August 1, 2023 Illinois Baptist

Illinois Baptist

Let ‘Freedom’ ring

Recovery

Objections over ‘pastor’ limitation

Greear backs Black church group’s call for prayer

Nashville, Tenn. | A network of 4,000 Black churches within the Southern Baptist Convention has called for a season of prayer and dialogue after an action by messengers prohibited application of the term “pastor” to women serving in any ministry capacity. Their challenge has received support from former SBC President J.D. Greear.

In a July 3 letter to Southern Baptists and current SBC President Bart Barber, President of the National African American Fellowship (NAAF) Gregory Perkins said that “many of our churches assign the title ‘pastor’ to women who oversee ministries of the church under the authority of a male Senior Pastor, i.e., Children’s Pastor, Worship Pastor, Discipleship Pastor, etc.,”

Use of the term pastor to describe these various shepherding and ministry functions by those churches does not mean they advocate female senior pastors, he explained.

At the SBC Annual Meeting in New Orleans, messengers passed the first of two votes required to amend the SBC Constitution to

Illinois Voices P. 15

Lindsey Yoder on blockbuster trafficking movie

PLUS : Nate Adams climbs the ‘hills’ in our flat backyard. P. 2

The Illinois Baptist staff

Editor - Eric Reed

Graphic Designer - Kris Kell

Contributing Editor - Lisa Misner

Comm. Coordinator - Nic Cook

Team Leader - Ben Jones

The general telephone number for IBSA is (217) 786-2600. For questions about subscriptions, articles, or upcoming events, contact the Illinois Baptist at (217) 391-3127 or IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org

The Illinois Baptist is seeking news from IBSA churches. E-mail us at IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org to tell us about special events and new ministry staff.

POSTMASTER: The Illinois Baptist is owned and published every month by the Illinois Baptist State Association, 3085 Stevenson Drive, Springfield, Illinois 62703-4440. Subscriptions are free to Illinois Baptists. Subscribe online at IBSA.org.

The BIG Baptist family album

Our Illinois mission field

Beautiful Church is the name of the congregation planted by Tae Hwang in Evanston a year ago. The church seeks to reach the north Chicago suburb that is home to Northwestern University with its 23,000 students. Tae was born in South Korea and grew up in Texas. He and his wife, Faith, have a son, Caleb. “Pray that God will sustain us in ministry and send a family who could join our church plant,” the pastor requested of Illinois Baptists.

Pray the news: Saving babies

With news reports about increased abortion providers in Carbondale, Fairview Heights, Danville, and Chicago, pray for more pro-life pregnancy resource centers in those cities. Pray for churches to minister Christ’s love to women in crisis pregnancies.

Cooperative Program at work

A Baptist pastor in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, baptizes a truck driver who came to know Jesus Christ through the IMB’s West African Trucker Ministry. IMB President Paul Chitwood reported at the SBC Annual Meeting in June that 728,589 people heard the gospel through Southern Baptist missionaries, including 178,177 new believers and 102,417 baptisms.

Total giving by IBSA churches as of 6/30/23 $2,616,909

2023 Budget Goal to date: $2,823,884

2023 Goal: $6 Million

NATE ADAMS

Working the hill

For several years now, my oldest son and I have been on a quest to climb the highest mountains in Colorado, known as “14ers” because they exceed 14,000 feet in altitude. We can’t hike every year, but this summer we were able to reach four more summits, bringing our total to thirty-seven.

As is often the case, the final hike of the week seemed the most difficult. The remote trail to 14,004 Sunshine Peak first passes over neighboring 14,037 Redcloud Peak, and then returns the same way. The 13-mile roller coaster hike requires over 4,800 feet of total elevation gain, and in our case about nine hours.

More than a thousand miles east of those two peaks, there is also a steep hill behind my house, though the elevation difference from top to bottom is probably only 50-75 feet. Not long ago, we had three dead or damaged trees cut down there. To save money I asked the guys to just leave the trees in manageable pieces, and I would finish the job and stack the logs.

