About NEM
The National Evangelism Movement (NEM) began as an outreach ministry of the Bethany Baptist Church of West Los Angeles (BCBCWLA) in 1979 under the pastoral leadership of Rev. Rocelia Johnson. In 2002, NEM was incorporated under the leadership of Executive Director Dr. Rocelia Johnson and Co-Executive Director Dr. Sylvester Washington of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, Los Angeles, CA.
NEM is driven by the unifying Spirit of God in over one hundred sixty (160) churches and among thousands of faithful disciples. All are fully committed to the Great Commission as set forth in the Book of Matthew at Chapter 28, verses 19-20 NKJV):
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
As a firm believer in the Great Commission, Pastor Johnson had already implemented structured evangelism training classes at Bethany and the Follow-Through Evangelism Process. The process had proven successful in building disciples which in turn increased church membership. The initial outreach was in Seaside, CA which began a series of evangelism workshops that would reach from California to Connecticut, Nova Scotia, Canada and the Caribbean.
Dr. Johnson always envisioned NEM as a lay-driven ministry and emphasized the need for entire churches to be trained; including ushers, musicians, deacons, teachers, youth workers, ministers, pastors and all willing members.
The classes were highly structured and designed to meet the standards of Bethany Christian Bible College (BCBC) which was founded in 1978. Traveling teams led by Pastors Johnson and Washington drove and flew to cities across the country to conduct local workshops to present the “Follow-Through Evangelism” process and assist churches with its implementation. As NEM grew, more structure was needed and Regional Directors were selected.
Additional classes were added, such as Responding to False Doctrines and a series of counseling courses, to meet needs identified by evangelism teams. It was also determined that teachers needed to be trained and implementation of an annual workshop would help to ensure consistency across the country in conducting the training.
In 2009 Dr. Johnson retired and handed the reigns to Dr. Sylvester Washington who willingly accepted the position. In 2018 Pastor Rodney Payne, Bethlehem Star Baptist Church Oklahoma City, OK, assumed the position of Asst. Executive Director.
Currently, at the core of NEM is a challenging and fulfilling series of evangelism courses which teach methods and techniques for presenting the Gospel of Jesus Christ under all circumstances and beyond the walls of the church. NEM’s practical approach to sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is taught in a series of eight courses of ten weeks each supplemented by additional courses such as, Servant Evangelism.
Each year, NEM hosts an annual workshop to fellowship, train, connect, educate and share valuable information among its leadership and membership.
We look forward to working with you and your organization.