Jim Austin, executive director-treasurer of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, was guest lecturer in a recent evangelism class at Charleston Southern University.
Jim AustinAustin spoke to the class on the history of evangelism in South Carolina and what Baptists are doing to reach the lost. “On any given Sunday, 8 out of 10 South Carolinians will not be in church,” said Austin. In order to effectively evangelize, “we need to be more creative in order to reach people for Christ,” he said.
Austin chronicled the history of evangelism in the state. He reminded students, for example, of how agriculture in South Carolina shaped the way in which evangelistic outreaches were orchestrated in the past. He cited the example of spring revivals (planting) and fall revivals (harvest) in helping students make the connection of those faith practices.
Austin spoke of future evangelism plans and how relationships will be more important than ever in moving forward as a church. “Relationships are essential in how we evangelize in the future.” He cited prayer as the key ingredient in how the church moves forward and underscored other outreach models such as house churches, community centers, story methodology, and target groups as keys to future evangelism methods.
Michael Bryant, professor of religion at Charleston Southern, thanked Austin for speaking to his class. “I sincerely appreciate Dr. Austin sharing about evangelism in South Carolina with my students. He gave a number of helpful insights. He understands the challenges we face to make Christ known to our current culture. I pray God blesses his ministry as he serves in South Carolina.”