It turned out to be a more difficult job than I expected. Not only was the hill steep, but the footing was often uneven. Some of the logs or branches required further trimming, and many were too heavy to carry and required slow rolling. As I pushed and carried and tossed dozens of logs up and down my own little hill, I recall thinking, “This is harder on my legs and back than mountain climbing in Colorado!”

Working hard on my own little hill that day was a good and thoughtful exercise. It helped me realize that, while the climb to the top of a 14er is demanding, it’s not really any harder than a hundred climbs up the hill in my own backyard.

That led me to think again about our Illinois mission field, the one right here in our own backyards. Yes, the lostness of our nation and the world is big, and our generous giving and sacrificial going are needed to send missionaries and church planters there. But here in Illinois, our churches are the missionaries. We are the missionaries. This is our hill. And it’s to our own backyard that we have the greatest responsibility.

This was never more evident to me than this past month when well-trained, compassionate Disaster Relief volunteers from dozens of IBSA churches all over the state converged on my hometown of Springfield, following the tornado and straight-line winds that downed countless trees and powerlines all over our city. As these missionaries from IBSA churches helped restore order—and hope—to more than 150 homes and families, I saw quite literally the impact of churches working together on backyard hills like mine.

Coordinated Disaster Relief ministry is just one reason we urge churches to give generously through the Mission Illinois Offering each year. While the offering helps support church planters, collegiate ministers, missions volunteers, and many other ministries here in Illinois, it also helps deliver key strategies, staff, and resources that focus on increasing the health, growth, and mission impact of more than 900 churches that are our missionary presence here.

For many, a mission trip or even an annual missions offering can feel like a big, one-time effort, much like my trip to the Colorado mountains. But here in Illinois, the second flattest state in the U.S., our mission field is more like 900 steep hills of hard work than one lofty 14er. And your Mission Illinois Offering helps our IBSA network assist each church in working its own hill more effectively, and in working the hill of our Illinois mission field together.

Nate Adams is executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association. Respond at IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org.

We’re climbing 900 little hills right here in our own backyard.

From the front: ‘pastors’ dialogue urged

Continued from page 1

state that only “churches that affirm, appoint, or employ only men as any kind of pastor or elder as qualified by Scripture” will be viewed to be in friendly cooperation with the SBC.

That action came as messengers also turned away appeals from Pastors Rick Warren and Linda Barnes Popham to reinstate their churches’ SBC membership. The SBC Executive Committee (EC) dismissed Saddleback Community Church and Fern Creek Baptist Church for having women as teaching pastors or lead pastors. Three other congregations were similarly disfellowshipped, but only Warren’s and Popham’s churches appealed for reinstatement from the floor of the convention.

“These actions, while within the rights of our messengers, undermine the tie that binds, i.e., the autonomy of the local church and are inconsistent with our shared Baptist polity,” wrote Perkins, who is lead pastor of The View Church in Menifee, Calif. “This may signal to churches in the SBC that do not believe that women should be the Senior Pastor but allow women the usage of a pastoral title, or appoints a woman to a pastoral role, are no longer welcome in the SBC.”

The NAAF letter also objected to the lack of a ballot vote on the constitutional change, lack of time for messengers to consider its ramifications, and appropriateness of such a change without first engaging a study task force.

In response, Barber called the request for prayer and dialogue “Christ-honoring” and “biblical.”

“I will make sure that the entire SBC family has ample opportunity for prayer and dialogue throughout the coming year leading up to our meeting next June in Indianapolis,” Barber wrote. His first stop was the Black Church leadership week at Ridgecrest Conference Center later in July.

Meanwhile, Greear sided with NAAF in a statement posted at The Summit Church website. “This amendment forces conformity down to tertiary levels in ways that will both violate local church autonomy and are inconsistent with our past practice,” Greear said.

“If we continue down this road, we might become a Convention that spends its time focused on who is in and who is out, instead of on the best ways to reach our communities and glorify Jesus.

“I’m tired of micromanaging churches; I want to be about the Great Commission,” Greear said.

