ST. CHARLES – The people and churches making up the Missouri Baptist Convention lent their collective voice to three resolutions during the annual meeting, each one without opposition or discussion. Resolutions are nonbinding, but they do offer a way for members to speak on certain issues with one voice. Messengers approved a resolution on Christian citizenship, urging all believers to prayerfully consider issues, platforms and candidates and then vote in the Nov. 8 elections. … [Read more...]
New labor laws loom for MBCH
BRIDGETON - It was a largely positive meeting, but trustees for Missouri Baptist Children’s Home remain uncertain about how changing labor law will affect their ministry and the lives of Missouri’s most vulnerable foster children. The discussion happened at the Oct. 11 board meeting at the MBCH campus in Bridgeton. A rule from the Obama administration’s Department of Labor goes into effect Dec. 1 which will raise the salary threshold determining which employees must be paid overtime when … [Read more...]
Baptist Builders help FBC Bevier raise profile in community
BEVIER – Just because the town of Bevier only boasts 723 people doesn’t mean things aren’t happening. “God has really blessed us,” said FBC pastor Scott Dalrymple. More than a dozen volunteers from Baptist Builders along with volunteers from the church – three of whom have worked on other Baptist Builder projects – constructing a new 50 ft x 132 ft multipurpose building for the congregation. “We’re out here in the country, so this is a big deal in our town and has caused a lot of … [Read more...]
A ‘High-tech and high-touch’ way to share the gospel
LENEXA, Kan. – Every Christian has a story to tell, and now there is one more way to spread that story far and wide. Steve Barnes, a minister on staff at Lenexa Baptist Church (a Missouri Baptist Convention-affiliated church, despite their west-of-the-border geography), is the brains behind 1millionstories.org, a website that helps people share the story of how Christ changed their lives. The site is free, available to churches and individuals, and is quick and easy to use for both the … [Read more...]
Missouri’s chaplains lend a hand – and an ear
BATON ROUGE, La. – It’s not as glamorous as wielding a chainsaw or cranking through a few thousand meals a day, but chaplains are playing a role in Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief (DR) as volunteers bring help, hope and healing to Louisiana flood victims. Tony Lee, a volunteer chaplain from First Baptist Church, Salisbury, worked alongside a crew doing mud out and debris removal. Like all DR chaplains, Lee was responsible not only for listening to the homeowner, but also for observing and … [Read more...]
Mo. DR still working Baton Rouge floods
BATON ROUGE, La. – The numbers swirling around the flood recovery efforts in Baton Rouge are overwhelming. Southern Baptist Disaster Relief Volunteers from 23 states – including more than 250 from Missouri Baptist churches – prepared more than half a million meals since mid-August. They tore out 490 homes’ drywall and sanitized 531 more and shoveled tons of muds in the Louisiana summer humidity. But other numbers stand out as well: 888 gospel presentations and 112 salvations. Feeding … [Read more...]
First Baptist, Sarcoxie opens arms, doors to community
SARCOXIE – For First Baptist Church here, the recipe for being a loving church is as simple as opening the door. That open door has led to the church of just over 100 canvassing their entire town in prayer walking and gospel distribution, as well as inviting the local school district to use the church’s gym for PE classes, volleyball and basketball practices. “That has created a really unique opportunity for us to partner with them but also to bridge that gap with the students, parents … [Read more...]
Excuses and (alleged) crimes
A few times a month, I go to jail. OK, so that was just a tad misleading. To be a little more precise, I occasionally go to the local county jail to supervise visitation between the inmates and their visitors. I’m glad we could clear that up; I don’t need any nasty rumors floating around! Visits – at least in my county – take place via a video/phone system instead of face-to-face or through a plexiglass partition. In addition to allowing inmates to stay in their pod and eliminating the … [Read more...]
Missouri father, son team up in Mexico
MATAMOROS, Mexico - It took 45 years, but Gene Butler finally got to sing a duet with his son. “We figured it was about time,” Gene said with a laugh. Gene, a member of First Baptist, Arnold and his son, David, the worship pastor at First Baptist, St. Charles, recently returned from a mission trip to Matamoros in northern Mexico. Their trip was with a group known as Focus on Missions that partners with a small, local Baptist Church and Pan de Vida (Bread of Life) Children’s Home for … [Read more...]
Missouri native recruits interims for U.K. churches
KENNETT – Growing up on a cotton farm deep in Missouri’s Boot Heel, pastoring churches was the furthest thing from Chuck McComb’s mind. But an engineering degree from the University of Missouri and a 35-year career with Monsanto somehow put McComb in the perfect position to help find and match interim pastors with churches. In England. In 1974, Monsanto sent McComb and his family across the Atlantic to help establish a chemical plant in England. While there, they worshipped at a Baptist … [Read more...]
Four Missouri churches minister in Haiti
PIGNON, Haiti – Even after being home from her mission trip to Haiti for more than a week, Casey Funk is still experiencing a bit of culture shock. A member of Fellowship Baptist Church in Neosho, Funk went from the hustle and bustle of a busy life at home to the quiet and slower pace of a Haiti. But though the noise and distractions were gone, the urgency of the gospel was stark. Funk was part of a team of 27 Missourians from Fellowship, Sweetwater Baptist, Diggins Baptist and Living … [Read more...]
Camp Whoa brings horsemanship, love of Christ to Missouri children
STOUTLAND – Ellen Replogle was sitting in church listening to missionaries tell stories of using their passions to share the gospel when it hit her: if they could use basketball, music or literacy training for Jesus, she could use her passion for the gospel too. “I got up and said ‘I’m going to do this. I can’t go to Africa, but can use my love of horses to help kids see the relationship we should have with God.’” That was five years ago. What Replogle initially thought might be just a … [Read more...]
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