October 1, 2026
DUBLIN, Ga. — New pastors and ministry leaders from across Georgia gathered at First Baptist Dublin on March 26 for Discover Georgia Baptist, a one-day event designed to introduce them to the ministries, relationships, and resources available through the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.
“It’s a great opportunity to connect, to learn more about what’s going on in the state,” said Mikey Gibbons, who has served about six months as associate pastor to families and outreach at First Baptist Church of Ray City.
Speakers walked attendees through the ways the Mission Board supports pastors and churches while working to expand evangelism efforts across the state. They also highlighted practical tools in areas such as church revitalization, women’s ministry, collegiate ministry, pastor wellness, compassion ministry, and Cooperative Program giving.
Thomas Hammond, executive director of the GBMB, said the event was designed to connect new pastors, associational leaders, staff members, and ministry leaders to the opportunities available through the Mission Board. The GBMB, he said, exists to serve pastors and churches as they work together to advance the gospel across Georgia. "What a pastor does every Sunday," he declared, "is the most important thing that happens in Georgia every week, and that is the proclamation of the Word of God.”
Hammond emphasized the Mission Board’s conviction that “pastors are our heroes, churches are our priority, and Georgia is our mission field.” He pointed to encouraging signs across the state, including rising baptism numbers, but said the larger challenge remains the millions of Georgians who do not have a relationship with Christ. "We want to do all that we can to get the gospel to every person in the state of Georgia," Hammond said. "We have a mission field, and we have an army of people. This is a reachable state."
Mark Marshall, senior lead strategist for Church Strengthening, outlined resources in evangelism, discipleship, missions, collegiate ministry, next gen ministry, worship, and church revitalization. He stressed that the most important resource was not simply a program, but direct access to people who can help churches address ministry challenges. "What we live every day as a team," he said, "is our concern, our interest in what is going on in all of our churches.”
Skyler Goode, pastor of Leary Baptist Church, who has served there since December, said the presentations on revitalization and evangelism were especially timely for his church.
“We are in a season of revitalizing, so having those resources is huge,” Goode said. He added that the Gameplan for Evangelism material was something he could take back to his congregation because “every single one of them wants to see the Kingdom of God grow.”
Chris Reynolds, lead strategist for Pastor Wellness, introduced the members of his team and explained their mission to serve pastors, ministry leaders, spouses, and families spiritually, vocationally, financially, physically, and relationally. “We don’t really have a resource," he said, "we have a relationship.”
Jacob Brown, who has served as pastor of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Wrightsville for two months, offered a personal account of how pastor wellness cared for him and his family in May 2024 following the death of a newborn daughter. He said regional catalyst Jeff Gongwer checked on the family repeatedly, visited them in the hospital, and later attended the funeral.
“If you're not utilizing your catalyst or you haven't really seen the way that Georgia Baptist provides for its pastors in that way, I would highly encourage you to do so,” Brown said. “They really do care and do want to help build pastors and their families up.”
"One of the loneliest places to be sometimes is in the lead chair or in any chair serving a church or association," Reynolds explained, describing pastor wellness as a source of community, coaching, crisis care, and encouragement.
Beth Ann Williams, lead strategist for Georgia Baptist Women and Mission Georgia, highlighted efforts to strengthen women’s ministry and mobilize churches to meet needs in their communities through gospel-centered compassion ministry.
Williams described her vision to see women grow in Scripture, prayer, evangelism, unity, and missions. "If every Georgia Baptist woman were in community and on mission, we could change the state. Honestly, we could change the world," she declared.
Williams also pointed listeners to practical resources related to foster care, literacy, backpacks, dental ministry, and other community-based ministries. She described Mission Georgia as "a bridge that helps the church cross over to meet people where they are, so that we can love on them, meet their physical and spiritual needs.”
Ty Salter, the Mission Board’s chief financial officer, outlined how Cooperative Program giving supports both Georgia Baptist ministries and Southern Baptist work nationally and internationally. He said the Cooperative Program’s greatest impact was in sharing the gospel. "Southern Baptists are pretty much the greatest evangelical force that the world has ever seen. It's because of you. It's because of your churches, your associations, and our state conventions that serve so faithfully and give so generously to the Cooperative Program."
Kelsie Good, lead strategist for marketing, events, and IT, explained how her team supports the Mission Board’s ministries through communication, event planning, and technology designed to help churches stay connected. She said the team’s work touches every part of Georgia Baptist life, from social media and email updates to event materials and the Mission Insight program, which can help churches better understand their communities by providing detailed demographic information.
Afterwards, Gibbons said the GBMB’s SPARK conferences would be especially helpful in his ministry because they can equip church leaders in specific areas quickly and effectively. He said he was especially encouraged by “opportunities to be equipped, not only as pastors, but also to be able to equip the leaders in our congregation through these different programs.”
Brown added that gatherings like Discover Georgia Baptist have helped him grow more comfortable building relationships with fellow pastors and ministry leaders.
“The longer I’m in ministry, the more I realize the importance of teaming up together, the importance of the community, the importance of the church,” he said.
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