“The Harvest Is Ready” was the theme for this year’s State Evangelism Conference, held at First Baptist Church in Columbia Feb. 23-24, and speakers expounded on the theme with observations both dire and challenging.

They called for a renewal of passion and commitment to the harvest of lost souls, and each shared viewpoints on what South Carolina Baptists need to change in their ministry to the lost.

Ed Young, the final speaker on the first night of the conference, began his message by saying, “This is going to be more of an ‘oh, me’ than an ‘amen’ message.” Young, senior pastor of Second Baptist Church in Houston and a former pastor in South Carolina, said that South Carolina Baptist churches are in a state of decline and in need of a “paradigm shift.”

Since 2000, he said, church membership has decreased, and a high percentage of children who grow up in church leave by the time they graduate high school. “South Carolina is one of the top 10 states in terms of population growth,” he said. “In the middle of this explosion of people coming to your state, the church is dying.”

Young said that genuinely loving children is the answer to evangelism. “If you make this kind of radical change to focus on children ages birth to 18 within your church budget and staff allocations, there will be lost people in your church because they will know you really do love their kids. The children will bring their parents to church,” Young said.

Marshall Fagg, associate executive director of evangelization and missions team for the South Carolina Baptist Convention, reiterated the message. He said South Carolina Baptist churches must start focusing ministry to preschoolers and children. “If you think the message of ministry to children is irrelevant to you and your church, you’ve missed the point.”

J.D. Greear, pastor of Summit Baptist Church in Durham, N.C., said one of the five obstacles to effective evangelism is “valuing traditions too much and the lost too little.”

“Why should the gospel that can change this generation be presented in the way that was relevant to the last generation?” he asked. He said that South Carolina Baptists need to be able to adapt the means of presenting the gospel for today’s culture while keeping the doctrine of the message itself intact. “Don’t mimic the methods of yesterday, but imitate the faith,” he said.

Ken Forrester, pastor of Rocky Creek Baptist Church in Greer, spoke about taking responsibility for the souls of the lost. He used the story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath from 1 Kings 17:7-24. When the widow’s son died, Elijah prayed and wept for her son until he was brought back to life. Forrester said that Christians should see lost people as their responsibility. “We need some Elijahs to leave this conference and take responsibility for the lost,” he said.

Forrester said he saw no problem with going to conferences and learning more about Christianity, but he warned that if knowledge is not tempered with a burden for the lost, it is useless. “What good is it if we become ‘conference junkies’ and gain all this knowledge about God if we never take responsibility for the lost?” he said, adding that the world is “not impressed with our knowledge but wants to see our love.”

Arkansas evangelist Tom Whitsett urged Christians to “get a burden for a world that needs to be saved.” Whitsett said believers should have fervor for the unsaved like Paul, who in Romans 9:3 was willing to be “accursed from Christ for my brethren” (KJV). “The harvest is ready, but are South Carolina Baptists ready for the harvest?” he asked.

Robert Coleman, author and professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, also spoke about the readiness of the harvest. Citing John 4:34-38, he said that “the fields are white with harvest.” He said saving lost souls is not just the responsibility of pastors and missionaries, but of all believers. “The Great Commission is not a special call to ministry, but a way of life for all Christians.”

Coleman said that while the work of the harvest is difficult, there is a joy that comes from sowing and reaping that cannot be found elsewhere. “When the joy of the Lord is in you, your soul can conquer any adversary.”

Wendell Estep, pastor of First Baptist Church of Columbia for the past 22 years, said that while the work of the harvest is hard, Christians must strive to “finish well.” “I don’t want to stumble when I come to the end of the race. I want to finish well.”

He said that as Christians get older in their walk with God they are more prone to commit sins of omission, like not sharing the gospel with a lost person or not ministering to someone in need. “Life is temporary, and death is certain,” he said, “and we have to answer to God for the things we don’t do as well the sins we commit. Heroes of the faith are those who finish well.”

The contemporary Christian vocal group LordSong and the Columbia First Baptist Church choir provided music for the conference.

A luncheon was held on Monday to recognize churches that led their associations in numbers of baptisms in 2008. Last year a total of 15,982 baptisms were reported from South Carolina Baptist churches. The Lexington Baptist Association was recognized for having the highest total number of baptisms for the second year in a row.

A series of Monday afternoon workshops offered applications for evangelism in the church. Topics included planting churches, public school ministries, evangelistic benefits of adding new worship services, and how to reach college students with the gospel.

Next year’s evangelism conference will be held at two locations: Feb. 8-9 at Northwood Baptist Church in North Charleston, and Feb. 22-23 at Anderson Mill Road Baptist Church in Moore.