9343.jpg)
- Convention retiree Bob Cook dies after extended illness
- Pastors reminded to honor calling at annual conference
- Conference breakout sessions focus on pastors family, Christian life, leadership & transition
- Love: What the world needs now
- Florida Baptists celebrate evangelism, church planting & church strengthening priorities
- Hughes urges pastors: Go for the ‘big ask’ of members, themselves
- State Board of Missions hears report from past presidents on GCR
- FBSC messengers applaud pastors who have served 60-plus years
- Messengers in Pensacola approve nominees for Florida’s SBOM & agencies
- Florida Focus
- Latest Stories...
RSS News Feed
In the early 1950’s John Maguire, in his role as executive secretary-treasurer of the Florida Baptist Convention, stopped by a small church in Fellsmere to meet the young student pastor.
 |
| The Maguire State Mission Offering, named after the late John and Clyde Maguire, is designed to underwrite specified projects developed by Florida Baptist Convention program departments to help Florida Baptists reach the state’s spiritually lost. |
Impressed with the young Floridian, Maguire wrote about him in his weekly column in Florida Baptist Witness.
A decade later the young pastor was called to serve the First Baptist Church of Merritt Island. In his column, Maguire again praised the young man and his abilities to lead the congregation.
That young pastor was Adrian Rogers, who now serves as pastor of the 27,000-member Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tenn., and has served three times as president of the 16-million member Southern Baptist Convention.
"It was so neat that John Maguire would talk to a college boy and encourage me and later write about it," said Rogers. "You know how that encouraged me."
Rogers recalled that Maguire often used the term "Favored Florida" when he spoke of the challenges facing Florida Baptists. "He was always pushing, always charging. He would always speak to people about the state of Florida and about the opportunity and responsibility the people of Florida have," Rogers added.
A passion for God’s mission and a passion for God’s people characterized the visionary leadership John Maguire provided to Florida Baptists. Under his leadership Florida Baptist experienced unparalleled growth. During his 23-year tenure–from 1945-67–the number of cooperating churches in the convention increased to 1,426 from 826. Church membership grew to more than 600,000 from 184,140, and Cooperative Program receipts increased to $3.7 million from $422,123.
When Maguire assumed his leadership post, one-fourth of the 826 Florida Baptist churches gave nothing to any mission causes. Before he retired, every church was giving something to missions.
The Maguire State Mission Offering, which benefits 20 Florida Baptist ministries, is named for John Maguire and his wife Clyde, who mentored and motivated Baptist women in the state.
"Florida" said John Maguire before his death in 1987, "is the greatest mission field anywhere in the United States . . . and unless Florida Baptists arise to the occasion of reaching these lost people, we are going backwards, instead of forward."