A letter from Dr. David Manner, Executive Director
Dear Church Forward Churches and Pastors,
As we come to the end of 2025, I want to express my sincere appreciation to your church family for faithfully advancing the gospel—not only across Kansas and Nebraska, but around the world. We deeply value our partnership with you and the more than 400 Church Forward churches.
Because of the faithful giving of Church Forward churches through the Cooperative Program and other missions and ministry offerings, more than 120 college students were baptized after coming to faith through Christian Challenge on 25 college campuses. In addition, 25 percent of our more than 400 churches are ethnic congregations. Through your partnership, churches worshiping in 43 different ethnicities are supported relationally and financially across Kansas and Nebraska each weekend.
Through Send Network Kansas–Nebraska, eleven churches were planted or chose to affiliate this year. In just a three-month period beginning in October, 18 new churches reported incredible gospel impact, including 240 personal gospel conversations, 55 people trusting in Jesus, 52 baptisms, 732 discipleship relationships developed, and $32,011 given through the Cooperative Program and the Annie Armstrong Offering. Send Network Kansas–Nebraska also continues to pursue a goal of 100 new church plants over the next five years.
Our Webster Conference Center also celebrated a milestone year, surpassing 50,000 user days in 2025. As part of this historic attendance, WCC hosted 2,200 middle school and high school students while celebrating the 50th year of Super Summer. During that event, 232 students made decisions for Christ, including 50 new believers. In addition, nearly 900 college students attended two consecutive weekends of Collegiate Fall Conference.
Beyond these ministries, your partnership encouraged hurting pastors and struggling churches. You invested in leader and church discipleship development through Funnel Fusion and Double Honor Ministries. New children’s ministry initiatives for leaders and churches were launched, along with The Church Forward Worship Collective. Men’s ministries, disaster relief, and heart renewal and evangelism efforts flourished, with more than 700 Church Forward men and women equipped to share their faith through evangelism training events. We also got to celebrate the 2,604 baptisms reported from 2024.
Your gifts also helped supplement Guidestone retirement and disability insurance for every minister in our convention enrolled with Guidestone. Additionally, the Kansas–Nebraska Southern Baptist Foundation awarded 30 scholarships to seminary and college students, including six Korean students attending Midwestern Seminary.
These and many other 2025 ministry accomplishments are only possible because of the partnership and selfless giving of you as the churches and ministry leaders across Kansas and Nebraska. Thank you, Church Forward pastors and churches. You are ministry heroes as you faithfully advance the Kingdom of God across our two states and around the world. We truly are better together—so let’s do it again in 2026.
Your partner in ministry,
Dr. David Manner
Executive Director, Church Forward
