CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – A massive windstorm, also known as a “derecho,” swept across central and eastern Iowa, Aug. 10, causing massive destruction in Cedar Rapids. A derecho is a “straight wind” weather incident, in this case with 100-140 MPH winds recorded. It flattened buildings and trees all across the city of Cedar Rapids, population 133,562. Local television station KCRG reported there were 50 persons injured in the storm, but no fatalities. MBC Disaster Relief (DR) volunteers … [Read more...]
MBTS introduces free local church theological training through FTC Institute
KANSAS CITY – Midwestern Seminary announced last month the launch of the For the Church Institute—a free online training platform designed to provide accessible theological training to equip, encourage, and edify the local church and beyond. Jordan Wilbanks, director of church partnerships at Midwestern Seminary, acknowledged that there is a growing movement in local churches, called “church-based theological education,” where regular church members are seeking out educational … [Read more...]
Midwestern Seminary’s Spanish Studies Department grows, reorganizes staff
KANSAS CITY – Citing significantly increased program growth, Midwestern Seminary’s Spanish Studies Department announced on Aug. 5 a reorganization of the staff and the addition of new faculty members. According to Bobby Sena, director of Spanish Studies, Arnaldo Achucarro and Cesar Perez have been added to the teaching faculty, and Felix Cabrera will assume additional responsibilities. “With nearly 200 students now pursuing degrees through the Spanish Studies Department, the time was … [Read more...]
SBC entity trustee meetings move primarily online due to COVID-19 restrictions
NASHVILLE (BP) — The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee meeting scheduled to be held in Nashville Sept. 21-22 has been canceled and replaced with a special called meeting, to be held online Sept. 22. EC Chairman Rolland Slade said given the COVID-19 pandemic, meeting virtually was the best decision for the safety of EC members, their families, congregations and others who might participate. “Canceling the in-person meeting and moving to virtual, though not what we wanted … [Read more...]
NAMB files en banc request, First Liberty Institute joins case
NEW ORLEANS (BP) – Citing a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board has asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for a hearing by the full court in order to reconsider a ruling in a lawsuit filed by a former executive of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware. Last month, a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit remanded the case to a district court, reversing a dismissal decision from April 2019 that stated the court could … [Read more...]
Franklin Graham announces national prayer march in Washington
WASHINGTON (BP) — Evangelist Franklin Graham is asking Americans to join him in a Washington prayer march Sept. 26 to plead for God to save the nation from its present distress. “Our communities are hurting. Our people are divided, and there’s fear and uncertainty all around us,” Graham said in a video announcing the event. “So let’s join together and do the most important thing, and that is to pray.” Amid a global COVID-19 pandemic and an international uprising decrying injustice and … [Read more...]
SBC Executive Committee elects first African American chair
NASHVILLE (BP) – The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee elected its first African American chair in a special called meeting June 16. Rolland Slade, pastor of Meridian Baptist Church in El Cajon, Calif., was unopposed as EC chair and was unanimously elected by ballot vote. Outgoing chair Mike Stone called for a ballot vote, he said, to mark the historic moment. "I think we all realize by what is going on in this country as well as in our convention, this timing is in many … [Read more...]
Racial healing, Great Commission, Cooperative Program headline SBC Advance event, June 2
NASHVILLE (BP) – Amid unprecedented challenges resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as racial unrest and tumult after the recent death of an African American man in police custody, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Executive Committee offered a healing balm June 2 with SBC Advance. The two-hour online event was not intended to replace the 2020 SBC Annual Meeting (originally scheduled June 9-10 in Orlando, but canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic), but instead to … [Read more...]
SBC’s McLaurin: ‘Lament, listen, love, lead’
EDITOR’S NOTE: Willie McLaurin serves as vice president for Great Commission relations and mobilization with the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee. NASHVILLE (BP) – If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video recording must be worth a million. In the disturbing video of George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis on Memorial Day while in police custody, words are really hard to come by. A bystander's cellphone video showed a former police officer, Derek Chauvin, … [Read more...]
Southern Baptist leaders issue joint statement on the death of George Floyd
NASHVILLE (BP) – Southern Baptist leaders have published a statement grieving the recent death of George Floyd and calling for the end of "racial inequity in the distribution of justice in our country." The statement, co-authored by SBC president J.D. Greear and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary president Jamie Dew was unanimously signed by all SBC officers, entity heads and state convention executive directors. Two Missourians were among the signatories: namely, John Yeats, SBC … [Read more...]
SBC Executive Committee to host SBC Advance June 2
NASHVILLE (BP) – While the 2020 SBC Annual Meeting has been canceled for the first time since 1945, Southern Baptists will still be provided with an opportunity to hear from the entities of the Southern Baptist Convention through an online event June 2 hosted by the SBC Executive Committee. SBC Advance, a two-hour online event, is not designed to be a substitute for the annual meeting, but will provide ministry updates from and interviews with all SBC entity and auxiliary heads, as well … [Read more...]
National convention reports drop in CP giving
NASHVILLE (BP) – Stay-at-home orders around the country due to the COVID-19 global pandemic continue to affect churches and church giving. As a result, all aspects of Southern Baptist life are beginning to feel the economic changes. While data points related to giving have been sparse in the initial phases of the pandemic, national Cooperative Program receipts are beginning to reflect the stalled global and national economy. National CP receipts in April dropped more than 8 percent … [Read more...]
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