SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A little over a hundred Missouri Baptists took in leadership training and missions inspiration at the Midwest Advance leadership summit in Springfield, Ill., Jan. 23-25. Registration for the event was coordinated through Baptist associations in the state and directors of missions were allowed to recruit a limited number of pastors and associational leaders for the event. Headlining the event were Darryl Gaddy, a church planting strategist from Detroit; Kevin Ezell, … [Read more...]
Sen. Lankford, ERLC’s Moore amplify Baptist view of church-state separation
WASHINGTON (BP) – Two Southern Baptists – one a U.S. senator and the other a convention entity head – said on Religious Freedom Day the idea of “separation of church and state” entails freedom – rather than limitations – to Americans in the practice of their faith. Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, co-wrote “The Real Meaning of the Separation of Church and State” for the celebration Jan. 16 of the country’s heritage … [Read more...]
Flu outbreak prompts churches to take precautions
DALLAS, Ga. (BP) – Johnny Nix of Pickett’s Mill Baptist Church has asked volunteers to consider staying away. Like so many other churches, Nix and the Dallas, Ga., church he leads are locked in a battle with the flu. “We’ve instructed our volunteers and workers to postpone coming by for a couple of weeks if they or someone in their family has had it,” Nix told Georgia Baptists’ Christian Index newsjournal. “That may seem a little extreme, but we’re taking every precaution necessary.” And … [Read more...]
Tremendous help and difficult decisions in Sutherland Springs months after tragedy
SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas – Six-year-old Ryland Ward, the last victim hospitalized from the Sutherland Springs massacre, returned home in style Jan. 11, riding in a crimson Wilson County fire truck driven by volunteer firefighter Rusty Duncan, who had rescued the boy from the Nov. 5 carnage. Ryland returns home to a world markedly different than the one he left—a new normal without his stepmother, Joann Ward, who died shielding her children from the shooter. Ryland’s sisters Emily and … [Read more...]
Factory or horseback, bivocational pastor thrives
EDITOR'S NOTE: Several keys for effective bivocational ministry follow this story. AUGUSTA, Kan. (BP) -- Each workstation is a flurry of activity. Plastic bottles stream down the conveyer belts. Hands reach out to adjust each bottle to face the same direction before they go to plastic wrap. Across the floor, someone shouts above the rickety-racket to shut down one of the machines and reload. Don Mayberry walks through the factory's maze of machines and activity, stopping to talk to … [Read more...]
‘Church Security Handbook’ an easy first step
KANSAS CITY – Few topics are as hot and fresh on the minds of church goers as church security. What was already an oft debated topic was thrust into the national spotlight in November when a killer charged into the morning worship services at First Baptist Church, Sutherland Springs, Texas and murdered 26 while injuring 20 others. Responses from churches large and small are varied. Some seek to formalize, review and refine their security and contingency plans. Others rely solely on local … [Read more...]
FEMA sets Feb. 4 cutoff for Harvey aid applications
WASHINGTON (BP) - Texas churches wishing to apply for federal disaster aid funds following Hurricane Harvey have until Feb. 4 to do so, according to a notice from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Though such funds long had not been available to churches and other houses of worship, FEMA announced a policy change Jan. 2 amid the pressure of a lawsuit by three small Texas churches and urging from both President Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Now houses of worship … [Read more...]
FEMA: Churches now eligible for recovery funds
WASHINGTON (BP) – Churches whose facilities have been damaged by natural disasters now are eligible to receive relief funds from the federal government, according to a Jan. 2 announcement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). "Private nonprofit houses of worship will not be singled out for disfavored treatment within the community centers subcategory of [public assistance] nonprofit applicants," FEMA Recovery Directorate Assistant Administrator Alex Amparo wrote in a guide … [Read more...]
Hark! Skipping Christmas carol verses discouraged
NASHVILLE (BP) -- As worship pastor Andrew Lucius selects songs for Christmas worship, he is considering specific needs in the Georgia congregation he serves. Among his conclusions: singing only the first verse of familiar carols could leave worshipers spiritually malnourished. The widow "who's going through the Christmas season the first time this year without her husband ... needs more than the first verse of 'Joy to the World!'" said Lucius, associate pastor of music and worship at … [Read more...]
Commissioning conflict: Civil rights board recommends creating protected classes for sexual orientation and gender identity
(WNS) - The headquarters of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) is a mile and a half, or a brisk 20-minute walk, west of the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. Despite its geographic proximity, the release last week of a report calling for a federal LGBT nondiscrimination law indicates the commissioners are far removed from what was heard at the high court Tuesday. Gay rights activists and their supporters in Congress have for decades sought passage of a federal … [Read more...]
Baptists still fighting HHS mandate
WASHINGTON (BP) – Southern Baptist institutions and other objectors to the six-year-old abortion/contraception mandate are still working to protect their freedom of conscience on a number of fronts after the Trump administration provided aid through a new rule. The challengers to the controversial requirement are negotiating with the federal government, pushing for permanent relief in court and, in the case of the Little Sisters of the Poor, fighting new suits now being waged by California … [Read more...]
Daughter joins mother in Mission: Dignity gratitude
DALLAS (BP) – Growing up as a preacher’s daughter, Estela Rangel had only one request of her husband David when they married: “Never become a pastor.” As a child, she had felt pressure to be perfect in the eyes of the church, and she wanted a different life as an adult. “But God had His plans,” Estela said. After five years of marriage, David began to talk with her about the call he felt to become a pastor. The two were volunteering in the bus ministry of the Hispanic mission church where … [Read more...]
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