Resolutions being accepted from April 1 to May 22 NASHVILLE (BP) – Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) President Bart Barber has named Kristen Ferguson, associate dean of educational effectiveness and director of online education at Gateway Seminary, to serve as chair of the 2024 Committee on Resolutions. It will be Ferguson’s third year to serve on the committee, having been vice chair at the New Orleans Annual meeting. “The resolutions process empowers the messengers to speak with … [Read more...]
SBC’s Executive Committee presidential search team announces new candidate ‘is emerging’
NASHVILLE (The Baptist Paper) – The search team for the next president of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee has announced that an “excellent” candidate appears to have emerged. The committee shared an update on the process during the EC’s meeting in Nashville, Feb. 19. “We were able to hit the ground running after the last candidate removed his name. This was mainly due to credible opportunities available to us from the invitation phase that was done in August and … [Read more...]
Evangelism under review: Great Commission Resurgence results being evaluated
by Art Toalston/The Baptist Paper EDITOR'S NOTE: Former Baptist Press (BP) editor Art Toalston, who served with BP from 1992 to 2015, has produced an in-depth, 9,000-word special report about The Great Commission Resurgence. His full report can be accessed here: https://www.arttoalston.com/?page_id=388. The abbreviated version of the report below was first published by The Baptist Paper here: … [Read more...]
Why your church needs to be planning VBS now
by Vicki Hulsey BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (Lifeway) — For many churches, dates for Vacation Bible School (VBS) are among the first placed on the church calendar each year. Churches give VBS high priority because pastors recognize VBS as one of the most important evangelistic events for the entire church year. In some churches, a volunteer serves as the VBS director. Other churches may have a children’s ministry staff person who’s responsible for coordinating VBS. For some churches, especially … [Read more...]
Midwest Leadership Summit offers 12,000 hours of training for church leaders
by Eric Reed & Lisa Misner/The Illinois Baptist SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (BP) – Church leaders from the central states engaged 12,000 hours of training, teaching and worship at the three-day Midwest Leadership Summit meeting in Springfield, Ill., Jan. 23-25. In multiple plenary sessions led by national SBC speakers and church-planting practitioners, and in 80 breakout sessions, almost 1,000 leaders shared and received equipping for ministry in their unique Midwest settings. The biennial … [Read more...]
Infamous 1927 ‘Santa Claus Robbery’ provides go-to spiritual lesson for Texas pastor
AUSTIN, Texas (BP) – Many Central Texas natives know the story of the infamous “Santa Claus Robbery” that took place two days before Christmas 1927 in the Eastland County town of Cisco. Thomas Goodman, pastor of Hillcrest Church in Austin, was pastoring an Eastland church in the 1990s when he heard the tale of four bandits – one disguised as Santa Claus – who robbed the First National Bank of Cisco, briefly escaping with two young female hostages. The job was supposed to be “easy in, … [Read more...]
Missouri Baptists reach over 1,300 Mississippi inmates through vision clinics
PARCHMAN/GREENWOOD, Miss. – A team of Missouri Baptists facilitated vision clinics in October at two Mississippi prisons, sharing the gospel widely as they provided inmates with glasses. The trip was a joint effort of two Missouri-based nonprofits, Vision 3:16 and Focus On Missions. Both organizations, with roots in local Baptist churches, are geared toward vision ministry and often collaborate on projects. Steve Smith, the founder of Focus On Missions and a member of First Baptist, … [Read more...]
‘This is really, really important’: 6-year-old issues missions offering challenge
Ethan Gee: "I’m trying to raise 1,000 and 100 dollars for missions...but, I only have $6." Like most boys at Southern Hills Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 6-year-old Ethan Gee wanted to win the penny war against the girls. “Like really, really, really bad,” he agonized. “The girls always win.” He asked his mother, Sarah, if he could take some pennies from his shark-shaped bank for the contest. They emptied the coins on the table. As they pulled out pennies, they talked … [Read more...]
Veteran’s service fuels ministry to prisoners, law enforcement
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP) — August 9, 1967, could’ve been the last day on earth for Warrant Officer Paul Davis. Yet God had other plans for his life. The Battle of Landing Zone Pat had broken out in the Song Re Valley of Vietnam as the U.S. Army tried to destroy what had become a hub of activity for Communist North Vietnam. Davis, then a 22-year-old helicopter commander, was preparing for one of the 700 combat missions he took part in during his deployment to Vietnam. He had often flown … [Read more...]
McLaurin resigns as SBC’s interim EC president and CEO, removed from search consideration
NASHVILLE (BP) — Willie McLaurin has stepped down as interim president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee and is no longer considered to be a candidate for that position by the presidential search team. McLaurin confessed to EC Chairman Phillip Robertson and EC Presidential Search Committee Chairman Neal Hughes Aug. 17 that the education credentials on his resume were forgeries. In an email statement to EC members shared with Baptist Press, Robertson said, “While considering … [Read more...]
Freshwater takes ‘family mission trip’ to Montana
BILLINGS, Mont. – For Freshwater Church in Jefferson City, mission trips are a family affair. The congregation took 32 people – representing families with ages ranging from 4 to 65 – on a mission trip to partner with three churches in Montana. From June 23 to July 1, the Missouri Baptists worked alongside believers from Big Sky Country to serve the community and point people to Jesus. They broke into two teams, one serving in Billings in center of the state, and another serving in … [Read more...]
Fifty-eight baptisms at Tennessee jail result from ministry of neighboring churches
GALLATIN, Tenn. (BP) – When more than 50 people were baptized at the Sumner County Jail in early May, it was the culmination of many years of ministry from two neighboring churches. “It was a beautiful thing, one of the highlights of my life,” said Danny Spano, a chaplain from the Sumner County Jail, of the 58 baptisms. Spano serves as the pastor of member care and recovery at Long Hollow Church in Hendersonville, Tenn. Hendersonville is one of several towns and cities which make up … [Read more...]
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