INDIANAPOLIS (BP) – On Tuesday afternoon, June 11, messengers to the 2024 Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis overwhelmingly approved two recommendations brought forward by the SBC Abuse Reform and Implementation Task Force (ARITF). The recommendations hand the priorities identified by ARITF over to the SBC Executive Committee to further implement. The move closes a chapter of Southern Baptist life marked by three consecutive annual meetings where new task forces were appointed … [Read more...]
Missouri lay pastor uses ‘borrowed time’ to help start rural church
CHULA (BP) – John Parks’ niece has a name for him – cat of nine lives. To look back at his last decade, one would have to agree. About 12 years ago, Parks had a heart attack, then a cancer diagnosis. In 2020, he was in the hospital for months with COVID-19. Not long after his recovery, doctors told him the cancer had returned. This time it was malignant. The prognosis wasn’t good. Half of those with a similar diagnosis die within a year. Usually, the other half die within the following … [Read more...]
Historic rural church building, empty for five years, houses new Missouri congregation
CHULA, Mo. (BP) – Amanda Hicks knew there were bees inside the building that once housed Chula Baptist Church. Everyone in the small Missouri town knew that. The old church had been sitting empty for nearly five years, the last of four churches that once served the small community of Chula, Missouri. While it sat empty, bees had made a home inside it, but everyone thought the bees were hiding in the walls. However, last July, as Hicks, her husband, and a friend ventured into the old … [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...]
Southern Baptists in Israel urge prayer for safety, quick, ‘miraculous’ peace in the Middle East
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article was updated at 10 a.m, Oct. 10, to include additional reporting from Pathway staff under the subhead, "Missourians impacted by attack on Israel." ASHKELON, Israel (BP) – On Friday night (Oct. 6), longtime Kentucky Baptist pastor and former Kentucky Baptist Convention staff member Alan Dodson walked on the beach in Ashkelon, Israel, as he met with U.S. ministry leaders planning future trips to the Holy Land. Just a few hours later, a devastating barrage of … [Read more...]
SBC passes resolutions on the Great Commission work of women, ethics of AI, office of pastor
NEW ORLEANS (BP) – On Tuesday afternoon (June 13), messengers to the 2023 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in New Orleans approved six resolutions, including ones on the legacy and responsibility of women fulfilling the Great Commission, the ethics of artificial intelligence, and the office of pastor. South Carolina Pastor David Sons, chair of the 2023 SBC Committee on Resolutions, told messengers that 23 resolutions had been properly submitted to the committee for consideration. … [Read more...]
In ministry to refugees, NAMB Journeyman learns importance of the gospel above all
CLARKSTON, Ga. (BP) – Carrie A. can point to the moment during her experience as a North American Mission Board (NAMB) Journeyman when she realized she was simultaneously in the middle of the Bible Belt and the 10/40 window. The 10/40 window is an area of the world between 10 degrees north latitude and 40 degrees south latitude between North Africa and East Asia where most of the world’s unreached and unengaged people groups (UUPGs) live. Carrie, who is concluding her term as a … [Read more...]
Even during pandemic, Southern Baptist church has much to be thankful for
ALAMOGORDO, N.M. (BP) – Dusty Marshall has only served as pastor of New Life Baptist Fellowship for about 11 months. But it has been a wild 11 months. When he arrived last December, the church had six members and faced an uncertain future. Marshall got to work on developing a plan to relaunch the church. Like the rest of the country, his plans ran squarely into the COVID-19 pandemic in March. God continued to work in ways Marshall never saw coming. Attendance has tripled. People have … [Read more...]
Adoniram Judson’s spiritual descendants in Massachusetts
WORCESTER, Mass. (BP) – It has been 10 years since a group of refugees from Myanmar (formerly Burma) showed up on the doorsteps of Worcester Baptist Church in Worcester, Mass., wearing traditional Burmese clothing and having very little else. They had shown up at the local Southern Baptist church because they were Baptists and wanted a place to worship. The church welcomed the refugees into their worship service and into their lives over the next decade. The refugees knew little about the … [Read more...]
Silicon Valley Buddhist finds Christ at NAMB church plant
SAN JOSE, Calif. (BP) – On Father's Day 2017, Sophie Nguyen found herself in San Jose, close to 2,000 miles from her father back home in Granger, Ind. Nguyen and her boyfriend had moved across the United States to the Silicon Valley the year before. Since it was her first Father's Day without her dad nearby, she took up a friend on his invitation to Eden Church. Nguyen knew little about Christianity and didn't understand the songs the church was singing. But God drew her in anyway. "I had … [Read more...]
Kendrick brothers talk ‘Overcomer,’ identity in Christ
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP) – Alex and Stephen Kendrick have an ambitious vision for their new movie, "Overcomer." And the vision has nothing to do with winning any awards or box-office glory. Instead, they say, it's about helping people discover their identity in Christ. "When the church rises up and knows who she is in Christ and knows she is forgiven, redeemed, loved and chosen, she is going to operate differently," Alex said. "We want you guys to be bold in your faith, to have the … [Read more...]
So. Baptists respond to Midwest tornadoes, flooding
CARL JUNCTION, Mo. (BP) – Just days after devastating storms hit the Midwest earlier this week, Southern Baptists have mobilized to help homeowners and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the impacted areas. On Monday and Tuesday (May 20-21), a violent storm system swept through the central United States producing 97 tornadoes and leaving at least eight dead. The storms have led to extensive flooding throughout the region, too. Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief teams are set up in the … [Read more...]