NAMB presentation highlights evangelism, church-planting efforts throughout North America

DALLAS – The North American Mission Board (NAMB) shared ways churches can engage in reaching North America and reported on the results of Crossover Dallas during its presentation on June 10 to the SBC Annual Meeting in Dallas.

“I’m reminded of what Paul wrote to the church at Corinth. He said, ‘I planted. Apollos watered, and God gave the growth.’ And, it is growing,” NAMB president Kevin Ezell said in describing how God has moved throughout North America.

The previous year marked the fourth year in a row that Southern Baptists baptized more people than the previous year, and Ezell said it was the first time baptisms had increased four consecutive years since the 1990s.

“God is honoring when you are faithfully sharing the Gospel every day, and we are grateful,” said Ezell. “Last year, 31 state conventions saw baptism increases. … Coast to coast, in small towns and big cities, in the South and outside the South, people are hearing the Gospel, surrendering their lives to Jesus, transforming lives, families and communities along the way. The Gospel fire is burning in some hard-to-reach places.”

Southern Baptists saw a 64 percent increase in baptisms in Wyoming, 42 percent increases in Arizona, 38 percent in New York and 36 percent in Indiana.

In Texas, the state hosting the Annual Meeting, the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT) had a baptism increase of 34 percent, and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC) increased their baptisms by 45 percent.

“That is worth celebrating,” Ezell said.

Reports on baptism increases came on the heels of NAMB vice president of evangelism Tim Dowdy providing the Crossover report to the SBC.

Through the help of local churches in Dallas, associations like the Dallas Baptist Association, and the two state conventions, thousands of volunteers came alongside dozens of churches to proclaim the gospel through various outreach events ahead of the SBC Annual Meeting.

“We had 89 churches locally involved in hosting events; 2,955 volunteers who participated,” Dowdy said. “We had 13,638 homes visited; 17,033 people heard the Gospel, and 711 people came to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.”

Dowdy also shared that Southern Baptists baptized more than 250,000 people in 2024, a 10 percent increase over the previous year and the most baptisms since 2017.

“Praise God for all God is doing to extend the Gospel through our churches,” Dowdy said. “Over the last several years, we have been focusing on one thing as a team at NAMB – and that is helping our churches create a culture of evangelism so that every day we are living on mission, every member is focused on carrying the Gospel of Jesus to the people God has placed in their lives.”

There are still an estimated 286 million lost people in North America. Dowdy reintroduced Who’s Your One to the messengers and guests at the annual meeting and encouraged them to identify one person they could commit to witnessing to them.

“I want to challenge our pastors, associational leaders, and state leaders,” said Dowdy. “Let’s join together to help our people take personally this mission of evangelism.”

Highlighting Send Network and SBC church-planting efforts

After sharing about NAMB’s efforts to equip churches in relational evangelism, Ezell transitioned to discuss Southern Baptist church-planting efforts.

“At NAMB, everything is about the Gospel. It’s all about the Gospel,” said Ezell. “Reaching people in hard-to-reach places, going where they are and never compromising on biblical truth, … we saw a 13 percent increase in new church plants this year.

“More and more churches are sending more and more planters to more and more places,” Ezell said. “Thank you, Southern Baptists, for being a multiplying force and a giving force. God gives the growth, but you are planting.”

At the rate Southern Baptists are planting churches, Ezell said that, by 2030, one-third of churches in the SBC will have been planted since 2010. In spurring Southern Baptists to take bold steps for the sake of the Gospel, Ezell quoted Southern Baptist missions pioneer Annie Armstrong.

“She said this: ‘The future lies all before us. Shall it only be a slight advance upon what we usually do? Ought it not to be a bound, a leap forward to altitudes of endeavor and success undreamed of before?’” said Ezell. “Southern Baptists, that’s the question before you: a slight advance, or something we can’t even imagine?”

Vance Pitman, president of Send Network, then presented the next steps Southern Baptist churches can take to engage in church planting throughout North America.

“I believe we are living in the greatest days in the history of Christianity to be alive,” Pitman said. “There are more people coming to faith in Jesus today on a daily basis than in any other single moment in human history, and I believe God has raised us up for such a time as this.”

To join in all that God is doing, Pitman called on churches to cooperate to raise up more disciples who are sent out to plant churches. He directed attendees to Send Network’s Church Mobilization Pathway to learn about how to go from a cooperating church to a supporting, sending and a multiplying church.

“What if together as Southern Baptists,” Pitman asked, “the Lord has raised us up to see a changing of the trajectory of the kingdom of God in North America?”

It will take thousands of churches multiplying disciples and church-planting missionaries to reach North America with the Gospel.

“At NAMB, we will never stop going,” said Ezell. “We will never stop planting. We will never stop sharing, and we will never stop sharing because God is on the move, and the best days are ahead.”