A second favorable vote on the constitutional amendment will be required for it to become official. The 2024 SBC Annual Meeting is set for June 11-12 in Indianapolis.

– With info from Baptist Press and Christian Post

New search team interviews

The search team seeking the next President and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee has resumed interviews with interim Willie McLaurin, the team’s chairman announced July 17. This comes after public support for McLaurin following the failed election of another candidate in May.

McLaurin was the EC’s vice president for Great Commission relations and mobilization before becoming interim president and CEO in February 2022, following the resignation of Ronnie Floyd. He was one of the candidates considered by the original search team appointed to fill the President/ CEO post, but the team recommended Texas pastor Jared Wellman instead. Wellman’s nomination failed after some EC members expressed concerns about the search process. Wellman was board chair of the Executive Committee until January 26, when he recused himself. The board chair serves as an ex officio member of the search team.

A new search team was elected at that EC meeting in Dallas that was described at the time as a “hot mess” by one of the 81 committee members in attendance.

Neal Hughes, director of missions for the Montgomery (Ala.) Baptist Association, was elected to chair the new panel. Hughes wrote in a statement shared with Baptist media, “Considering the many endorsements from pastors, state convention leaders, and national entity heads, and considering an overwhelming sense in our hearts that we are being obedient to the Holy

Spirit, your present search team decided that we should continue where the former search team left off by doing our own due diligence and interviews with Dr. Willie McLaurin, Interim President/CEO of the SBC Executive Committee.”

McLaurin is the first African American to serve as head of a Southern Baptist entity, including interim leaders. Before coming to the EC, he was special assistant to the executive director at the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.

Hughes said that the last six weeks for the search team have been filled with “face-toface gatherings, Zoom meetings, numerous email discussions and much research.”

McLaurin’s popularity was cited as one reason why the Wellman nomination failed in a 50-31 vote. The first team had publicly said McLaurin was a candidate in early 2023, before they turned their consideration to Wellman.

People familiar with Baptist practices asked whether someone holding an interim office should be considered for the post permanently, or if he should resign before pursuing the job.

Illinois pastor and EC member Adron Robinson chaired the first search team which met and worked for 16 months. Robinson acknowledged the complications of considering an interim officer holder, but he said nothing in EC policies forbids it.

The search team is planning another update in the next six weeks. Their next fall meeting of the EC trustees is September 18-19.

SBC Executive Committee

CONVENTIONAL – Willie McLaurin delivers his second report to SBC messengers as Interim President and CEO of the Executive Committee.

Illinois teams serve at home after fierce storms

Sangamon and Washington counties callout follows derecho and tornados

Chatham | “Twists and turns” was not only the Vacation Bible School theme at Chatham Baptist Church. It seemed an apt description as Disaster Relief teams arrived about the same time to begin storm recovery in the region.

The mash-up of chainsaw crews, command center operations, local residents needing assistance, and 120 kids on campus for VBS showed the commitment of Illinois Baptists to share the gospel in any and every way possible.

And somehow, it worked.

The story began two weeks earlier as a storm system swept across the state in two waves, bringing derecho winds of 100 miles-per-hour that felled trees and disrupted the power grid in Springfield with a ferocity not seen in five decades. In the midst of that June 30 storm, an EF-2 twister over Chatham produced similar results. The next day, another wave swept Washington County, plunging much of Nashville into darkness.

In their iconic yellow shirts, Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief (IBDR) volunteers showed up with chainsaws, trailers, hauling equipment, a mobile kitchen to feed workers, and a shower/laundry trailer to help residents without electricity for more than a week.

“We had up to 82 volunteers at one time last week, with four teams from Illinois and one from Ohio this week,” IBDR State Director Arnold Ramage said. Teams from two additional state conventions were on stand-by, if needed.

From Incident Command set up at Chatham Baptist Church, the management team and assessors dispatched crews for 266 requests, completing about half of them in the first five working days. “We’ve had jobs ranging from 30 minutes to three days,” Ramage said.

