Georgia Baptists were reminded at this year’s recent annual meeting that gospel witness does not begin and end in the pulpit. It also flourishes in classrooms, clinics, offices and even on the Miss America stage.
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During Monday evening’s session Nov. 10, Georgia Baptist Convention president Steve Browning interviewed Miss Georgia 2025 Audrey Kittila, a member of First Baptist Church Alpharetta and singer on the church’s worship team. Kittila, who recently placed in the top five at the Miss America competition, shared how God has used her pageant journey as a platform to point others to Christ.
Browning introduced her by highlighting the importance of everyday influence.
“We represent hundreds of thousands of people who are in our pews each and every week that have a desire to carry forward the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Browning said. “But they won’t do it through a pulpit, they’ll do it through the platform God’s given them.”
Kittila grew up at First Baptist Alpharetta, and Browning asked what difference being rooted in a local church made during her formative years.
“It made all the difference, actually,” Kittila said, describing a childhood shaped by weekly involvement, faithful parents and the steady presence of adults who poured into her spiritual development.
“In many ways, while yes, my parents raised me, I was also raised by the members of my local church,” she said. “They came alongside the calling to ministry that the Lord put on my heart when I was in middle school. When I was backstage at Miss America or backstage at Miss Georgia, it was the people in my local church that were praying for me, that were supporting me.”
‘Life that looks different’
Pointing to this year’s theme, “Everyone, Everywhere,” Browning asked how she uses her public role to point people to Jesus.
“Using any platform for Jesus starts by living a life that looks different,” Kittila said. “People notice that.”
She described moments at the University of Georgia and within the pageant community when a distinct Christian witness opened doors for gospel conversations.
“My goal in life, my calling, is to know Christ and to make Him known. Everything that I do is situated under that purpose,” she said.
Kittila described one moment in particular that stood out, a prompting from the Lord during the Miss Georgia competition to go downstairs and worship at a piano in the dorm lobby.
“It felt a little bit awkward,” she admitted. But as she sang, one of the other contestants approached.
“She tapped me on the shoulder and she said, ‘Audrey, I don’t know these songs. I do not know the love that these songs speak of.’”
The conversation that followed allowed Kittila to share the gospel “and to hear her story,” she said. “It was something I would not have had the chance to do if I hadn’t spent time in prayer and asked God for an opportunity.”
Pressures in the spotlight
Kittila also spoke candidly about the pressures that accompany modeling and pageant competitions.
“The industries that I’ve been involved in place a lot of value on the way that you look, how successful you are,” she said. “But then I got to thinking about it and realized that that’s just culture.”
Walking into those settings with a Christ-centered identity, she said, changes everything.
“What a difference it is to walk into an industry like that and to say, ‘My identity is in Christ. It’s not in what I look like. I am who He says I am,’” she said.
Browning ended the interview by asking how ministry leaders can encourage the next generation to use their unique influence for Christ.
“I would share with those young people the importance of mentorship,” Kittila responded without hesitation.
She told the audience about two women who shaped her life — one of whom began teaching her in middle school and continues to mentor her today.
“They talked me through what it looks like to share the gospel,” she said, “and it was special. We need our young people to be mentored so that when they step into positions of influence, they’re prepared… to share the gospel in those capacities.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Henry Durand and originally published by the Christian Index.
