Evangelism Rally at Baptist Union University to Feature Former SBC President Fred Luter
Union University, a Baptist academic institution with campuses in Jackson, Hendersonville, and Germantown, Tennessee, will hold its first evangelism rally that will feature among its speaker the first African-American president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Fred Luter.
Ernest Easley, spokesman for Union and organizer of the West Tennessee Evangelism Rally on Feb. 21, told The Christian Post that the event came at the request of University President Dub Oliver.
"It's really in the heart of our president for evangelism to permeate our campus," said Easley, who noted that they expect somewhere between 500 and 1,000 attendees.
Work on the rally, including the efforts to spread the word of the event, have been going on for the past four-and-a-half months.
"I've been meeting with pastors across West Tennessee, enlisting them, asking them to enlist pastors and churches," said Easley to CP. "I've got a pretty good ground group together that has been enlisting pastors. Because the idea is if you can enlist a pastor to be there, he's going to be bringing people with him."
Featured speakers for the evangelism rally will include the Rev. Fred Luter, senior pastor at Franklin Avenue Baptist Church of New Orleans, Louisiana.
In 2012, the Southern Baptist Convention elected Luter to be their first African-American president, a major milestone for a denomination founded as a pro-slavery entity.
When asked by CP what he hopes attendees take away from the rally, Easley replied, "I want them to be encouraged about the importance of sharing the Gospel with people."
"Second thing is enlightenment. They're going to have an opportunity to go to a breakout session that will be very practical in different areas of evangelism," he continued.
"And then finally to engage them, so they walk off the campus wanting a renewed emphasis in their own personal life of sharing the Gospel with people."
An academic institution that traces its origins to the Antebellum Era, Union University is affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention.
The Christian Post reached out to Luter for comeent, but a response was not received by press time.