53 students take part in latest Calling out the Called group

RINGGOLD, Ga. – More than 50 Georgia Baptist students gathered online over the weekend to get insights about life in ministry through the state Mission Board’s Calling out the Called initiative.

“This generation of students is more desperate for truth than any generation before them,” said Mission Board next gen representative Billy Christol. “These kids know the truth, and they want to take greater responsibility in sharing that truth, and that’s exciting.”

In a Zoom meeting from his home in Ringgold, Christol assured the students, all of whom have expressed interest in some form of ministry, that they’d have help every step of the way.

Levi Skipper, the Mission Board’s lead strategist over church strengthening, started the Calling out the Called initiative in part because of his own experiences as a high school kid who felt drawn to ministry but had no one to guide him.

So, when 73 students expressed an interest in becoming ministers or missionaries at the Mission Board’s MOVE Conference for middle and high school students during the winter break, the process was already in place to help them explore next steps.

Christol said the 53 students who participated in last weekend's Zoom call had been part of the MOVE Conference. It will be the first of many such online gatherings for them.

Skipper said he believes the Calling out the Called  initiative, now in its second year, will be instrumental to identifying and preparing Georgia’s next generation of pastors, missionaries, evangelists and other church leaders.

Through the initiative, students are able to talk monthly with experienced Georgia Baptist ministry leaders about what lies ahead.

Skipper said students in churches across the state are likely wrestling with God’s call on their lives and need help navigating pathways to ministry. That, he said, is good news for churches that are having troubling recruiting staff to fill open positions.

“There’s actually going to be a pond filled with great, great leaders for you to fish from,” Skipper told church leaders when Calling out the Called was first introduced.