Joe Ortworth/Missouri Family Policy Council The Missouri Supreme Court has upheld a Missouri law that provides benefits to the surviving spouses of deceased public safety officers. A St. Louis area man had challenged the law, claiming that it discriminated against him based on his “sexual orientation.” The lawsuit followed the death of Corporal Dennis Englehard, a state highway patrol trooper who was killed in the line of duty on Christmas day of 2009 while assisting a motorist on … [Read more...]
Whiteheads prepare brief, attend key hearing at U.S. Supreme Court
WASHINGTON – Missouri Baptist Convention General Legal Counsel Michael Whitehead and his son, Jonathan, co-wrote the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission’s (ERLC) brief in defense of prayer for the city of Greece, N.Y., in its case argued recently at the U.S. Supreme Court. The Whiteheads, who are members of Abundant Life Baptist Church in Lee’s Summit, also attended the oral arguments on the case before the U.S. Supreme Court. “While some justices were tempted to parse the words of … [Read more...]
Missouri WMU holds missionary retreat
ROCKY MOUNT – A missionary retreat held Oct. 7-8 at Cross Pointe Retreat Center here drew 46 missionaries, including 35 emeritus missionaries who spent time refreshing, fellowshipping and swapping stories from their times of service on the mission field. This year’s theme was “Down Memory Lane” and was hosted by the Madge Committee of the Missouri WMU (MWMU). Both IMB and NAMB missionaries attended this event, according to MWMU Missionary Advocate Maryetta Dennis. Mike Dennis led two Bible … [Read more...]
Yeats urges pastors to promote CP, confront culture
KANSAS CITY – Missouri Baptists made a “grave mistake” when they allowed the state convention to take the lead role in promoting the Cooperative Program, Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) executive director John Yeats said during his address at the 2013 annual meeting in Kansas City, Oct. 28. This grave mistake took shape in the 1980s and 1990s, and “it is time it had a funeral,” Yeats said. “From the outset, the key promoters, the key educators, the key leaders for Baptist … [Read more...]
Bumpers: Messengers thirst for God’s power
KANSAS CITY – Eddie Bumpers urged messengers and guests at the Missouri Baptist Convention’s annual meeting, Oct. 29, to thirst for and seek after the power of God in their lives and ministries. “We need to experience the power of God in our ministries and in our lives and in our families and in our convention,” Bumpers said, calling messengers to consider the example of Elisha in 2 Kings 2:1-9. “Here in the Old Testament, we meet a man by the name of Elisha, who was used by God in a … [Read more...]
Dhati Lewis practices the discipleship often preached
KANSAS CITY – Jesus told His followers to make disciples, and Dhati Lewis lives this out in unique ways. Lewis, founding pastor of Blueprint Church in Atlanta, Ga., was a featured speaker at the CORE Conference during the Missouri Baptist Convention’s annual meeting, Oct. 29. Lewis shared a humorous but poignant illustration of talk versus action. “It came to pass that a group of people existed who called themselves fishermen,” Lewis said. “There were many fish around and many streams … [Read more...]
Luter wows crowd with fiery keynote
KANSAS CITY – President of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Fred Luter closed out the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) annual meeting with a bang Oct. 30 when he challenged Missouri churches to get back to the personal, powerful, practical, persistent gospel. Luter, who serves as pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, made history in 2012 when messengers at the SBC Annual Meeting elected him the first black president of the denomination. His fiery message at the … [Read more...]
MBC president points Missouri Baptists to ‘the holy way’
KANSAS CITY – Missouri Baptist Convention President Wesley Hammond challenged messengers at the annual meeting here to live up to the high calling of God and to choose the “Holy Way” as they go back to their churches. Hammond, who pastors First Baptist Church, Paris, brought the challenge from Isa. 35:8 during the opening session Oct. 28. In that passage Isaiah writes: “A road will be there and a way; it will be called the Holy Way. The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be … [Read more...]
Little Bonne Femme affirms inerrancy, cooperation
COLUMBIA – The Little Bonne Femme Association affirmed the inerrancy of Scripture and their cooperation with the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) and the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) during their annual meeting at Calvary Baptist Church, Columbia, Sept. 15. The decision could strengthen an association in need of renewal, said Larry Lewis, interim pastor at Calvary Baptist, Columbia, and president of the association. “The Little Bonne Femme Association has continued to lose … [Read more...]
Midwestern Seminary names new undergraduate dean; announces record fall enrollment, largest gift in its history
Tim Sweetman/MBTS communications KANSAS CITY – During the fall meeting at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary on Oct. 21, the Board of Trustees elected a new dean of Midwestern Baptist College, celebrated a record fall enrollment, and announced the largest undesignated gift in the school’s history. New college leader elected In the afternoon plenary session, the trustees voted unanimously to elect John Mark Yeats as dean of Midwestern Baptist College and to serve as associate … [Read more...]
New coordinator, church planting center bolster HIS/I-29
ST. JOSEPH – The Heartland Interstate Strategy (HIS) team’s efforts to target the Interstate 29 corridor for the gospel were bolstered by plans to hire a coordinator stationed in Missouri and to work with Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s Center for Church Planting. The HIS team met Oct. 21 in St. Joseph, the southernmost hub city on the corridor that stretches through the Upper Midwest into Canada. During the meeting, a job description and responsibilities for the HIS … [Read more...]
God is moving, working in Missouri, let’s join Him
One essential part of an Annual Meeting is greeting the people we know and meeting new people who have joined us in our cooperative ministries. This year was no exception, as godly men and women gathered and fellowshipped. Sure, we had business to do, but this year it was obvious that we took away from the meeting a much deeper understanding of the ways of God. The meeting in Kansas City is now history. However, if you haven’t watched from the website the executive director’s address, … [Read more...]