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...]
SBTC’s Richards announces plans to step down in 2021
AUSTIN, Texas (BP) – Jim Richards, the executive director of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC), has announced his intention to transition from leadership, effective Dec. 31, 2021. Richards, who informed the SBTC executive board of his intention during its meeting Wednesday (Nov. 11), is the founding executive director of the 22-year-old state convention, which has grown from 120 affiliated churches when he was elected in November 1998, to nearly 2,700 churches today. … [Read more...]
Messengers approve Montana mission partnership, Minnesota-Wisconsin partnership to continue
ST. CHARLES – Messengers to the Missouri Baptist Convention annual meeting, Oct. 26-27, approved a new seven-year missions partnership with the Montana Southern Baptist Convention. The missions partnership with the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention will continue for another five years. Rick Hedger, MBC Multiplying Churches director said, “I am very thankful for the overwhelming response to the new state- to-state partnership between Missouri and the Montana state convention. It is … [Read more...]
Former Missourian reaches unchurched in Montana
LAUREL, Mont. – Gazing out the window in Big Sky Country, Greg Payton wonders how you can see the majesty on display and not instinctively feel the need to acknowledge the One who created it. And yet, that is what most Montanans do, Payton said. “I'm not going to say that they're just resistant to God,” he said. “They're open; they don't see a need. Their parents and grandparents have survived on this land since the 1800s. How does God relate to what we've been doing for generations here … [Read more...]
Kentucky pastor finds treasured photo of Billy Graham in filing cabinet
TAYLORSVILLE, Ky. (BP) – A Kentucky Baptist pastor unearthed a real treasure in the church office on Oct. 26. Pastor Chance McConnell had heard about the photograph from 1953 of the late Rev. Billy Graham holding a child on his lap in the church parsonage, but he’d never seen it. Until Monday, Oct. 26. And thanks to social media, a lot of other people have seen it now too. The color photograph shows Graham holding Bill Crouch, the son of Henry Crouch, who was pastor of First … [Read more...]
Worship God by tithing, Floyd says in free biblical stewardship resource
NASHVILLE (BP) – The financial offering is an exciting part of worship deserving preparation and exhortation on par with sermons, SBC Executive Committee President and CEO Ronnie Floyd believes. That’s a main point of the new resource he authored, “Ten percent: A Call to Biblical Stewardship,” available in digital format and in print at sbc.net. “Giving is an act of worshipping God; therefore, as we give, we should give our best with a pure heart,” Floyd said. “Pastors are privileged … [Read more...]
Arizona missionary overcomes pandemic restrictions to reach Native Americans
ARIZONA – Eric and Brittany Gibbs have built their ministry to Arizona’s Native American community on the theme “You are loved,” and their "Live Love Ministries" seeks to make as many partner individuals and churches a part of that as possible. “Hospitality is key for followers of Jesus,” Eric Gibbs said. “Hospitality is bringing people into your life, not just welcoming them into your home. As a believer it is important to love people, all people, and especially those who are … [Read more...]
CP feeds international students during COVID-19 economic slump
EDITOR’S NOTE: October is Cooperative Program Emphasis Month in the Southern Baptist Convention. BATON ROUGE (BP) – Longtime Baptist collegiate minister Steve Masters received a call from an international student at the start of the COVID-19 economic shutdown. The Louisiana State University student’s job was no longer available. “He wanted to know if we could provide him with some money or some food. So I gave him some personal money and I provided him with some direct food,” Masters … [Read more...]
Alaska Baptist messengers vote to withhold CP funds due to friction between state convention, NAMB
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (BP) – Messengers to the annual meeting of the Alaska Baptist Resource Network voted to withhold the allocation of future Cooperative Program funds intended for the North American Mission Board. The state convention moved Sept. 29 that beginning with the 2022 budget, “the percentage of Cooperative Program funds that traditionally were intended for the North American Mission Board … be retained in Alaska” and designated for a state missions fund “until such time as there … [Read more...]
‘We fell in love with the big sky’
Chillicothe native shares Christ in the ‘wide open spaces’ of Montana EDITOR'S NOTE: During their latest meeting, the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) executive board recommended that the MBC enter into a seven-year partnership with the Montana Southern Baptist Convention (MTSBC), beginning on Jan. 1, 2021. Messengers at the MBC annual meeting will decide whether to move forward with the missions partnership during their annual meeting in here, Oct. 26-27. To read more about this … [Read more...]
Missouri Baptists invest in churches, communities throughout Minnesota-Wisconsin convention
ROCHESTER, Minn. – Last year, Southside Baptist Church, Fulton, sent a team of roughly 25 people to minister to the Emmanuel Baptist Church here and help them reach out to its community. Their church’s mission work in the region was just one of the 65 Missouri Baptist partnership missions endeavors that took place in the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention (MWSC) in 2019. During his 12-year tenure with the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC), Making Disciples Director Rick Hedger … [Read more...]
Mission:Dignity offers refreshment to faithful servants in need
DALLAS, Texas (GuideStone) – Proverbs 11:25 assures us that whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. As Bob and Lois Kendrick refreshed others in their ministry, they have been refreshed through Mission:Dignity. Bob and Lois served a total of forty-two years in the ministry, all in Oklahoma. It started in 1967 when Bob left a promising career in the financial world to give his life to the ministry. “It was worth all that I gave up,” he said. With smiles on their faces and arms opened … [Read more...]
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