English
Korean
Spanish
HOUSTON—As Southern Baptists poured into Houston to do the convention’s business, volunteers from across the nation helped the host city’s churches share the love of Christ through block parties and door-to-door outreach. The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention coordinated the effort with support from the North American Mission Board as part of the Crossover evangelistic outreach, an annual event since 1989’s Las Vegas meeting.
More than 206 people registered professions of faith at the block parties and 182 received Christ using through door-to-door evangelism. SBTC evangelism consultant Jack Harris worked with local congregations to coordinate planning and utilize volunteers in town for the SBC meeting.
—Antioch Baptist Church had five people make professions of faith at its block party. Twenty volunteers ministered to approximately 100 attendees at the event. “I certainly believe that the block party concept has impacted our church in a tremendous way,” Pastor Sammie C. Morris said. “It gives opportunity to engage in intentional interaction with the community as well as reminding the community and the church that the Lord loves us all and that he has a plan and purpose for each of our lives.”
—Bethel Baptist Church and its 67 volunteers welcomed 240 people to its block party and saw 10 professions of faith. Pastor Jaime Garcia said, “The block party was a great success. We had very good response from the community. This will help our church as we have gathered over 124 new prospects we can follow up on for our English and Spanish ministry.”
—Christ Solid International Church hosted a block party with an international flair. More than 150 people attended the event, including those from multiple ethnic groups. “The Crossover block party certainly brought visibility to our new church,” Pastor Kendall Baker said. “We saw Arabic-Muslims, Russians, Iraqis, Kurdish, Hispanic, Chinese, White, and African Americans, just to name a few of who was there. This is the whole goal of the Christ Solid International Church and that is to bring the nations together and resemble what heaven will look like.”
—Clay Road Baptist Church utilized their 120 volunteers to share the gospel with more than 800 people who attended their neighborhood block party and saw 21 first-time professions of faith, Pastor Bruce Northam said. “It was a huge success resulting in community involvement, community awareness and eternal results. We will try to do it again in the future. The final result is yet to come. We are following up on every decision. When those are done we will follow up on every family that registered for a door prize. The doors that God opened within the community, the city, and the public schools I believe will aid us in future endeavors.”
—Students from Criswell College worked with Forestwood Baptist Church in New Caney, doing Crossover outreach as part of an evangelism practicum. The five students and their professor, Bobby Worthington, knocked on 160 doors in two days, participated in services at Forestwood and preached and led worship at the Open Door Mission in Houston. Their efforts yielded five professions of faith.
Worthington, who serves as director of applied ministry projects and urban ministry and is adjunct professor of evangelism at Criswell College, said there is great benefit from the Crossover practicum. “They learn theory in class and then have practical ministry experience,” Worthington said. “It’s one thing to talk about it in the classroom. It’s another to do it in the field.”
—Firetower Baptist Church in Conroe welcomed 50 volunteers from Mississippi and Alabama and local sister churches to their block party outreach, Pastor Troy Winslett reported. “The local New Caney Fire Department came out with four firefighters and engine number 51. No fires to declare with the exception of the strong desire to communicate with the community.” Winslett said 110 people attended the event with six professions of faith. SBTC Chief Financial Officer Joe Davis attended the Firetower event and was blessed by the experience. “Great fellowship and ministry was the order of the day,” Davis said. “Their t-shirt slogan had it right . . . ‘here to serve!’ These sweet folks reached out with a servant’s heart.”
—First Baptist Church Galena Park witnessed 37 professions of faith through its block party.
—First Baptist Church North Houston saw 28 people make first time professions of faith at its block party event.
—First Baptist Church Pearland participated in door-to-door outreach in addition to hosting a block party. In the week prior to the block party, church members and volunteers handed out more than 10,000 door hangers advertising the event, sharing the gospel as they went.
