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EULESS–Near-capacity crowds attending the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s Empower Evangelism Conference, held Feb. 16-18 at First Baptist Church of Euless, were reminded by a notable lineup of preachers that included Jonathan Falwell, Lee Strobel and Jerry Vines that evangelism requires the Holy Spirit empowering his witnesses and stirring hearts.
SBTC Evangelism Director Don Cass said the best-attended session was the opening night, when country/bluegrass musician Ricky Skaggs and his Kentucky Thunder band performed to hand clapping and even some rug cutting from some young bluegrass enthusiasts, causing Skaggs to quip after a song, “It’s about time we had some dancing in a Baptist church.”
The youngsters apparently left after Kentucky Thunder finished its set.
Actor Clyde Annandale performed between speakers and musicians at the conference with monologues portraying biblical characters such as the Roman centurion who thrust the spear into Jesus’ side at the crucifixion and the Jewish high priest Caiaphas.
Charles Billingsley, the Booth Brothers, Dawn Smith-Jordan, and the choir of Birchman Baptist Church in Fort Worth also sang during the conference.
HISPANIC SESSION DRAWS RECORD
The Hispanic session of the conference, held Feb. 15 at First Baptist Church of Colleyville and Feb. 16 at the Campus West facility of First Baptist Euless, was well attended also, with the Feb. 15 rally drawing 1,000 people and resulting in approximately 100 salvation decisions after evangelist Alberto Mottesi preached.
Many churches brought in buses with church members bringing friends and neighbors with them. Consequently, a significant number of unreached people were at the Feb. 15 rally, said Mike Gonzales, director of the SBTC’s Hispanic Initiative and Ethnic Ministries team.
EVANGELISM AWARDS
During the conference, SBTC Evangelism Director Don Cass presented the W.A. Criswell Lifetime Achievement Award for Pastoral Evangelism to John Bisagno, longtime pastor, now retired, of Houston’s First Baptist Church. The Oklahoma native led the Houston church for more than 30 years.
Also, Cass presented the Roy Fish Lifetime Achievement Award for Vocational Evangelism to John McKay, a native of Turkey, Texas, who was saved at age 13 at a Southern Baptist church in Fort Worth. McKay has led revivals and crusades internationally and throughout the United States with evangelist James Robison and many others.
Cass, a Texas native, was honored as well. Marking five years of Cass’ service to the SBTC, Executive Director Jim Richards presented Cass with a Scripture plaque on Feb. 18.
Reflecting on his five years at the SBTC, Cass told the TEXAN that “these past five years are some of the best days of my life. My prayer is that now where we live, we will claim for ourselves and practice James 1:22, to be doers of the Word and not merely hearers.”
Churches with exceptional baptism numbers were also recognized.
In the numerical category, Second Baptist Church, Houston, led the way with 2,305 baptisms, followed by: Fellowship Church, Grapevine, 1,683; Lake Pointe, Rockwall, 844; Prestonwood, Plano, 714; Community of Faith, Cypress, 500; Champion Forest, Houston, 287; Bay Area Fellowship, Corpus Christi, 285; Lake Hills, Austin, 247; Seoul Baptist, Houston, 219; and Sagemont, Houston, 207.
By average church attendance, in the category 250 and under, Willow Creek Fellowship, Plano, baptized 82, followed by: (251-500) Eagle Heights Fellowship, Mont Belvieu, 110; (501-700) Willow Park Baptist, Willow Park, 120; (751-1,000) The Country Church, Marion, 102; (1,001-1,500) Parkway Baptist, Victoria, 144; (1,501-2,500) Seoul Baptist, Houston, 219; (2,500-plus) Second Baptist, Houston, 2,305.
A special women’s session on Feb. 16 drew several hundred people to hear speakers Rhonda Kelley, Mary Jo Sharp, Jan Silvious and the music of Smith-Jordan.
Kelley is the wife of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Charles Kelley and is director of the women’s track at the school.
Speaking from Ephesians 1:13-14, she challenged the women to be empowered by the Holy Spirit, by whom believers are sealed as an inner testimony and as a testimony to a watching world.
Besides Falwell, Strobel and Vines, the conference heard sermons from Don Harms of First Baptist Church, Porter; Jimmy Pritchard, pastor of First Baptist Church, forney; Billy Graham’s grandson Will Graham of The Cove, a ministry of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association; Sammy Gilbreath and Jerry Spence, both of Alabama; longtime Texas pastor John Bisagno; Ed Stetzer of LifeWay Research; Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Dallas; and Fred Luter of New Orleans.
Ed Litton, pastor of North Mobile Baptist Church, Mobile, Ala., spoke during the Cooperative Program Luncheon on Feb. 17.
