Contact:  Suzie Zahn, WDC Media, 530-963-3496, 877-862-3600 x 2, office@wdcmedia.com; for Family Praise Center

SAN ANTONIO, Mar. 30 /Christian Newswire/ -- As Easter approaches, many churches will be full with extra people attending services in remembrance of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, but the real challenge is to keep these once-or-twice-a-year seekers coming back to church and doing the work that Jesus commanded of Christians--preaching the gospel to every creature.  This takes tremendous effort in making disciples, training, and activating Christians.  Bishop Rick Hawkins of Family Praise Center in San Antonio, Texas, has grown his church from 80 people toward a vision for 5,000 and already over 1,800 students have graduated from his School of Excellence in Education charter school.  

Hawkins has moved his flock toward the Great Commission by empowering individual church members to exercise their gifts in the San Antonio community.  He has established seven volunteer leaders to recruit and lead teams to minister to needy and disabled children, to mothers, to those in need of food and shelter.  Hawkins believes that the way to keep people coming to church and to attract new members is to give them opportunities to minister to the needs of others.  Hawkins will reveal his secrets on building a church community that reaches out to the community:

• What is the secret to getting people involved beyond their individual needs?

• How do you grow the church by asking people to do things that are outside of their comfort zone?

• On Easter Sunday, there are full churches across America, what is your advice to our listeners that would encourage them to continue going to church?

• In today’s busy world, why doesn’t church fit into many people’s schedule, and beyond that, how do you motivate people to give of themselves?

• How is the success of Family Praise Center viewed in the San Antonio community?

Credentials:  Bishop Rick Hawkins developed a strategy to turn around communities by reaching out to men.  He built Family Praise Center by reaching out men to gain the entire family.  Bishop Hawkins moved to San Antonio in 1984 and attended Bible college.  He found a home church and eventually became its Associate Pastor.  Following the mandate God had placed on Bishop Hawkins for his family, in 1991, after having sold and given away most of their possessions, Bishop Hawkins took his wife and two children on the road where they would enjoy a year of full-time evangelizing, sometimes sleeping in the very truck they were traveling in.

 Availability:  nationwide via telephone; to major U.S. cities with appropriate lead time for television and radio.