“Our team went to a home and shared with a 36-year-old mother and her 10-year-old son out on their front porch,” said John Godby, worship pastor. “After presenting the gospel to them I asked if they wanted to pray to receive Christ into their life and she said, ‘Can you wait a minute? My friend has been listening to you just inside the door and she would like to pray too. Can she pray with us too?’ I said, ‘Of course she can!’”
FBC Pearland saw 28 people accept Christ as a result of their efforts. “This block party was a great opportunity to let our community know that we love them and their families,” Godby added. “We may never fully know the effect we had on our community as a result of this event.”
—First Baptist Church Porter sowed seeds for continued ministry in the community through a block party utilizing a large crew of volunteers, attracting passersby to a classic car show,
—First Baptist Church Rosehill made 123 new contacts from its neighborhood block party and saw one person come to faith in Christ. “Crossover was a great event for our church to be a witness to our community,” Pastor Lynn Snider said. ”We saw many new connections to people in our area. Folks came from Kentucky to help us, and we made new friends as a result. Thanks for SBTC and NAMB for helping make this possible. One was saved and in church today which made every effort worth it.”
—First Outreach Baptist Church hosted a block party and led eight people to faith in Christ as a result. “Yesterday’s event was awesome,” Pastor John Richardson said. “We were able to see a lot of people that we have invited to church many times come out to the outreach. They were filled with joy to come alongside us and work for the Lord.
“To see all of those little kids that are normally so down and depressed about life situations smile so big and laugh so hard, it touched my heart in a major way. Lots of families said they would be coming to church this morning. We are on our way to meet them with outstretched arms.”
—Grace Trinity Missionary Baptist Church had eight volunteers and 100 attendees at its block party, resulting in one profession of faith.
—Highlands Baptist Church is excited about its block party outreach, Pastor Eddie Norris said. Three people made professions of faith and Norris believes the event was a great way for the church to get out of the church building and serve the community. “We were passing out fliers door-to-door and had one 75-year-old gentleman say he couldn’t do much walking,” Norris said. “So he went home and grabbed his bicycle and rode from house to house inviting families to the party. It was great.”
Norris also shared the gospel with vendors who came to set up at the block party. “A mom and her two sons came in the morning to set up the inflatable games we had rented for the kids. As I started talking to them I began to share the gospel and all three prayed to receive Christ. It was amazing.”
—Lazybrook Baptist Church held two block parties as part of Crossover Houston. The first was held in the Colonial Apartments, a largely Hispanic, low-income complex. The residents were surprised to have the block party in their neighborhood. “I can’t believe you came here because it’s kind of dangerous,” said one resident. “That’s why most people don’t want to come here.” Thirteen people came to faith in Christ aided by volunteers from Ohio, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida and seminary students.
Lazybrook’s second block party was in a city park and was primarily a pre-registration event for its upcoming Vacation Bible School. No professions of faith were recorded but seven contacts were made. “One of the greatest blessings that we have received through this Crossover event is that we are the mission field,” Pastor John Neesley said. “Our church is very mission-minded but to become the mission field has been very humbling.”
—Macedonia Baptist Church had 120 people in attendance at their Crossover block party and one person made a profession of faith. Fifteen volunteers, including eight from Navarro Baptist Church, worked at the event. “This was the beginning of a new thrust to increase membership and make people of this little town aware that we are here and thriving,” Pastor Otis Clark said. “This was a necessity for our little church, not just an event as it may have been for some churches.”
—Memorial Baptist Church in Spring recorded 11 professions of faith at its block party, which drew 550 people in attendance and featured more than 150 volunteers. “One of those accepting Christ was a man from EMS who came to demonstrate how the ambulance handled their response to calls,” Pastor Cliff Mayton said. “It was definitely a divine appointment.”
Mayton said he was excited by the enthusiasm he saw in young people who learned how to witness. “As pastor what thrilled me was the response of our preteens who went out witnessing. They came back and reported, ‘I can do this. It was easy and fun.’”
—Needham Baptist Church used the theme “Soaking Up The Son” for its Crossover block party effort. The church had 165 guests at the event and registered many children for its upcoming Vacation Bible School. Although they recorded no professions of faith, the party was a successful outreach to the community, Pastor Dennis Parish said. “Several new families visited and we had guests this morning in our services from this event.”
