November 8, 2025
ALPHARETTA, Ga. — The SPARK 2025 church-strengthening conferences drew record numbers this fall, helping to equip more than 4,100 Georgia Baptist leaders across six locations for gospel-centered ministry.
In all, 4,111 attendees representing 535 churches and 21 associations took part in the training. That represents an increase of nearly 10% in terms of attendees and a dramatic 39% increase in the number of churches represented compared to 2024.
“The energy was electric at every host site,” said Scott Sullivan, discipleship catalyst for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board. “2025 was the most incredible year of training through the SPARK conference that we have seen.”
Sullivan celebrated the growth as a sign of momentum for Georgia Baptists who are committed to reaching their communities with the gospel as they prepare for this year’s annual meeting. This year’s meeting, with the theme “Everyone, everywhere,” will be held in conjunction with an evangelism conference.
SPARK 2025 opened Aug. 23 at Peavine Baptist Church in Rock Spring, where more than 630 participants from 80 churches gathered to begin the season. The following day, the conference moved to Brewton-Parker Christian University in Mt. Vernon, drawing 720 participants representing 103 churches — the largest number of churches ever at a single SPARK event.
The strong turnout continued through the next two conferences. Nearly 750 from 94 churches gathered at Sherwood Baptist in Albany. Hebron Baptist in Dacula welcomed more than 800 participants from 91 churches the following weekend, making it one of the largest events of the season.
The final two gatherings capped the series with strong attendance. First Baptist Atlanta hosted 574 participants from 88 churches, followed by 606 attendees from 79 churches at Lakeside Church at Lake Oconee in Greensboro.
In the final tally, SPARK had surpassed last year’s totals by nearly 500 participants and 150 churches.
Attendees at each conference were encouraged and challenged by a keynote address from a respected leader in Baptist life.
Returning to his home state of Georgia, David L. Allen, a longtime seminary professor and preacher, taught from Luke 19 on the story of Zacchaeus. He reminded listeners that “Jesus doesn’t see crowds—He only sees individuals.”
Thom S. Rainer, former president of LifeWay Christian Resources and founder of Church Answers, urged attendees at Brewton-Parker to see the ripe harvest around them. He told the story of a young woman invited to church, discipled by a small group, and eventually led to faith. “The fields are ready,” he said. “Will you go?”
In Albany, Mark Clifton, senior director of replanting at the North American Mission Board, emphasized that most Southern Baptist churches are “normative-sized” congregations with fewer than 200 people attending each week. “They’re not small. You’re not small. You’re normal size,” Clifton said, encouraging pastors to take heart that God has a plan for every church, no matter its size or resources.
Bryant Wright, founding pastor of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church and former president of Send Relief, spoke at Hebron Baptist Church, reminding leaders from 1 Corinthians 9 that the call to share Christ is not optional. “Woe is me if I do not preach the gospel,” he said, quoting the Apostle Paul and urging churches to train members to be witnesses in everyday life.
International Mission Board president Paul Chitwood preached from Nehemiah 6, drawing lessons from the determination of God’s people to remain faithful to their mission despite distractions and opposition. “There’s nothing more important than someone hearing the gospel for the first time and believing it,” he told those gathered at First Baptist Atlanta.
The final SPARK conference of the season was held at Lakeside Church at Lake Oconee, where SBC Executive Committee president Jeff Iorg pointed to the example of the church at Antioch. He reminded participants that while church work can be difficult, it is not complicated. “Our mission is simple: share the gospel!”
In addition to the keynote messages, each SPARK conference offered more than 50 breakout sessions, giving leaders practical tools for ministry in their local context. Topics ranged from evangelism and discipleship to pastoral health, missions, worship, and Next Gen ministry.
At Hebron, SPARK expanded its reach with Spanish-language breakouts, providing encouragement and equipping for Hispanic pastors and lay leaders. These included transformational leadership training led by David Cardoza and a session on living a Great Commission life by Henry Medina. The addition was described as a significant step toward ensuring that SPARK training reaches Georgia Baptists in their heart language.
“The quality of the breakouts may be the best we have ever seen,” according to Sullivan. “And those topics were developed from church leaders themselves, letting us know what they need most.”
Participants testified to the impact SPARK had on their ministries. Judy Wingate, who attended the Albany gathering, described the atmosphere as full of joy and the Spirit’s presence. She especially valued the evangelism breakout Go Fish and the Women on Mission session, both of which gave her practical tools for outreach and for involving younger women in her church’s Woman’s Missionary Union group.
John Brewer, attending in Dacula, said the deacon breakout helped him identify areas where his church needs to grow. He also found Bryant Wright’s keynote on evangelism to be both simple and challenging, reminding him of the importance of being ready to share his personal testimony with clarity.
For David Brunson, the Dacula location made it possible for his church to bring multiple leaders. That allowed them to spread across a wide range of workshops—from women’s ministry to counseling and leadership—and return home with fresh ideas. He said the timing couldn’t have been better, and his team left encouraged, equipped, and eager to apply what they had learned.
Sullivan emphasized that the strength of SPARK lies not only in the content but also in the collaboration that makes the conferences possible.
“The genius of SPARK is the cooperative work between the local host church, the Association Missionary Strategists, and our team at the Georgia Baptist Mission Board,” he noted. “This is just another example that we truly are better together.”
Mark Marshall, GBMB’s senior lead strategist for church strengthening, said SPARK has become one of the primary tools God is using to unify churches for the mission of making disciples across Georgia. “It is exciting to see what God is doing,” he said.
Every registrant also received access to the SPARK Vault, a digital library of sessions from the past three years available for ongoing training and encouragement.
Following this year’s record-setting participation, Sullivan said the stage is already set for 2026.
“We exceeded every goal in 2025 for SPARK,” he said. “SPARK 2026 locations and dates are already built out and we are very excited about these all-new locations. Our goal is to make high-quality training accessible to every Georgia Baptist church.”
SPARK locations rotate on a three-year cycle, giving churches across the state the opportunity to host and take ownership of the event. The intentional design, Sullivan said, keeps the training fresh and ensures it reaches leaders from every corner of Georgia.
With the 2025 season complete, Georgia Baptists are looking ahead to 2026 with confidence that the conferences will continue to equip churches to engage the 7 million unreached people in Georgia with the gospel.
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Dates and locations have already been set for SPARK conferences in 2026:
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