By Nathan Handley
Union University
James Merritt.
Photo credit: Cross Pointe Church
JACKSON — James Merritt, lead pastor at Cross Pointe Church in Duluth, Ga., will be the keynote speaker at the third annual West Tennessee Evangelism Rally on March 4 at Union University.
Ernest Easley, professor of evangelism at Union and organizer of the event, said the rally is designed to strengthen and equip churches in the areas of evangelism and outreach.
“My hope is that, through this rally, people in our churches across West Tennessee will become a little bit more soul-conscious, will become a little better equipped than they were before to share the gospel and will be encouraged and inspired to do it,” Easley said.
Merritt is a previous president of the Southern Baptist Convention and has written several books, including the popular “52 Weeks” devotional series. He will preach at both of the rally’s main sessions.
The rally will also include dinner and two breakout sessions. The breakout sessions will cover topics such as “Apologetics and Evangelism” and “Sharing Jesus in Times of Suffering.” Travis Cottrell, worship leader at Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson, will lead music.
This year, the rally will include a Youth Track and Women’s Track, with breakout sessions specially designed for these groups. Easley said these tracks will broaden the scope of the rally to encourage lay people to attend as well as pastors. He said he is particularly excited to include more young people this year.
“If we can start training our students at a young age, they’ll be more apt to be a witness for Christ the rest of their lives,” he said.
The rally will begin at 3:30 p.m. and conclude at 8:30 p.m. More information, including online registration is available at uu.edu/events/wter. Registration is free, but space is limited. The registration deadline is Feb. 26.
The event is sponsored by Union University and the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.
