NEW ORLEANS (BP) – The Cooperative Program Stage at the New Orleans Convention Center’s exhibit hall hosted three Hispanic Baptist pastors in a panel discussion about making evangelism a priority in the local church. Luis Lopez, SBC EC associate vice president for Hispanic relations, moderated the panel.
The panelists were Julio Crespo, Send Network Español Southeast Champion; Gilberto Corredera, pastor of Prestonwood en Español near Dallas, and Joshua del Risco, pastor of Iglesia Bautista Vida Nueva in Fultondale, Ala.
Lopez began by asking the pastors why the church needed to make evangelism a priority. Crespo put it in quick and simple terms saying “The foundation of the church is the Gospel. Without the Gospel there is no church.”
Another question posed by Lopez was about how the church can make evangelism a priority. Risco offered that all the church does needs to be permeated with sharing the Gospel. “Train and equip your church members to live an evangelistic lifestyle,” he said.
The panelists also talked about some challenges the church faces in making evangelism a priority. Corredera discussed the spiritual warfare at play in the world that sometimes makes it difficult for people to share the Gospel. He added that church programming can be a distraction from the main thing of evangelism.
Crespo addressed the fear that many people have when it comes to sharing their faith. “Our people are loving people that like to be in community…But our people are fearful of sharing the Gospel.” The key to overcoming that fear, he added, was to create a culture of evangelism in the church so that people would become proficient at sharing their faith.
