LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary plans to take its award program for effective evangelistic churches to the national level.

Sponsored by the seminary's Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth, the C.H. Spurgeon Awards recognize top churches in such categories as evangelism, global missions and worship. This year's award winners came from Southern Baptist churches in Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Tennessee, according to the Baptist Press.

The ceremony will go nationwide next year and include all evangelical churches, not just those belonging to the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).

Billy Graham school Dean Thom Rainer, president of Church Central Associates, has been mailing certificates of recognition to the top SBC churches for several years. Just 3 percent of churches meet the certificate's criteria -- a minimum of 26 baptisms and a baptismal ratio of less than 20 to 1.

"Evangelism becomes a filter, but that's a minimal evangelistic criteria," Rainer said. "We're recognizing churches in social ministry. We're recognizing churches in the way they're bringing people together internally in fellowship. We're recognizing preaching churches. We're recognizing innovative ministry."

The goal is simple, Rainer told the BP.

"We want to hold (churches) up as models to others that this can happen in your church," he said. "The winners will be small and large."

Southside Baptist Church of Martin, Tenn., was named church of the year. Sunday morning attendance is nearly 450, and in the past two years, the church has baptized 145 people.

The awards are named after famous London preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon, who died in 1892.

This year's winners included:

• Evangelism -- Garner Baptist Church, Rush, Ky.
• Prayer -- Marrowbone Missionary Baptist Church, Elkhorn City, Ky.
• Worship -- Main Street Baptist Church, Alexandria, Ky.
• Discipleship -- Lantana Road Baptist Church, Crossville, Tenn.
• Ministry -- Zion Baptist Church, Henderson, Ky.
• Fellowship -- Brown Springs, Mosheim, Tenn.
• Church Planting -- First Baptist Church, Concord, Knoxville, Tenn.
• Global Missions -- Porter Memorial Baptist Church, Lexington, Ky.
• Sunday school/small group -- Black Oak Baptist Church, Gary, Ind.
• Innovative approaches -- New Work Fellowship, Hopkinsville, Ky.
• Preaching -- Parkway Baptist Church, Bardstown, Ky.
• Church of the Year -- Southside Baptist Church, Martin, Tenn.