Compiled by B&R
Steve Gaines, at the recent the annual meeting of state Baptist paper editors.
JACKSON — Southern Baptist Convention President Steve Gaines will be the keynote speaker at the second annual West Tennessee Evangelism Rally March 5 at Union University.
Ernest Easley, professor of evangelism at Union, said last year’s rally was much more successful than he had hoped, with more than 800 people attending.
He said the need for such an event is clear.
“All you have to do is look at the churches across West Tennessee and beyond to realize an event like this is essential right now,” Easley said. “Baptisms are really down. Attendance is down. Morale is down. We have an opportunity here at Union to encourage, to equip, to inspire our church leaders and church members to get back to this issue of getting the gospel to people.”
Gaines, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, will speak at the two worship gatherings. Attendees at this year’s rally will participate in two breakout sessions, with new topics this year including a panel discussion on how business men and women can share their faith in the workplace and how parents can lead their children to Christ.
Other breakout session topics will include how to create a culture of missions/evangelism in churches, how to build effective evangelistic messages, how to build evangelistic student and children’s ministries, how prayer and evangelism work together, and how to share the gospel with Muslims, among others.
The rally will begin at 3:30 p.m., and dinner will be provided. More information, including online registration, is available at www.uu.edu/events/wter. Registration is free, and the registration deadline is Feb. 24.
The event is sponsored by Union and the Tennessee Baptist Convention.