Steve Ohl, a member of Heartland Baptist Network that serves the capital city area, was on his third work site of the day, tired but still smiling. “At our last job we had one of the ladies come up and say, ‘I can’t believe how fast you guys got everything done—it

was such a mess and now it looks so good,’” Ohl said.

“Yeah, it’s a bit tiring, but to see the work you did and to share the love of Christ with others, there’s no better feeling.”

Ohl is pastor of First Baptist Church of Greenview. He trained for Disaster Relief in 2012. His first callout was to Hurricane Sandy which hit New York and New Jersey that year. The experience was exhilarating, Ohl said. Helping people keeps him motivated.

“We need help,” he said, with chainsaws buzzing in the background. “There’s always room for help,” he said, urging Illinois Baptists to volunteer for the ministry.

An Ohio team of five came to Chatham to join the IBDR teams from Central, East Central, Gateway, Greater Wabash, Heartland, Kaskaskia, Macoupin, Metro East, Metro Peoria, Nine Mile, Salem South, Saline, Sandy Creek, Three Rivers, and Williamson Associations. A Mennonite team and a group of American Baptists also assisted.

Ramage reported IBDR served 1,356 meals to workers and the shower unit from Macoupin Association provided 212 showers and 66 loads of laundry for residents. During the preceding weekend, the American Red Cross asked IBDR to provide childcare at the Bank of Springfield

(BOS) Convention Center for families who were coming for assistance.

Mayor Misty Buscher said the derecho was the worst storm to hit Springfield since the 1970s. Buscher’s office told IBDR the service of their chainsaw teams was welcome as power company crews struggled to restore electricity.

“Farther north (in Illinois), people may not know what yellow shirts mean, but they are always grateful when they learn why we’re there,” Ramage said. “I always say, we do the work we have to do (with disaster recovery) so we can do the work we get to do—sharing the love of Christ.”

Ramage said requests came from a large number of senior adults and single mothers, which offered opportunity for trained chaplains to share and pray with residents.

“It’s been a good callout,” Training Coordinator Sharon Carty agreed, citing multiple gospel presentations with homeowners while chainsaw teams worked in their yards.

IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams visited several teams on work sites in Springfield and Chatham. “Thank you for the volunteers your church may send,” he said in a video

afterward. “Thank you for giving so that Illinois Baptists can put volunteers like this on site to help people in times of need like this, and to share with them the love of Jesus Christ.”

In Washington County, Team Leader Emil Nattier said they fed power crews for three days. “We fed linemen and city workers and residents who didn’t have electricity,” Nattier said. Illinois Baptists served a steady supply of hamburgers and hotdogs with trained IBDR volunteers from the immediate area numbering up to 13 each day. They operated out of three IBDR trailers.

“The local community was grateful that we were there,” Nattier said of the quick response volunteers led when the need became apparent.

IBDR has more than 400 trained volunteers who serve on chainsaw and flood recovery teams, with shower, laundry, and food service, and at every callout, as chaplains. IBDR is a partner with Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, part of the SBC’s Send Relief compassion ministry. It is the third largest disaster relief organization, after the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

Back at Chatham Baptist Church, with Incident Command at one end of the building, VBS at the other, and the parking lot a mish-mash of DR trailers and traffic cones for kids’ games, the various ministries crossed their finish lines with more than 250 gospel presentations to homeowners and 14 salvations at VBS.

It’s what we do.

– Eric Reed in Chatham

disaster Relief

Governor signs hundreds of bills

But not the ‘deceptive practices’ act—yet

Springfield | Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law 240 of the 655 bills passed by the Illinois General Assembly in the spring legislative session, but not SB 1909, titled the Deceptive Practices of Limited Services Pregnancy Centers Act. Unless it is vetoed by Pritzker within 60 days of passage, the bill governing advice given by pregnancy resource centers will become law. That includes GraceHaven Pregnancy Resource Clinic in Mt. Vernon, a pro-life ministry operated by the Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services.

SB 1909 passed the legislature June 9, meaning it will become law on August 8 unless Pritzker acts. It will require more than 100 such pro-life ministries to provide information about abortions to their clients. Failure to do so could result in fines of up to $50,000 for providing what abortion advocates deemed “deceptive” information.

