As Senior Pastor of Cross Church in the Northwest Arkansas community, Dr. Ronnie Floyd conducts extensive outreach and missionary efforts, in imitation of the way Jesus’ apostles carried the Gospel to nonbelievers across the known world of their day. For Cross Church and its leadership, missionary work--the offering of God’s Word to those in need of its wisdom--is among the most positive activities to undertake. Because Dr. Floyd tailors his congregation’s outreach to the real, everyday needs of contemporary people, it is even more effective.

1. MISSIONARY OUTREACH
TO UNCHURCHED
APARTMENT DWELLERS
Ronnie Floyd

2. Introduction
 As Senior Pastor of Cross Church in the Northwest Arkansas
community, Dr. Ronnie Floyd conducts extensive outreach
and missionary efforts, in imitation of the way Jesus’ apostles
carried the Gospel to nonbelievers across the known world of
their day. For Cross Church and its leadership, missionary
work--the offering of God’s Word to those in need of its
wisdom--is among the most positive activities to undertake.
Because Dr. Floyd tailors his congregation’s outreach to the
real, everyday needs of contemporary people, it is even more
effective.
The Southern Baptist Convention, of which Pastor Floyd is
currently the President, recently called particular attention to
the need to reach out to families and individuals living in
apartment communities.

3. Missionary Outreach
 One study showed that apartment-dwellers in one part of
Alabama were 10 times less likely to be churchgoers than
people living in single-family homes. With more than half of
Americans estimated to live in multifamily housing of one type
or another, this situation presents a spiritual crisis for
contemporary society.
The North American Mission Board has made an attempt to
address the problem by settling student missionaries in a
number of locations in Alabama, first in the Tuscaloosa area,
and later in major cities across the state. The long-term goal
is to build relationships and develop mission-based
communities in each location. So far, the part-time missionary
leaders have established such missional communities in
trailer parks and in apartment complexes that are home to
low-income, Section 8 tenants.