Lay Renewal Weekend

The dates for our Lay Renewal Weekend are April 16-18. Contact Pastor Russell with any further questions.

Be A Part of the Awakening!!!!

April 16 - 18

 

 For A Complete Weekend Schedule - Click here

 

Lay Renewal Weekends Lift Churches

By Mickey Noah

Cornerstone Baptist Church members were "thrilled, encouraged and challenged" by a recent Lay Renewal Weekend, pastor Brian Credille reports.

"I didn't know what to expect," Credille said. "I didn't even know how many of our people would want to come ... [because] a big part of it is small groups and interacting with others, and some are not comfortable with that."

But 105 members attended the Lay Renewal Weekend at Cornerstone, which averages 155 in attendance each Sunday in Jefferson City, Missouri. A renewal weekend—in a nutshell—is a lay-led event conducted by a volunteer team trained in raising a church to a new level of ministry and service.

Cornerstone and more than 20 other Southern Baptist churches in five states—Missouri, Illinois, North Carolina, Virginia and Vermont—conducted Lay Renewal Weekends April 24-26.  Bob Foy, a missionary and national coordinator for church renewal for the North American Mission Board, reflected, "It just seemed to be God's idea to use that weekend."

Foy, based in Mooresville, N.C., has been either personally attending or coordinating three or four Lay Renewal Weekends each week so far in 2009. Another 75 or so are on the calendar for the remainder of this year.

In 2008, Foy helped coordinate 125 renewal weekend events in 25 states, with nearly 12,000 Southern Baptist church members and LRW team members participating.

"Our initial Lay Renewal Weekends are 'awakening weekends,'" said Foy, whose passion for church renewal goes back 30-plus years. "We want to tell churches that God wants you to do more than sit in the pews.

"We've got Baptist churches full of laypeople who are not being used by God. They're just coming and attending church. The goal of renewal is not to get them in church, but to get them equipped and serving outside the church. The biggest problem we have is that most laypeople think God calls only preachers and missionaries, not laypeople. We try to awaken them to the idea that God calls them, too," Foy said.

Foy said it took a long time for him to personally realize that while he was saved from something, he was also saved for something -- service to God.

"If we can help laypersons find out how God has called and gifted them, and find a way they can use that gift empowered by the Holy Spirit, they'll find it's a joy to serve," Foy said. "We have churches full of people who are saved but who don't have the joy of being saved because we haven't taught them how to serve out of their giftedness. Christians know about the plan of salvation but with these weekends, we're trying to teach them a plan of discipleship."

A renewal weekend usually consists of a 24-hour prayer vigil prior to the weekend, a fellowship meal, worship and prayer services, and small group meetings.

What kind of SBC churches could profit from a renewal weekend?

"I think a church at any stage could find it valuable," said Credille of Cornerstone Baptist. "Even one on fire would be that much more encouraged and would see even more of its laypeople involved in their local church and in missions outreach."

The pastor said Cornerstone recorded one decision for Christ, two new members and about 20 rededications as a result of the weekend. Because of the small-group discussions, church members also came to know each other better, leading to some reconciliations.

"God used it to bring people together in a stronger way," Credille said.

"What God's doing through lay weekend church renewal," Foy said, "is one of the greatest things going on in the Southern Baptist Convention. But it's a well-kept secret. No one knows about it."

Visit www.namb.net for more information.