The Consumed with Hope Conference is a church-based conference which connects a one-day soul winning training event with a plan to urge churches to implement a total church evangelism strategy.

• Purpose
• Conference Objectives
• Conference Takeaways
• Growth Statistics
• Rationale
• Harvest Models
• Conference Gospel Presentations
• Preparation and Promotion
• Consumed with Prayer First
• Conference Guide (PDF)
• Conference Guide/Portuguese (PDF)

For more information on the Consumed with Hope Conference or to schedule a conference for your church, please contact the Personal Evangelism Department at 800-226-8584, ext. 3096.

A local church should utilize the Consumed with Hope Conference:
• To train members with a clear gospel presentation
• To provide on-the-job training by making use of visitation
• To receive resources regarding an evangelism strategy
• To provide a positive evangelism experience for the congregation
• To create an urgency for evangelism in the church

An effective, evangelistic church is the result of the pastor’s leadership and the congregation’s willingness to follow his evangelistic leadership. The church-based conference will equip church members in personal evangelism in order to reach prospects, discover new prospects, and care for the needs of members. The holistic Consumed strategy also includes special event ministries and raises the congregation’s value of unchurched people. An invitation from a pastor to provide such a conference will engage the membership in the exciting adventure of personal evangelism.

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1. To champion the pastor so he will provide the church with evangelistic leadership.
2. To inspire the congregation for personal evangelism.
3. To provide resources and leadership for an evangelism strategy.

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1. Personal Renewal
The congregation will be deeply warmed through a fresh awareness of God’s
presence. This is the starting pace for evangelism.
2. Corporate Renewal
The congregation will sense a contagious spirit of God’s power in the church.
3. Purpose Renewal
The congregation will recognize it exists for a God-given mission.
4. Structural Renewal
The congregation will understand the church’s ministry structure to carryout a total church evangelism strategy.

3 Growth Statistics:
Churches plateaued or declining: 81%
Churches growing by transfer: 18%
Churches growing by conversion: 1%
H.B. London 1998 - Focus on the Family

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The Evangelism Division has discovered through evaluation of one-day soul winning events and FAITH trained churches that:

1. One-day soul winning training events alone, even with good visitation results, do not lead a church to develop an evangelism strategy.
2. When pastors are trained in an evangelism strategy apart from their congregation, only
25 in 100 will implement the strategy in their church.*
3. When pastors are trained in an evangelism strategy along with five members in their
church, 75 in 100 will implement the strategy in their church.*
4. When members are trained and made aware of an evangelism strategy, the members
are willing to participate in the process under their pastor’s leadership.

The Consumed strategy equips members in soul winning to reach prospects, discover new prospects, and minister to the spiritual needs of members. The holistic Consumed strategy can also include special event ministries such as banquets for deacons and Sunday School Leaders to raise the congregation’s value of unchurched people. An invitation from a pastor to provide a Consumed Conference will engage the membership in the exciting adventure of personal evangelism. As a component of the event, the lead teacher will encourage the church to consider receiving FAITH Clinic training or develop a customized strategy which is available through the Evangelism Division or the Sunday School Department of the Florida Baptist Convention. The conference will inspire and train congregations with a one-on-one gospel presentation, visitation, and motivational meetings to create urgency within the congregation to embrace a total church evangelism strategy. The Consumed with Hope Conference will ignite the fuse for soul winning by encouraging a passion for evangelism in the heart of congregations and assisting pastors to lead their churches to implement a holistic strategy for evangelism.

*LifeWay Church Resources April 2, 2003

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The lead teacher will consult with the pastor to determine the best gospel presentation for the Consumed with Hope Conference. The focus will be to equip as many people as possible for visitation which immediately follows the afternoon Personal Soul Winning Session.

Suggested presentations will be:

1. Hand-to-Hand – The Hand-to-Hand gospel presentation was developed by the Evangelism Division to train believers how to use a memorized presentation. Each finger on the hand represents a specific point in the gospel. Training the congregation in Hand-to-Hand provides an easy witnessing tool which does not require a pamphlet or tract.

2. Gospel Tracts – Many different gospel tracts are available for training in the
Consumed with Hope Conference. Several that we suggest are Eternal Life, Four Spiritual Laws, and Life/Death cards. Simplicity and usability is the key. During the afternoon training session, participants will be taught how to use a tract to lead someone to faith in Christ.

3. Evange-Cube – The Evange-Cube is designed to simply tell the story of the gospel to those who do not know Christ. The cube requires minimal training so that any Christian can look at each panel and communicate the gospel. Many can even add memorized scripture verses to the presentation as it is told. The training entails learning specific points for each panel of the cube. The Evange-Cube is a creative tool to engage someone in a witnessing opportunity.

4. FAITH – The new FAITH gospel tract can be used to reignite a FAITH Evangelism Strategy in a church that has already been trained in a Clinic format. The Consumed with Hope Conference will completely support and help strengthen an existing FAITH Strategy.

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Clip Art
Floppy disk and or CD are available with color as well as black and white, upon request through the Personal Evangelism Department.

Sunday School
Plan a high attendance membership campaign for the day of the conference.

Worship
Promote Consumed with Hope from the pulpit by the pastor. Make use of worship guide/bulletin and printed materials for on-going promotion. The Consumed with Hope Sunday School Campaign will be a promotion tool for conference day. Contact the Personal Evangelism Department to order your bulletin covers.

Pastor’s Communication
Communicate with leaders through e-mail, letters, bulletin inserts, Sunday School Announcements/handouts, and bulletin boards. The pastor’s periodic encouragement to the congregation informs them of the current plans and highlights of the Consumed with Hope Conference as the day draws near.

Posters
Make use of the Consumed with Hope Conference posters available for a small cost through the Personal Evangelism Department.

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Intentionally lead the church through specific prayer events for spiritual preparation as the Consumed with Hope Conference success is based on the power of God.

Prayer Walk
Sometime during the month leading up to the conference lead the church to prayer walk
the church facilities which include exterior property, worship center, Sunday School rooms, and common areas such as the fellowship hall and sanctuary. Plan to lead the congregation to prayer walk the assigned streets which will be visited during the conference.

Sunday School
Plan to encourage each Sunday School class to pray for the Consumed with Hope Conference during the month prior to the event.

Home Prayer Fellowships
Host prayer fellowships by Sunday School age groups or classes. Another suggestion would be to have deacons lead the prayer fellowships for their deacon families.

Preaching
Plan your Sunday morning and evening messages for the two weeks prior to the conference to challenge the congregation to become more evangelistic. This include recognizing the importance of an evangelistic church, responsibility of individual believers, purpose of Sunday School, importance of soul winning, and the priority of following the Lord. Encourage members to pray for unchurched friends by name.

Personal and Family Prayer
Encourage each member to begin praying for the conference, for personal participation in the conference, and for the unchurched. Mail or hand out a Prayer Reminder Card, “Consumed with Hope” Bible bookmark, or table tent prayer reminder, to place in the home or office, etc.

Morning, Noon, or Night for Prayer
Two or four weeks prior to the conference have a focused time of prayer (one or more) – morning, noon, or night. Schedule prayer gatherings for morning time(s), for noon meetings, or for a special Night Prayer Meeting in addition to the regular meetings of the church. Focus on praying for the weekend conference, for the lost by name, for the leaders of the conference, and for all participating in planning and promoting.

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For more information on Personal Evangelism, call 1-800-226-8584, ext. 3096, or e-mail the department.