Pro-life advocates say the legislation does not clearly define deceptive information or who would make that determination. They also say it unfairly targets religious speech in violation of the First and Fourteenth amendments of the U.S. Constitution, because many centers are operated by religious organizations or charities.

The bill’s opponents are expected to file an injunction to stop it when it goes into effect. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned a similar bill in California in 2018, declaring in NIFLA v. Becerra that the measure unfairly targeted pregnancy centers.

with the lord

Rebecca Whittington, 62

Attorney Rebecca Whittington, who was serving as Board Chair for the Illinois Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services, died July 8 at University of Louisville Jewish Hospital. Whittington lived in Benton and had a law office in Carbondale. Her experience as a lawyer was beneficial to BCHFS as the ministry navigated an interim leadership period of more than a year, while conducting a search for the current Executive Director, Kevin Carrothers. She was also involved in development of policies for child abuse prevention.

“Rebecca was a Renaissance Woman,” said Carrothers, who conducted her funeral. “She was an active and respected member of the legal community, but there was so much more to her life than the law. She was an accomplished pianist, a patron of the arts, had a love for cooking, a heart for dogs and cats, and committed service to her work and hometown communities.”

Whittington was a graduate of Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. She began her career first as a judicial law clerk in Benton in 1983, as a member of two Carbondale firms starting in 1985, and since 1997 had a solo practice. She served a variety of important posts in

Another bill still awaiting the governor’s signature is HB 2297, which mandates state agencies track the number of their employees who identify as non-binary or gender non-conforming as part of the state’s effort to further workplace diversity. It was sent to the governor June 16 with a scheduled effective date of July 1, 2025.

Among the bills already signed by the governor are:

• HB 1591–(Marriage) Removed what some referred to as “outdated provisions” from the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act. The bill is intended to guarantee same sex marriages performed in Illinois remain legal in other states should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn Obergefell v. Hodges. Effective date: January 1, 2024.

• HB 1596–(Pronouns) Replaces pronouns in existing laws related to children in the state’s care. These include the word “mother” which becomes “person who gives birth” and the descriptor “biological” becomes “birth” as in “birth family.” Effective date: August 8.

• HB 2418–(Trafficking) Provides a way for the victims of human trafficking to have their criminal record expunged. Effective date: January 1, 2024

• HB 3425–(Bullying notification) Requires schools to inform parents and guardians of students involved in an act of bullying within 24 hours of the incident or to make a good faith effort to do so. Effective: immediately.

the profession, while also serving music leadership in churches and serving Illinois Baptists through her involvement with BCHFS. Whittington attended Immanuel Baptist Church in Benton for many years, and more recently attended Lebanon Missionary Baptist Church in Mt. Vernon.

Whittington was preceded in death by her parents, Rev. Carl and Eva Bennett Whittington, and her brother, Richard “Dick” Whittington. She was a native of Mt. Vernon.

“Her most treasured possessions included her daddy’s Bible and his sermons,” Carrothers said.

Jerry Ford, 86

Mayor backs ‘bubble zones’

Recently elected Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson released a plan in July endorsing 50-foot bubble zones around abortion clinics to prevent pro-life advocates from sharing information. The City already has an ordinance in place to stop sidewalk counselors from distributing literature. Johnson cites compassion, care, and safety for women seeking abortion. Students for Life Action calls the plan “misguided.”

“The Pro-Life Generation, sometimes gathering on sidewalks for counseling, advocates for no violence inside or outside of the womb,” SFLA told The Christian Post. They urged Johnson to focus instead on the city’s climbing murder rate. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld legality of the bubble zones in 2020.

Court sides with Christian web designer

A High Court ruling preserving the right of a Christian web designer to refuse same-sex wedding business is “one of celebration and a milestone in the fight to preserve these precious freedoms,” retired judge Phil Ginn said. The 6-3 U.S. Supreme Court decision in favor of Lorie Smith, owner of Creative 303 in Colorado, was a distinct shift in a series of discrimination judgments against Christian wedding photographers, florists, and cake bakers.

