PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (BP) –Hurricane Matthew wreaked havoc in Haiti and Cuba Oct. 4, destroying homes, fields and businesses and driving thousands from their homes in a part of the Caribbean where many people already struggle day by day just to survive. Baptist Global Response, a Southern Baptist humanitarian organization, is monitoring the situation in both countries to determine what response might be most appropriate and effective. Winds of 145 mph lashed Haiti, along with heavy rain … [Read more...]
Missionary to Russia loses appeal on anti-evangelism law
ORYOL, Russia (BP) – A Baptist missionary convicted under Russia’s new anti-evangelism law and compelled to end his ministry there has lost his first court appeal in Oryol, Russia, but has vowed to continue legally fighting for the cause of religious freedom. An appeals court judge Sept. 30 upheld the conviction of Donald Ossewaarde on charges of conducting missionary activities in violation of the new law that prohibits evangelizing outside church walls and without a government … [Read more...]
Rural, urban churches grow in multisite merger
DEVILLE, La. (BP) – The permanent tie between the rural Philadelphia Baptist Church of Deville, La., and the urban Horseshoe Drive Baptist Church in nearby Alexandria is less a merger than it is a joining of forces. About 750 people were in a March 2015 Sunday morning worship at Philadelphia Baptist Church Deville when the 30 remaining attendees at Horseshoe Drive Alexandria asked for help to keep the smaller congregation viable. “It’s very humbling and an honor they would see us as … [Read more...]
Pastor appreciation: Heartfelt letters have impact
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (BP) – While pastors appreciate the marriage getaways and financial gifts that sometimes come their way during Pastor Appreciation Month, Dave Miller suggests there may be something even more important to consider. “I think the best thing you can do if you really want to honor your pastor is to write him a letter,” said Miller, who is president of the Southern Baptist Pastors’ Conference and pastor of Southern Hills Baptist Church in Sioux City, Iowa. “Tell him how his … [Read more...]
Volunteers minister at Iowa service center
DES MOINES, Iowa – A northeast Missouri WMU group has reached the hand of Christian service across the state line. For at least 19 years, the Mt. Salem-Wyaconda Southern Baptist Association WMU and volunteers have made twice-yearly visits to the Baptist Friendship Center in Des Moines, Iowa. The most recent trip was September 1. “We go once in the spring and once in the fall. We try to go before the kids get back to school in the fall, or around that time,” said Connie Handyside, WMU … [Read more...]
Phoenix SBC 2017 hotel registration opens Oct. 1
PHOENIX (BP) – Housing reservations opened Oct. 1 for the Southern Baptist Convention 2017 Annual Meeting set for June 13-14 at the Phoenix Convention Center, 100 N. 3rd St. in Phoenix. Online reservations may be made around the clock at sbcannualmeeting.net/sbc17/pdf/2017Housing.pdf. Reservations by phone were available beginning Oct. 3 from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Eastern time Monday through Friday at 1-800-967-8852 toll-free or 1-847-996-5832. “We are busily preparing for and looking forward to … [Read more...]
National CP giving up, Missouri sending half a million more
NASHVILLE (BP) – The Southern Baptist Convention ended its fiscal year $9.23 million (4.95 percent) over its 2015–2016 budgeted goal and $6.57 million over the previous year’s Cooperative Program (CP) Allocation Budget gifts, according to Frank S. Page, president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee. In Missouri, year-to-date CP giving is roughly on par with giving at this time last year, and is running 3.61 percent behind the budgeted goal. Even so, Missouri Baptists are sending more … [Read more...]
N.C. restroom bill doesn’t deter plans for SBC annual meeting in 2023
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (BP) – Amid controversy over North Carolina’s controversial transgender restroom law, Southern Baptist Convention leaders estimate they’re less than two weeks away from finalizing contracts to hold the 2023 SBC annual meeting in Charlotte. And they say they’re glad to support the state for its moral stand on gender and sexuality. SBC President Steve Gaines said that “while other organizations such as the NCAA, NBA and NFL are seeking to punish North Carolinians for their … [Read more...]
Southern Baptists to celebrate CP
NASHVILLE (BP) – “Great Commission Advance” shouldn’t be mistaken for a formal program. It’s more personal. It’s a call for “every Southern Baptist and every Southern Baptist church living up to the high calling of disciple-making, evangelism and missions, biblical stewardship and fervent and effective prayer,” as Frank S. Page, president of the SBC Executive Committee, defines the focus of a growing partnership between state conventions and SBC entities. Simply put: “We follow Jesus, we … [Read more...]
Platt to EC: Seemingly dead man rose among UUPG
NASHVILLE (BP) – What appeared to local believers to be a physical resurrection from the dead among an unengaged, unreached people group in Southeast Asia has opened a door for Gospel witness and highlighted what International Mission Board President David Platt called “God’s power to supernaturally save sinners.” Platt recounted the story – which, though atypical in Western experience, bore similarities to biblical accounts of raising the dead – during his report to the Southern Baptist … [Read more...]
‘Insanity of God’ ticket sales top $1 million
NASHVILLE (BP) – Ticket sales for an encore showing of “The Insanity of God” in theaters Tuesday, Sept. 13, pushed box office receipts to $1.1 million. “Due to the success of the film’s two one-night theater showings,” Trey Reynolds, manager of LifeWay Films, said, “we are planning a church simulcast for the film the first or second week of November, with a consumer DVD and church license DVD to be released Nov. 21.” The feature documentary film produced by the International Mission Board … [Read more...]
EC recommends expanding membership
NASHVILLE (BP) – Four state conventions would gain representation on the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee under a recommendation adopted during the EC’s Sept. 19-20 meeting in Nashville for presentation at the SBC annual meeting in June 2017. The recommendation would amend SBC Bylaw 18 to exempt the Dakotas, Iowa, Minnesota-Wisconsin and Montana Baptist conventions from Bylaw 30’s requirement that territories have 15,000 members in cooperating Baptist churches to qualify … [Read more...]
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