes, I wake up to Pete yelling and swatting.
Sarah:He goes, I'm pretty sure it was a broom. I don't know where he got a broom. He's waving it around at everybody yelling at all of the students. He goes, I don't know what was happening. I don't know what he was trying to accomplish.
Sarah:And I was like, oh, that's like right when I started to get to know Pete.
Pete:I was defending the junior high.
Sarah:That's what he said. His idea was defending us.
Pete:I was defending the junior high schoolers that were coming and pouncing on our little guys. And because I was the I was the junior high leader. Right?
Sarah:How old were you in that? He said it was Oh.
Pete:In the late nineties. Yeah. Yeah. It was late nineties, so I must have been about 27, maybe, 26. And yeah.
Pete:I look. I'm always for the little guy. Right? I don't let the big bully punk come after the little guy because I was the little guy growing up. And so, yeah, I defended those boys as much as I could.
Pete:I remember we grabbed the biggest guy from the high school group. He was the kid that was the football player. He was the he was the guy that really initiated a lot of the punking, and we dropped him on the ground. And there was about there's 4 kids grabbing onto each limb and about 2 other kids just pounding them with the pillow on
Sarah:the ground. This is church camp. They both
Pete:church camp.
Jason:Yeah. Church
Pete:camp. So take your kids to camp. They received Jesus for one reason or another. And, and so, yeah, it was it was a good time. It was a good time.
Pete:Thank you, Eric, for that memory.
Sarah:Eric. Camp, those were good times, man. Camp, they're important. They're important. Yeah.
Sarah:You were really to the junior high counselor in your late nineties, In the late nineties.
Pete:Yeah. I mean, I'm I I was passionate, in doing work with kids that really nobody else wanted to work with.
Sarah:Mhmm.
Pete:I mean, junior hires are the one of the hardest groups to work with because they're just so awkward. And yet those were the ones that I love the most. And so special breed.
Sarah:I love that he goes, I don't know where he got that broom from, to be honest. And I asked what church was it? He said he was in such a fog. He didn't remember.
Pete:Yeah. Yeah.
Sarah:But I'm just gonna blame it on Abel's church.
Pete:It was a thousand times.
Sarah:Of course, it was. They were all there. Yeah. They
Pete:were the Pico kids, high schoolers coming against us.
Sarah:Oh, it was the Pico kids.
Pete:It was their it was our own church kids. Yep.
Sarah:Oh, so you beat up your own kids. That's even better, actually. Thank you, Eric. Alright. If anybody else has a story, one on a Jason, I would love it.
Sarah:I know. I'm just kidding.
Jason:Be careful what you ask for.
Sarah:I know. Right? Alrighty. Well, thanks for joining in, everybody. Be on the lookout for those dates for the listening sessions.
Sarah:As always, we have an email address podcast@csbc.com. Guys, always a treat to be with you.
Pete:Good times.
Sarah:Until next time, everybody. Goodbye.
Pete:Bye.