On June 16, a high school student boldly walked down to the front of Cedar Valley Baptist Church in Montezuma, GA in response to God’s work in His life. But this wasn’t a salvation decision. He instead declared a call to ministry.

He surrendered to that call one week earlier during the church’s Calling out the Called service.

Pastor Damon Fountain compared the gospel to a torch that must be passed on to the next generation in a message based on 2 Timothy 1:1-7. However, young leaders also need to be encouraged and developed so they can be handed that torch.

“The church will only grow into the full maturity of Christ when we each use our spiritual gifts to the glory of Jesus Christ our Lord,” he said.

How do you know you’re being called out for ministry?

Bro. Damon shared his own testimony of being called for ministry. His own father was a pastor.

When Bro. Damon was in high school, his father asked him, “Son, have you considered what you will do when you grow up?”

He quickly told his Dad, “Law enforcement.”

But the answer was a lie. As soon as his father asked the question Bro. Damon knew God was telling him to be a minister.

That began two-and-a-half years of rebellion. He became the youngest police officer on the force, and when he began dating his eventual wife his only condition was, “Don’t ever ask me to go to church.”

She prayed for him instead.

At the end of his rebellion, he had a near-death encounter during a domestic violence call. Miraculously, neither the woman’s weapon nor his own fired.

The following Sunday Bro. Damon surrendered to ministry at his father’s church. It was his dad’s last week as a pastor.

“I’ve never looked back,” the pastor told Cedar Valley.

Why Calling Out the Called?

The Macon County church’s Calling out the Called service was a little unusual. An inflatable orca jumped in the baptistry. A lighthouse decorated the stage. Small children danced in front of the church.

The service doubled as a VBS celebration. One week later, the same week that the young man surrendered to ministry, one of those girls was baptized.

As Bro. Damon preached, “It’s possible that if we don’t fan the flame [of young leaders] there will be some that never learn what God can do.”

Pastors have aged significantly during the millennial generation. According to Barna Group Research, the median age of pastors jumped from 44 to 55 between 1992 and 2017.

By the end of that period, only 15% of pastors were under the age of 44.

The little girl who was baptized needs a pastor when she’s older.

That’s why Friendship Baptist Association is committed to a three-year emphasis on Calling out the Called. The biggest need in our association is pastors, worship leaders, and next generation leaders.

Will you be 1 of 100 prayer partners?

Our prayer partners play a key role in these services. So far, two churches have held these services. God has used both those services to stir a greater interest in ministry in the hearts of those who are listening.

However, the association hasn’t reached its goal of one hundred prayer partners yet. Will you join us to faithfully pray for God to begin a movement of calling our church members into a greater service for Him?

The next Calling out the Called service will be held at Mount Pisgah on July 14. Please be praying.