By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org
As I approach my 34th year with the Baptist and Reflector, I can’t even begin to count how many sermons and messages I have listened to in more than three decades.
A good number of those messages were preached during the State Evangelism Conference which at one time was the highlight for pastors all over Tennessee. During the late 1980s and through the mid to late 1990s, the evangelism conference was well attended for the most part.
Gradually, attendance began to wane. The conference was moved from its typical January slot to early spring. It later was moved back to January but attendance was never the same. The conference was changed to regional meetings but that never caught on. Eventually the State Evangelism Conference ceased to exist.
I can’t honestly say I was disappointed because it was less meetings to sit through, but as I reflect on the evangelism conferences, I realize that it probably was a mistake to discontinue them even though attendance had decreased significantly. I have come to understand that we can never put too much emphasis on evangelism. [Read more…]


