Saddleback Pastor with Kentucky Roots to Speak at Evangelism Conference 02/11/2008 LOUISVILLE -- Gerald Sharon, executive pastor of ministries at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., said he practices a highly relational style of evangelism that includes developing a trustworthy reputation with people in order to lead them to Christ. Sharon, a native of Danville, will speak at the annual Evangelism Conference Feb. 25-26 at Severns Valley Baptist Church in Elizabethtown. The conference will feature nine other national speakers, including evangelism professor Roy Fish, SBC President Frank Page, and Bobby Welch, Southern Baptist Convention strategist for global evangelical relations. “Reaching people for Christ is absolutely a passion of mine,” Sharon, who will also speak at the Youth Ministers’ Dinner on Monday evening, said. “Seeing people come to Christ is one of the things I am most passionate about in life. If we lose that, boy we lose what Jesus came to do.” A graduate of Georgetown College and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Sharon moved to California nearly eight years ago to become Saddleback’s pastor of evangelism. One of the church’s objectives is getting people to evaluate their SHAPE -- or how God has equipped them in the realms of spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality and experience. “For me, there's a need to just have a heart for people, to show that you really care about the whole person, not just their soul and what's going to happen for eternity, but how they live that better life that Jesus talked about,” he said. Sharon’s evangelism style emphasizes developing long-term relationships with people he encounters. “For me, it's to identify and build friendships with people I know who don't know God,” he said. “I start it purely on a friendship basis. Most people that I've engaged in life have to know and trust me before I can have the kind of conversation I want to have with them.” When Sharon attended Calvary Baptist Church in Danville during high school, he closely observed his pastor, Ernest Martin. “I watched a man who truly loved people and wanted them to know Christ,” he said. “I saw him model that authenticity, that real person who would help people get on the journey and come to know Jesus.” Before transferring to Saddleback, Sharon was pastor of Highland Hills Baptist Church in Fort Thomas for 13 years. Looking back on his 21 years as a pastor in Kentucky and his experiences at Saddleback, Sharon said there’s a common thread that makes his ministry unique. “The thing that's always been consistent for me is I enjoy the journey toward faith and then the moment of celebration equally,” he said. “I enjoy being on the journey with people, and I enjoy being with them as they wrestle through the tough questions of the faith.” In his current role, Sharon oversees the various ministries of Saddleback including what Rick Warren has identified as the five purposes of the church: evangelism, discipleship, fellowship, ministry and worship. When he speaks to Kentucky Baptists, Sharon plans to make clear that each Christian should live as if today is his last day on earth. “I really believe that if we woke up every day and thought, ‘If it was going to be my last day on earth, what would be my priorities today?' For me, it would be to have those final conversations with all of the people in my life about Jesus Christ,” he said. Sharon, also one of Saddleback’s teaching pastors, said he is excited about traveling back to Kentucky for the evangelism conference. “Kentucky runs deep in my blood, and I appreciate the work of Kentucky Baptists and the priority that I have seen out of many of the pastors in the state of Kentucky on evangelism. It's an honor for me to get to be part of this conference that keeps raising the value and the bar of evangelism in our lives,” he said. The conference is not just for those whose vocation is evangelism but also for anyone called to be a disciple of Jesus, Sharon said. “It's clear that some people have the spiritual gift of evangelism, but Jesus expects all of us to be engaged in the work of evangelism,” he said. Sharon and his wife, Tammy, have been married for 29 years and have three children, Chris, Brian and Jordan. For more information about the Kentucky Evangelism Conference, visit www.kybaptist.org/evangelismconference or call 502-489-3576 or 866-489-3576 (toll free in KY). The Kentucky Baptist Convention is a cooperative missions and ministry organization made up of more than 2,400 autonomous Baptist churches in Kentucky. A variety of state and worldwide ministries are coordinated through its administrative headquarters in Louisville, Ky. including: missions work, disaster relief, ministry training and support, church development, evangelism and more. - 30 - Photo available at: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2152/2049858345_c6cf5a8c1e_b.jpg Release prepared by Erin Roach, KBC Communications