A pregnancy center, a shelter for teens, another shelter for children, men’s and women’s residences and care centers, a community medical clinic, a benevolence center to assist with bills, food and clothing. A service listing at a local municipal government center? Not at all. These are all ministries of First Baptist Church, Leesburg, Fla.
Bill Wyndham, left, director of missions, Columbia’s Northside Baptist Church, with Charles and Edna Sue Roesel, and Ben Maynard, a pastor in Florence, right.Charles Roesel, pastor emeritus at Leesburg, recently toured South Carolina sharing his vision for churches to truly becoming forces of change in communities. Roesel shared the story of Leesburg First Baptist and the church’s heart for ministering to the needs of the community. Through what Roesel refers to as “ministry evangelism,” churches have the opportunities to reach those who may never enter the doors of worship centers, but who are in desperate need of a Savior.
In each of the tour stops – Beaufort, Jedburg, Greer, and Lexington – Roesel shared the struggles and successes of developing such ministries through the church. He spoke both about the ministry work and the administrative part of starting entities such as community centers and medical clinics.
Roesel stressed that ministry evangelism is messy business, often taking time and effort to birth from vision to reality. However, the opportunity to reach those most in need is critical.
Roesel also pointed out that the largest investment in ministry evangelism is often time. Most ministries at Leesburg center on continuous care such as the men’s and women’s shelters. Roesel says the least effective ministry of the church is the benevolence ministries where the time spent with individuals is often limited.
“The longer we have the people, the greater the opportunity to reach and grow them,” he said.
Addressing the issue of staffing, Roesel stated that the “greatest correct thing I did was to liberate and empower the laity,” who often have the vision and the highest buy-in to the community ministries.
Roesel also encouraged attendees not to be afraid to explore grants, local government support and other individuals in the community.
One of the marks of the ministry evangelism emphasis at Leesburg First has been consistent baptisms as a direct result of the ministries offered.
“People’s lives were truly transformed so that they followed through on baptism, church membership and ministry. I believe it is critical that we provide the gospel as well as physical help for people,” said Steve Allen, associate pastor at Northside Baptist Church, West Columbia.