“It was an awesome night at The Station Church!”
Kevin Blackwell, disciple-making and teaching pastor at the church, posted that exclamation on Facebook April 26, along with the note that the church was full of men and women being discipled that night.
“We had 125 students show up for worship with seven salvations,” he wrote. “The winds of revival are blowing in our church, and I am here for it.”
Trend is continuing
The Bessemer church baptized 65 new believers in 2022, according to the Annual Church Profile report, and according to Blackwell’s post, it looks like that trend is continuing.
Rick Lance, executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, said there’s a story behind every number on the ACP report — each baptism is a celebration of someone’s new faith in Christ, and every dollar fuels missions efforts in the state and beyond.
“The ACP often provides us with points of celebration as we thank God for churches that are effectively reaching people for Christ through various ministries,” he said.
The report can also help a church understand its trajectory over the long term and help it better prepare for the future, Lance said.
“The ACP sometimes reflects prayer needs — that is, the numbers show that some fellow Alabama Baptists are facing uphill challenges in reaching their own communities,” he said. “If we know of these needs, reflected in numbers reported on the ACP, we can pray more effectively for each other.”
For these reasons, the numbers are important, Lance said. But since the COVID-19 pandemic, the percentage of Alabama Baptist churches filling out the annual report has dropped off sharply, Lance said.
In 2022, only 69% of Alabama Baptist churches submitted an ACP.
“This is down considerably from pre-pandemic years,” he said, when around 80% or more filled out their profile.”
Prayerful consideration
“Of course, the ACP is a voluntary process,” Lance said. “I would encourage each Alabama Baptist congregation to prayerfully consider completing an ACP for the year 2023.”
If you or your church have questions about how to complete the ACP, your local Baptist association can often help.
You can also contact Mickey Crawford at the SBOM at 334-613-2281 or mcrawford@alsbom.org.
The reports of every church’s giving and baptisms are now available online. Click here to download the full report.
Churches that did not complete an ACP will see blanks in their listing.
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