By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer
ALEXANDRIA – Holding a pair of work gloves like the hundreds that were distributed during his presentation, Keith Manuel invited messengers to the Louisiana Baptist Convention 2016 Annual Meeting to commit to a God-sized vision – evangelize the entire state of Louisiana during 2017-2018.
Reaching 4.7 million people with the Gospel in a two-year period may seem daunting, Manuel said, but it is within the realm of possibility through the Harvest initiative, a statewide campaign to engage 700 Louisiana Baptist churches to “pray for every home and share Christ with every person” in Louisiana.
“This task is hard,” Manuel said during the opening session, Monday, Nov. 14, at Calvary Baptist Church in Alexandria. “It will take work.
“Let these gloves serve as a reminder, to lift up your eyes and look at the fields for they are white unto harvest.
Let’s go to work and envision a Louisiana where every home receives prayer and every person receives a Gospel witness and if the Lord is willing, may we see the greatest harvest of souls, who grow into the greatest group of reproducing disciples Louisiana has ever seen.”
Manuel also gave an overview of what he said could be the largest joint evangelistic effort ever in Louisiana.
After spending 2016 to plan and enlist leaders and churches and using 2017 to conduct statewide evangelism training and pilot different methods, Louisiana Baptists will join together across the state in 2018 in prayer events and intentional soul-winning activities, Manuel said. The cooperative effort will include a diversity of approaches such as multi-church crusades, one-on-one evangelism, single-church revivals and other harvest events which take advantage of compassion ministries to share about the love of Christ.
The first major kickoff event, he said, will take place during the 2017 Louisiana Baptist Evangelism Conference at Temple Baptist Church in Ruston with an outreach event effort targeting teens and college students.
Scheduled during the first session of the Jan. 23-24 gathering, the kickoff will feature a Gospel presentation by Ed Newton, pastor of Community Bible Church in San Antonio, Texas.
Prior to his message, students will gather inside the church family life center for a pizza party and entertainment.
Organizers are encouraging churches around the state to host simultaneous similar events – including the showing of the live Internet broadcast of Newton’s message — to broaden the geographic reach of this initial event.
The state Youth Evangelism Conference scheduled for Nov. 20-21 in Lafayette will start to prepare LBC students to be part of the Harvest by offering training on how to share the Gospel and they will be given New Testaments to witness to their lost friends.
The YEC celebration is one of a number of preparatory events that will result in a possible distribution of 30,000 Bibles before Christmas.
Manuel encouraged messengers to attend the Evangelism Conference to receive training, too, about sharing the Gospel and how to plan different community soul-winning approaches. Pastors are encouraged to bring their members to attend different sessions, and directors of missions are being asked to create and adopt a strategy to best share the Gospel.
“Harvest, created in the hearts of Louisiana Baptist pastors, staff, and DOMs, is a movement already being used by God,” Manuel said. “As an association or church you will work together to pray for every home in your area and decide whether to use crusades, revivals, or special evangelistic events to share the Gospel with your neighbors, your family, and your friends.”
OTHER BUSINESS
The annual meeting Nov. 14-15 also featured reports from various Louisiana Baptist ministries including: disaster relief, missions partnerships in Haiti, Belarus and Brazil; women’s missions; and, entity updates.
Messengers enjoyed special music by a combined area choir, a Bible study by New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Professor Dennis Phelps and messages by LBC President Gevan Spinney, pastor of First Baptist Church , Haughton, David Brooks of Calvary Baptist Church, Alexandria and Mac Brunson of First Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Fla.. Motions were presented and new state officers elected.
Dennis Phelps, a professor at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, taught a Bible study on Job to messengers attending the 2016 Louisiana Baptist Convention Annual Meeting.
Spinney was re-elected LBC president. His was the only name placed in nomination for the office.
David Lane, pastor of Judson Baptist Church, Walker, was elected first vice president and Carlos Meza, pastor of Iglesia Bautista Del Calvario in Shreveport, was voted second vice president.
Meza is the first Hispanic to hold an LBC state office.
New officers elected during the LBC Annual Meeting were Gevan Spinney, president, First Baptist Church in Haughton; David Lane, first vice-president, Judson Baptist Church in Walker; and Carlos Meza, second vice-president, Iglesia Bautista Del Calvario in Shreveport, was voted second vice president. Photographed are Meza and Spinney.
PASTORS’ CONFERENCE
Todd Dubose, minister of music at First Baptist Church in Minden, was the feature vocalist and led a combined area choir in worship by song during the Sunday evening session of the 2016 Louisiana Baptist Pastors’ Conference.
The Pastors’ Conference preceded the annual meeting, and was held at Kingsville Baptist Church in Ball, Nov. 13-14.
Todd Dubose, minister of music at First Baptist Church, Minden, was the feature vocalist and led a combined area choir in worship by song Sunday evening; and, David Allen, dean of the School of Preaching at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and James Merritt, pastor of Cross Pointe Church, Duluth, Ga., preached.
Merritt and George Ross, New Orleans city coordinator with SEND North America, preached the next morning.
Johnny Hunt, pastor of First Baptist Church, Woodstock, Ga., and Nick Floyd, son of past Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd and teaching pastor for Cross Church in Fayetteville, Ark., preached the final session, Monday afternoon.
Johnny Hunt encourages pastors to lead courageously during the 2016 Louisiana Baptist Pastors’ Conference. Hunt is pastor of First Baptist Church in Woodstock, Ga.
Look for updates at baptistmessage.com and expanded reporting in the print edition of the Baptist Message.
