Southern Baptist leaders have released the most-important number related to
their recent annual meeting.
1,932.
Southern Baptist leaders have released the most-important number related to
their recent annual meeting.
1,932.
That is the number of professions of faith recorded during the Crossover evangelistic
effort held in the Indianapolis area prior to the annual convention.
The professions of faith were recorded through revival crusades, evangelistic
block parties, prayerwalking, street evangelism, door-to-door spiritual opinion
surveys and other initiatives.
“Only heaven will reveal how many more will get saved out of Crossover
because of the burden these new Christians have to see their family and friends
come to Christ,” said John Rogers, director of evangelism and prayer with
the State Convention of Baptists in Indiana.
More than 120 of Indianas 430 Southern Baptist churches and missions
participated in the Crossover effort, which included 70 evangelistic block parties
and 97 weekend revivals statewide. And nearly 1,000 volunteers – about
half from out of state – joined the Crossover outreach.
Rogers said 80 professions of faith were recorded during the weekend revivals
held across the state before and following the annual Southern Baptist Convention.
Jon Beck is pastor of Bethel Baptist Church, located about an hour south of
Indianapolis in North Vernon, said
The Crossover efforts have brought a renewed sense of purpose to Bethel Baptist
Church, located in North Vernon, about an hour south of Indianapolis, pastor
John Beck said. The 300-member church is the only Southern Baptist congregation
in a county of 20,000 residents.
About 20 people from Becks church volunteered at two inner-city block
parties in Indianapolis. Since then, Beck has baptized about 20 new Christians
at Bethel.
“(Crossover) was the first time some people in our church had done ministry
outside the four walls of our church outside our community,” he said.
Rogers said he is hopeful that ongoing follow-up efforts by Indiana churches
with prospects and new believers will result in record baptisms for the state
in 2004-05.
An estimated 70 percent of Indianas 6.2 million people do not profess
to be Christians while Southern Baptists across the state number nearly 100,000.
Rogers said a number of ethnic churches were bolstered by the Crossover outreach.
“Crossover really gave a shot in the arm to some of our Hispanic works,”
he said.
Inner-city efforts in largely African American communities resulted in more
than 850 professions of faith.
Rogers also reported 1,499 phone calls from across the state were received
in response to an evangelistic television advertising campaign.
Thirty-seven professions of faith were recorded by phone and about 1,000 requests
were taken for a free DVD of the gospel film, “The Hope.” The DVDs
will be hand-delivered by local churches.
Rogers said the Crossover experience for churches in Indiana has created a
healthy sense of interdependence unprecedented in the conventions history.
“Where people took serious the matter of prayer, there were God-sized results.”
(BP)