Hunt headlines Evangelism Conference
By Allen Palmeri
Staff Writer
November 15, 2005
JEFFERSON CITY – A nationally known pastor with a heart hot for missions will be the featured speaker at the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) State Evangelism Conference Jan. 23-24 at Ridgecrest Baptist Church, Springfield.
Johnny Hunt, pastor, First Baptist Church, Woodstock, Ga., is scheduled to give two messages on the second day of the conference. Hunt will give a message on the afternoon of Jan. 24 and then come back with the final sermon of the conference that evening before a closing prayer that is scheduled for around 9 p.m.
A pastor since 1976, Hunt came to First Woodstock in suburban Atlanta in 1986 and saw 318 people baptized that year. Since then, Sunday School has increased from 275 to more than 5,000, with 6,800 in worship. They have sent out more than 100 missionaries and started more than 50 mission churches.
“We are a family of believers that exists to bring glory to God by the proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ to the world and the promotion of the growth of believers into maturity in Christ,” Hunt has written on w ww.fbcw.org, the church’s website. “We desire to be a shelter of hope from which Christ’s love radiates into every life darkened by sin in our community and around the world.”
Also speaking at the conference will be:
John Avant, vice president of evangelization for the North American Mission Board and a pastor since 1979;
Robert Coleman, distinguished professor of discipleship and evangelism, Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, South Hamilton, Mass.;
Randy Singer, an attorney who serves as chief counsel and special assistant at the North American Mission Board.
Worship will be led by Chuck Sullivan, who has ministered in music with such evangelical luminaries as Ravi Zacharias, James Merritt and Chuck Swindoll. MBC promotional material lauds Sullivan as “one of America’s premiere worship leaders.” Other musicians include Legacy Five, w ww.legacyfive.com, a Southern Gospel quartet who have had 10 Top 40 radio hits.