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Help your church prioritize evangelism
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By JJ Washington | Catalyst jwashington@gabaptist.org 770-936-5592
The Evangelism team ex- ists to help churches prioritize evangelism. In Acts 19:10, Luke summarizes Paul’s ministry in Asia during his third missionary journey: “All who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus.” It is the Evangelism team’s desire for what happened in Paul’s day in Asia to become a reality in our day in Georgia — that all of Georgia would hear the word of the Lord Jesus via our partner- ships in the gospel!
While the Evangelism ministry has a number of resources avail- able to pastors and church lead- ers, the greatest resource is our regional consultants, who you can connect with today. These con- sultants are both knowledgeable and effective practitioners who have been armed with a strategy to help pastors build a culture of
evangelism in their church via a downloadable resource called The Domino Effect.
Additionally, these consultants are available to help equip both you and your church in personal evangelism through trainings at either your church or local asso- ciation.
Coaching Networks
Ministry leaders can also join one of the regional coaching networks, which are designed for pas-tors to gather in clusters of four to six for year-long, car- ing relationships. The coaching
networks are designed not only to inspire and encourage evan- gelism, but to offer insights and accountability in both doing the work of an evangelist and devel- oping a culture of evangelism in our churches.
No Sweat Evangelism
The Evangelism ministry also offers a number of print and media resources to keep pastors en-couraged and equipped for evangelism. The newest resource is No Sweat Evangelism (www. nosweatevangelism.com), which is a simple tool to help teach in- dividuals how to share their faith. No Sweat Evangelism training in- cludes personal booklets, small- group lessons, Sunday School curricula, visitation and outreach instruction guides, and a seminar form for one-session workshops. The booklet and accompanying tract are available in the Georgia Baptist Mission Board’s online store at gabaptist.org/shop.
The follow-up piece to the original No Sweat Evangelism booklet is the No Sweat Next Steps workbook, a resource to help new believers think through how to spend time alone with the Lord.
No Sweat Evangelism has also been rewritten for youth and stu- dents. A booklet and No Sweat Next Steps guide are available for this age group as well online.
The No Sweat Podcast is de- signed to help make sharing your faith simple (text “nosweat” to 678-324-3284 to opt-in for noti- fications when new podcasts are posted).
This information can be found oline at gabaptist.org/evangelism. Blogs, upcoming events and con- tact information also reside there, so ministry leaders can stay con- nected and up to date on the latest resources. This is where the team will announce dates for evange- lism breakouts, conferences and rallies around the state.
Collegiate ministries build bridges between students, churches
By Joe Graham | Catalyst jgraham@gabaptist.org 770-936-5250
Georgia Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM) builds bridges to the college and university cam- puses of Georgia. The bridges go from Georgia Baptist churches to the campus and from the campus back to the churches. A BCM is not a church – it is the minis- try on campus that represents all Baptist churches in the area. BCM wants every student to find a church home in one of those churches and begin to assume leadership roles there.
BCMs build bridges to lost stu- dents on campus – students who might never darken the doorway of a church. Like all missionaries, campus ministers develop strate- gies to build bridges to reach all the assorted groups and organi- zations that constitute a college campus. The department builds missional bridges to help students discover how they can live out the Great Commission and the Great
Commandment. The missional call is as close as the room/apart- ment next door and as far away as the other side of the globe.
BCM builds bridges of fel- lowship among believers that allow them to find commu- nity, encouragement and accountability.
The discipleship
within a BCM
allows new and
older believers to
develop spiritual dis-
ciplines, discover their giftedness, discover
the ministry passions
God has placed on their hearts and discover what it means to be a disciple who produces disciples.
What does success look like?
Success is found in reaching out on campus, engaging lost- ness and developing maturing disciples who engage their cam- pus with the gospel. Success is also measured by the number of students who are finding a local Baptist church home and moving
into significant leadership roles in that church. BCMs develop leaders who are growing deep- er spiritually and who are living out a life of obedience and faith-
fulness.Long-range success is measured by the number of students who, five years after graduation, are actively en- gaged in a lead- ership role in the Kingdom of God. This may take many forms, including serving as full-time, part-time or volun- teer ministry leaders, preparing for seminary, assuming missions roles around the world, planting churches wherever their jobs take them, being a deacon or elder, teaching a Life Group, leading a children’s choir, leading a young mothers support group, working
with students, etc.
How can Georgia Baptist churches and individual Geor- gia Baptists connect?
Be aware of the academic cal- endar and pray for collegians during the challenging parts of their year – when students ar- rive on campus as well as during mid-term and final exams. Look for ways to make your church and worship “collegiate friendly.” This doesn’t mean catering the entire worship service to college students.
It DOES involve looking for times when it might be appropri- ate to ask students to pray during worship, give a testimony or share their musical gifts. Students returning home at Christmas can share about their college experi- ence and thank the church for the foundation they received as chil- dren and youth. Churches can also work with the BCM to ac- tively welcome new students and students who transfer to campus. Feeding students is a time-proven way to reach out and meet needs.
Contact Joe Graham if you would like to sit down and talk about ways your church can be involved in collegiate ministry.
2021 Georgia Baptist Convention Annual Meeting
Nov. 8-9, 2021 | FBC Jonesboro
gabaptist.org/annualmeeting
SPECIAL EDITION GEORGIA BAPTIST MISSION BOARD