STATESBORO, Ga. — W. Thomas Hammond, Jr., executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, encouraged messengers at the organization’s annual meeting, telling them on Tuesday that they are “leading the way” in the state. Hammond outlined several ways in which Georgia Baptists are out in front, serving pastors, supporting churches, and reaching the state with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Hammond shared how Georgia is leading the way in revitalizing churches. Statistics reveal that 42.5% of Georgia churches are plateaued, 39% are declining, and only 18% are growing. “All of us need some help in revitalizing some aspects of our church,” Hammond said.
Mark Marshall, senior lead strategist for Church Strengthening, said the mission board sought a revitalization program that was biblical, effective in churches of all sizes and had a proven track record. The GBMB has partnered with Corpus to make its ReFocus process available to Georgia churches. “The process,” Marshall said, “helps a church realign around the mission that God has given to us, look at strategies for how best to impact their community, and begin to reach people for Jesus Christ once again.”
Lee Brewer, senior pastor of Palmetto Baptist Church, joined Marshall on stage to share how his church has benefitted from ReFocus. “We have seen the church dramatically change its spirit,” Brewer said. “Revitalization for Palmetto Baptist Church was about being biblical and about being right with God.”
“Georgia Baptists are also leading the way in equipping churches,” Hammond told messengers. He shared that the board’s church-strengthening Spark conferences had record attendance this year. The 3,600 registered attendees represent an increase of 50% over the previous year. Some 385 churches and 35 associations partnered and participated in the six regional conferences. “It’s the best equipping training that you can attend all year long, and you can bring your people to it!”
Reaching and equipping the next generation is another way in which Georgia Baptists are leading the way. Hammond praised the churches’ efforts to reach children by hosting Vacation Bible Schools. “Record attendance in VBS across our state is because of your commitment to reach the next generation,” Hammond said. For every VBS leader and worker, Hammond shared, “We average 1.5 decisions for Christ.”
Georgia Baptists are also reaching middle school and high school students through camps, with nearly 4,000 young people attending. Superwow focuses on reaching lost teenagers, while Impact helps kids who are already believers grow stronger in their faith. Surge camp focuses on kids who love music, and Hammond said, “Most of the future worship leaders in Georgia are going to come out of Surge camp.” The Move Conference hosts thousands of teenagers and is intended for churches of all sizes, those that can bring three and those that can bring 300. “The beauty of it,” Hammond explained, “is that your students get to be around thousands of other young people who love the Lord. So many times in my life, as a teenager, it was in these moments in which God stirred my heart to be more and more faithful to Him.” This year’s camps led to 276 calls to ministry and 432 salvation decisions.
Highlighting the impact of Georgia’s Baptist Campus Ministry, Hammond said, “If we don’t get you when you’re a child, and we don’t get you when you’re in high school and middle school, we’re going after you in college. We won’t stop this pursuit.” Currently, there are BCMs on over 40 campuses and Hammond said, “We’d like to see that number radically grow.”
Hammond explained the board’s partnership with Covenant Capital Investors to build new BCM facilities on campuses such as the University of Georgia. “We’re swapping out 60-year-old buildings for brand new buildings,” he said. “The beautiful thing about this,” is that these buildings “won’t cost the Baptists one penny.” That will enable the board to funnel monies previously used for maintenance and utilities into the ministry.
And that ministry is having an impact. During the 2023-2024 school year, 2400 students were involved in BCM, with 185 making salvation decisions and 124 planning to pursue vocational ministry after they graduate.
Georgia Baptists are leading the way in reaching the world with the gospel. Of the more than 3600 International Mission Board missionaries currently serving, 295 call Georgia home. “We have a strong IMB mission force if we have a strong Georgia,” Hammond said.
Engaging women in missions and ministry is yet another way in which Georgia Baptists are leading the way. Beth Ann Williams, lead strategist for Georgia Baptist Women, told messengers about the impact of their annual spring event. “It’s an event,” Williams explained, “where women of all ages, a daughter, a mom, a grandmom, can come and find something relevant that meets a spiritual need in their own lives.” In addition, Williams revealed, the ministry is launching a new resource called Complete which will help leaders build a comprehensive and effective ministry plan.
Georgia Baptists are leading the way in helping and serving women who are called to vocational ministry. Hammond clarified, “We’re not talking about women pastors, we are talking about women who are gifted and called to serve our Lord in the capacity that he has called them to in the church and to make a difference.”
Through the Pastor Wellness program, Georgia Baptists are leading the way in caring for pastors and ministry leaders. “Ministry is hard, ministry is tough,” Hammond said, before asking, “If IMB has the missionaries, and if NAMB has the church planters, and if the seminaries have the students, who has the pastors? We do.”
Chris Reynolds, lead strategist for Pastor Wellness, spoke with Lauren Sullens, president of Georgia Baptist Woman’s Missionary Union, and Chris Humphries, pastor of First Baptist Bainbridge, on stage. Humphries recounted a medical crisis that his family went through with his 17-year-old daughter, and how the Pastor Wellness team supported them through that difficult time. “We were not alone,” he said. Sullens, who lost her husband, Clint, pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Monroe, unexpectedly in April, agreed. “My Georgia Baptist family was there for me immediately,” Sullens said.
Pastor Trent Johnson of Stockton Baptist Church shared how since August 2023 the church has gone through two hurricanes, and he lost his brother and his father. Despite that, in a town with a population of 135, the church has seen 104 people saved and baptized. “We’re just trying to hunker down, stay humble, keep the Lord first, and continue to see what God can do,” he said.
Georgia Baptists are leading the way in partnerships to serve and minister to pastors serving in other states and around the world, Hammond said. The GBMB has sent teams to Michigan, New York and Ukraine so far, and will be working with pastors in the Penn/South Jersey area next spring.
“We are also going to be leading the way in church planting,” Hammond declared, referencing a new partnership with the North American Mission Board that was formalized two days earlier. Ryan McCammack, pastor of Gospel Hope Church in Avondale Estates and director of Send Network Georgia, said that 65 churches have been planted in Georgia in the past five years, 1/3 of them in 2024. “This partnership,” McCammack said, “paves the way for us to plant churches for everyone in Georgia, everywhere in Georgia.” The good news, he declared, is that “The darkness in our state is great, but the power of the gospel is greater!”
Hammond shared that the population of Georgia grew last year by 230,000 people and “We have the privilege of introducing Jesus to all of them.” Beginning in January, he said, the GBMB will hold listening sessions across the state, to discuss “how do you feel and think and believe we can reach the state in a systematic way, in a uniform way, together.”
Hammond closed by saying, “My prayer is that we will together make a difference and bring glory to our Lord!”
