By Stu Streeter
VP of Church Multiplication and Ministry Advancement
One of the great joys of the NAB missional-formational movement over the last fifteen years has been watching a renewed vision of the church take root among us. Together, we have longed to join God in the work he is already doing in our churches, communities, and neighborhoods.
When the Executive Team first wrestled with these ideas, leaders like Cam Roxburgh were stirring conversations few of us had ever considered. I can’t speak for those early pioneers, but I doubt they imagined where the Spirit would lead us. Yet, here we are, shaped by that renewed theological vision and surprised by joy at every turn.
From the beginning, those who championed this vision knew it could not be sustained without the next generation being part of the journey as well. The question wasn’t “when” but “how.”
We live in a rapidly changing world. Many younger leaders do not share the same interest in continuing the exact forms and practices their parents and grandparents valued. As NorCal Regional Minister Kent Carlson has often said, “Our kids don’t want the keys to dad’s car.”
While that could be cause for concern, in the NAB, it has instead become a source of beauty and hope.
This past July, I had the privilege of joining Paul and Tanya Gericke at Camp Falcon Rock in Romania. Their summer staff included young adults from NAB churches across Canada and the US serving alongside their peers from the Hungarian Baptist Convention of Romania. Watching these young leaders live out the Gospel together gave me a glimpse of what God is doing through this generation—shaping a church that is global and local, rooted and innovative, courageous and humble.
I am convinced the next generation of NAB leaders will carry the Gospel into spaces far beyond what my generation could imagine—international missions, church planting, nonprofit leadership, pastoral ministry, and other Kingdom endeavors not yet on our radar. This fills me with gratitude and hope.
Paul’s words to the Philippians still serve as a roadmap for us:
Make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others (Philippians 2:2–4 NIV).
Future Kingdom impact will depend on these three marks of a Spirit-led community: unity, humility, and altruism.
Our world knows too well the damage caused by division, pride, and selfishness. Sadly, even Christians sometimes baptize these tendencies with theological language. But our kids see through that. They long for authenticity, for leaders who live as servants of Christ and servants of others. And in that longing, they are showing us the way.
I recently served alongside long-time NAB missionaries Drs. Dennis and Nancy Palmer at a Fit Assessment. After more than forty years in Cameroon, they continue to model joy, wisdom, and faithfulness. However, what struck me most was how eager they remain to see God work through the next generation. The prophet Joel declared, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions” (Joel 2:28). The Palmers are dreaming dreams while joyfully encouraging younger leaders to see visions and chart new paths of Kingdom impact.
This is the rhythm of the people of God across generations: the old and the young, dreaming and seeing together, bound by the Spirit, who makes all things new.
As I reflect on the NAB family, I believe we stand at a hopeful intersection. The theological vision that reshaped us over the last decade and a half is now colliding with the passion, imagination, and courage of a rising generation. Together, we are discovering again what it means to be the church—a sign, servant, and foretaste of the Kingdom of God.
The future of the NAB will not look identical to its past, and that is good news! God is raising up leaders who will take the Gospel further than we ever dreamed. Our calling is to walk beside them, cheer them on, and, like the Palmers, keep dreaming while they keep seeing.
What a joy, indeed.