How We Do It

I Need Counseling about How to Receive New Life in Jesus Christ or Renew My Fellowship with Jesus

If what you’ve been doing hasn’t brought the results you want, we want to help you find a new way of approaching your life.

Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). If you have never experienced the kind of life Jesus wants to give you, He invites you to turn to Him now.

Maybe at some time you did start a new life with Jesus, but somewhere along the line you got off track, you’ve lost your connection with God, and you feel far from Him. Your heavenly Father eagerly waits for you to come home, and He will welcome you with open arms.

A page on this site, New Life in Christ for You, gives you information about how you can enter into this new life or renew your fellowship with Christ. Go there now, or call us at 1 888 JESUS-2000 for more help.

I Want to Volunteer From Home to Share Jesus with Callers

People who need to know the good news in Jesus contact the ERC through toll-free telephone numbers and Internet addresses. This contact information appears in television and radio ads, printed evangelistic materials, magazine articles, billboards, and gifts (like water bottles) distributed in local evangelistic outreach events.

Internet contacts currently receive response through staff personnel.

Telephone calls are routed directly and anonymously to Christian volunteer Telephone Encouragers.

Are you picturing a telephone bank full of people in one place receiving calls? Get that picture out of your mind, and replace it with yourself, comfortable in your own home, perhaps enjoying a cup of coffee. The telephone rings, and you get to share Christ’s love with someone in Maine, Montana, or Maui, or perhaps someone in Tennessee, Texas, or Tallahassee. You’re an at home volunteer, working on your own schedule to provide this Christian ministry.

So what exactly do you do? Often, people think of this kind of ministry as phone counseling, and in some ways that’s a good description. We prefer to consider it spiritual encouragement (so we call our volunteers Telephone Encouragers). You’re not functioning as a professional counselor, and your purpose isn’t to provide psychological counseling. Rather, you want to help callers to evaluate where they are in their relationship with Jesus Christ, and encourage them to take the next step in that relationship -- whether that’s simply to recognize their need to enter into relationship with Him, to invite Him into their life for the first time, to repair a broken fellowship with Him, or just to receive encouragement for walking through a hard time.

Maybe you’re saying, I’m interested, but am I qualified? Here’s the list of qualifications for being a Telephone Encourager (TE) for the ERC, and why we consider each one important.

• A born-again believer with a vital relationship with Jesus Christ and the ability to communicate that relationship with another person
  You can’t share what you don’t have, and the purpose of the ERC is to advance the intentional presentation of and response to the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ. So, it’s essential that you have that vital relationship with Jesus Christ that comes from placing your faith in Him. If you have that, we can train you in ways to communicate that relationship with callers.
• An active member of a Southern Baptist church
  Southern Baptists are certainly not the only people who meet the first qualification. This requirement is here because the ERC is a part of the North American Mission Board, an agency of the Southern Baptist Convention. To enable us to be accountable to the people who support us, we select our volunteers from among people who are members of churches affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.
• A growing disciple with a basic foundation of biblical truth
  Because you want to encourage callers to make a wholehearted commitment to Christ, it’s essential that you have that kind of commitment. That doesn’t mean you’re perfect but, like Paul, you can say, “Not that I have already . . . been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Philippians 3:12).
• At least 18 years of age and not currently a high school student
  We believe young people can be effective witnesses, and we encourage them to share Christ enthusiastically. We also believe there are more appropriate avenues for young people to share Christ. We can’t control the content of calls, so we designate this as an adult ministry.
• A caring friend who is concerned for the needs of people, especially their need for a saving relationship with Christ
  You can’t measure this one, but it matters. We call you Encouragers, not counselors, because we emphasize sharing Christ, not trying to help people with personal problems. Still, you have to earn the right to be heard, and you do that by demonstrating that you care about the needs the caller expresses.

If you meet these basic qualifications and want to take the next step to get involved in this unique Christian volunteer work, just click on the page titled, “Get Involved,” and we’ll give you information about required training.

I Want to Lead My Church to Use This Evangelism Tool To Provide Follow-up Ministry to Respondents

The Evangelism Response Center works through an effective Follow-Up Network

The work of the Evangelism Response Center is not complete when a person prays to receive Christ. Many callers leave their name and address so we can put them in contact with a local church. The ERC includes a network of Southern Baptist follow-up churches called “Covenant Churches,” who provide continuing ministry to respondents in their own community.

Perhaps you’re thinking, “Sure, I want my church to receive names, addresses, and telephone numbers of responsive people in our community. What’s the catch? How much is this going to cost us, and what kind of commitment do we have to make?”

Here’s an explanation of our expectations of Covenant Churches.

• A Southern Baptist Church
  Because the ERC is a part of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, we can refer only to churches affiliated with our denomination. This isn’t meant to reflect on the evangelistic zeal or Christian integrity of other churches. It is simply a recognition that this is the way we can be accountable to the churches who support us.
• A Desire to Receive Information about Responsive People in Your Area
  The ERC will send you the name, address, telephone number, and basic information about the decision made on the telephone for respondents within approximately a six-mile radius of your ZIP code. There is absolutely no charge to you to receive this information; your only cost is the cost you incur in providing the follow-up ministry.
• A Commitment to Provide Immediate Follow-up
  We’ve discovered that when a person makes a decision for Christ, he needs a follow-up contact within 72 hours. Otherwise the likelihood of that person getting involved in a local church and growing to spiritual maturity drops dramatically. For that reason we ask our Covenant Churches to commit to an initial contact within three days of receiving a referral. That contact may be no more than a telephone call, even with a voicemail message left if necessary, just to say, “We’re so pleased to know of your decision to follow Jesus. We’re here to help.”
• A Willingness to Offer Continuing Ministry as Appropriate
  Sometimes all that’s needed is that first contact. Even though the caller gave follow-up information, he may already have a relationship with a church and will need only a brief prayer of encouragement from you. Sometimes you will have the opportunity to help the caller understand her decision more completely and even lead other family members to receive Christ, then to see these new believers come into your church family and mature in Christ. You determine what kind of continuing ministry is appropriate.
• An Agreement to Report to the ERC
  The only required report is an initial response within two weeks, just to let us know you have made contact, or perhaps that you haven’t been able to make contact but are continuing to try. We just want to know you have received the referral and have accepted responsibility for this follow-up. Of course, we also encourage you to let us know when you’ve had the privilege of seeing that person come into your church family and begin the growth process. That lets us rejoice with you.

If you are in leadership in a Southern Baptist church and want to lead your church to take the next step to get involved as a Covenant Church, just click on the page titled, “Get Involved,” and we’ll give you information about how you can register.