PHOENIX – The Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting drew 5,018 messengers to Phoenix June 13-14. The unofficial total is 31.6 percent fewer than last year’s 7,321 messengers in St. Louis but 164 more than 2011 when the convention last met in Phoenix. Missouri was the seventh largest delegation, bringing 242 messengers. As expected, Arizona Baptist churches turned out for their host-meeting; their 374-messenger total was the second largest of the state delegations. Texas was the … [Read more...]
Allen reports on MBTS’s ‘sweet season of growth, health & vitality’
PHOENIX (BP) – Presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention’s six seminaries noted growth in ministry, enrollment and financial support in their reports to messengers June 14 at the SBC annual meeting in Phoenix, including Jason Allen of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City. Allen’s report to the messengers at the 2017 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting reflected on God’s goodness to the institution over his now nearly five-year tenure in Kansas City. “In Kansas … [Read more...]
Super Summer stirs faith, fun
HANNIBAL – Hundreds of mostly Missouri teens benefitted from the annual Super Summer camp held in two weeklong sessions on the Hannibal-LaGrange University campus, June 12-23. “Super Summer is a camp designed for junior high and high school students. Youth leaders can bring them regardless of where they are in their faith walk,” said coordinator Jason Walters. “We run the gamut, in the spiritual walk.” Missouri summer missionary college students are used as small group leaders to … [Read more...]
Leaving a legacy through church revitalization: 30 St. Louis area churches have sought revitalization
ST. LOUIS (BP) – Two years ago, First Baptist Church of Affton, Mo., knew it was dying. So it sought help from the local St. Louis Metro Baptist Association. In a process facilitated by executive director of missions Jim Breeden, First Baptist decided to replant itself in March 2016 as Church at Affton, led by replanter Jason Helmbacher. During its first year, the replant baptized 15 new believers and has come to average just over 100 worship attendees – about 40 of whom were First … [Read more...]
Legacy Church Plants keep the cooperation flowing
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...]
Rural Licking church reaches 180 youth weekly
LICKING – The numbers, humanly speaking, don’t add up. Rock Springs Baptist averages 120 in Sunday services. Yet on Wednesdays, they run about 180 in student ministry. “It’s a God-thing. It has nothing to do with me. I’m just blest to come in at the onset of this,” Pastor John Jordan admitted. Indeed, the student ministry began two years before Jordan arrived. “There was the regular prayer and Bible study, and a few kids came. They decided to put their effort into student ministry, … [Read more...]
Neosho’s cross remains despite complaints from Atheist groups
NEOSHO – The city of Neosho has rebuffed a Wisconsin-based atheist group, which recently protested the existence of a cross in the city’s Big Spring Park. The cross was established at the park in the 1930s. The city released a statement, May 26, answering a letter sent by the atheistic Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) and expressing their intent to keep the cross in place. The statement read: “It is the position of the city council that the correspondence forwarded by this … [Read more...]
Jim Wells, former MBC staff member & DOM, outgoing SBC registration sec., dies at 69
OZARK, Mo. (BP) – Jim Wells, a 15-term Southern Baptist Convention registration secretary known for his humble leadership style, died June 17 following a seven-year battle with cancer. He was 69. First elected registration secretary in 2002, Wells oversaw messenger registration, ballot counting and reporting of vote totals at SBC annual meetings among other duties. He served alongside eight SBC presidents. SBC President Steve Gaines called Wells "a humble servant of Jesus … [Read more...]
‘Bulletproof’: Grace Place to host Men’s Conference
LAMAR – Several guests of international renown are scheduled for the Bulletproof Men’s Conference August 4-5 at the Thiebaud Auditorium. Grace Place pastor Reg Givens said this is the second year for the conference and many of the presenters last year are back this year. These include Victor Marx, a martial arts expert and holder of the world record for fastest gun disarming; Eric Ludy, a Colorado pastor, author, and lead instructor at Ellerslie Discipleship training; Ryan Noble and … [Read more...]
Historic Baptists, liberty and the Trinity case
KANSAS CITY – What would John Leland say about scrap tires? Missourians, including churches that own vehicles, pay a fee to keep used tires out of streams and landfills. The fee underwrites a rebate for rubber playground surfaces. It’s open to all nonprofit groups, to keep kids safer and the environment cleaner. Trinity Lutheran Church, in Columbia, applied for a rebate. It was rejected, but not because the money ran out. It was rejected because it is a church. Missouri’s Constitution … [Read more...]
How God used a loving wife to bring me to The Pathway
Anniversaries for two significant events in my life are occurring this summer. One is among the happiest of my life. The other among the saddest. Both intertwined. June 8 is the happy one, marking my 15th anniversary as The Pathway’s editor. July 26 will mark the day my sweet, late wife, Bernadette, succumbed to brain cancer. Even though she no longer is with me, loving me and supporting the ministry God had called us to attend here, her impact on The Pathway ministry – and my life – … [Read more...]
Strawberry Festival draws support for MBCH
Editor's Note: As reported in the June 13 edition of The Pathway, the Strawberry Festival hosted at First Baptist Church here each year draws valuable support for the Missouri Baptist Children’s Home (MBCH). But, as noted more recently by officials from the MBCH, the Strawberry Festival does not fully fund the ministry. The event provides less than one percent of the MBCH’s annual operating budget and works alongside other means of funding—such as the Cooperative Program and the direct … [Read more...]
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