SBC Plans Nashville Area Door-to-Door Outreach Next June
by Allie Martin
April 21, 2005
(AgapePress) - Thousands of U.S. Southern Baptists are gearing up for a one-day evangelistic blitz this summer in Nashville. On June 18, 10,000 Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) members from around the nation are expected to attend "Crossover," an evangelistic campaign targeting the state capital and the surrounding area.SBC president Dr. Bobby Welch says the outreach effort is gaining momentum. "A lot of people out here are praying," he observes, "a lot of these pastors right down at the heart-and-grassroots level of our Convention and these churches running 50 and 100 and 60 and 75 and 300 and 500 -- they're out here working really hard to get their people there."
Although some might suspect otherwise, Welch believes the enthusiasm and anticipation being generated for the effort are not merely the result of its location in the great Southern capital, which will also host the soon-to-follow SBC Annual Meeting. There is "a tremendous amount of effort behind this on behalf of these pastors and people in the local church," the Baptist leader asserts, "so it's not just because it's in the Bible Belt."
On June 18, as part of the "Crossover Nashville" campaign, thousands of Southern Baptists are expected to take part in door-to-door visitation throughout the Nashville area. This is in keeping with the main purpose of the effort, the SBC president explains, which is to meet people's physical and spiritual needs.
"If you get out there among these people," Welch contends, "you'll discover they're some of the most wonderful people in the world out here." But at the same time, he says, many of these same people "are just up against the wall, and many times it's altogether spiritual. We've got the answers, and we need to be sharing them. And it's amazing how many people are just thrilled to death to receive that answer."
"Crossover Nashville" will be held the weekend preceding the SBC Annual Meeting. The Southern Baptist denomination's yearly gathering is scheduled to take place June 21-22 in Tennessee's capital city.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
