The Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists will honor its founding generation and reach out to a new generation of lost souls as it convenes for a 50th anniversary celebration June 6-9 in Indianapolis.
The group will honor the first group of inductees of the COSBE Hall of Faith – recognizing vocational evangelists who have dedicated years of service to the task of soul-winning. Their meeting will conclude with a high-energy youth evangelism event called “ONE: One night … one purpose.”
The annual evangelists’ gathering, with “Running the Race” as their theme, will open June 6 with an evening banquet in the Crowne Plaza Hotel’s Illinois Street Ballroom, honoring the first class of Hall of Faith inductees, said Brian Fossett, president of the Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists. Johnny Hunt, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Woodstock, Ga., and a COSBE pastor adviser, will be the featured speaker. Thirty evangelists will be recognized, ranging from legendary figures like Vance Havner, Hyman Appelman and Billy Graham to active evangelists like Junior Hill, Freddie Gage and Jay Strack.
“I think the Hall of Faith is important because it enshrines the men and women of the past – and some still present – who have given their lives to the ministry of the gospel in evangelism,” said Joel Southerland, senior pastor of Liberty Baptist Church in Dalton, Ga., who also serves as a pastor adviser to the group. “Most evangelists make great sacrifices in their personal, financial and family lives, with very little recognition or appreciation.
“The Hall of Faith is a way of recognizing those who have made those sacrifices and giving our young men and women role models they can look up to in ministry,” Southerland said. “The Hall of Faith is a great way to say thank you.”
The evangelists’ annual retreat, Saturday at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, will feature evangelists Tony Nolan, Jamey Ragle and Junior Hill preaching, and Cliff Barrows of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association leading music and a breakout session. Saturday’s activities will conclude with group members participating in Crossover, the citywide evangelistic outreach conducted each year prior to the SBC meeting.
The evangelists’ annual Sunday morning worship service will begin at 9 a.m. June 8, in the Indiana Convention Center’s Ballrooms 4/5. In addition to music led by Barrows and sermons from Nolan, Ragle and Hill, the program will feature special music by Newsong and a testimony by Sammy Gilbreath, director of evangelism for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions.