On a sweltering hot Saturday morning in Fort Worth, boys and girls with broad smiles held up “free car wash” signs beckoning visitors to First African Baptist Church.
A crowd of volunteers from the 39-year-old church and a Baptist church near Abilene greeted visitors with claps and cheers as they entered the parking lot. Kids hosed down cars – and, occasionally, each other.
“Jesus is just on our hearts,” said volunteer Hailey Bicking, 14. She hoped visitors would get not just a car wash, but a chance to hear the gospel. She wanted them to “know they have hope that Jesus is out there and he’s with them.”
Welcome to Crossover, one of the first events of the annual Southern Baptist Convention, whose will meet at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in downtown Dallas June 8-11.
Southern Baptist churches across Dallas-Fort Worth hosted evangelism events Saturday as part of Crossover, a name inspired by Jesus’ cross and by Christians traveling “across” the country to share the gospel, according to Baptist Press.
The convention, a gathering of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, rotates cities each year and has recently been held in Indianapolis and New Orleans.
The convention center is expecting 18,000 to 20,000 people, according to Downtown Dallas Inc.
On June 8 and 9, Southern Baptist pastors will gather for events including training sessions, celebrations and workshops. On June 10 and 11, voting delegates — known as messengers — will take votes that will help determine the convention’s new leadership and its stance on certain social issues.
Crossover brings together local and visiting Southern Baptists for events focused on sharing Christianity with those in the community. Churches in the SBC’s host city most often hold Crossover events on the Saturday before the convention begins, though some churches hosted events this past week.
This year, churches in Dallas, Rockwall, Denton, Collin, Hunt, Kaufman, Ellis, Johnson and Tarrant counties coordinated Crossover events, according to the North American Mission Board, which helps organize the event.
More than 40 local churches and about 1,400 volunteers participated in Crossover at last year’s convention in Indianapolis, according to the NAMB.
On Saturday morning, Cornerstone Baptist Church hosted a Crossover event for people experiencing homelessness. Visitors lined up for a hot lunch — spaghetti donated from a partner church member’s Plano restaurant, plus salad, fruit and homemade banana pudding.
Sisters Emme and Lexe Hopper, whose family came from Cincinnati for the convention, topped guests’ ice cream sundaes with M&M’s and whipped cream.
The church handed out plastic water bottles adorned with Bible verses and a quote attributed to Martin Luther King Jr.: “Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” They also gave visitors toiletry bags with items like soap, deodorant, toothpaste and a razor.
Chris Simmons, Cornerstone’s senior pastor, said this is the church’s first time participating in a Crossover event. About seven volunteers ed them from Southern Baptist churches in states including Ohio and North Carolina.
Paula Williams, local outreach director at a North Carolina Southern Baptist church, helped hand out water bottles and greeted visitors she met earlier in the morning by name.
“It’s real exciting just to make that connection, even if it’s just for a minute,” she said. “That’s all God asked for … the people that we’re serving today, that we them, that we notice them.”
W. L. Williams said he’s been attending Cornerstone for about 37 years and has volunteered at the church for more than 20 years. He said the church saved his life. He wants to give back.
“When people see people like me that’s been in the streets, that’s been drug addicted … that’s been homeless and stuff, and see what God do for me — that give[s] them hope,” he says.
“Jesus said: ‘When I was homeless, you gave me a place to stay; when I was hungry, you fed me.’”
Adrian Ashford covers faith and religion in North Texas for The Dallas Morning News through a partnership with Report for America.