The Five Smooth Stones - Authentic Evangelism

by Dr. Marcus Merritt

By now you probably are aware of the Georgia Baptist Convention’s emphasis on “The Five Smooth Stones.” Naturally, the office of Evangelism Ministry is most directly involved in the Authentic Evangelism stone. Perhaps our office is most associated with the State Evangelism Conference, but we offer a variety of services to local churches and associations to assist in their efforts to win souls. Recently we have developed this equipping website (that you are on now) which is designed to offer training tools to churches.

Your GBC Evangelism Ministries team is also available to come to your church or association for the purpose of Equipping church leaders to be effective at:

• Praying for the lost

Our research has proven that Georgia’s top evangelistic churches pray for the lost in their respective communities by name. We can provide you with resources to help you in your effort to be effective in your prayer outreach.

• Personal Evangelism Training

We can come to your church, or provide you with the tools to teach “iShare” or “The Three Minute testimony.” We feel this is vital because our recent research points out that the GBC churches that provide personal evangelism training baptized 20.6% more than those that did not.

• Event Evangelism

Our Event-Evangelism Strategist can work with your church to develop a systematic crowd-gathering strategy. Inviting community members to block/barn parties, car shows, musicals, wild game dinners, women’s banquets, Vacation Bible School, seasonal events, and hundreds of other possible activities can set the stage for an unchurched person to hear the Gospel. The North American Mission Board’s research on this very topic revealed “significantly more highly effective churches sponsor evangelistic events that the lesser effective churches.” ^[1]

• Service/Ministry Evangelism

The Evangelism Ministries Office in partnership with the Office of Research Services will soon release their latest findings. One of their discoveries is that the GBC’s most effective churches provide community-ministries with the goal of sharing the Gospel. Our office can assist you in getting started.

• Revival Preparation

The most recent study revealed that churches that have revival services baptized twenty-seven percent (27%) more than those who did not. The key to success is in the preparation. We can provide churches (free of charge) with a revival preparation manual, or come to you and conduct a revival preparation seminar.

• Proclamation of the Gospel message

Preaching the Gospel remains the most important part of the local church’s mission. Our office can come alongside the pastor to help him in areas such giving an invitation and training altar counselors.

• Sunday School/Small Group Evangelism

Using “The Power of Ten” and other related materials, our team can assist your small groups to be more evangelistic. Our research proves that the most effective GBC churches connect small groups to evangelism. The groups are purposefully utilized as a source of outreach and assimilation as well as Bible study.

• Utilizing Social Media in Evangelism

We can assist you in using in using social media/the internet to connect and share the gospel with unbelievers in your community.  Whether you realize it or not, your website has become the front door to your church.

These are just a few ways that we can help you be more authentically evangelistic. The evangelism team looks forward to hearing from you soon!