Jonathan Howe, the SBC Executive Committee’s vice president for convention administration, interviews Ryan Jespersen, executive director of the Dallas Baptist Association, about this year’s Crossover evangelistic outreach.
Latest ‘Road to Dallas’ episode spotlights Crossover ‘25
By Baptist Press Staff
DALLAS (BP) — This week’s episode of the “Road to Dallas” video series leading up to the 2025 SBC annual meeting features an interview with Ryan Jespersen, executive director of the Dallas Baptist Association, about this year’s Crossover evangelistic outreach. The series is hosted by Jonathan Howe, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Executive Committee’s (EC) vice president for convention administration.
Each year in the host city of the SBC annual meeting, Southern Baptists from around the country focus on evangelism through helping with block parties, sporting events, medical outreaches, door-to-door sharing and other events.
The last time the SBC meeting was in Dallas in 2018, Crossover featured a large-scale Harvest Crusade event. The plan for this year is different.
“This year the focus for Crossover is really church-to-church evangelism,” Jespersen told Howe. “It is literally going to a church and saying, ‘Let’s do a harvest event.’”
He listed Vacation Bible Schools, Backyard Bible Clubs and block parties as just a few examples of events Dallas-area churches will need help with from Southern Baptists coming in for the annual meeting. The Dallas Baptist Association has about 450 churches, Jespersen said.
There will be a few large evangelistic events around the Dallas metroplex too, he said, but Crossover 2025 will primarily be church-focused.
Receiving outside help can be a shot in the arm for churches, and Jespersen hopes to see Crossover serve as a catalyst for many churches in his association.
“When Baptists descend on a place, they are certainly ready to serve,” he said.
“… Event evangelism oftentimes is that last time of sharing someone will have before they come to faith in Christ.
“… We can all agree that Crossover and sharing Christ with people prior to that meeting is perhaps the most important thing we’re going to do.”
To sign up to host an event or to volunteer at an event, go to namb.net/crossover.
Other “Road to Dallas” episodes so far feature discussions on the best food in the Dallas area, the outlook at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth and the ins and outs of ministry in the Dallas Metroplex.
All episodes can be viewed on the SBC annual meeting website here. New episodes drop each Tuesday.
‘Deep Discipleship’ aims to bolster theological foundations within the local church
By Lauren Pratt, Lifeway
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — For almost a decade, authors J.T. English, Jen Wilkin and Kyle Worley have made it their mission to make theological education accessible to laypeople in the church.
They have also helped train church leaders to guide their people toward knowing the essential foundations of the Christian faith through Training the Church ministry cohorts, podcasts like “Knowing Faith” and other resources that have been useful for providing laypeople with tools for knowing and understanding Scripture.
On April 1, these authors are teaming up with Lifeway Christian Resources to launch “Deep Discipleship,” a 24-week program (two 12-week semesters) that equips and empowers participants to grow deeply in their faith within the context of the local church, allowing believers to engage with God’s Word in a meaningful and comprehensive way.
The “Deep Discipleship” curriculum offers an in-depth approach to discipleship that fosters both small group and individual Bible study on the essential foundations and doctrines of the Christian faith rooted and revealed in Scripture. “We believe theology is for everyone,” said Worley, pastor of Mosaic Church in Richardson, Texas. “The goal of this program is and has always been to make the deep things of God accessible to all the people in our churches — not just to a select few.”
“Deep Discipleship” is based on three core tenets that tie the curriculum together:
- Christian story: understanding the grand narrative of Scripture
- Christian belief: the essential doctrines of the Christian faith
- Christian formation: how story and belief shape worship, mission and obedience to Christ
Unlike programs that require minimal engagement, “Deep Discipleship” will challenge participants to go deep by learning and growing in their biblical literacy, theological knowledge and practice of spiritual disciplines. The program includes a group starter kit, which contains five “Deep Discipleship” journals, video-based teaching sessions, a digital leader guide, group discussion questions and weekly individual assignments.
Each group starter kit includes five journals with the option to add more, depending on the size of each group. Participants will also receive digital access to three books, including “You Are a Theologian” by Wilkin and English, “Formed for Fellowship” by Kyle Worley (May 2025) and “Remember and Rehearse” by English (May 2025).
“One of the primary reasons we are facing a discipleship crisis is because local churches have lost a vision for discipleship in the local church,” said English, pastor of Storyline Church in Arvada, Colorado. “As the family of God, local churches are absolutely indispensable to shaping and forming deep disciples. In this program, every local church can expose their people to three indispensable elements for every disciple: the story of Scripture, the basics of the faith and spiritual disciplines. Every single church and every disciple should have access to this program.”
According to Lifeway Research and Ligonier’s 2022 State of Theology report, many of the core tenants of Scripture are not strongly believed among evangelicals, revealing a crack in the church’s discipleship framework and methodology. For example, 43% of evangelicals agree Jesus was a great teacher but not God.
