MACON, Georgia – August 16, 2005 – Smyth & Helwys today announced the availability of “Operation Antioch: Outreach for the Real World,” a new resource designed to equip congregations for effective outreach.

“Operation Antioch” is a full-church emphasis that includes materials for worship and sermon outlines, a five week study complete with leader’s guides and presentations on CD-ROM, as well as ideas for corresponding missions projects. The kit also includes a copy of Paul Dekar’s recent book on evangelism, “Holy Boldness.”

“The point of Operation Antioch is to help foster a church culture where evangelism comes naturally. It won't tell you how to run an evangelistic program, but it will help you understand why living and proclaiming the gospel is the essence of church life. We want to energize people about the subject of evangelism where before perhaps the word left a bad taste in their mouths because they have seen evangelistic approaches that seemed pushy, disrespectful, or unnatural,” explains editor Darrell Pursiful,

Pursiful continues, “Operation Antioch meets the needs of churches who want to think more intentionally about evangelism but struggle to find genuine and non-manipulative ways of sharing their faith. It seeks to reframe the entire issue of evangelism as not just "telling" the gospel but living it out concretely and lovingly in our world.”

The project is called Operation Antioch, drawing upon the example of this early congregation. As described in the resource’s preface, “Antioch was a world-class city, the third largest in the Roman world. Antioch was not as religious as Jerusalem, as educated as Alexandria, as sensual as Corinth, or as politically important as Rome. Even so, it was still filled with devout believers from a host of world religions, scholars, pleasure-seekers, and power brokers—just like any city anywhere in the world. The church of Antioch preached Christ to their city in an attitude of holy boldness. They were in fact perhaps the greatest missionary congregation of the first century. They were the first church to take the gospel to the Gentiles on a large scale and the church where Paul first rose to prominence. In many ways, the center of world Christianity shifted from Jerusalem to Antioch almost as soon as the church there was founded. It was in Antioch that believers in Jesus were first called ‘Christians.’ For centuries, some of themost influential Christian leaders found their home in Antioch.”

Operation Antioch was inspired by Paul Dekar’s recent book, “Holy Boldness,” and written and edited by Darrell Pursiful and Keith Gammons. The resource is part of Smyth & Helwys’ “Choice: Select Group Studies” collection of Christian education resources.

Operation Antioch is available now from Smyth & Helwys Publishing at www.helwys.com/operationantioch/.

For additional information, visit www.helwys.com. Smyth & Helwys publishes a growing collection of topical and small group studies. The organization is best known for its line of Sunday school materials, books, and the Smyth & Helwys Commentary series.