The “Who’s Your One?” evangelism initiative launched in 2019 as a joint effort of Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) president J.D. Greear and the North American Mission Board (NAMB) to help churches equip and encourage members to share their faith. The emphasis was part of Greear’s theme – “Gospel Above All.”
Now, two years later, as Greear’s tenure as SBC president comes to a close, Southern Baptists may wonder whether Who’s Your One is nearing the end of its shelf-life.
I posed that question to NAMB’s Johnny Hunt, who has been leading a nationwide tour as part of the evangelism emphasis. His answer? “We’ve only scratched the surface. … I’m as excited about it as I’ve ever been.”
According to statistics provided by NAMB, nearly 30,000 Who’s Your One church kits have been distributed since the initiative began, in addition to more than 550,000 prayer guides and 1.87 million bookmarks.
In 2018, 13 state conventions reported an uptick in baptisms. By 2019, that number had increased by five states. Hunt believes those trends could continue for years to come.
“At the end of the day, evangelism belongs to the local church,” Hunt said. “We’re here to fan the flame, help provide resources and come alongside them with training.”
When asked about factors that contribute to the effectiveness of Who’s Your One in a local church, Hunt named these two guidelines: the initiative has to be pastor-led and there must be ongoing evangelism training.
“We can’t tell our people what to do without telling them how to do it,” Hunt said. “Whatever the pastor models is what he will see mirrored in his church’s life.”
So far, the Who’s Your One tour has organized 23 events in 14 states. There are seven events scheduled for the remainder of 2021, including a stop at Faith Baptist Church in Youngsville, N.C., on Aug. 22-23.
The Biblical Recorder contacted subscribers to its text messaging service, “BR Connect,” to find out whether their churches plan to continue participating in the Who’s Your One initiative.
David Richardson, pastor at Peace’s Chapel Baptist Church in Kittrell, N.C., responded to the Recorder’s weekly newsletter with a comment about the future of Who’s Your One.
“I really hope this will not be just a program that goes out the door with Greear,” Richardson said, “but that we can look back and see this is where the tide changed in sharing the gospel and increasing baptisms!”
Bill Cooper at First Baptist Church in St. Pauls, N.C., said he hopes it “doesn’t fall by the wayside.”
I’m praying that North Carolina Baptists keep their passion for personal evangelism as long as it takes to fulfill the Great Commission. May we never stop asking for God to save “one” more.
Visit WhosYourOne.com.