A NEW YEAR AND A NEW OPPORTUNITY

2026--isn't it hard to believe that it is here already? On January 1, 2021, I began my service as your Associational Mission Strategist. That was also when I did my first interim pastorate at Maggie Valley First Baptist Church, and now I am into #6 at Bethel. 5 years--half a decade--as time races by, and we look back and wonder how much has been accomplished for kingdom work in our Haywood Baptist Churches.

I am not satisfied with my job performance. I am not content with where our churches are in their spiritual health. While some good things have been done, there is so much more that needs to be accomplished in reaching the lost, discipling the saved, strengthening the churches, and supporting missions and minstries to the ends of the earth.

The end of 2025 should lead us to soberly evaluate our effectiveness. It is a vital time to strategically pray and plan for progress in 2026.

Still, it is a time for hope as we turn the page. I have a new calendar, and it is open with opportunity. God is at work, and His Kingdom will come, His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We move inexorably toward the consummation of the age and glory to come. Jesus said, "Upon this rock, I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it," (Matt. 16:18).

Yours for a Fresh Start,

Dennis Thurman, AMS