KIRKSVILLE – The Truman State University’s Baptist Student Union (BSU) celebrated the baptism of a new sister in Christ at Hamilton Street Baptist Church, Jan. 5, where campus missionary Greg Xander and some of his students attend. Ashley’s journey to Christ began two years ago during her freshman year. Shortly after winter break, she came to the BSU’s Thursday night worship gathering. After she’d been coming for a few weeks, Xander asked if she went to church. She said she considered the … [Read more...]
Churches celebrate 25-year partnership in Belarus
MAYSVILLE – The sermon at First Baptist Church Dec. 8 was in Russian, translated for the congregation by a former IMB missionary. Brother Vasya Vimovoi spoke about growing up in post-Chernobyl Belarus and how his family had been impacted by support from Missouri Baptists as part of a 1994-99 missions partnership. He is the son of Ivan Vimovoi, pastor of Krasnapolie Baptist Church, who was befriended by former Maysville pastor Rodney Dorr. Dorr has been serving in recent years at First … [Read more...]
All Saints Day: Celebrating the dead or fighting for the living?
KRAKOW, Poland (BP) — I had no idea what All Saints Day celebrated. Two years ago my wife and I moved to Poland, a traditionally Catholic country. As night fell on November 1, the soft glow of thousands of candles spread over nearly silent crowd walking or standing near the graves of their loved ones and ancestors. We joined a historical tour that took us to one of Kraków’s largest cemeteries. We stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the locals among the booths selling candles and flowers. … [Read more...]
United by the gospel: African American Methodist church merges with Missouri Baptist church to become new Southern Baptist congregation
SIKESTON – Grace Bible Fellowship, a fledgling Southern Baptist congregation here, hopes to display the power of the gospel to bring people together in Christ – in more ways than one. The new church was born from the merger of Sikeston’s predominately white Trinity Baptist Church with the historically black Smith Chapel United Methodist Church. The members of Grace Bible Fellowship celebrated their first Sunday together as a new Southern Baptist church, Sept. 8. The merger resulted … [Read more...]
Abortion continues to ebb, the reasons for decline debated
WASHINGTON (BP) – After a record low in the U.S. abortion rate, pro-life advocates and an abortion rights research organization have offered differing explanations. The Guttmacher Institute announced, Sept. 18, the abortion rate was 13.5 abortions per 1,000 women age 15 to 44 in 2017, the latest year for which it has statistics. That rate marked an 8 percent drop from the previous figure of 14.6 in 2014. Guttmacher was a Planned Parenthood affiliate from 1977 to 2007, when the abortion … [Read more...]
Heartbeat bill: Judge blocks Missouri’s ban on abortions at 8 weeks, state appeals
KANSAS CITY – Days before it was to take effect, a federal judge on Aug. 27 temporarily blocked a Missouri ban on abortion after eight weeks of pregnancy. Missouri’s Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed an appeal of the decision Sept. 5. U.S. District Judge Howard Sachs blocked the law for the time being, pending a legal challenge from Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union. The abortion provider and the ACLU filed their suit arguing that the Missouri Stands for the … [Read more...]
Missouri Valley College welcomes state’s newest collegiate ministry
MARSHALL – The students starting classes this week at Missouri Valley College aren’t just starting a new semester with new classes. They also have a chance to be a part of the newest Missouri Baptist collegiate ministry. A long-time student pastor, Scott Westfall has been on the campus for a few weeks now and said he is ready to build relationships and point Missouri Valley’s 1,500 students to Jesus. “Since I’ve been here, I’ve met with people all day long,” he said. “I’m trying to … [Read more...]
‘It’s just a joy to serve the Lord’ – Duckworths serve through food ministry, pay it forward to SBU students
ELDON – Dan Duckworth, a 1978 Southwest Baptist University alumnus, and his wife, Marylin, saw a need to help feed people in the community where Dan has pastored since 1977 at Rocky Mount Baptist Church here. A food pantry that began in the basement of the small rural church 22 years ago now has its own 6,400-square-foot facility. Visions Unlimited Food Pantry works with the Food Bank for Northeast and Central Missouri in Columbia to distribute food within a four-county area to about … [Read more...]
MBU trustees move to align governing docs with MBC’s
ST. LOUIS – Missouri Baptist University (MBU) trustees approved an institutional consultant to examine the school’s mission and approved revised bylaws during their May 23 meeting here. The Missouri Baptist Convention and has requested its entities bring their governing documents in line with the convention’s. Over the past several years, the various entities have been at different stages of that process. May 23, trustees at MBU worked through the updates for the school’s articles of … [Read more...]
Gov. blasts Planned Parenthood’s ‘apparent disregard for the law’
Licensing battle may mean zero abortion clinics in Missouri JEFFERSON CITY – Gov. Mike Parson called for Planned Parenthood to comply with state law as the lone abortion provider in the state is asking for a restraining order that would keep its license from expiring at the end of the month. If it expires, Missouri will become the first state since 1974 – the year after Roe v. Wade was decided – with no licensed abortion facilities. Attorneys for Planned Parenthood are expected argue … [Read more...]
Rising Sun Baptist Church’s Hoffmann builds ministry to reach out to Latter-day Saints
HATTON – Wil Hoffmann is interested in Mormons. It has been a lifelong fascination for the central Missouri pastor. Formally known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), the Salt Lake City-based church is one of the fastest growing religious groups in the world. The LDS Church is particularly dominant in Utah, where early church pioneers migrated by wagon train in the 1840s, fleeing persecution in Missouri and Illinois. Hoffman, pastor of Rising Sun Baptist Church, … [Read more...]
Disappointing ‘Tolkien’ forgets Christian symbolism that set apart ‘Lord of the Rings’
When it comes to fiction, few authors can stir Christians’ (and non-Christians’) imagination like J.R.R. Tolkien. His Lord of the Rings (LOTR) books are rightfully 20th-century classics. While there is zero doubt Tolkien’s deep faith influenced his work – you can’t ignore the themes of temptation, sin, redemption and sacrifice in LOTR – I’ve always appreciated that his writings were substantially subtler than that of his contemporary and friend, C.S. Lewis. Where Lewis’s symbols were … [Read more...]