EDITOR’S NOTE: The pastor’s name has been changed for security reasons. BUTTE, Mont. (BP) – Park Street Baptist Church and the BSU (Baptist Student Union) at Montana Tech University co-mingle to encourage the congregation to tell others about Jesus as they disperse around town, around the country, and around the world. Judson frequently crosses borders into security-sensitive areas, modeling Acts 8:4, “Those who have been scattered preached the word wherever they went.” He does so … [Read more...]
Throat cancer fails to loosen his grip on God’s sovereignty
CLEVELAND, Tenn. (BP) – “Don’t feel sorry for me,” Ernest Easley writes in a new book. A feeding tube is how he gets nourishment. He struggles to speak. Diagnosed with malignant throat cancer in 1998, severe side effects from 44 radiation treatments still afflict the longtime pastor. Even so: “I feel sorry for you if you haven’t learned the peace that comes from resting in God’s sovereignty,” Easley writes in “Resting in God’s Sovereignty: A 30-day Devotional on God’s Plan for His … [Read more...]
Historic pulpit survives fire at First Baptist Church, Dallas
DALLAS (BP) – A pulpit used by Southern Baptist notables like George Truett and W.A. Criswell emerged intact after surviving a fire that gutted the historic sanctuary at First Baptist Church here over the weekend. “So indescribably grateful for this miracle,” another former FBC pastor, O.S. Hawkins, shared. “In the midst of the total destruction of the church in the fire this 130 year old pulpit of Truett and Criswell and the others of us somehow someway miraculously survived. Thank you … [Read more...]
ERLC executive committee releases statement on leadership confusion
NASHVILLE (BP) – Members of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission’s executive committee acknowledged on July 23 that the events of the previous 24 hours brought confusion and frustration as conflicting press releases tried to clarify that Brent Leatherwood is still at the helm of the SBC entity. “We know that these events have shaken trust in the executive committee, the trustee board, and the organization especially. It is imperative that we commit ourselves as trustees to … [Read more...]
Smith resigns from ERLC board, issues apology for removal of Leatherwood ‘without a formal vote’
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (BP) – Southern Baptist pastor Kevin Smith announced Tuesday morning, June 23, that he has resigned as chairman and from the board of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. Smith’s resignation comes on the heels of a turbulent 24 hours for the Southern Baptist public policy entity. The ERLC announced Monday evening, July 22, that the board’s executive committee had removed President Brent Leatherwood “in accordance with our bylaws.” However, that decision … [Read more...]
UPDATE: Leatherwood to remain ERLC president; ERLC board chairman resigns
NASHVILLE (BP) – Brent Leatherwood remains president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. ERLC executive board members say board Chairman Kevin Smith acted alone in an announcement of Leatherwood’s removal on July 22 and violated the entity’s bylaws. A early morning release from the ERLC executive committee says: “As members of the ERLC’s Executive Committee, we formally retract the press release which was sent yesterday. “There was not an authorized meeting, vote, or … [Read more...]
Leatherwood removed as ERLC president
EDITOR’S NOTE: A day after this announcement was made by the ERLC, the organization retracted the announcement and stated that “There was not an authorized meeting, vote, or action taken by the Executive Committee. Kevin Smith has resigned as Chair of the Executive Committee. Brent Leatherwood remains the President of the ERLC and has our support moving forward.” NASHVILLE (BP) – The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention announced Monday night, July … [Read more...]
FBC Dallas meets in convention center after fire destroys church’s historic sanctuary
by Jonathan Howe DALLAS (BP) – Two days after a four-alarm fire ripped through the historic sanctuary at First Baptist Church, Dallas, the church gathered for worship in the nearby Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Sunday morning, June 21. “It’s not the building, it’s what that building represents: it represented the bedrock foundation of God’s Word that never changes… We are going to rebuild and recreate that sanctuary as a standing symbol of truth,” pastor Robert Jeffress told … [Read more...]
Annual meeting parking lot encounter brings food, clothes, payday to migrant
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (BP) – The man asked Daren Belardo for some cash. He received much more than that. A member of Lifepointe Church in Sedalia, Mo., supply pastor and Missouri state trooper, Belardo was attending his first SBC Annual Meeting at the invitation of his father-in-law Paul Ray Grubb, pastor emeritus of First Southern Baptist Church in Sylmar, Calif. On June 12 he dropped his in-laws off for the Send Relief breakfast and proceeded to park some four blocks away. “I parked … [Read more...]
Pastors pray for ‘God’s peace to break through’ after assassination attempt
BUTLER, Pa. (BP) – It happened for Bob Hurd and others at a wedding reception on the evening of Saturday, July 13. Phones began chiming with alerts and texts. Donald Trump had been shot. Hurd, pastor of Whitestown Road Baptist Church, had conducted the wedding ceremony. His church is 1.5 miles from the Butler Farm Showgrounds, where Trump was minutes into a campaign speech when a bullet tore through the former president’s right ear. Less than 950 feet separates Hurd’s backyard and the … [Read more...]
Lifeway study: Southern Baptists supportive of the Cooperative Program
EDITOR'S NOTE: The SBC’s Cooperation Group initiated a survey of all Southern Baptist congregations to collect data that would provide insight on churches’ understanding of and partnership through the Cooperative Program, as well as thoughts, feelings and perceptions about the Cooperative Program and stewardship. The study was administered by Lifeway Research and was sent to up to one email address on file for Southern Baptist congregations. BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (Lifeway Research) – The … [Read more...]
Midwestern Seminary receives $1.25M grant from Lilly Endowment to establish Institute for Preaching and Preachers
KANSAS CITY, Mo (MBTS) – Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has received a grant of $1.25 million from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help establish the Midwestern Institute for Preaching and Preachers. The effort is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s Compelling Preaching Initiative. The aim of the initiative is to foster and support preaching that better inspires, encourages, and guides people to come to know and love God and to live out their Christian faith more fully. The … [Read more...]