December 2025 | 3
It’s a Great Day to be an Ohio Baptist! Over 244 messengers, guests, and exhibitors from across Ohio gathered at Lifepoint Church in Mount Ver- non for the 2025 State Convention of Baptists in Ohio (SCBO) Annual Celebration, November 10-11.
overall one percent increase to the total budget and a new partnership initiative with the IMB to provide schol- arships for pastors who have never been overseas on a mission trip to go abroad to share the gospel. SCBO Director of IT, AJ Frasure, unveiled our free SCBO app that can be downloaded, keeping you connected to all of the incredible stories of God at work in the Buckeye State. There is so much to be encouraged about, and I believe this new app will help our SCBO family stay informed. Lastly, our convention will continue to see the Lord’s blessings when all the glory goes to him. What a joy it was to give a report where both baptisms and CP giving are on the rise. Send Network Ohio churches continue to be started and strengthened. SCBO camps and conferences are witnessing record attendance and decisions. Why? Because the hand of the Lord is upon us, and all the honor and glory go to him. It’s a great day to be an Ohio Baptist. Thank you for the honor of serving both the Lord and you as your Executive Director. Moving Forward,
The Annual Meeting celebrated God’s work in Ohio as well as cast vision for the future as our SCBO staff re - counted multiple ways the Lord is blessing his work throughout the state. The highlight of our Annual Meeting was hearing re- ports of increased giving to the Cooperative Program, a 121% increase in baptisms over the past four years, and 29 new churches in the state convention this year—23 plants, two replants, and four new affiliations through our SEND Ohio partnership. As messengers celebrated God’s work in Ohio, the Wor- ship Team from Lifepoint Church, Mount Vernon, led messengers in praise and worship. Dr. John Heading, Ohio Disaster Relief director, report- ed that the Lord is blessing the ministry of Disaster Re- lief not only here in Ohio, but around the world. He also announced that Ohio DR is hosting the 2026 Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Roundtable, a national advanced training event and directors’ meeting, in January 2026. I was blessed to deliver my fifth Executive Director’s Re - port since assuming the position in August 2021, using an old outline received from my pastor over 25 years ago, and preached a message from Mark 2:1-12 titled, “The Convention that God Blesses.” The first way that the Lord will continue to bless our con - vention is for Christ to remain at the center of all that we do as Ohio Baptists. Baptisms are on the rise, as more churches are receiving evangelism grants to take the gospel to their communities. Additionally, Cooperative Program giving has increased by $350,000, or 8%, over the past three years...praise the Lord! Secondly, the word of God must remain the final author - ity in all that we do. Ohio Baptists are making disciples across the street and around the state. As a result, new churches are being started and strengthened. Third, those who are far from the Lord need to be brought close to the Lord. We are seeing many of our SCBO camps and conferences do just that. Camp U Can saw 25 young men profess Christ this year, and overall, 210 campers, ages 9-17, have been saved since its inception in 2019. Also, both Super Summer and Worship 4:24 had record attendances this year! Fourth and fifth, I believe the Lord will continue to steady his hand upon us as we both demonstrate faith and dis- courage negative attitudes. Messengers unanimous- ly approved the 2025-2026 budget, which includes an
Dr. Jeremy Westbrook Executive Director-Treasurer, SCBO
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