NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–“Revival at the Ryman” -– at the historic auditorium in downtown Nashville — has been scheduled for Sunday morning, June 19, by the Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists.
Evangelists Jim Wilson, Gary Bowlin and Bill Britt will be the featured speakers at the annual COSBE-sponsored worship service, which precedes this June’s SBC annual meeting in Nashville.
Contemporary Christian singer Russ Lee, who has twice traveled to Iraq to do concerts with U.S. troops, will be among the featured musicians. Lee has had 10 No. 1 singles, including “I Smile,” and is a former member of two popular groups, NewSong and Truth.
The service, which will begin at 8:45 a.m. June 19, will be held in the auditorium that was home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1941-75, but which originally was named the Union Gospel Tabernacle when it opened in the early 1890s. Steamboat captain Thomas Ryman, who came to Christ under the preaching of evangelist Sam Jones, was instrumental in donating and raising funds to build the tabernacle.
SBC President Bobby Welch is slated to give the invocation, followed by a word of welcome from the president of the evangelists’ organization, Keith Fordham of Fayetteville, Ga. Messages by the three featured evangelists will begin with Britt, of Mansfield, Texas, followed by Bowlin, of Summit, Miss., and Wilson, of Orlando, Fla.
In addition to Russ Lee, featured musicians will be Steve and Becky Carver of Mathiston, Miss.; Dean and Gayna Forrest of Pike Road, Ala.; Vernon Chandler of High Point, N.C.; Jeff and Diane Anders of Jennings, Fla.; and Stephen Hill of Nashville.
The evangelists’ annual retreat will be held Friday and Saturday, June 17-18, at the Music City Sheraton Hotel.
“The Work of the Evangelist” will be the retreat’s theme, with a number of SBC leaders being featured, including Toby Frost, who leads direct evangelism for the North American Mission Board, giving the theme interpretation; Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, speaking on “The Office of the Evangelist”; Rick Stone, minister of music at First Baptist Church, Jonesboro, Ga., “Worship and Music Evangelism”; Keith Fordham, “Proclamation and Preaching Evangelism”; evangelist Junior Hill of Hartselle, Ala., “The Spiritual Integrity of the Evangelist”; music evangelists Bud and Barbara Lee of Blue Springs, Mo., “The Physical Integrity of the Evangelist”; Jim Wilson, “The Financial Integrity of the Evangelist”; and NAMB President Robert E. Reccord, “The Moral Integrity of the Evangelist.”
The retreat will conclude by noon Saturday so that the evangelists can participate in the annual Crossover evangelistic outreach preceding each year’s SBC annual meeting.
Inquiries about the retreat can be directed to Frost at [email protected] or (770) 410-6000.
The Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists’ annual business meeting will be at 11:30 a.m. Monday, June 20, at the Sheraton Downtown Nashville.
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