For the first time in more than 20 years, the Alabama Baptist State Evangelism Conference was held on the campus of Samford University in Birmingham Feb. 23–24.
Not only was the location central to the state and the venue “outstanding” but Alabama Baptists were also “thrilled to be there,” said Sammy Gilbreath, director of the office of evangelism at the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions. “It was a great partnership,” he said. “Dr. Westmoreland (Samford’s president) and his staff went above and beyond to accommodate us.”
During the conference, hundreds of Alabama Baptists heard from 13 speakers, including Southern Baptist Convention President Johnny Hunt and well-known author and speaker Anne Graham Lotz.
The lineup, “probably the heaviest we’ve ever had,” included six nationally and internationally known speakers, as well as Alabama Baptist pastors, Gilbreath noted. With more than 1,000 people at each of the night sessions, he was pleased with the turnout. But he was even more pleased with the spirit of the conference.
“There is something different about the conference,” he said. “I can’t put my hand on it, but God is up to something special. I believe there have been more people praying for this meeting than we’ve had in a long time.”
Several people referenced the early ’70s evangelism conference held at Central Park Baptist Church, Birmingham, as the pinnacle of all evangelism conferences in the state. Lives were changed and the Holy Spirit’s presence left people in awe, they said.
Gilbreath compared what he sensed at this year’s conference — a hunger for something fresh — to that conference. “Do you want to reproduce what happened at Central Park?” he asked the Monday night attendees. “I want far more than that,” he said, calling them to pray and seek God’s anointing.
Gilbreath’s office also organized the Great Commission Ministries breakout sessions alongside the conference. (TAB)
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