NASHVILLE (BP) – Southern Baptist churches are advancing the gospel state by state – and around the world – through their commitment to the Cooperative Program. From national and international mission boards to church-hosted evangelism training, the Cooperative Program plays a key role in introducing people near and far to Jesus. Among those with a grassroots vantage point to see the broad scope of Cooperative Program outreach are state convention leaders. Here are some of their … [Read more...]
NAMB planter sure to ‘brag on Jesus’
INDIANAPOLIS (BP) – Three years ago Barry Rager was the pastor of a small Kentucky church. Most of his days were centered on important church business. Among his many duties as a pastor, he prepared sermons, visited sick members and mediated church disputes. All good work. All important work. All Kingdom work. “I was kind of like the coach saying, ‘Hey, reach the people you are with,’ but I wasn’t actually the one doing it,” Rager says. Today, he would tell you his life looks much … [Read more...]
Churches likely to fear refugees
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — When it comes to helping refugees, Protestant churches and their pastors are often separated by faith and fear, according to a new survey from LifeWay Research. Most pastors say Christians should lend a hand to refugees and foreigners, and believe caring for refugees is a privilege. But pastors say their churches are twice as likely to fear refugees as they are to help them. “Pastors believe Scripture tells Christians to care for refugees and foreigners,” said Ed … [Read more...]
IRS proposal may have chilling effect on giving
JEFFERSON CITY – The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has proposed an amendment to its regulations under which churches and charities would furnish to the IRS the Social Security numbers or Employer Identification numbers of donors who give more than $250. The proposal has drawn sharp criticism from faith leaders because it could have a chilling effect on charitable giving, including church offerings. The proposed rule, while voluntary at the moment, creates the ground work for a mandatory … [Read more...]
Christian leaders raised up amid ‘ocean of idolatry’
SOUTH ASIA (BP) – Donald and Helen McKinney’s* outreach to South Asians started in North America. They first got to know a South Asian people group in their church’s backyard in New York state before becoming Christian workers on the other side of the world. Helen and her Sunday School teacher from Trinity Baptist Church in Niskayuna, N.Y., began visiting the homes of the church’s neighbors, several of whom were from South Asia. Each Thursday over tea, they formed friendships with the … [Read more...]
Angola prison church a first in SBC
ANGOLA, La. (BP) – It may be the first time a local Baptist association has accepted a prison church into its fellowship. Washington Baptist Association now counts among its members Grace Baptist Church of the Main Camp in Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. The association encompasses 38 churches in Washington and St. Tammany parishes. Paul Will, an inmate pastor inside Louisiana’s Angola prison, “overwhelmed and humbled” by the Washington Baptist Association’s unanimous vote to … [Read more...]
Six ways your church can support IMB missionaries who are returning to the U.S.
RICHMOND, Va. (BP) – With the International Mission Board expecting hundreds of missionaries to leave their positions in the coming months, the board has published a list of ways individuals and churches can support field personnel returning to the U.S. According to a Q&A posted on the IMB website and updated Nov. 18, at least 600 field personnel and stateside staff members are expected to resign as a result of a voluntary retirement incentive (VRI) offered to all personnel 50 and … [Read more...]
CP starts fiscal year 3.26% over budget projection
NASHVILLE (BP) – Contributions to Southern Baptist national and international missions and ministries received by the SBC Executive Committee in October were 0.18 percent above last year’s opening month of the convention’s fiscal year and 3.26 percent above the projected budget for the first month, according to a news release from SBC Executive Committee President and Chief Executive Officer Frank Page. As of Oct. 31, gifts received by the Executive Committee for distribution through the … [Read more...]
Returning missionaries grateful for help from Southern Baptists
RICHMOND, Va. (BP) – International Mission Board missionaries and staff are expressing thanks for the way Southern Baptists have stepped up to provide offers of housing, vehicles and job opportunities to missionaries who have accepted IMB’s voluntary retirement incentive. “Southern Baptists are not only catching the ball, they are running 99-yard touchdowns,” said one missionary serving in Asia. “ … I am praying that people will see what Southern Baptists are doing and will see His … [Read more...]
Yeats, other execs make state conventions’ case
KANSAS CITY – Leaders from five midwest and southern conventions laid out the history – and their vision for the future – of state conventions in Southern Baptist Life at SBC and the 21st Century symposium at Midwestern Seminary Sept. 29. The Missouri Baptist Convention’s (MBC) Executive Director John Yeats joined Paul Chitwood of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, Tim Lubinus of the Baptist Convention of Iowa, Jim Richards of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, and Anthony Jordan of … [Read more...]
Churches work to overcome challenges in South Africa
DIPHAGANE, South Africa (BP) –Early one Saturday morning, a mission group from two Baptist churches in Virginia attended a funeral in the yard of a deceased South African’s home. Hundreds of Pedi villagers poured in for the funeral. Some were close friends or family members, while others barely knew her, but because of their sense of community they all felt compelled to go. A procession of family, friends, other villagers and the Americans made their way to the gravesite. Later that day, … [Read more...]
42 IMB missionaries appointed; Platt addresses trustees
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (BP) – Growing up in Brazil, Thiago Montanher de Queiroz came to know Christ at 10 years old and early on felt God calling’s to follow Him into international missions. As an adult while attending a local seminary, Montanher had a professor of missions and church planting – an International Mission Board missionary – who helped confirm and encourage his calling. “[The missionary’s] love for the nations was contagious, and I have never seen anyone so passionate about the … [Read more...]
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