Prayer Ministries Plans Small Church Conference
October 18-20, 2018, PROJECT PRAY, the North Carolina Southern Baptist office for Bi-vocational Ministries, and Church of God Prayer Ministries are sponsoring a conference in Asheboro, N.C. for small-town, rural church pastors and their spouses, along with key congregational leaders.
“For decades, the mega church has been celebrated, but 80 percent of America’s congregations are small and many of those are rural,” stated Director of Church of God Prayer Ministries Doug Small. “The median Sunday morning attendance across the nation is 75. A church of 350 is a large church in the 90th percentile. America is a nation of small churches led by bi-vocational pastors – and they need help!”
Lester Evans, Bi-vocational Ministries Leader for BSCNC in North Carolina, Steve Sells, a specialist in church revitalization and church health, and Joe Wright, Executive Director for the Bi-vocational and Small Church Leaders Network, are partnering in planning this multi-denominational conference. Hosts include: Boyd Byerly, Pastor of Sunset Avenue Church of God; Neal Jackson, Pastor of Beulah Baptist Church; and Travis Scott Pastor of Sandy Creek Baptist Church (site of Sandy Creek Log Church) where a revival from 1755-1758 rocked central North Carolina and birthed as many as a thousand churches.
“We want to pray for God to ‘do it again!’” Small stated. “The conference will inspire and inform, equip and encourage, but most of all, light a fire for revival and awakening in pastors, sharing vision and hope, that God can use you to spark a national spiritual awakening!”
The workshop themes include prayer, evangelism, church health/conflict, leadership and discipleship. Special workshops are being offered for lay leaders and pastoral spouses.
A pastor may attend for only $50, a pastoral couple for $75, and an entire congregational leadership team for $99. Registration is open at americapray.net/lead. Or call PROJECT PRAY 855-842-5483.
(Source: Church of God Prayer Ministries)