Unity is needed for effective evangelism, guest preachers say at Baptists gathering

An opportunity to be a part of history compelled two prominent preachers to join a recent evangelism gathering in Oklahoma City.

The Rev. Tony Evans, of Dallas, and the Rev. Fred Luter, of New Orleans, said they wanted to be in the room when history was made at the Oklahoma Baptists' 2024 Advance Conference, which was held recently at St. John Missionary Baptist Church, 5700 N Kelley. The event was historic because it marked the first time that the state affiliate of the Southern Baptist Convention — mostly made up of predominantly white congregations ― held its annual evangelism conference at a predominantly Black church.

The free event, formerly known as the Oklahoma State Evangelism Conference, is typically the largest gathering held each year by Oklahoma Baptists, the state's largest faith group. Alan Quigley, Oklahoma Baptists' associate executive director, said he and the Rev. Walter Wilson, Oklahoma Baptists' African American ministry partner, came up with the 2024 conference program and site as a way to celebrate the growth of the faith group's partnerships with predominantly Black churches across the state. Wilson, senior pastor of Lawton's Friendship Baptist Church, is a Dallas native and friend of Evans, who is senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas.

The Rev. Todd Fisher, Oklahoma Baptists' executive director-treasurer, shared similar sentiments.

"What we're trying to do here is just celebrate the fact that we have grown in so many African American congregations in our state convention," Fisher said. "We're just celebrating that and grateful for what God is doing in our state convention."

In their sermons based on the conference's theme, "Sent," Evans and Luter, both Black ministers, urged the interracial crowd to unify as Christians. Evans likened the two-day gathering to a football team gathered in a huddle to determine the team's next move.

"Ten thousand people don't pay hundreds of dollars a ticket to watch 11 grown men bend over ― they don't come to observe a huddle," Evans said. "What they come to observe is what difference the huddle will make. They want to know, having huddled, can you now score. They want to know what you're going to do about the 11 other men on the other side of the ball."

He said the recent gathering was important because of its diversity but what would be most significant was what attendees did after they returned to everyday life.

"This is a great huddle, this is a historical huddle ― but it's still a huddle," he said. "You have to go and you have to pray that Oklahoma will see you score some touchdowns for the kingdom of God, and not just a huddle with a great play caller supported by a great quarterback."

Evans didn't shy away from the intersection of faith and politics, a particularly relevant part of his message because studies have shown that the political viewpoints of American Christians of different races are often vastly different, particularly between Black and white adherents. The Texas preacher told conference attendees that their Christian witness would be infused with the power of Christ if they identified as Christians first, before race and political ideology.

"Your Christianity, my Christianity, must be our ID and then everything else adjusts to that," he said.

Evans said the Book of Revelation is among Scripture that makes clear that God made people of different races "so, you need never to apologize for your race, you are never to feel guilty that you are all that God has made you — but never let it get in the way of your Christian commitment first. That's your ID because you've been baptized, you've been dipped, immersed."

Luter, who has the distinction of being the first Black president of the Southern Baptist Convention, said the early Christian church "turned the world upside down" despite not having some of the tools used by modern-day congregations, such as seminaries, multimedia and college ministries.

"These were plain, ordinary men and women who did extraordinary things for the sake of the Gospel, so the question is, 'How did they do it?'" Luter said. "They were empowered by the holy spirit and they were able to do what they could not do by themselves. That's how we are going to be sent. that's how we are going to impact our communities. We will wait to be empowered by the spirit of God."

'We are better together'

After his sermon, Luter said he was excited about the historic significance of the recent conference because he had been praying that more Southern Baptist Convention state affiliates would host their events at African American churches ever since his tenure as the denomination's president.

"That would do two things," he said. "One, it would help the relationships between African American and white (congregations) but it also helps more of us (Black church leaders/congregants) be present in a lot of these engagements, so I'm excited to be here."

Quigley and Wilson said attendees' response to the event was positive and the conference exceeded their expectations. Quigley said each of the conference preachers and leaders built on the conference's theme. This included a wide range of Oklahoma preachers, to ministry leaders from outside the state like Shane Pruitt, national Next Gen director for the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board; and Rev. Scott Sullivan with the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.

"From the very start to the end, the men just preached the purpose of the church which is to preach the gospel of hope to a broken world," Quigley said.

Wilson said he liked seeing how much attendees from diverse churches and backgrounds seemed to enjoy coming together

"We knew it would be a good gathering," he said. "What we were trying to do is to show that we are better together — we will work better together."

More: OK Baptists host event in NE OKC Oklahoma Southern Baptists to host gathering featuring preachers from Texas, New Orleans

The Rev. Major Jemison, longtime senior pastor of St. John, said having his church host the conference gave members of his congregation an opportunity to show the gracious hospitality that they have become known for over the years. Jemison, who preached on the first night of the event, said response to the conference was "tremendous."

"The camaraderie among the different races ― and there were several different races here — was just unbelievable," he said.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Baptists' 2024 Advance Conference takes place in OKC