By Brian Blackwell, Baptist Message staff writer
WOODWORTH, La. (LBM) – Louisiana Baptist Executive Director Steve Horn emphasized the need for and results of a culture of evangelism among Louisiana Baptists when he addressed Executive Board members during their Sept. 26 meeting.
“By God’s grace, this will always be our priority for us,” Horn said. “I have shared with you and in various ways the idea of a culture of evangelism. This is what we think about. This is what we do. This is what drives us. This is our prayer.
“Louisiana is known for its culture,” he said. “Sometimes that’s good. Sometimes that’s not so good. What it would be like if it would be said of us that there’s a culture of evangelism.”
Horn told board members he has been encouraged in several areas of evangelism this year:
— Crossover and Serve Tour, a pair of evangelistic efforts that took place June 9-10 before the 2023 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in New Orleans, saw 336 recorded professions of faith;
— 207 decisions for Christ took place during LBC-sponsored camps at Tall Timbers Baptist Conference Center, Woodworth; and
— ‘Here for You,’ Louisiana Baptists’ statewide multi-media campaign, resulted another 206 spiritual commitments.
“We rejoice in the stories of Gospel advance, of decisions that we hear from our local churches,” Horn said. “I see all the time that many of our local churches have used this year vocational evangelists and with great results. And it is my prayer, and it is my belief that God is at work across the state of Louisiana.”
SEND PARTNERSHIP
Horn also expressed excitement about Send Network Louisiana, a partnership between the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention and the Louisiana Baptist Convention.
The partnership, which went into effect Aug. 1, will provide: four years of monthly supplements for Send Network church plants; five years of Send Network Planter Care (the North American Mission Board church planter spiritual and emotional care system); access to NAMB start-up grants and a year of free health insurance; and a $1,000 retirement benefit through GuideStone for planters and their families.
He said the partnership will focus on reaching others with the Gospel through church planting efforts.
“The most important aspect of this partnership that drew me to this strategy is the evangelistic focus of church plants,” Horn said. “Embedded in Send Network’s purpose statement is this vision. The vision of Send Network is to join in God’s activity to see His Kingdom expand in North America by one percent over the next decade.”
Lane Corley, who previously served as a Louisiana Baptist church planting strategist, has assumed the role of Send Network Louisiana director, fully funded by NAMB.
Horn asked Corley to share about the evangelistic potential of Louisiana Baptists’ partnership with NAMB.
Corley said the goal of the partnership between the LBC and NAMB is to expand God’s Kingdom in Louisiana by one percent through 2030.
He explained that one percent of growth through the Send Network Louisiana initiative translates into reaching 28,841 of the current population of 4,648,794 Louisianans, about 60 percent of whom are estimated to be lost. He offered that such a goal is achievable if the partnership is successful in planting 231 new churches and if each one reaches 125 people with the Gospel by the end of 2030. He encouraged board members to contact him, lcorley@namb.net, and the Send Network Louisiana team for more information on how to get involved.
“It is a God-sized goal and it’s more focus on evangelistic church planting that we’ve done,” Corley said. “This gives us a good challenge to utilize the tools of the North American Mission Board and our current churches to enhance evangelistic church planting across the state.”
SOUL-WINNING BCMS
Horn also invited Louisiana Baptist Collegiate Director Mark Robinson to address the Executive Board about the culture of evangelism promoted by Louisiana Baptist Collegiate Ministries serving on 28 campuses across the state.
Robinson said that every year, 35,000 students on college campuses are reached through the ministries of Louisiana Baptists’ BCMs. Of those, 9,500 become active BCM members.
Importantly, he said, so far in 2023, 272 have made professions of faith.
He also shared that the summer was a busy time for BCMs, as 675 students served in summer missions and raised $227,000 to make it happen, and 50 students and 20 staff members served as ambassadors by manning the registration booth during the 2023 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting.
Robinson said that each week he receives a phone call from BCM campus directors with news that their members have shared Christ with other students.
“It is normalized in that ministry to take students out with a staff member, go out on campus, find some folks, meet them, set an appointment with them, sit down with them and tell them what it means to know Jesus,” he said. “These folks love to share the Gospel.”
FINAL THOUGHTS
Horn closed his report by noting that in August he had the opportunity to encourage students as well as faculty and staff at Louisiana Christian University to foster an evangelistic culture.
“I told both groups that if there’s any place in Louisiana where there ought to have — not just the existence but the expectation of — a culture of evangelism it’s at LCU,” he said. “I’m thankful Dr. Brewer for your invitation for me to do that. And it’s his prayer and mine that there will exist a culture of evangelism at LCU.”
