Southern Baptists See 500 New Believers as Annual Meeting Kicks Off

Crossover Triad has already rendered 500 decisions for Christ since its kickoff this month in North Carolina where more than 12,000 Southern Baptists are gathering Tuesday for the denomination's annual meeting.

By Audrey Barrick, Christian Post Reporter Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Crossover Triad has already rendered 500 decisions for Christ since its kickoff this month in North Carolina where more than 12,000 Southern Baptists are gathering Tuesday for the denomination's annual meeting.

Hundreds of bikers, horses, rodeo performers and volunteers preached the Gospel at each respective event, including a block party for cowboys. The most popular event was the International Fair at Greensboro's Ben L. Smith High School which drew thousands of people to get a taste of an array of ethnic foods and cultures while hearing the Gospel.

"We look for the opportunity, plant the seed and let the Lord go from there," said Bill Brothers, assistant director of the Peniel Baptist Church Motorcycle Ministry, according to Baptist Press. "It's an opportunity to enable people who are not affiliated with a church – and most bikers aren't – to hear the Gospel."

Crossover Triad is a national campaign sponsored by the Southern Baptist Convention and the North American Mission Board involving new church plants and new decisions for Christ. This year, Crossover volunteers aim to plant 19 new churches in the three cities of Greensboro, Winston-Salem and High Point.

The evangelistic effort leads up to the annual Southern Baptist Convention's meeting, where for the first time in years, Baptists will select their next president.

The three candidates up to succeed current SBC president Bobby Welch are Ronnie Floyd, pastor of First Baptist Church in Springdale, Ark.; Frank Page, pastor of First Baptist Church in Taylors, S.C.; and the latest entrant Jerry Sutton, pastor of Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville, Tenn.

The 2006 meeting will mark the end of Welch's two-year tenure. Welch recently announced that he will be retiring after 32 years of pastoring First Baptist Church in Daytona Beach, Fla. on Aug. 27.