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BACE is a non-profit, 501c3 membership, donor, and partner supported ministry. The desire of BACE is to serve leaders whose role on church staff, or as a volunteer, a professor, or denominational leader, is to make disciples through discipleship and church education ministries. We serve leaders by facilitating networking opportunities, continuing education opportunities, and providing various discount programs. In addition, BACE is dedicated to raising awareness of the invaluable asset these leaders and this work provides to the local church.

Current Goals:

  • Launch a BACE mentoring/coaching ministry by April 2021.
  • Increase membership to 600 by April 2022.
  • Reach 300 in attendance at the national conference by April 2022.
  • Connect with or create 50 like-minded networks around the United States by April 2022.
  • Build a database of 2000 plus individuals who desire to learn from and connect with BACE by April 2022.
  • Champion the discipline of church Christian education in whatever form it might be expressed by a new generation of church leaders.
  • Champion the degrees related to Christian Education and Discipleship in all Southern Baptist affiliated seminaries and colleges who desire to partner with BACE.
  • Build a financial structure that will keep member costs to a minimum and sustain the financial requirements for BACE.

Membership Benefits:

  • Includes Annual conference registration (discounted from conference only).
  • Ongoing access to conference content following the event.
  • Discounts from our ministry partners.
  • Travel discount program for the entire family.
  • Ministry Grid access for personal development.
  • Discount memberships for those pursuing an under-graduate or graduate ministry focused degree.
  • Opportunities to connect, network, and learn from other BACE members through local and state networks, individual networking, and the BACE mentoring ministry.

Vision

Serving leaders who equip the church to make disciples.

Mission

BACE serves leaders who equip the church to make disciples by providing members opportunities to encourage, network, discover, and learn from one another, church leadership experts, and proven practitioners.

History

Since its early beginnings, Baptist Association of Christian Educators (BACE) has grown out of a desire from Christian educators in Southern Baptist churches to have a common place to focus on current practices, build relationships, and offer support to one another as they serve the cause of Christ through the local church. In 1955, there were three distinct regional associations that supported this work. The Baptist Sunday School Board (LifeWay), at the invitation of these three associations, led the effort to unite these three groups into one organization, the Southern Baptist Religious Education Association (SBREA). Over the years there have been additional opportunities to unite with other Baptist associations such as the Baptist Religious Educators Association of the Southwest (BREAS). In 2001, SBREA changed its name to Baptist Association of Christian Educators (BACE) in order to better address the changes taking place in the world of education ministry in the local church.

Over the years, uniting together to focus on the cause of Christian education ministry in the local church has been vital as we have continued to join Christ in His mission of making disciples and equipping the saints. As was true in the day when Dr. J.M. Price, a pioneer and advocate for the work of Baptist Christian education, there is today, as he stated, “great progress . . . yet there remains much ground to be possessed.”

Change has certainly affected the Christian education landscape over the past several years. Even the term, Christian education, has taken on different meanings and is expressed in different ways. Staff members responsible for this area of work might be called by different titles – Minister of Education; Discipleship Pastor; Small Groups Pastor; Adult Pastor; Young Adult Pastor; etc. – but we still all focus on a common goal: building and growing up the body of Christ, His church!

Today, BACE stands poised to support the next generation of Christian educators, no matter how that ministry is expressed or described.

Core Convictions

  • God—There is one and only one living and true God who reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
  • The Bible—The Holy Bible is the only infallible, authoritative Word of God and is the sole basis for our doctrine and beliefs.
  • The Believer—As people who have been redeemed through Jesus Christ, believers have been uniquely designed by their Creator and empowered by His Spirit to live out The Great Commission and The Great Commandment.
  • The Body—The church, consisting of born-again, baptized believers, is the Body of Christ, banded together to fulfill The Great Commission and The Great Commandment.
  • The Family—God has ordained the family as the foundational institution of human society. It is composed of persons related to one another by marriage, blood or adoption. Marriage is the uniting of one man and one woman in covenant commitment for a lifetime. Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord.