HANNIBAL – For the second year in a row, figures from Hobby Lobby’s Supreme Court battle for religious freedom headlined the Missouri Baptist Convention’s Worldview Conference. Unlike last year, they were not merely waiting on a verdict. This time around they were rejoicing in favor before the court and God’s grace. Mike McAfee, director of faith initiatives for Hobby Lobby and the son-in-law of the company’s president, Steve Green, opened in a way that may surprise critics of the Supreme … [Read more...]
Springfield voters overturn ’gay rights’ ordinance
SPRINGFIELD – In a tight race that showed the value of a vote, Springfield citizens April 7 narrowly repealed a sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) ordinance enacted by the city council last fall that critics said endangered privacy and religious liberty and was unnecessary. The “Yes” votes to repeal totaled 15,347 compared to 14,493 “No” votes, or 51.4 percent to 48.6 percent. Out of more than 29,000 votes, 854 made the difference in returning the city code on the issue to the … [Read more...]
HLG approves budget, hires new academic VP
HANNIBAL – Trustees for Hannibal-LaGrange University (HLGU) approved a $23.18 million budget for the upcoming year and welcomed a new vice president to campus during their March 19-20 meetings on campus. Trustees unanimously approved the hiring of Miles Mullin as vice president of academic affairs and dean of faculty. Mullin comes to HLGU from Southwestern Seminary’s Houston campus, where he served as associate professor of church history. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the … [Read more...]
Field retiring after 18 years
JEFFERSON CITY – He has been a fixture at 400 E. High St. and worked in a variety of roles for nearly two decades, but Jerry Field will retire from the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) Executive Board staff April 15. Most recently serving as the team leader for support services, Field came to the MBC in 1996 as personal evangelism unit leader. Since then, he as also served as director of evangelism, state director of church planting and associate executive director. “Jerry has served … [Read more...]
Mountain Grove rebuilds, reaches out
MOUNTAIN GROVE – Sometimes the road to church revitalization is less a road and more of a potato field. A year ago, Mountain Grove Family Church, a once-thriving congregation here in south central Missouri, was stuck mid-stride in a stalled building program, with just six or seven members paying the church’s expenses out of pocket to keep the doors open. The church sought help from the Missouri Baptist Convention, which paired them Westside Baptist Church 90 minutes north in Waynesville as … [Read more...]
Springfield gears up for ‘gay rights’ vote
SPRINGFIELD – Citizens of Springfield will vote ‘yes’ April 7 to restore religious liberty protections or ‘no’ to keep an “equal rights” ordinance that extends nondiscrimination protection to include sexual orientation and “gender identity.” Critics of the ordinance say Missouri has laws already on the books offering protections, and that the ordinance goes too far at the expense of religious liberty. The city’s council voted 6 to 3 Oct. 13, 2014, to approve Ordinance 6141, which codifies … [Read more...]
Cards Matheny includes testimony in new book
ST. LOUIS – Spring training is here and both Cardinals fans and Royals fans are eager to see warmer weather and Opening Day arrive. But until April (and hopefully two more post-season runs), consider tiding yourself over with this easy-to-digest but still interesting book by Cardinals skipper, Mike Matheny: The Matheny Manifesto. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because it comes from a 2007 letter Matheny wrote to the parents of the little league team he managed. It went viral, with his … [Read more...]
Asbury enters gov’s race
MOBERLY – The election is more than a year-and-a-half away, but a Missouri Baptist has already thrown his hat into the ring to be elected governor next November. Randy Asbury, a member of First Baptist Church, Salisbury, made the announcement Feb. 12 at Moberly Area Community College. Asbury, a Republican, served in the Missouri House beginning in 2010 as the representative from the 22nd district, but lost his seat due to redistricting in 2012. He is a former deputy director for the … [Read more...]
Law sheds light on reading the Bible in schools
MARSHALL – A small town in Missouri briefly became a flashpoint of religious freedom when inconclusive reports hit media outlets that a student at Bueker Middle School here was told he was not allowed to read his Bible during his free time. A seventh grader there told his parents and WDAF-TV in Kansas City a teacher told him he could not read the Bible at school. However, there has not been validation of the accusation and the principal has since made public comments assuring the Bible and … [Read more...]
Marching with MLK
FERGUSON – Stoney Shaw was just an idealistic seminary student, the white son of Florida sharecroppers who grew up alongside the black children whose families worked those same fields. But his experience with racism, protests and a chance encounter with Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1967 would shape him into a man uniquely equipped to pastor a church like First Baptist Church of Ferguson, a town now known internationally – fairly or not – as a hotbed of racial unrest and violence. “We grew … [Read more...]
‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’ drowns in sea of confusion
It’s impossible to watch Exodus: Gods and Kings and not compare it to two movies: this spring’s Noah and the 1956 classic, The Ten Commandments. You get no points for guessing this modern action epic falls short of the Charlton Heston/Yul Brynner masterpiece, but I was disappointed that it didn’t even rise to the much lower bar set by Noah. Whereas Noah was a decent movie underneath the layers of extrabiblical story, Exodus retells the biblical account in its own odd way without even giving … [Read more...]
Missouri answers Bucket Challenge
JEFFERSON CITY – Baptist Global Response (BGR) – the international disaster relief arm of Southern Baptists – is asking Missouri Baptists to help provide “buckets of hope” to sub-Saharan Africa, an area ravaged by HIV/AIDS. More than 23 million people there are living with HIV/AIDS, with more than a million dying each year. The “hospice kits” packed into a five-gallon bucket by Missouri Baptists is one way BGR has been able to open doors to share the gospel, said Missouri coordinators and … [Read more...]
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