What are you passionate about? What evangelistic needs does your church have? How do you meld the two to create a strategy to reach those around you for Christ?
These are some of the questions this year’s Alabama Baptist State Convention annual meeting, set for Nov. 16–17 at Eastmont Baptist Church in Montgomery, seeks to address through its theme.
“The meeting will mark the launch of a new state convention theme, ‘Intentional Evangelism,’ which will be our emphasis for the next three years and the highlight of the Tuesday evening worship during (the) convention,” said Rick Lance, executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM). “Intentional Evangelism will encourage Alabama Baptists to explore new ways of reaching people for Christ with intentionality and creativity.”
Developed by Sammy Gilbreath, director of the SBOM’s evangelism office, and Max Croft, director of the SBOM’s office of discipleship and family ministries, intentional evangelism is a strategy to help churches with passion-driven evangelism and the discipling of new believers.
Gilbreath said intentional evangelism is a way for churches and individuals to identify something for which they are passionate — such as hunting, sewing, fishing or working with children — and use that activity for evangelism.
“We take that passion and turn it into a ministry,” Gilbreath said. This allows Christians to develop a lifestyle of evangelism through their passion, rather than leaving their passion to go evangelize, he explained.
Gilbreath said once a passion has been identified, the passion is used to build a relationship with an unchurched person, which then becomes a bridge leading to an opportunity to share the gospel.
The hope is that someone will come to Christ through salvation, be discipled in their faith and then encouraged to get involved in the same process of identifying his or her passion and using it to witness, Croft said.
He said discipleship of new believers is crucial to completing evangelism. “Discipleship is a lifelong process of becoming more like Jesus,” he said.
Croft said the offices of discipleship and evangelism will further explain intentional evangelism during the annual meeting’s theme presentation on the night of Nov. 16.
Pastors and churches who have begun implementing the strategy will share their testimonies as will Calvin Hunt of the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. Hunt will also share in song after the theme presentation. The Alabama Singing Men and the Alabama Singing Women will bring the special music before and after Tuesday night’s session.
The SBOM’s office of student life will also share a skit with attendees. “We want to inspire them to go back to churches and encourage them in intentional evangelism and to encourage their pastors to attend the [intentional evangelism clinics] by the state board,” Croft said.
Gilbreath said the clinics will be training events for churches to identify their passions or evangelism needs and then develop an individualized intentional evangelism strategy with the help of the state board.
Along with experiencing the emphasis on intentional evangelism, Alabama Baptists attending the annual meeting also will hear from outgoing state convention president Joe Godfrey, pastor of First Baptist Church, Pleasant Grove, Birmingham Association. He will deliver the presidential address Tuesday morning.
Morgan Bailey, pastor of Santuck Baptist Church, Elmore Association, will give the convention sermon Wednesday morning.
Other groups who will present special music during the annual meeting are the Samford University A Cappella Choir, the gospel group 4 by Grace and the Judson College choir.
For more information about the upcoming annual meeting of Alabama Baptists and related meetings, watch future issues of The Alabama Baptist and visit www.alsbom.org.
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