Van Welton/ Pastor of Apple Valley Baptist Church BERRYVILLE, Va. (BP) – Can a small church pastor benefit the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)? Biblically and historically, the answer is a clear yes. Berryville is the county seat for Clarke County, the smallest county in Virginia. The latest census indicated that just over 4,000 people live in Berryville. It has a total of three stoplights, and the closest Walmart is 17 miles away. By many standards, Berryville is puny. In … [Read more...]
MacArthur leads inaugural Spurgeon Lectures
Tim Sweetman/MBTS KANSAS CITY (BP) – More than 1,200 students, faculty and guests packed Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s chapel to be taught by an internationally-known pastor and teacher during the inaugural Charles H. Spurgeon Lectures on Biblical Preaching. John MacArthur, pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, Calif., and president of Master’s Seminary and College, was the guest lecturer and discussed the topic of expository preaching Oct. 29-30. The Charles H. … [Read more...]
Because you give … a light shines in global darkness
Rick Hedger has seen the light – that is, the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ shining in dark places. As Partnership Missions strategist and team leader for Missional Evangelism/Discipleship, Hedger feels powerfully compelled to obey Jesus’ command to go and make disciples of all people. Along with other Missouri Baptists, Hedger is helping awaken Missouri’s more than 1,900 Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) churches to the greatest challenge the world has ever known: taking the … [Read more...]
Send North America sparks Ala.-St. Louis church plant
Like thousands of other Southern Baptist churches, First Baptist Church of Hokes Bluff, Ala., has a long and treasured history of missions involvement. Several of our families have served as foreign missionaries. We have given substantially to missions through our local association, the Cooperative Program and special Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) offerings. Yet despite that long history, it has been nearly 15 years since our last missionary family left the field. This has left us … [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...]
Missouri Baptists challenged to be involved in missions
Richard Nations/contributing writer Kansas City – Missouri Baptists were challenged to be involved in missions efforts with believers in North America and around the world at the annual Partnership Missions luncheon on Oct. 29 at the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) annual meeting. Featured speakers were Pastor Sergio Rebollar Oropeza, president of the Puebla and Tlaxcala Baptist Convention in Mexico and Roger Graves, church planting strategist with the Baptist Convention of … [Read more...]
Send North America sparks Alabama, St. Louis church plant partnership
By Eric House Like thousands of other Southern Baptist churches, First Baptist Church of Hokes Bluff, Ala., has a long and treasured history of missions involvement. Several of our families have served as foreign missionaries. We have given substantially to missions through our local association, the Cooperative Program and special SBC offerings. Yet despite that long history, it has been nearly 15 years since our last missionary family left the field. This has left us feeling more … [Read more...]
NAMB provides $1 million for HIS
TOBIN PERRY/North American Mission Board Sioux Falls, S.D. (BP) — Thanks to an historic shift in the funding relationship between the North American Mission Board (NAMB) and state conventions throughout the South Region, $1 million will be available over the next four years to help start churches in key cities and towns along the I-29 corridor – also known as HIS, Hearland Interstate Stratey – that runs from Kansas City to Canada. “I am grateful to our friends in the South state … [Read more...]
Guns in church
Norwood – Pastor Stephen Fugitt believes that churches have the right to arm themselves for the day when a gunman enters their buildings to do harm. Yet no one had time to open fire against a gunman who aimed his .357 magnum revolver at Fugitt as he preached to his congregation at the First Baptist Church of Norwood, July 21. Instead, one church member grabbed the gunman’s arm, causing his first shot to hit the ceiling, while other men helped to wrestle him to the ground. They held him … [Read more...]
Guy Penrod to perform at Kansas Church
Overland Park, Kan. – Singer/songwriter Guy Penrod will perform in concert at the Emmanuel Baptist Church here, Sept. 26. Penrod has just recently been nominated for two Gospel Music Association Dove Awards, one for “Hymns” as Country Album of the Year, and the second for his “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms,” as Country song of the year. The awards ceremony is October 15 at Lipscomb University Allen Arena. In recent months, Penrod left as Gaither Vocal Band after 14 years, to focus on … [Read more...]
Iowa Convention looking for executive director
The Executive Director Search Committee of the Baptist Convention of Iowa (BCI) has begun seeking candidates to fill the position of executive director/treasurer, which was left vacant by the retirement of Jimmy Barrentine in September of 2011. During this time the BCI has been led by Interim Director Thomas L. Law, III as the convention has undergone restructuring. The Baptist Convention of Iowa began as an association of 25 churches in 1965. The state work grew to a Fellowship status in … [Read more...]
Indian Falls Creek brings together familes, tribes
DAVIS — For more than 65 years, the Indian Falls Creek (IFC) Baptist Assembly has acted as a powerful time for missions, ministry and equipping Native Americans from across Oklahoma and the United States. More than 2,300 attended the 2013 Assembly, meeting July 28-Aug. 1, representing hundreds of churches and dozens of tribes. The 2013 IFC, which was home to a variety of daily activities, Bible studies and fellowship, was historic in various ways. On July 29, Anthony L. Jordan, Executive … [Read more...]