A lay renewal weekend at Five Points Baptist Church, Northport, impacted Wade Cooper’s life so much that he became involved with the ministry of volunteer lay teams who visit Alabama churches for a weekend of praise, sharing and fellowship.
“It changed my life,” Cooper said. “The lay renewal woke me up, got my attention and convinced me there’s a lot more work I could be doing in regard to being bold in my faith.”
And he has shared his faith in the 41 churches he has visited.
By challenging members to be more open about their relationship with Christ, lay renewal weekends revive churches, according to Tommy Puckett, director of the office of men’s ministries and disaster relief for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions.
“The idea is for people to begin sharing their personal testimonies, which is enhanced by the visiting team of lay people who come into the church and share their testimony,” he said.
“Once people start sharing what Jesus Christ has done in their lives, they begin reflecting on that,” Puckett said. “They hear the testimonies of other church members, and that sparks the desire for a deeper spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ through Bible study, prayer and small groups.”
Learning to share
Puckett said the weekends include a series of events that allow church members to share what is happening in their lives:
- The weekend begins Friday night with a churchwide service that includes sharing by team members and activities for children. Adults and youth are separated into small groups for a time of discussion.
- Church members host coffees in their homes on Saturday morning, with children and youth participating in separate activities at the church. Later adults join the children at the church for lunch and youth have a cookout away from the church.
- Following lunch, men and women have separate meetings in which church members share what God is doing in their lives. The groups meet together that night for music, testimonies and a time of commitment.
- Team members teach classes on Sunday morning, and their coordinator provides the leadership for morning worship, which includes an invitation to commitment. After a brief lunch, the team leaves.
- That evening, church members have a “commitment and evaluation service,” during which they share how the Lord has spoken to them during the weekend.
The visiting team members are coordinated through Puckett’s office after churches contact him expressing an interest in a lay renewal weekend.
The number of team members, all of whom stay in the homes of church members, is determined by how many are needed to lead small groups of eight to 10 people.
Puckett said 300 volunteers from Alabama Baptist churches are available for the average of eight lay renewal weekends held each year in the state.
Like Cooper, Bonnie Parten said her experience with a lay renewal weekend led her and husband Marshall to work with the ministry.
For the Partens, that involved coordinating a team for their church, Pineview Baptist, Thomasville.
She said as a result of sharing during the weekend in March, attendance has increased and church members know one another better.
“That’s the main thing — people getting closer,” she added.
Lay renewal weekends also offer an opportunity for sharing that revival cannot and are more convenient than a series of traditional weekday services, according to Hal Warren, pastor of Calera Baptist Church.
“Lay renewal brought more involvement with our people,” Warren said of the lay renewal services also held at his church March 2–4. “This one weekend … excited them and pulled them all together.”
For more information about lay renewal weekends, contact Puckett at 1-800-264-1225, Ext. 229, or tpuckett@alsbom.org.
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