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HOUSTON—Organizers of the 2015 Bible conference preceding the annual meeting of the Southern Baptists of Texas convention have added a new feature to this year’s gathering: breakout sessions. The sessions will center on discipleship and will be led by people from across Texas who have implemented discipleship-focused ministry approaches in their own churches and communities.
SBTC church ministries associate Lance Crowell heads the convention’s work in discipleship ministries and explained what attendees can expect from the discipleship-focused breakout sessions held during the Nov. 8-9 conference at Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston.
“This event has been crafted to give pastors and leaders a clear understanding of what a multiplying disciple-maker is and how to develop that in your church,” Crowell said.
SBTC pastor/church relations ministry associate Ted Elmore said the convention hopes the emphasis on discipleship will move churches beyond simply supporting the idea of “making disciples” to actual intentionality in making disciples.
Bible conference vice president and First Baptist Church of Beaumont pastor Chris Moody says to accomplish that, this year’s two-day gathering, themed “Multiply: Making Disciple Makers,” will be “an equipping conference with a best practices attitude.”
Breakout sessions will cover a variety of topics under the discipleship umbrella, allowing attendees to choose sessions that best fit their ministries and that speak to challenges they face in their own spheres.
Among the sessions to be offered are “If First Baptist Beaumont Can Do It, Anybody Can Do It,” led by Moody; “Pastor, Mentor Your Staff,” led by Dante Wright, pastor of Sweet Home Baptist Church in Round Rock; and “How To Ignite A Movement of Multiplication” led by Craig Etheredge, pastor of First Baptist Colleyville. Tracks geared specifically for women and Spanish-speaking attendees will also be among the sessions offered.
Moody says a shift from a “feeding consumers” approach to an “equipping equippers” approach is critical to the furtherance of the gospel in America. He said such a transition is also essential in the quest to curb biblical illiteracy.
“If the church doesn’t recapture the lost art of disciple-making, we will continue to go the way of Europe where Christianity was once great,” Moody said. “That’s the kind of reformation we need to see in America so we can move forward.”
Crowell said the SBTC wants to assist churches in this effort in any way possible and will have a special booth at the Bible conference where pastors and leaders can get next steps helps.
“We are providing trainings, additional conferencing and consultation to help churches and pastors who really want to take next steps after the Bible conference,” Crowell said.
Crowell said the SBTC also has an eight-part video series available online for free to help churches with disciple-making. The videos are available at http://sbtexas.com/onlinetraining/discipleship/bold-moves/c-66, and Crowell welcomes churches to contact him for any additional help they may need in this area.
In an effort to pack as much useful and practical training as possible into plenary and breakout sessions, Moody said, Bible conference officers have decided to keep speaker introductions and ceremonial items to a minimum.
