Register for BCM/D 2021 Revitalization Webinars

By Sharon Mager

The Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware (BCM/D), is accepting registrations for a series of virtual revitalization webinars which will run from January to June 2021. Participants will hear from leaders in the field and those who have experienced revitalization in their churches.

Based on sheer statistics, today’s churches in America thirst for revitalization. Nationwide, some researchers estimate up to 80 percent of churches are plateaued or declining. Some churches are very aware of the need and others are asleep. BCM/D State Director of Evangelism Mark Dooley said, “The church must be always ready for and desirous of the rekindling of its relational fervency with Jesus that will lead to renewed worship, evangelistic zeal, service, and growth.”

The upcoming webinar will feature nationally known experts and focus on training, equipping, resourcing, and mapping out a long-term strategy for church revitalization.

Topics include “Generating Buy-in as a Church Revitalizer;” “The Powerful Hand of God;” “Blueprint for Revitalization;” “Re-digging Old Wells: Revitalization and Renewal in African-American and Multicultural Church;” “The Spiritual Mechanics of Revitalization;” “Church Revitalization in the Asian-American Church;” “Church Revitalization in the Hispanic Church;” and “Do the Works you Did at First – Getting Back to the Basics in Church Revitalization.”

Below are the guest speakers for the upcoming webinars:

• Dr. Tom Cheyney is the founder and directional leader of the RENOVATE National Church Revitalization Conference and leader of the RENOVATE Church Revitalization Virtual Coaching Network, where he mentors pastors, churches, and denominational leaders in church revitalization and renewal all across North America.
• Dr. Ron Smith has served as an ordained pastor since 1993 and has pastored WaterStone Church in Florida since 2011. As the lead pastor over campuses at Lake Mary and Longwood, he has developed WaterStone into a community-centered church with a heart for families. In addition to serving as a local pastor, Smith trains and consults churches in growth and revitalization.
• Dr. Kenneth Priest serves as the Director of Convention Strategies with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. He is also the Founder and Interim Director for the Center for Church Revitalization with Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and an adjunct professor in church revitalization at both the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has served churches in Texas and North Carolina in fields of evangelism, educational ministry, and second chair leadership.
• Dr. N. LaMonte Newsome serves as a chaplain for the South Carolina Department of Corrections. He has trained pastors from South Carolina and across the United States as the former Associate Professor and Lead Professor of Religion at Morris College in Sumter, South Carolina. Newsome is an experienced pastor, church consultant, workshop, and seminar facilitator with over twenty years of pastoral experience. He is skilled in the area of pastoral care, community outreach, conflict resolution and management, leadership development, counseling, church administration, and in the development of ministries that address all aspects of the church. Newsome has served as Senior Pastor to congregations in Paterson, New Jersey; Portsmouth, Virginia; Sumter, South Carolina; and Gainesville, Florida.
• Dr. Terry Rials is the new director of missions for the Concord-Kiowa Baptist Association in Oklahoma. In addition to undergraduate, graduate and studies abroad, Dr. Rials earned his doctorate (D. Min.) at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Church Revitalization. His dissertation project involved training local pastors in the principles of revival and revitalization by equipping them to begin a revitalization project in their churches.
• Peter Yanes was recently named the executive director of Asian-American Relations and Mobilization at the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee. The new role is has a primary focus of bringing more Asian American churches into the Southern Baptist family. He has served as interim senior pastor of South Jersey Bible Church International in Pitman, N.J., since September 2018. Prior to that, he served as a North American Mission Board catalytic language missionary and church planting catalyst with the Baptist Convention of Pennsylvania-South Jersey and held pastoral roles in churches in the Philippines and the United States beginning in 1992.
• Dr. David Lema is the Lead Pastor at Peters Road Baptist Church in Plantation and the associate professor of theology and missions at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He has served this role since 2004.
• Dr. David Jackson is a North American Mission Board employee who has worked in many areas of church planting in the Northeast region for nearly 30 years, including several years in directing church planting  Currently, Dr. Jackson serves as a NAMB Replant Specialist in the Northeast region and is author of several books including, “ReNEW: Traveling the Forgotten Path,” available on Amazon.

Upcoming Revitalization events
Dooley said the upcoming webinars are just a part of BCM/D’s 2021 revitalization emphasis. Other opportunities will include a “Revitalization Tour” with Dr. Kenneth Priest, who will be available to visit churches in late August to meet pastors and leaders to discuss revitalization, church leadership, building construction, or other areas of need which they may have.

BCM/D will also host the National Renovate Conference on Oct. 1 and 2 at Riva Trace Baptist Church in Davidsonville, Maryland. Dooley said the very popular conference was booked for 2021, but since the convention had to cancel the 2020 conference twice due to COVID-19, Renovate leaders graciously squeezed the BCM/D in.

For more information about church revitalization, visit our website.