OUR STORY
The churches of the Central Kentucky Network of Baptists celebrate a rich history of a diverse partnership of ministries all with the shared purpose of seeing the Gospel carried to every corner of our Network.
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Rich
History
Since 1785 the Elkhorn Baptist Association has served the region we now know as Central Kentucky. Much has changed in these past 230 years. Kentucky became a state. We have grown from a frontier wilderness to a commonwealth that boasts over 4.4 million people. We have grown from a family of 6 churches to over 100 churches who are committed to fulfill the Great Commandment and the Great Commission. Our sole mission is to assist and strengthen local affiliated churches as they work individually and together in making Disciples.
While our mission has not changed, our methods of accomplishing this mission have, and will, change as the context of ministry around us is in constant flux. In the October 2014 annual meeting, representatives from affiliated churches voted to endorse the recommendation of Association leadership and update the way in which we are identified. Thus, we are now known as the Central Kentucky Network of Baptists. This represents several exciting transitions in the life of our network that will allow us to more effectively equip the local church to be what God called it to be.
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Diversity of
Partners
Paul describes the church in I Corinthians 12:12, “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts from one body, so it is with Christ.” He affirms the variety found in the local church and our Network of affiliated churches illustrates the same variety on a broader scale. The profile of our churches is not limited by any particular age, style, demographic, or even nationality. We partner with churches who have just begun and those whose existence even precedes the birth of the Association itself.
Locations range from rural to urban while styles run the gamut from Cowboy to contemporary to more traditional. Embracing the cultural diversity and need in Central Kentucky, we have affiliated churches that represent Japanese, Congolese, Nepali, Haitian, and Hispanic ethnicity. The languages may differ but they all declare, in unity, the worthiness of the One True God.
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Shared
Purpose
While the gospel is the thread of unity among our affiliated churches, the methods through which that gospel is shared are as varied as our churches themselves. Seeking to impact their surrounding communities, the Network churches have invested in ministry such as Vacation Bible School, Sunday School/Small Group Bible Studies, Mission Organization, and much more. Christ commanded that the gospel be taken by the local church to “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the entire world.”
Our Jerusalem includes the people of Bourbon, Clark, Fayette, Madison, Montgomery, Jessamine, Scott, Whitley, and Woodford Counties. The impact of these churches does not end there as each year local churches send Mission Teams throughout our Commonwealth, North America and to each corner of our World.