Local church pastors in the Victorian Conference are busy following up the hundreds of contacts made through the recent “Revelation Today” evangelistic series.
The series—hosted by popular It Is Written speakers, Pastors John Bradshaw and Eric Flickinger—ended on June 1 and the primary focus is now on keeping in touch with the 1018 attendees.
“Throughout the campaign we had the local pastors introduced up the front and we had one session in a local church to try to transition guests from the presenters to the local pastors,” Revelation Today/Harvest Victoria project manager Pastor Fraser Catton said.
“So by the time the campaign ended they knew their local pastor, they already had visits from them, and the local pastor is now able to follow them up with his/her elders and ministry team members. So that’s the big focus now.”
At the conclusion of the series there were 159 requests for baptism—so far 44 baptisms have been held.
“It’s great to see what God has been doing and to see the Holy Spirit moving,” Pastor Catton said. “One of the comments I heard a lot was that many of the guests just wanted to know what the Bible has to say so they can follow it. They were trying to find a place to learn that information so they can know the truth for themselves and that’s what they received at Revelation Today.”
The series also has had a significant impact on church members, with over 300 regularly attending as volunteers. “We were really excited to see the lay member commitment to support and participate in the outreach,” said Conference general secretary Craig Gillis.
According to a survey conducted at the end of the series, 78 per cent of members said it had increased their biblical understanding, 88 per cent said it reaffirmed their belief in the Adventist message, and 87 per cent said they were now more likely to share the good news of Jesus with others.
“It’s hard to quantify the value of a campaign but those results definitely said there was value in it for members. It reignited their passion, enthusiasm and commitment,” Pastor Catton said. “I think it also goes to show that from both a qualitative analysis and a quantitative one, public evangelism still has its place. If it’s done well it can have a big impact both for members and non-members.”
Revelation Today was held in four locations around Melbourne and is a key part of the Victorian Conference’s five-year Harvest Victoria strategy.
Conference Personal Ministries director Andrew Jasper said: “Revelation Today has not only seen a fruitful harvest, budding church plants and more members engaging in mission, but moving forward it’s starting a whole new conversation about how we do evangelism in our Conference. Great things are ahead.”
