BOLIVAR (SBU) — Southwest Baptist University’s Board of Trustees met for its regular fall meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 22. Action items and discussion included approval of the new strategic plan, Peer Assessment Committee report and the removal of one trustee. Strategic plan approval Trustees approved the “Shaping Our Story Together” 2019-2028 strategic plan, guiding SBU toward the sesquicentennial in 2028. The planning process began in Fall 2018, and the board received a … [Read more...]
SBU trustees release Executive Summary of Peer Assessment Committee report
BOLIVAR (SBU) — After presenting Peer Assessment Committee findings to Southwest Baptist University’s full Board of Trustees on Oct. 22, the Executive Committee released its Executive Summary. The Peer Assessment Committee, chaired by Dr. David Dockery, chancellor of Trinity International University, conducted an external review of SBU’s integration of faith, learning and orthodoxy. In particular, the committee evaluated the key elements of Baptist distinctiveness that inform SBU’s … [Read more...]
Church merger ensures gospel witness
MAPLEWOOD – A group of believers in Maplewood has a vision for the future. This congregation is the new merger of Maplewood Baptist Church and Mid-Cities Church, to be renamed Mid-Cities Church at Maplewood. “We voted to come together,” Nate Edmondson, lead pastor of Mid-Cities, said, “after a transition team made a recommendation for us to join together.” Mid-Cities Church was a young plant meeting upstairs in the Maplewood Baptist Church gym while the Maplewood Baptist Church was … [Read more...]
Renovate SEMO creates replanting, revitalization leadership residencies
CAPE GIRARDEAU – Leading a church can be a challenge even in ideal circumstances. That goes double (or triple, or ten-fold) for a congregation that may need to take a hard look at itself and determine if revitalization or replanting might be the best way to glorify God. Renovate SEMO is a concerted effort by Cape Girardeau Baptist Association to help guide pastors through that process with a residency program. “Not only do we want to be coming alongside churches to see that … [Read more...]
SBU selects Kimbrough as theology professor
BOLIVAR – Matt Kimbrough, Ph.D., will join the faculty at Southwest Baptist University in January 2020. He will be an Assistant Professor of Theology in The Courts Redford College of Theology and Ministry. “I want to call students to the same Biblical faithfulness demanded of me as an undergraduate student,” Kimbrough said. “Deep down, I bleed SBU purple. I connected well with the students and faculty, and I have often prayed for an opportunity to return home to the SBU … [Read more...]
Norfleet Baptist opens doors to Russian fellowship
KANSAS CITY – Norfleet Baptist Church felt invisible. “We have canvassed the neighborhoods many times,” said pastor Scott Flippin. “We have hung door hangers, gospel tracts, and invitations to church on their doors. We have rung doorbells and shared the gospel. We have prayer walked. We’ve put flyers out in the elementary schools. We’ve adopted local families at Christmas. We’ve hosted Trunk or Treats, Easter Egg Hunts, Movie Nights and Vacation Bible School, but we felt invisible. Nobody … [Read more...]
Missouri Baptist churches partner to plant Northland en Español
KANSAS CITY – The members of two families in north Kansas City have already come to faith in Christ because of a new partnership between two Missouri Baptist churches eager to reach the Hispanic community here. Primera Iglesia Bautista (First Baptist Church), Independence, partnered with Northland Baptist Church to begin another Hispanic congregation called Northland en Español. According to MBC church planter Luis Sanchez, the need for multiplying Baptist churches among Hispanics in the … [Read more...]
BSU, association connect with internationals during ‘Celebration of Nations’
ROLLA – Students from across the globe paraded through Rolla, Sept. 28, during Missouri S&T’s annual “Celebration of Nations” event here. Many of the students wore traditional dress and waved the flags from their homelands. They set up booths, serving food from around the world. Missouri S&T Baptist Student Union Director Bruce Wade ordered Chicken Masala, a traditional Indian dish – discovering a tad too late how spicy it was. Fortunately, Phelps County Baptist Association … [Read more...]
Twin campuses, one church – FBC Raymore, Fellowship Greenwood unite for the Kingdom
RAYMORE – Whether you call it by its former name – First Baptist Church – or its new one, Fellowship Church, it’s a “God story.” That’s how Alan Findley describes the congregation meeting in this fast-growing suburb of Kansas City. Over the past 18 months or so, First Baptist, Raymore, found itself without a pastor and began looking and praying over the direction God would take the future of their church. They could search for a new pastor and continue with their status quo, but they … [Read more...]
‘Your body is temple of the Holy Spirit’ – Pastor, wife urge church leaders to be healthy, take care of themselves
POLO – Marc Knapp had a problem, and it was a problem of his own making, one forkful at a time. But even though the number on the scales crept higher and higher, the fight to be healthier and be in better shape to serve the Kingdom seemed futile to Knapp, pastor of First Baptist Church, Polo. “I’ve always had a heart for overweight pastors,” Knapp said. “I get the stress. I understand how hard it is to make time to take care of yourself when you’re exhausted. And that’s just sermon … [Read more...]
Tractor, quilt show hauls in Centralia crowds
CENTRALIA – If the change in the weather makes you think of harvest time or snuggling up under a quilt, Grandview Baptist Church has you covered. The congregation 20 miles north of Columbia hosted a quilt and tractor show, Sept. 21, with the community turning out in force. “It’s a way to let the local community be a community,” said Grandview pastor, Don Combs. “We were wanting to bring in all of our neighbors and folks from around the area to be able to spend time together and see … [Read more...]
Great Commission Conference ‘put on hold’ by MBC for 2020
JEFFERSON CITY – The Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) announced last month its decision to put the Great Commission Conference on hold for 2020, according to a statement from MBC Making Disciples director Brad Bennett. “The Great Commission Conference, formally known as the Evangelism Conference, has been one the longest-standing equipping events in our state and we are evaluating its current effectiveness,” Bennett wrote in a statement released to The Pathway, Sept. 30. “I remember a … [Read more...]