—Northeast Houston Baptist Church held four block parties in addition to going door-to-door during the week prior to the event. They had 12 professions of faith at the block party, but saw 182 professions from door-to-door contacts conducted by a team of students from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and The College at Southwestern led by evangelism professor David Mills. “We were far more successful with the door-to-door spreading of the Word,” Pastor Nathan Lino said. “It was a massive outpouring of the Spirit.”
—Rose of Sharon Baptist Church had 12 professions of faith at their block party and saw new families in church the next morning as a result. “The greatest blessing was that three children who accepted Christ yesterday brought their entire families to Sunday morning service today,” Pastor Elmo Johnson said. “These were children from three separate families. Even extended family came to church this morning, including grandparents, aunts, and uncles.”
—Sunbeam Baptist Church had 15 volunteers work with the approximately 70 people who attended its block party.
—Westfield Community Baptist Church saw four professions of faith among the 250 people who attended their block party. “We were able to minister to many that were not aware that the church was there,” Pastor Henry Prosper said. “Many young adult families and their children were there. What a wonderful day we had in the Lord just sharing our faith.”
Union Baptist Association in coordination with the North American Mission Board sponsored a separate effort known as Loving Houston that focused on “community transformation projects.” In the report to messengers, professions of faith from the Loving Houston projects were not reported separately. But NAMB Vice President Al Gilbert told messengers there were 582 reported professions of faith from all Crossover activity with more than 4,100 volunteers.
Plans for next year’s “Crossover Baltimore” effort preceding the annual meeting there are underway. To be a part of that effort in an unchurched region, messengers and volunteers need to plan to arrive in advance of the June 10-11, 2014 meeting in order to serve local Southern Baptist churches on Saturday, June 7.
Crossover has been a staple of SBC evangelism efforts in host cities since its inauguration at the 1989 Las Vegas convention. An evangelistic thrust had been on Texan Darrell Robinson’s heart when he was pastor at Dauphin Way Baptist Church in Mobile, Ala., and a member of the SBC Executive Committee.
“… [F]or many years I had the conviction that when we do the SBC in a major city, we should also plan to try to do a major evangelistic effort in the city,” Robinson said. “I suggested that we work with local churches in the area and messengers should come in early to do evangelistic projects, including door-to-door witnessing representing the local church in the area, block parties, evangelistic harvest meetings led by evangelists, etc.”¨¨
The Las Vegas event, originally called “Saturation Evangelism Project,” had a great impact, Robinson said. “It got the attention of all of Las Vegas. The people were responsive. It was a huge success. My recall is that around 1,800 professed faith in Christ. Churches were impacted. Ultimately, new churches were started.
“¨¨The success of the Las Vegas outreach led the SBC to decide to sponsor evangelism events every year during the SBC annual meeting in the host city. ¨¨
“Morris Chapman at the Executive Committee suggested the name Crossover, which we all liked,” Robinson recounted, noting that the name alludes to SBC messengers crossing over a city to proclaim the hope found in the cross of Christ.¨¨
Nathan Lorick, director of evangelism for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, described Crossover as “a great day for the SBC and for Houston.”
“Of course, the greatest aspect was seeing people come to faith in Christ, that’s the best result we could ever ask for. To see so many churches mobilize their people, and Southern Baptists from around the country, helping churches connect with their communities with intentional evangelism, honoring God with their service, it was so exciting,” Lorick said. ¨¨
“It was a joy to see the SBTC partner with NAMB to help facilitate intentional community evangelism. It was a true joy to see pastors so encouraged by seeing their people mobilized. Apart from seeing people come to faith in Christ, that gave me the greatest joy of the day,” Lorick said.
Contact Lorick at 877-953-SBTC for information about upcoming evangelistic opportunities prior to the annual state convention meeting in Amarillo Oct. 28-29.
