Noted Evangelist Phil Waldrep Invests in Endowed Funds That Will Underwrite Salaries of Nine Missionaries
Phil Waldrep speaks at the 2024 New England Pastor’s Encouragement Retreat
Missionary movements need missionaries and missionaries need salaries that underwrite their youth outreach, collegiate evangelism, church planting, leadership development—and many other important tasks—that advance New England Baptist ministry.
To that end, Baptist Foundation of New England (BFNE) leaders recently established endowed funds to underwrite the salaries of nine essential missionary staff and asked eight “core givers” to become the initial investors; they gave a combined total of $132, 644 (as of December 31, 2024).
Serving Pastors as They Make a Kingdom Impact
The core donors included Phil Waldrep, founder and president of the Phil Waldrep Evangelistic Association, Decatur, Alabama. Following prayer, he gave seed money to each of the nine funds when asked.
Phil Waldrep leads a breakout session at the 2024 BCNE Annual Meeting
Waldrep can be called an honorary New Englander because of his forty years of ministry in the region. Best known in the Southeastern United States as a faithful gospel-focused evangelist, he reserves a corner of his pastoral heart and weeks of his schedule each year for New England Baptist pastors.
“You are my heroes. My role is to be your cheerleader,” he told pastors and others when he preached at the BCNE’s annual meeting in November 2024. In a telephone interview in January, he amplified that commitment when asked about why a lifelong Alabaman would decide to serve pastors and churches in New England.
“I fell in love with the people. I also am a big believer in helping people in New England share the gospel and make an impact.”
Fifteen US presidents and eight current US Supreme Court justices have at least one degree from or have attended Harvard, Yale, or another New England university, he noted. “New England is the educational center of the world, in my opinion, particularly with Boston.”
A student of American history, Waldrep has observed the noteworthy political, philosophical, educational, “and, at one time, the spiritual influence” of New England on the United States.
“If we’re going to have a great spiritual awaking in America again,” he stated with reference to the ministries of Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and others, “I really believe it will have its roots in New England. I see little flickers of that all over New England.”
The Significance of Investing for the Future
He decided to give seed money to the new staff chair endowments because, “as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized the significance and the importance of this [investment] is that we have to look to the future, as well as to the present.”
“God gives us resources, but I think sometimes with those resources, we need to ask, ‘Okay, how can I invest these resources now that will pay off for the future and continue to pay off into the future, rather than just, spend everything we have at the moment?’”
Waldrep said he has seen that investment principle in his own ministry and in the lives of others. “I don't think the Lord calls us to hoard what he gives us, but I do think he calls us to be good stewards of what he gives us.”
Reflecting on his four decades of working with the Baptist Churches of New England and their leadership, he added, “I’ve always seen the quality of what they’ve done. They have done things well with transparency and integrity.”
When he finds people and ministries who have demonstrated integrity and “consistency” over time, he said, “That's the kind of thing I want to invest in. That’s the kind of thing I want to give to, and that’s what I want to help others to see the importance of doing.”
When considering stewardship, Waldrep’s thoughts turn, not only to the widow’s mite passage (Mark 12:41-44), but also to the words of Jesus to his disciples about generosity: “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more” (Luke 12:48b, ESV)
“If you look at a drop of water, you think a drop of water cannot do very much, but if you put enough of those drops of water together, you have the power of Niagara Falls,” he commented.
“Even when people think they’re giving a small amount, or not as much as someone else, we don’t realize the power of the Holy Spirit taking our drops of water, our cups of water, whatever we're able to give. When he combines that with others and anoints it, there is a power that is unleashed that comes from our faithfulness of what we gave and what we could give.”
Phil Waldrep recognized Terry and Kay Dorsett with the 2022 Aubrey and Peggy Jones Award for their exemplary service as "a model of ministry in New England." (Left to right) Phil Waldrep, Debbie Waldrep, Kay Dorsett, Terry Dorsett, and Dale Kelton, a member of the Phil Waldrep Evangelistic Association's Board of Directors.
