How do we best tell the story of state missions to today’s Arizona Southern Baptists? That was one of the questions explored by a planning team when they met last January to discuss this year’s State Mission Offering.
Since 1993, the offering has been named for Willis J. Ray. Long-time Arizona Southern Baptists know that Ray, a former state convention executive secretary, was a pioneer in Baptist work in our state. But since his death at the age of 96 in 1992, thousands of people have joined the ranks of Arizona Southern Baptists. Most are probably not familiar with Ray's legacy.
The planning team concluded that while they are grateful for the church planting and missions heritage passed on by Ray, the time had come to rename the offering. Consideration was given to simply dropping Ray's name and calling the offering the "State Mission Offering," but this sounded too generic. Another name considered was "Arizona State Mission Offering," but it was pointed out that University of Arizona fans might have a problem with that name. And so ... the new name is "Arizona Mission Offering."
It's a new name for a new generation of Arizona Southern Baptists. It carries the heart and soul of all that has come before and remains uniquely focused on mission work in the Grand Canyon State.