“Thankfully there are still wise and prudent justices on the Supreme Court who can recognize this matter for what it is—a blatant governmental attack on the freedom of speech and freedom of religion of its citizenry,” wrote Ginn, a 22-year North Carolina jurist who now heads Southern Evangelical Seminary. But “the battle is not over,” he warned.

Precedents ‘piling up’

An Indianapolis Catholic High School was within its rights in dismissing a guidance counselor who was in a same-sex marriage, a federal appeals court ruled in July. The counselor, Michelle Fitzgerald, was a 14-year employee, but the school’s awareness of her relationship only happened a year ago. The court decided that her position was ministerial in nature.

FORD

Jerry J. Ford of Harrisburg died June 27. Ford most recently served as Director of Missions for Williamson Baptist Association. He began serving Illinois Baptist Churches in 1962, and was lead pastor of Third Baptist Church of Marion. Ford earned a doctoral degree in Bible Philosophy. Ford was known for his commitment to missions, leading multiple trips abroad including Russia, Siberia, Spain, Greece, and Bulgaria. A native of Flat Rock, Illinois, Ford was preceded in death by Cora, his wife of 66 years, and two adult children. He is survived by one son, Mark, two grandchildren, and four great grandchildren.

“Religious schools exist to pass on the faith to the next generation, and to do that, they need the freedom to choose leaders who are fully committed to their religious mission,” said lawyer Joseph Davis of Becket Law, a religious freedom group that defended the school. “The precedent keeps piling up: Catholic schools can ask Catholic school teachers and administrators to be fully supportive of Catholic teaching.”

WHITTINGTON

Lorie Smith

– excerpted from Christian Post

States ranked for religious freedom

Illinois falls in the middle on a new ranking of religious freedoms for non-profits, which includes churches. The new Faith and Freedom Index released in July measures the protections afforded faith-based organizations. At 48%, Illinois scored much better than neighbors Wisconsin (26%) and Michigan (22%).

Nevada scored lowest (18%). Alabama (86%) and Texas (70%) ranked highest and offered the most protections.

“Both states require government burdens on religious freedom to pass the most rigorous tests. Texas features a state constitutional amendment expressly protecting religious worship,” explained Napa Legal, which commissioned the study.

Un-Chosen

Teen objects to YMCA transgender policy

Allows biological men into women’s locker rooms

Springfield | When Abbigail Wheeler saw a man wearing a woman’s swimsuit in the women’s locker room at the YMCA, she knew she had to say something. The 16-year-old swimmer told the coach of her team, but he said nothing could be done about it because the law protected transgender people. Her voice quivered as she described the coach as “someone I was supposed to trust.” And, how her “feelings of fear were pushed aside.”

“The story of Jesus of Nazareth...started with pretty much the size group that you’re seeing here, with no money, with no fame, with no internet, with no phone,” Duck Dynasty’s Willie Robertson said. “Two thousand years later, we’re still talking about it halfway across the globe from where it happened.”

Unfortunately, they’re not talking about the new musical Robertson backed. “His Story” was written by an 18-year-old woman as a cross between The Chosen and Hamilton and produced by Broadway veterans near Dallas. The show closed after two months because of poor ticket sales. Media blamed lack of interest among two-million Christians in the metroplex.

Pickleball evangelism

36.5 million Americans play pickleball, making it the fastest growing sport in the U.S. three years in a row. Described as a mash-up of tennis and Ping-Pong, the game is suitable for all ages.

London, Ky. Pastor Andrew Dyer has turned the novel sport into an outreach event in his community. A senior adult at Corinth Baptist Church asked to put some court lines on the gym floor so they could play. It proved wildly popular.

“We started playing with people in the community who were not part of the church,” Dyer said. “When we get to know them better, those gospel conversations can come naturally.”

So do the dillballs, flapjacks, and falafels, all food terms adapted for the new sport. The court also has a “kitchen.”

Pickleball, anyone?

