DEL CITY—Oklahoma Baptists will gather on Jan. 27-28, 2020, for the Advance Conference (formerly known as the Oklahoma State Evangelism Conference) at Del City, First Southern.
The two-day event, which is free to attend and does not require registration, will feature a wide array of speakers, breakout sessions and more.
“This (evangelism) conference has been a major part of Oklahoma Baptist life for many years,” said Alan Quigley, Oklahoma Baptists’ associate executive director for the Church Resources Group. “It’s something our pastors have always looked forward to each year. We decided to change the name to ‘Advance Conference’ to go along with the new initiatives that Oklahoma Baptists have developed, especially for the next five years.”
The theme for the conference is “Immerse,” based on Gal. 3:27: “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ.”
“We want to advance the Gospel both in our communities where we live and around the world. This year, we are going to be thinking about our shared goal of increasing baptisms, as well as the significance of baptism,” Quigley said.
Scheduled speakers for the Advance Conference include:
—Ed Stetzer, author and Billy Graham chair of church, mission and evangelism at Wheaton College;
—Stephen Rummage, senior pastor of Oklahoma City, Quail Springs
—Doug Melton, pastor of Oklahoma City, Southern Hills,
—Adam Greenway, president of Southwestern Seminary
—Tom Elliff, retired president of the International Mission Board and former Oklahoma pastor;
—Nick Garland, senior pastor of Broken Arrow, First;
—Sammy Lopez, lead pastor of San Antonio, Texas, Mighty Fortress Christian Fellowship, who is a frequent speaker at conferences and churches; and
—Heath Thomas, incoming president of Oklahoma Baptist University
“We are blessed with a great lineup of speakers for this year, including people from Oklahoma and outside our state,” Quigley said. “Ed Stetzer is going to talk about the way baptism affects us culturally and why we need to be baptizing people in our local churches. Then Adam Greenway is going to bless us with a doctrinal message on baptism. It should be powerful.”
A new feature for the 2020 conference includes breakout sessions that occur throughout the event.
“Instead of having a Tuesday morning breakout session time, we are actually going to be offering this throughout the entire conference. We will have keynote speakers, who are preaching during one part of the day, leading a breakout session during another part of the day,” he said.
“The main room will have the speaking and preaching and music. But at the same time, in another part of the building, there will be the breakouts, and people can choose to be part of either one. That way, people will be able to hear the speakers in the main session, and also have the opportunity to sit down in a breakout to engage in dialogue and get practical ways to implement what they have heard and learned,” Quigley added.
Quigley noted that this breakout session format change also allows the event to conclude on Tuesday around dinner, rather than on Tuesday evening.
The Advance Conference is made possible by the generous gifts of Oklahoma Baptists giving through the Cooperative Program. For more information on the Advance Conference, visit oklahomabaptists.org/evangelism/advance-conference or call 405/943-3800.
