GBC staff to help in promoting revival, witnessing

Georgia Baptist Convention staff members aren’t just promoting revivals, they’re leading the way.

In April, during the annual GBC staff retreat, the 240 staff members will participate in a tent revival at the Baptist Center in Atlanta.

“We want our state to know we’re serious about revival,” said Mike Minnix, GBC vice president for evangelization. “We want to set an example by having an on-campus revival for GBC staff to be renewed. To be effective in evangelism, we have to renew ourselves. We’re going to sit and receive God’s Word and direction during the worship services.”

Sherri Brown

In preparation for the “What Now, Georgia?” emphasis, GBC staff members will be presented with a four-week study on walking with God through prayer. Staff will also enter a 30-day commitment to personally witness to someone every day.

Larry Wynn, pastor of Hebron Church, Dacula, will preach from 11 a.m. to noon each day. Breakout sessions throughout the day will deal with aspects of renewal.

But even before those in-house revival meetings, GBC staff will begin praying for results.

“On the last day of March, we’ll present to the staff a four-week study on walking with God through prayer. We’ll ask everyone to enter into a concerted prayer effort leading up to the actual revival.”

Following the 3 day revival services, each GBC staff member will enter into a 30-day commitment to personally witness to someone every day.

“We want them to get up every morning and pray, ‘Lord, show me someone today that I can speak to about you,’” Minnix said. “We want this revival to get us motivated to win people to Christ. A well-planned revival will almost always lead to someone accepting Christ. Naturally, that probably won’t happen at the Baptist Center. But we can become motivated.”

Revivals create an atmosphere of “witnessing and sharing,” Minnix said.

Statistics show that churches who hold revivals usually have an increase in baptisms at that time or within a few weeks of the meeting.

The “What Now, Georgia?” emphasis is a plan to intentionally increase Sunday Schools, new church starts, and baptisms in 2005. Revivals can be a step toward reaching all of those goals, Minnix said.

"What Now, Georgia?" is part of the national "What Now, America?/Canada?" evangelistic strategy...
... to call Southern Baptists to revival and spiritual awakening in 2005. The overall goal is for the denomination to baptize 1 million people, begin 100,000 new intentionally evangelistic Bible study groups, and start 2,500 new churches in a single year. Georgia’s goal is to baptize 50,000 new believers, start 1,000 new Sunday School/Open Bible Study units, and launch 100+ new churches.

A massive media campaign coordinated by the North American Mission Board will build visibility of the strategy throughout North America as churches conduct their revivals in the spring of 2005.

“What Now, Georgia?” and “What Now, America?/Canada?” is funded through your gifts to the Cooperative Program.

Your church’s giving through the Cooperative Program is vital to the missions and ministries of the GBC and the Southern Baptist Convention.

For more information or to order free educational materials on the Cooperative Program, contact the GBC Cooperative Program office at ahill@gabaptist.org or (770) 936-5240 or at 1 (800) RING – GBC.

You and your church may send Cooperative Program gifts to:
Dr. J. Robert White, Executive Director
Georgia Baptist Convention
2930 Flowers Rd., South
Atlanta, GA 30341-5562