WASHINGTON (BP) – Christian convert Muhammad Kace, serving a 10-year prison term in Indonesia for blasphemy, was convicted of insulting the Prophet Muhammad in hundreds of YouTube videos after his conversion in 2014. Kace is among at least 67 Christians and others arrested in 2020 under Indonesia’s blasphemy laws in prosecutions that have increased dramatically since Indonesia’s transition to democracy in 1998. Indonesia is among seven Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) … [Read more...]
2022 SBC Annual available online
NASHVILLE (BP) – John Yeats, who served 25 years as Southern Baptist Convention recording secretary, describes the SBC Annual as “one big aggregation” of all that Southern Baptists accomplish in the span of two days each June. “Of course, everything that happens in the annual meeting, as far as dialogue is concerned and that sort of thing, doesn’t necessarily have to be recorded,” Yeats said. “It’s not news reporting; it is more process reporting … what takes place at the annual … [Read more...]
‘About 400’ Baptist churches lost in Russia’s war on Ukraine
LVIV, Ukraine (BP) – About 400 Ukrainian Baptist congregations have been lost in Russia’s war on Ukraine, said Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary President Yaroslav Pyzh, who is working to restore pastoral leadership to impacted cities. While volunteers at six humanitarian relief We Care Centers across Ukraine are helping internally displaced people winterize their homes, replacing roofs, windows and doors, Pyzh said the real challenge for UBTS is to rebuild pastoral leadership in … [Read more...]
‘Equivalent to JFK’: Japanese Baptists lament Abe assassination
HOLT, Mo. (BP) – The assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe July 7 is likely on par with that of late U.S. President John F. Kennedy in 1963, Japanese-American Southern Baptist pastor Jonathan Hayashi told Baptist Press. “First and foremost what a tragic, tragic thing that I cannot remember in my lifetime ever seeing something as tragic happen like this,” said Hayashi, senior pastor of Northern Hills Baptist Church in Holt, Mo. “It’s probably equivalent to JFK. Unheard … [Read more...]
SATF shares expectations for implementation task force
NASHVILLE (BP) — The work of a yet-to-be-appointed Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force (ARITF) is likely to take years, with an initial report ordered to be given at the 2023 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in New Orleans next June. Marshall Blalock, vice chairman of the Sex Abuse Task Force (SATF) that recommended the new group, said guidelines are in place to allow as long as three years for some of the work. “We anticipated it would take the implementation task force … [Read more...]
Send Relief offers $4 million to fund EC sexual abuse response, survivor care fund
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) – Send Relief announced its intent June 8 to give $3 million to fund the proposed Sexual Abuse Task Force (SATF) recommendations for sexual abuse reform, and an additional $1 million to establish a survivor care fund to provide trauma care for survivors and trauma training for pastors. The $1 million would be allocated from Send Relief funds designated for its ongoing mission to protect children and families, according to a joint statement from Send Relief President … [Read more...]
SBC Executive Committee repents, vows to listen to survivors, release hidden list of alleged abusers
NASHVILLE (BP) – The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee rebuked a 2006 statement by a former staff member discrediting the worth of communication between the EC and sexual abuse survivors, pledging to release a previously undisclosed list of alleged and convicted abusers and to establish a survivors’ hotline. In the special called meeting May 24 on Zoom, SBC EC Interim CEO Willie McLaurin also issued a formal apology to abuse survivors on behalf of the entire EC. “We’ll … [Read more...]
Baptists gear for decades-long trauma care response to Ukrainian refugees
WARSAW, Poland (BP) – Years after Russia’s bombs stop exploding and loved ones are eulogized, displaced Ukrainian refugees may still need counseling and intervention to deal with the loss. Southern Baptist churches, ministries and entities are already on the ground in Europe training churches and ministers in trauma-informed care, leaders told Baptist Press. “Typically on average, we’ve heard it may take two to three generations to find some deeper levels of healing and restoration,” … [Read more...]
CSB marks fifth anniversary with 10 percent of Bible sales in U.S.
NASHVILLE (BP) – The award-winning Christian Standard Bible translation reached its fifth anniversary in March, a milestone marked by a 10 percent market share of Bible sales, according to top industry tracking data. Andy McLean, Lifeway’s director of Bibles and reference, said the sales milestone is rare for new translations. Lifeway Christian Resources’ publishing arm, B&H Publishing, released the CSB in March 2017 as a significant revision of the Holman Christian Standard Bible … [Read more...]
Gunned down seminary dean in Ukraine was trying to walk to safety, friend says
BUCHA, Ukraine (BP) – Evangelical seminary dean Vitaliy Vinogradov was fleeing Russian occupation of Bucha, attempting to walk 10 miles to safety in Kyiv, when Russian forces killed him and left his body on a local street, a close friend and ministry associate told Baptist Press. Vinogradov had been missing since March 6 when he left his Bucha home attempting to walk to the office of All Together!, a Christian pro-family ministry in Ukraine where he served as a board member, said All … [Read more...]
Evangelical seminary dean found dead on streets of Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine (BP) – The dean of a small evangelical seminary in Kyiv is among more than 400 civilians found dead on the streets in and around the capital city, the seminary confirmed early April 4 on Facebook. “Vitaliy Volodymyrovich Vinogradov our dear brother, Christian leader, employee and a wonderful person, was found dead in Bucha,” posted Kim Bien Bum, principal of Kiev Slavic Evangelical Seminary (KSES) and pastor of Christ’s Blessing Church. “There are no words to express all … [Read more...]
Voddie Baucham to be 2023 SBC Pastors’ Conference presidential nominee
ANAHEIM, Calif. (BP) — Voddie Baucham, dean of theology at African Christian University in Lusaka, Zambia, will be nominated for Southern Baptist Convention Pastors’ Conference president at the 2022 SBC Annual Meeting in Anaheim, according to a story published at the Daily Wire, a conservative news site conceived and founded by political commentators Ben Shapiro and Jeremy Boreing. The nomination was also announced in a statement posted at the Founders Ministries website. “Voddie Baucham … [Read more...]
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