A month later Wheeler posted signs alerting women that biological men were using their locker room. Management of the Kerasotes YMCA in Springfield called her signs “hate speech.” Eventually Wheeler was off the team.

The teen became emotional speaking about the situation at a press conference held at a park across the street from the YMCA on July 13. It was hosted by the Illinois Freedom Caucus who stood with her, along with her parents and her sister, Kaitlynn. An estimated 200 people were present.

For Kaitlynn, this is not a new situation. She had a similar experience in college competing against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas. Wheeler’s father, Dan, said he doesn’t want the matter to become political or to sue anyone. “I’ve been asked, ‘Why are you doing this?’,” he said. “I don’t want to do this. I’ve prayed about this. The resounding answer has been you already have two daughters this has happened to. Does it really take all three?”

The YMCA’ response to complaints by the girl and her father, who is a 13-year veteran of World of Swimming, was that the transgender woman’s presence “was permitted by Illinois law.” The girl was told she could move to a private changing area such as the family locker room or stop using the facilities if she was bothered.

The Wheelers later withdrew their daughter from the team, saying the YMCA was making it impossible for her to participate. Management denied earlier reports that they had kicked her off the team.

“Some people that are members of ours, that

are transgender, that are known to us, that’s because they want to be known to us,” said Lou Bart. “I’m sure there are others that we have no idea, and I’m not concerned about that. So, we can’t discriminate against anybody.” When similar incidents have occurred in the state, the Illinois Human Rights Act has been cited as the legal reason.

State Rep. David Friess (R-Red Bud), who is also an attorney and a member of the caucus, joined the Wheeler family at the press conference. He said the Illinois Human Rights Act is “commonly misquoted and misrepresented” in this area.

The section of the law which prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity also states, “Nothing in this article shall apply to… facilities distinctly private.”

He said the statute listed “those private in nature such as restrooms, shower rooms, bath houses, and health clubs.” “Clearly,” Freiss said, “there is no requirement to allow biological males in women’s locker rooms.”

Multiple offenses

The Wheelers have ties to former 12-time All-American swimmer Riley Gaines, who is known for speaking out on the integrity of women’s sports and biological women’s rights. Kaitlynn swam with Gaines at the University of Kentucky.

The sisters appeared with Gaines in a recent Fox News interview where Kaitlynn shared how she was present in the locker room at the NCAA Division 1 meet in 2022, where female swimmers were forced to compete and change in the same locker room as the transgender swimmer. Gaines began tweeting about the Springfield YMCA incident which helped to bring it to national attention.

Kaitlynn said she’s proud of her little sister “for standing up for what’s right.” However, she said “it’s been infuriating” to see her “forced off the swim team and banned from the YMCA of all places.”

Wheeler has joined another swim team at a different facility.

– reported by Lisa Misner

– from Christian Post, with quote from Kentucky Today

IN FOCUS

Young people in transition

of Gen Z (ages 11-26) identify as LGBTQ+ according to Gallup.

3.1% 300,000

of those under age 25 in the U.S. say they are transgender

high-school age youth identify as transgender.

132,300

trans youth live in states that ban gender reassignment surgery and hormone treatment (44.1%).

39,600

live in states considering banning gender reassignment surgery and hormone treatment (13.2%), according to Williams Institute and the Human Rights Campaign

121,882

children ages 6-17 diagnosed with gender dysphoria between 2017-2021, reports Komodo Health and Reuters.

21% 8 European countries have banned or restricted medical gender transitions for minors, reports the Wall Street Journal

Protecting kids

Pushback grows rapidly to gender-changing treatment for minors. But not in Illinois.

BY LISA MISNER

You see it every day on social media: young men and women in their late teens or early 20s sharing about reversing their gender reassignment. They’re called detransitioners.

Popular culture may say they don’t exist, but their numbers are growing as attested by their growing presence online. They either medically or surgically changed their sex with or without their parents’ permission, often as children. Now they say, they didn’t understand the ramifications of that decision, were rushed and given poor guidance or in many cases none at all, and have had their lives shattered.

