Bobby Welch Gives Final Push for Evangelism
Giving the final push for the goal of baptizing one million in one year, the Southern Baptist Convention’s president Bobby Welch began an intensive two-month outreach effort in Nashville, Tenn.
Giving the final push for the goal of baptizing one million in one year, the Southern Baptist Convention’s president Bobby Welch began an intensive two-month outreach effort in Nashville, Tenn.
Welch, pastor of the 4,100-member First Baptist Church in Daytona Beach, Florida, relocated temporarily in Nashville – the location of the upcoming SBC annual convention in June – in order to “focus efforts strategically on the area,” according to Baptist Press.
“We moved to middle Tennessee because this is the place of action in June,” said Welch to BP.
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Welch, whose presidency over the nation’s largest denomination comes to an end at the annual meeting, said his goal is to fill the 23,000-seat Gaylord Entertainment Center for the culmination of Crossover events on June 18 and the annual meeting in June 21-22.
“We are urging churches and associations [across the nation] to be a part of this,” said Welch.
Welch noted that the effort to baptize and witness to 1 million – a campaign he launched immediately after taking the office – is necessary and integral for the health of the denomination.
“This effort is going to expose us,” he said. “If we do not have a significant increase in baptisms after this effort, it will signal we have some extraordinary problems. We will have problems that should shake this convention” after having “wholeheartedly put forth a strong effort.
“If we baptize 1 million or at the very least have a significant increase, we will know that we have broken the code,” he said. “We will know where to go ... and that is to stay focused on the main thing, which is the Great Commission.”
To date, some 5,000 have signed up for the Crossover event, where Southern Baptist go on an evangelism blitz in the days prior to the annual meeting.
According to BP, the volunteers will “gather in the Gaylord Entertainment Center for a kickoff rally. During the afternoon, the volunteers will participate in visitation efforts headed up by an area church. That evening, everyone will return to the entertainment center for a time of celebration, testimonies and praise and worship.”
