A look at the New Testament church’s schedule of “activities” reveals two key emphases: prayer, and the sharing of their fledgling faith outside the walls of the synagogues.
These emphases are the focus of two upcoming events sponsored by the South Carolina Baptist Convention – a series of regional evangelism training conferences in September and October, and a statewide prayer conference on Oct. 20 in the Columbia area.
The free evangelism training conferences, which will take place from 9 a.m. to 12 noon, will focus on three components: how a church can use evangelistic events to reach its community, how to make a church guest-friendly, and how to use the “Courageous” film as an evangelistic event.
“We’ll be asking churches that attend to commit to three events for next year – a Vacation Bible School, an event around the ‘Courageous’ film, and one other event they choose,” said Ron Barker, evangelism and prayer strategist at the state convention.
“Courageous,” a movie by the same makers of “Fireproof,” is the story of four police officers who discover their greatest challenge is not in protecting the streets but in being excellent fathers.
“Most of the things that happened in the New Testament to reach people occurred outside the fellowship, outside the church,” Barker said. “We’re trying to get people out of the building. An evangelistic event is a bridge event that allows the saved and the lost to participate in a common event they both enjoy with a chance to share the gospel. We want to help church staff see how to attract lost people, build a bridge, and communicate the gospel.”
The training conferences will be held on the following dates at the associational office unless stated otherwise: Sept. 19, SCBC building in Columbia; Sept. 20, Santee; Oct. 4, Pee Dee; Oct. 6, Langston Church, Conway; Oct. 11, Ridge; Oct. 12, Southeast; Oct. 13, Rock Springs Church, Easley; Oct. 27, Barnwell-Bamberg; and Oct. 21, Sisk Memorial Church, Rock Hill. (Previous conferences were held Sept. 8 in Orangeburg and Sept. 13 at North Greenville Association.)
The free prayer conference entitled “Awaken” is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (registration at 9 a.m.) on Oct. 20 at Trinity Church in Cayce.
“The idea is to gather folks from around the state to pray for our state, its leaders, our convention, and how we’re going to fulfill the Great Commission,” said Barker. “It’s a strategic time for our economy, our state, and our convention.”
The conference will include a video presentation by Claude King, prayer and revival specialist with LifeWay; testimony from two pastors who have experienced revival in their churches and communities; and music. John Meador, pastor of First Church, Euless, Texas, will lead the conference.
“We had positive feedback from the first conference last year,” Barker explains, “and people wanted to do it again but with even more time in prayer. So we’ll spend most of our time actually praying at small tables.”
The event will also be simulcast online.
For more information about either event: 803-765-0030, ext. 3022, or www.scbaptist.org. – SCBC