Send North America Church Growth and Revitalization Conferences


2012 December 6: Atlanta, Ga. 2013


January 29: Brandon, Fla. February 7: Madison, Miss. February 28: Colonial Heights, Va. April 25: Raleigh, N.C. May 23: Winnsboro, S.C.


Conferences 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.; Registration and fellowship at 8 a.m. Four main sessions. Speakers include Johnny Hunt, pastor, First Baptist Church, Woodstock, Ga. Cost $30 including registration, conference notebook, lunch, refreshments and $15 LifeWay gift card.


both received Christ.’”


LEGACY CHURCH PLANTS


What happened with Calvary Baptist Church can happen with others. The end of the story does not have to be an empty building. “A large part of our church revitaliza-


tion efforts will be in the South,” says Ezell. The strategy focuses on two catego- ries, healthy churches and legacy churches. The broadest revitalization emphasis


is NAMB’s Send North America Church Growth and Revitalization Conferences. Two have already been hosted with state convention partners, and NAMB will host more events with partners in the future.


Legacy churches will


benefit from efforts to help them transition, either as legacy plants or in property acqui- sition. Legacy church plants are those


where a nucleus of members will remain in the church but will turn over leader- ship and become part of a new church. In some cases it will be a re-launch, in others a new church plant. Property acquisition will be for those


churches that are closing their doors. This will allow NAMB to strategically place new church plants in places where it makes sense to pursue that approach, according to Ezell. A network of healthy church pastors mentoring and coaching legacy churches to become stronger is part of Ezell’s vision. A system of legacy church adoption will also be fostered.


ACTION ITEM To learn more about church


revitalization or attend a Send North America Church Growth and Revitalization Conference in your area, visit namb.net/revital- ization or call 770-410-6305.


LOVELOUD IN ACTION With help of other local churches, the Center of Hope feeds the entire congregation each Sunday. They pro- vide clothes through a clothing closet.


They even have a bus that goes out into the community to bring 25 to 30 people to church each week. Farmer realizes that the gift of a more than $2 million building has been an instrumental part of the young church’s growth. Without that gift, he doesn’t know if Center of Hope would have been able to thrive in downtown Evansville as they have. They would have needed to find a different place to meet and, he ac- knowledges, it wouldn’t have been nearly as equipped and attractive for guests. “I’m forever grateful that they gave it


to us,” Farmer says. “They had decisions to make as to whether they wanted to sell it to someone else, sell it to another denomination, but in the end they felt like the best they could do as a congrega- tion was to give the building to another Baptist start-up church. They blessed us with that.” OM


Tobin Perry is online editor for On Mission. On Mission managing editor Joe Conway contributed to this article.


ON MISSION • Winter 2013 12


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