By SAVANNAH ROGERS

Staff Writer

A North American center for biblical leadership, revival and spiritual awakening may soon be based in Fayette County, on the property of New Hope Baptist Church.

"Nothing like this is in existence at this time," said New Hope's associate pastor, Barry Thompson. The center is a joint venture between the church and the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Missions Board, designed to offer seminars that equip pastors, missionaries and church starters.

"It's very much a joint venture that many churches can participate in," Thompson said. "It will touch the entire body of Christ, not just Southern Baptists. We're already getting support from other Christian groups."

The center will serve to equip Christians in the United States, Canada and Mexico. On-site production studios will allow the seminars to be videotaped and made accessible to more people through television and cable. North American Missions Board advertising in magazines and on television will offer a toll-free number for people to call if they want to talk to someone. Calls from interested people will be routed to the phones of volunteer telephone counselors, including ones at a phone bank at the Fayette County center, who make themselves available during certain times and days of the week. Other volunteer opportunities will also be available.

Plans for the center are now in the approval process before the Southern Baptist Convention, and details are being worked out. "We'll know more a few months from now," said Thompson, including if New Hope's property will indeed be selected as the center site.

New Hope owns 60 acres of undeveloped land behind the church at its 94-acre north campus location, off New Hope Road, and has been interested in developing it, Thompson said. The site is attractive to the North American Missions Board, he added, because of its proximity to the Atlanta airport. Providing the property for the center would be part of New Hope's contribution to the joint venture. The center is estimated to take up little more than 20 acres.

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