‘FELLOWSHIP REVIVAL’ BRINGS COMMUNITY TOGETHER

Annual event, hosted by New Salem Baptist Association, has new site each night

CARTHAGE — For five years the New Salem Baptist Association has been fostering something increasingly rare in today’s world: genuine, face-to-face fellowship among churches.

The annual Fellowship Revival held Aug. 3-6 across the Carthage area, brought together multiple congregations for what director of missions Marty Dodge described as both spiritual renewal and community building.

“The one reason we call it a fellowship is we take time and fellowship,” Dodge explained. The event’s structure reflects this purpose, combining traditional revival services with intentional opportunities for people to connect across church lines.

A rotating format

What began as a suggestion during a Tuesday pastors’ conference evolved into an annual tradition that serves churches throughout the New Salem Baptist Association.

The Fellowship Revival employs a rotating format designed to strengthen inter-church relationships.

This year, nine churches participated, organized into three clusters of three churches each.

“Each pastor does not preach in his own church. He will preach in somebody else’s church,” Dodge noted, describing how the format encourages pastors and congregations to step outside their comfort zones.

The clusters rotate through different host churches from Sunday through Tuesday, with each night featuring a different pastor from within that cluster.

The week culminates on Wednesday night when all participating churches gather at the county agriculture center for a joint service featuring a guest speaker. This year’s Wednesday service drew around 200 people, representing congregations from across the association.

The association also organizes a combined choir featuring singers from participating churches.

“It’s just a great time,” Dodge said.

The revival welcomes participants from infants to seniors.

“We had one crying Wednesday night, so I don’t think he was one year old yet,” Dodge recalled with a chuckle, emphasizing that there’s “never too young to go” and “never too old, either.”

Lingering fellowship

The sight of congregants lingering to talk struck Dodge as something special in today’s hurried world.

“When the last prayer was said, not many of them were moving. They were just standing out, just talking and clusters and bunches and just having a big old time,” said Dodge.

“It’s almost a rare sight nowadays, seeing people actually talk in person and commune with each other outside of designated areas.”

Dodge emphasizes that the spiritual component is equally important. The revival aims to “help our churches” and “encourage them” while helping congregants “regain a fire that they’ve lost.”

“We’re trying not to just have a revival to have a revival,” Dodge said. “We try to do it to stir us up, get us going again. We need that encouragement.”

Their approach emphasizes renewing the existing believers in churches first before reaching out to others.

“They may have gotten discouraged along the way, but a preacher may say something, and they just get revived again,” Dodge said. “And that’s what revival’s all about. It has to start with the churches, and then after when the churches get right, souls will be saved.”

“Our unity is a megaphone for the gospel,” said Daryl Crouch, strengthening healthy churches team lead for the TBMB. “When local churches unite to make Jesus known, souls are saved, communities are transformed, and the kingdom advances. I’m grateful to the churches of New Salem for leading the way.”

Plans are already underway for next year’s event, with Jeff Iorg, president/CEO of the SBC Executive Committee scheduled to speak, according to Dodge. B&R