COTBE Membership Requirements

This page last updated 11-27-09.

The Membership of the Conference of Texas Baptist Evangelists

The Conference of Texas Baptist Evangelists is a fellowship of individuals called by God into evangelistic

ministry. Individuals, husband and wife teams and families serving together in the ministry of evangelism, as well

as evangelistic teams, are all represented among the membership. All those whom God has called into a

vocational evangelism are warmly welcomed.

Some Conference members are preaching evangelists; others are music evangelists. Still others have unique and

creative gifts that are used for evangelistic purposes. Some members proclaim the Gospel in great coliseums and

stadiums across America and around the world; others present the Good News as pulpit guests in local Southern

Baptist churches. There are those members who share Jesus Christ one-on-one in rescue missions and on street

corners. Individual ministries are as varied as Texas Baptists themselves.

In all their diversity, however, there is uniformity of mission and a oneness of purpose and direction among

Conference members. Every member of the Conference has unique and special gifts that God uses to point men,

women, boys and girls to Jesus Christ, His Son. All are God-called and God-gifted to "do the work of an

evangelist".

Individual financial circumstances of Conference members vary widely. However, a vocational evangelist

usually devotes at least one-half of his time to evangelism and receives more than one-half of his

income through evangelistic ministry.

If a person has been called by God into the ministry of vocational evangelism, and that individual desires to

become a member of the Conference, certain guidelines must be met. An individual must be a resident of the

state of Texas and a member in good standing of a local Southern Baptist Church in Texas.

In addition, each new conference member must secure a letter of endorsement from his or her pastor,

indicating the authenticity and the integrity of the individual's evangelistic ministry. Usually, this letter also includes

a statement about the loyalty and faithfulness to the local church to which the evangelist belongs.

After the above qualifications are met, annual dues ($100 per membership) are paid by each member of the

Conference of Texas Baptist Evangelists (dues are subject to change). All evangelists meeting these

requirements, including paid annual dues, are included in the Texas Baptist Evangelists Directory. A copy of

this Directory is made available every two years to each Southern Baptist pastor and church in the state of Texas.

"And He gave some...evangelists...for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of

the body of Christ." Ephesians 4:11 KJV