KANSAS CITY – Whether it’s a brand new church plant or an established congregation dating back to the Civil War, cooperative missions is the hall mark of a Missouri Baptist Church. In recent years, cooperation has even taken root in a church’s dying process, even to the point of springing new life and new ministry. Mark Clifton, a long-time Missouri pastor in the Kansas City area, is the North American Mission Board’s go-to guy when it comes to “Legacy Church Planting,” and explained the … [Read more...]
South Creek rejects ‘Sunday morning segregation’
SPRINGFIELD – Despite official positions and best intentions to the contrary, the racial makeup of many Missouri Baptist churches does not accurately reflect the communities they serve. In its appointment of new discipleship pastor and elder, Brandon Taylor, South Creek Church in Springfield is taking one small step toward flipping the script, beginning with its leadership. Taylor, an African American, is the first new elder of the mostly white congregation since it was planted 14 years … [Read more...]
Jim Wells still mulling SBC role
PHOENIX – Though he has endured a string of setbacks in his cancer treatment, Jim Wells has yet to decide if he will run for a 16th term as registration secretary for the Southern Baptist Convention at its June meeting in Phoenix. “I’m leaving that open,” Wells told The Pathway. “I’m getting ready for the meeting, but if something happens with my treatment that won’t let me go, that’ll be fine too.” Wells served from 2012-15 as strategic partners team leader at the Missouri Baptist … [Read more...]
Dozens of DR teams fan out across southern Missouri
VAN BUREN – The seemingly non-stop showers that brought flooding to southern Missouri weren’t all that unusual. What was unusual was just how widespread the flooding and subsequent damage became. The rains that began at the end of April and stretched into the first weeks of May inundated much of Missouri south of Interstate 44, leaving closed roads – and flooded homes – from Neosho in the southwest all the way to Eureka in the St. Louis area. Teams from all across Missouri – including … [Read more...]
Children’s Home welcomes Ukrainian sister agency
BRIDGETON – Trustees for Missouri Baptist Children’s Home (MBCH) had a little international flavor in addition to the standard budget and ministry reports at their April 25 meeting at the main campus here. Roman and Oksana, a brother and sister duo who help lead New Hope Ukraine, in that eastern European nation, wrapped up a two-week trip in Missouri at the MBCH board meeting. New Hope Ukraine has a number of ministries for children and families, including an orphan ministry. The … [Read more...]
DR’s witness pops up during late night flood duty
It was somewhere between 2 and 5 a.m., April 30. It was cold, wet, and windy as I watched the waters of the Osage River creep ever closer. When the Cole County Sheriff activated his posse (a ready-to-go group of trained civilian volunteers… no, we don’t chase after cattle rustlers, but my fingers are crossed) for flood duty, I changed into my uniform and immediately confirmed my availability. I thought I might spend the afternoon rescuing stranded citizens trapped in their flooded homes. … [Read more...]
Missourians train disciples in England’s Lake District
BOOTLE, Cumbria, England – Neither Jerry nor Carolyn Cox had ever set foot outside the United States. Yet, when God placed a call on his heart to serve for six months making disciples with a small church on the coast of the Irish Sea, both Cox and his wife, Carolyn were ready to pack their bags. Cox, a bi-vocational pastor who served at Henderson Baptist Church in Rogersville, was reading The Pathway last July and noticed an article about American Interim Pastors Ministries (AIPM), a … [Read more...]
Bonhoeffer Project emphasizes discipleship
OSAGE BEACH – Dietrich Bonhoeffer – the philosopher, pastor, spy and martyr, famously said, “Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.” The author of the book, “The Cost of Discipleship,” believed that unless one followed Christ in a serious fashion, it was to cheapen the grace of God. And now his name is headlining an effort to ensure churches in Missouri and beyond do not forget the value of discipleship in the church. Created by Bill Hull, The … [Read more...]
Update: Missouri flooding damages churches, calls DR to action
VAN BUREN – The flood waters are just now beginning to recede, and while many Missouri Baptists are water-logged, they are ready to help their communities dry out. With some parts of the state seeing rain for four or five straight days and clocking more than a foot of precipitation over the weekend, Gov. Eric Greitens declared a state of emergency April 29. The Mississippi River reached 17 feet above flood stage near Cape Girardeau, within six inches of the all-time record. The Meramec … [Read more...]
Judge blocks Missouri abortion restrictions
JEFFERSON CITY – An effort to make women safer and minimize abortions in Missouri has been struck down by a federal judge. U.S. District Judge Howard Sachs granted April 19 a preliminary injunction invalidating requirements for the state’s abortion clinics to meet standards for surgical centers and for their doctors to have hospital privileges. The regulations had meant that Planned Parenthood clinics – except for the one in St. Louis – could not perform abortions. As a result of … [Read more...]
From trustee to adoptive parent: God’s plan always wins out
RICHLAND – Chris and Tammi Ferkel didn’t have any plans to adopt their new daughter, Summer. And yet, as is the case with most earthly plans, God’s plans took over. In fact, God had been laying the groundwork for Summer’s new family for multiple generations. Chris is the son of a man who was orphaned in the early 1940s. Never fostered or adopted, he grew up as a newsboy in an orphanage in St. Louis. Chris’s maternal grandmother, also an orphan, came to Missouri on a Catholic orphan train … [Read more...]
Church at Three Trails seeks to grow through missions
ZACATELCO, Mexico – The Church at Three Trails didn’t seek out a partnership with Iglesia Bautista Maranatha in the city of Zacatelco. God sought them out. It began last fall when pastor Brian Grout attended the Partnership Missions luncheon during the Missouri Baptist Convention’s Annual Meeting in St. Charles. There he heard of partial scholarships available if he and another church member were interested in a vision trip. A recent church “replant” that itself has planted a local … [Read more...]
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