I recently reread Portrait of Obedience, the excellent biography of Dr. Robert T. Ketcham. As I reflected on the stirring account of this warrior’s life and ministry, a fact caught my attention that I had not previously considered. During the years leading up to and including the inception of the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches, Bob Ketcham was a young man. If you are like me, you may tend to think of Dr. Ketcham in terms of an elder statesman, based upon seeing him in person or viewing pictures of him later in life. However, when the fundamentalist and Northern Baptist Convention battles were being waged in the 1920s, Dr. Ketcham was young.

Bob Ketcham was born on July 22, 1889. At age twenty-three, he preached his first sermon in his first pastorate on September 22, 1912. At age twenty-five, Ketcham took a courageous stand during his ordination council on January 12, 1915; he defended his fundamentalist convictions in the face of considerable opposition from several modernist leaders in attendance. By the time he was thirty, Ketcham was writing and articulating his beliefs and leading his church in defiance of the Convention’s status quo. During the 1920s Bob Ketcham became a leading spokesman whose commitment to Biblical orthodoxy reverberated across the nation.

At the second meeting of the newly formed GARBC in 1933, Bob Ketcham was invited as a speaker. During the consideration of drafting a constitution, Ketcham vigorously argued against the original proposal that would have followed the Northern Baptist Convention infrastructure, “composed of various ‘Boards and Agencies’ with the usual Convention setup of controlling machinery” (Murdoch, Portrait of Obedience, 131). At age forty-five, Ketcham was elected president of the fledgling Regular Baptist Association in 1934.

Fast-forward with me to March 13 and 14, 2008—Jim Vogel and I met with a small group of young Regular Baptist leaders at the Ministry Resource Center in Schaumburg, Illinois. These pastors represent the future leadership of the GARBC and, in the same manner as Ketcham, are in their twenties and thirties. These are men of great vision, ministry skill, and boundless potential, coupled with the solid doctrinal convictions and values that have long marked our Fellowship. They expressed an intense desire to both perpetuate and expand the role and influence of the Association.

Our discussion endeavored to identify ways to draw these men and their peers into the stream of Association activity. They were brimming with ideas. They desire to see more young pastors at the Annual Conference. They made many suggestions to enhance the quality of this event. They are planning a get-together during the Conference week. They established a GARBC Facebook group. They would like to see a mentoring program started in which they could network with ministry veterans who can help them think through challenges. They have a strong desire to emphasize doctrine in both belief and passion.

I found these men to be respectful of their elders. They want the opportunity to take part in seeing positive things happen through our Association churches and ministries. They desire to be participants. They don’t want to wait years before their turn comes. If I learned anything from my most recent reading of R. T.’s biography, it was the fact that age need not be a discriminatory factor. These men and their wives and hundreds like them deserve to be a part of the action. They are not interested in compromising our Regular Baptist ideals; they do not want to start reactionary splinter groups. However, neither are they satisfied with the status quo. They want acceptance and support from those of us who are starting to look like the older Ketcham! I don’t want these capable leaders to be disenfranchised. I want them to see themselves as part of this great family. They are the future leaders of the GARBC, and the future is now.