W. Thomas Hammond, Jr., executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, and Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board, announced a new partnership Sunday night with the aim of planting more churches in Georgia. The signing was held at First Baptist Statesboro at an inspirational service Sunday on the eve of the annual meeting of the Georgia Baptist Convention.
Hammond told Georgia Baptists that partnerships are essential to reaching the lost with the gospel. He referenced Phil. 1:4-5 in telling the assembly that “we partner together for the gospel.”
He expressed concern for churches that he described as pulling out and pulling away. “We’re going to need each other more,” he said, “until Jesus comes back.”
Georgia Baptists have been able to accomplish much in the last year, Hammond said, because of partnerships. Georgia Baptists gave nearly $51 million combined to the Cooperative Program, the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering, and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.
‘In this together’
Hammond went on to say that in 2023 churches reported more than 21,150 baptisms, an increase of over 6,000 from the year before, “And I pray that in continues to increase until the Lord comes back.”
Baptisms, Hammond told his listeners, are a cause for celebration. “The church that baptizes three celebrates as much as the church that baptizes 30,” he said. “We’re all in this together. It’s not an ‘us and them,’ it’s an ‘us.’ Period.”
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Henry Durand and originally published by the Christian Index.