Waldrep has been investing in and encouraging the development of New England Baptist ministry since he met, in 1984, with Aubrey C. Jones, longtime pastor of Precision Valley Baptist Church in Springfield, Vermont; their meeting was just a few months after the Baptist General Association of New England organized themselves, in November 1983, as the Baptist Convention of New England.
Each year Waldrep holds two Pastor’s Encouragement Retreats at his own expense for Baptist Churches of New England pastors and, if married, their wives. Typically, both are held at resort hotels somewhere in New England.
This year the first retreat will be held July 15-19 at sea aboard a cruise ship bound for Nova Scotia. The second retreat will be held September 1-3 at the Omni Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire.
In addition to spiritual refreshment, biblical inspiration, and a brief vacation away from their stressful and often lonely ministry responsibilities, participating pastors gain a fresh appreciation for the ministry to which they’ve been called. Among those who attend the retreats, the number of pastors who leave New England has decreased from fifty percent to just five percent, states Waldrep’s web site.
Whenever the evangelist and his wife, Debbie, visit Northern New England, they take unscheduled time to “just drive with no real destination, stopping at barn sales, and getting ice cream, and stopping at country stores.”
“The first thing, if I stop somewhere and start a conversation, people say, ‘Well, what part of the South are you from?’ I always say, South Boston!”
In addition to an active preaching and retreat schedule when he visits New England, Waldrep has been a board member of Northeastern Baptist College, Bennington, Vermont, for eight years and chairman for four of those years.
Getting Nine New Endowment Funds Off the Ground
A donor may invest in a particular “Chair of Ministry” endowment or decide to divide the gift equally between these nine chairs:
CHAIR OF CHURCH MULTIPLICATION
The BCNE’s ministry of church multiplication—which includes both revitalization of existing congregations and planting of new churches—is undertaken to equip and encourage church leaders to engage in missionary activity by facilitating and resourcing them to multiply disciples.
CHAIR OF COLLEGIATE MINISTRIES
New England is the nexus of higher education in the United States. Although Christian faith historically played an important role in universities, today most students still seek truth. For this reason, BCNE supports a network of collegiate ministries that partner with churches.
CHAIR OF YOUTH MINISTRY
BCNE invests in the lives of teens and their leaders. Youth ministry offers churches opportunities that equip Christian teens and their unchurched friends to discover and grow in genuine faith, while also training and encouraging adults who serve in church youth ministry.
CHAIR OF GREATER BOSTON MINISTRY
Boston churches serve on the front lines of one of America’s most influential and least evangelized cities. Those who serve more than a dozen language groups through BCNE’s ministries in Greater Boston confront a shortage of workers and meeting spaces, and a high cost of living.
CHAIRS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, RHODE ISLAND, and VERMONT
Many New Englanders live in towns or villages; they need gospel-preaching churches. That’s why BFNE started endowments to provide for the leaders of ministry networks in New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont, where life can be difficult and lonely.
CHAIR OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT MINISTRY
Pastors and their leaders need inspiring and informative training on an array of topics including but not limited to children’s ministry and VBS, trauma counseling, addiction recovery, ESL teaching, and digital evangelism. The BCNE’s Leadership Development Ministry offers encouragement and assistance as needed.
CHAIR OF EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP
By definition BCNE’s Executive Director must be passionate about multiplying Christ-followers. Each morning the leader faces a never-ending set of complex responsibilities that include but are not limited to staff and board development, fundraising and budget management, preaching and teaching the Bible, speaking at numerous regional conferences, and attending to denominational relations.
Eight donors gave a combined total (as of December 31, 2024) of $132,644. We invite you to join them by contributing to the ministry chair or chairs of your choice. Your gift will help ensure that New England always has an adequate BCNE missionary staff to get the gospel to every corner of New England.
Give today at https://4agc.com/donate/missionarysupport
This article is part of an ongoing series. Click here to read the other BNFE stories.