Pathway

Missouri Baptist Convention's Official News Journal

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HIS Heartland vision tours Aug. 26-28

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Lee Warren/contributing writer OMAHA, Neb. – The Heartland Interstate Strategy (HIS) task force met online July 22 to finalize plans for its vision tour set for Aug. 26-28 that will help leaders identify which hub cities along the I-29 corridor they want to consider or partner with for future church planting or evangelistic opportunities. The corridor, which runs from Kansas City to Winnipeg, Manitoba, is an 800-mile stretch that is largely lacking in Southern Baptist churches and … [Read more...]

CP receipts near 3rd quarter goal

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NASHVILLE (BP) – Contributions to Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) missions and ministries through the Cooperative Program (CP) totaled 98.38 percent of the budgeted goal through the third quarter ending June 30, SBC Executive Committee President Frank S. Page has announced. The $141,298,445.60 the Executive Committee received during the first nine months of the fiscal year, Oct. 1-June 30, for distribution through the Cooperative Program Allocation Budget is 1.62 percent short of the … [Read more...]

Small-town church taps CP’s national/international reach

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Karen L. Willoughby/Baptist Press WINNEMUCCA, Nev. (BP) – A short video is shown each week at First Baptist Church in Winnemucca, Nev., illustrating Southern Baptist work either in Nevada, North America or the world. Before the offering is received, worshippers are told that 10 percent of what they give goes through the Cooperative Program (CP) to help fund the work of missionaries such as those in the various videos. Stace Cupples, pastor of the church in the town of less than … [Read more...]

Pastor’s shift on sexuality confronts SBC

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David Roach/Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) – A Los Angeles-area Southern Baptist church that some media reports said adopted a “third way” position regarding homosexuality in reality never voted to adopt any position on the issue and split into two groups in early June amid unresolvable deadlock, an elder at the church has told Baptist Press. A vice president with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Executive Committee (EC) said EC staff members gathered information on New Heart … [Read more...]

SBC bivo, small church pastors gather for fellowship

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Joe Conway/North American Mission Board BALTIMORE – Some 200 Southern Baptist bivocational and small church pastors and their families gathered for fellowship, lunch, networking and encouragement on the final day of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Annual Meeting in Baltimore, June 11. The SBC Executive Committee, the North American Mission Board and the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary partnered to sponsor the event. For Charlie Arnold the lunch was a reminder that he is … [Read more...]

Far more than a political issue

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NASHVILLE – “This is as close as a Southern Baptist gets to dancing in the streets for joy.” That was how Russell Moore, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), described the news that Hobby Lobby had prevailed in its fight against a government mandate that the company pay for abortion-causing drugs. Moore spoke to the media during a press conference after the June 30 Supreme Court ruling. “A government that can pave over the … [Read more...]

Moore: Gospel includes engaging culture

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WASHINGTON (BP) – Public engagement of cultural issues in a “Christ-shaped manner” is crucial for pastors and other Christians, ethicist Russell D. Moore said after hosting Southern Baptist leaders at a briefing in the U.S. Capitol. Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), joined congressional leaders and members of both legislative chambers in speaking to briefing participants June 12 in the Capitol building. The ERLC sponsored the event … [Read more...]

Page: CP advancing, not retreating

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ERIN ROACH/Baptist Press BALTIMORE (BP) – Southern Baptists are advancing, not retreating, as they rally to give more through the Cooperative Program to fuel the Great Commission task, Executive Committee President Frank Page told messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Baltimore June 10. “We thank God that two years ago the Cooperative Program stopped its declination at 5.41 percent and last year rose for the first time in two decades to 5.50 percent,” Page … [Read more...]

Speakers encourage SBC pastors to seek God, share a testimony

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BALTIMORE, Md. (BP) – The 2014 Southern Baptist Convention Pastors’ Conference, themed “Show Us Your Glory,” concluded much as it began with speakers calling attendees to live passionately for Christ and to lead others to make disciples. The June 8-9 sessions in the Baltimore Convention Center preceded the June 10-11 annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. “The greatest potential for the Kingdom of God is not in the pulpit, but in the congregation,” said J.D. Greear, lead … [Read more...]

GuideStone applauds Supreme Court decision in Hobby Lobby case

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By Roy Hayhurst DALLAS — Today’s Supreme Court decision in favor of Hobby Lobby is good news for defenders of religious liberty, GuideStone President O.S. Hawkins said. The 5-4 decision affirms the right of the Green family, the Christian owners of the for-profit hobby supply chain, to operate their health plans in a way that is consistent with their values. While the Supreme Court has protected family business owners, it has left unanswered whether the so-called accommodation to the … [Read more...]

Interview with Hobby Lobby attorney Joshua Hawley

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Pathway Associate Editor Benjamin Hawkins interviewed attorney Joshua Hawley, a University of Missouri law school professor who was on the Beckett Fund legal team that defended Hobby Lobby before the U.S. Supreme Court, shortly after the high court announced a 5-4 decision in favor of Hobby Lobby in its case against the ObamaCare contraceptive mandate: Hawkins: Why did the court decide the way it did? Professor Hawley: Hobby Lobby prevailed in this case because the Green family had … [Read more...]

Lottie Moon hits record $154 million

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Erich Bridges/International Mission Board RICHMOND, Va. (BP) – Southern Baptists gave an unprecedented $154 million to the 2013 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions, breaking the record for the largest total in the offering’s 125-year history. The 2013 offering, finalized June 5, reached $154,057,852.36. The total represents an increase of nearly $4.8 million over 2012, or 3.2 percent. It tops the previous record, $150.4 million in 2007, by more than $3.6 million, and … [Read more...]