Zak McCullar brightened the Executive Committee’s February meeting with his presentation in favor of a Children’s Ministry Day across the Southern Baptist Convention. McCullar, who made a motion supporting the idea during last summer’s SBC annual meeting, spoke to the EC during their final session Feb. 19.
The pastor’s son from Alabama said a Children’s Ministry Day on the SBC calendar would be a way to thank children’s ministry workers, celebrate how kids are sharing the gospel, and inspire them to do more.
“I would like them to know,” he told Baptist Press, “you’re never too young to be an evangelist.”
McCullar was in Dallas with his family for the annual meeting last summer when he noticed the SBC calendar didn’t include a Children’s Ministry Day. His parents helped him research how to file a motion, and he took it from there.
“He got in line and I just bit my fingernails,” said his father, Scott. “I didn’t know what was going to happen. But he did fantastic. But it was all him….We just let him do it.” The motion was referred to the Executive Committee, which is why the McCullar family traveled to Nashville in February.
The committee voted to recommend to 2019 SBC messengers in Birmingham, Ala., the addition of Children’s Ministry Day to the SBC calendar annually on the third Sunday in July through 2023.
“No one will convince me that wasn’t God’s plan,” said Sharon Carty, who represents Illinois on the committee. Prior to McCullar’s presentation, the meeting was focused on a study team’s initial plans to prevent sexual abuse in SBC churches and care for survivors. Carty paraphrased committee chair Mike Stone’s closing remarks:
“Exactly what we’re talking about is standing before us today, and we’ve got to protect them.”
– With additional reporting by Baptist Press