Jane Barrett has spent the past 40 years on the staff of her church — Mount Hebron West Baptist in Elmore, which changed its name to Crossroads Community Church in 2019.
She’s retiring from her position as executive minister at the end of December, and on Dec. 4, Crossroads is celebrating her years at the church.
But pastor Robert Mullins said he knows Barrett is far from finished with ministry, specifically discipleship.
“She loves people well, and she’s been doing it with her life,” he said. “Whether she’s on a paid staff or not, she’s going to keep doing it forever.”
Discipleship network
That’s why Barrett was presented with the Daniel Edmonds Disciple Making Leader Award during the Alabama Baptist Pastors Conference on Nov. 14. The award was presented by Edmonds, who has served at the helm of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions office of Sunday School & Discipleship more than 25 years and was instrumental in starting the Discipleship Network of Alabama.
The first award was presented in January at the DNA conference, but leaders decided to move the second one up to the pastors conference to time it with Barrett’s upcoming retirement.
Edmonds told those present that “when you need help, you turn to Jane.”
As pastors began to connect with DNA in its beginning stages, they started asking how to involve women in the movement. Edmonds said he asked Barrett for help because for many years she has discipled groups of women who have continued to multiply.
‘Being a blessing’
“When we needed help in the disciple making movement discipling women, I knew where to turn,” he said.
Mullins said Barrett has discipled “with her life, and she’s given her whole life to it.”
“She can’t get enough,” he said. “She’s constantly encouraging, training and equipping people to do things. She’s all about being a blessing.”
Barrett said for her “it’s a passion of loving to see people not only fall in love with Jesus, but learn to follow Him the way He created us to do it.”
“I love to help people know who Christ is and know who they are in Him and help them see how they can help other people do the same thing, to make disciples who make disciples,” she said.
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