Our Vision is to see our local churches and pastors support one another and grow in biblical faithfulness

Our mission is to
foster meaningful partnerships
in order to encourage pastors, develop leaders, and support churches

Strategy

Encourage pastors by cultivating a pastoral brotherhood through encouragement events, retreats, prayer gatherings, as well as Sabbatical Support, subsidized biblical counseling, and scholarshipping marriage-strengthening activities such as retreats.

Develop leaders by offering book studies, workshops, development tracks and calls, as well as in-church disciple-making training, resources, and direct consultation support from staff and connected church leaders.

Support churches by providing material resources and administrative services, funding church plants and ministy scholarships, and fostering Great Commission connections.

Core Values

Church Centrality

We exist principally for the sake of the church, which is God’s ordained means of fulfilling the great commission.

Cooperative Autonomy

Associational life is about voluntary unity and shared identity as much as it is about missions and fellowship.

Doctrinal Unity

Baptist confessional documents (consistent with the Baptist Faith and Message, 2000) draw the doctrinal boundaries of membership to the GDAB

Faithful Stewardship

God has entrusted us with precious relational and material resources that are to be leveraged with integrity and maximized for kingdom purposes.

Missional Focus

The Great Commission is the mission of the church; the growth of the gospel by making disciples is our aim.

Churches want to multiply — through missions, planting, replanting, or revitalization. That takes healthy pastors, and healthy pastors aren't meant to go it alone.

Jesus sent His disciples out two by two. Paul planted churches in partnership with other churches. Scripture is clear: “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10). When Moses' arms grew tired in battle, Joshua and Hur held them up (Exodus 17). That's the model — God gives us each other as a means of grace.

Isolation, by contrast, is dangerous. Isolated pastors lack care, sharpening, and wise counsel, leaving them vulnerable to poor decisions. That's why togetherness is God's design — not just within a local church, but between churches and pastors. Are you in need of friendship and encouragement? Nobody understands pastors like other pastors. Ministry is tough; yet thriving churches who multiply are led by healthy shepherds who serve their flocks in abundant joy. We want to help.

Every church in our family is in a different season, and we meet you where you are:

  • Planting or replanting? Our team helps you launch strategically in places that need the gospel most.

  • Ready to grow? Our Pastoral Development team provides training to lead your church toward flourishing.

  • Hurting? We sponsor gospel-centered biblical counseling for pastors pursuing wholeness.

  • Needing encouragement? We convene pastors near you to pray together and build real friendship.

Our network is voluntary and peer-driven — your church stays autonomous, and you choose what adds value. We're not a gatekeeper or a substitute for the church; we exist to serve it. Being part of the GDAB family is a living out of John 17 unity — proof to the world that we are one in Christ, even as we do ministry a bit differently from one another.

You don't have to be on the front lines alone. We're better with you — and we hope you'll join us.

Would Your church like to join GDAb in its mission and vision?

Go to our joining page to see the process for joining the GDAB and for information on the benefits and responsibilities of membership.