As part of a growing pushback to gender transitions among very young people, many states have passed legislation regulating or prohibiting medical practices that have produced ready prescriptions for puberty blockers and quick surgical procedures to change teens’ bodies to the opposite sex. But not in Illinois. Not yet.

In this environment, the church is faced with ministering to children exploring alternate identities in the LGBTQIA+ alphabet, and to the confused parents who are not finding understanding or support in the school system or medical community.

Identifying the problem

It’s a scene that wouldn’t have played out a decade ago, but our culture has been rapidly changing to embrace gender inclusive acceptance at all levels of society.

According to the latest Gallup poll, 7.2% of adults in the U.S. identify as LGBTQ, up from 3.5% in 2012. But it’s not just adults. Among Gen Z, those born between 1997 to 2012 or ages 11-26, 20.85% identify in that category.

Working with Komodo Health, Reuters analyzed U.S. health insurance data and found between 2017-2021 at least 121,882 children ages 6-17 were diagnosed with gender dysphoria. The trends were similar when compared

Ethics professor Andrew Walker brings biblical insight to transgender issues. He co-wrote the SBC’s 2023 resolution opposing sexual reassignment.

with Medicaid data.

In the last decade, the Southern Baptist Convention has addressed transgenderism at its annual meeting in at least three resolutions including a statement passed unanimously at this year’s meeting in New Orleans. The resolution was co-authored by Southern Baptist Theological Seminary professors Denny Burk and Andrew Walker.

Walker told Baptist Press that although the gender transition movement is growing in the U.S., there is also growing concern— and not just among Christians—about certain medical procedures, especially when it comes to children.

“We’re watching in real time that transgender movement come crashing down,” Walker said. “There are too many cracks in the foundation.” He called transgenderism “unbiblical” and “at odds with what God says about the creation order.”

The transgender movement picked up momentum when the American Psychiatric Association removed the condition known as “gender identity disorder” from its list of disorders in 2013, changing the classification to the milder “gender dysphoria.”

Many claim doctors were all too eager to jump on the cultural bandwagon. One such case is that of a 25-year-old woman in North Carolina who is suing the medical team that started her on the male hormone testosterone at age 17 and performed a double mastectomy the following year. The woman, Prisha Mosely, now says she was suffering from mental health issues when, after a few two-minute consultations, doctors misdiagnosed her and began treatment. She claims they were only after money.

In the video Identity Crisis, produced by the Independent Women’s Forum, Mosley shared how she first learned about transgenderism online at the age of 15. “The trans community really lovebombed me,” said Mosley. “I really hated myself. I was convinced that everyone around me hated me.” When they started “celebrating the fact that I was born in the wrong body, I felt cared for and genuinely loved.”

After having a double mastectomy, she left her parents to move to Florida to live with a trans person she met on the Internet. Soon after her mental health began to suffer. The relationship turned sour and then she was sexually assaulted.

Once not interested in having children, her fertility is likely lost due to the large doses of male sex hormones she was given. It’s a loss she now mourns.

Mosley said emotionally, “I honestly feel like loving me is a lot to ask.... Every other woman is a better option than me because they have their original body, and they didn’t try to live a lie.… They didn’t try to mutilate themselves.”

TRANSGENDER

Young voices in the gender debate

School-age children are exercising their own freedom of speech in the nation’s gender debate and not all adults are happy about it. In Massachusetts, which is led by Maura Healey, one of the country’s two first lesbian governors, there were at least two student uprisings in the spring.

In March, 12-year-old Liam Morrison (left) from Middleborough, was sent home early from Nichols Middle School for wearing a T-shirt with a phrase school officials told him made some students feel “unsafe.” His shirt read, “There are only two genders.”

“I have been told that my shirt was targeting a protected class,” he told the local school board. “Who is this protected class? Are their feelings more important than my rights?” With the assistance of the Alliance Defending Freedom, an IBSA ministry partner, his family has filed a federal lawsuit against school officials and the Town of Middleborough.

When Pride Month arrived in June, there were schools still in session that celebrated it. On the designated day, some students at Marshall Simonds Middle School in Burlington opted out of wearing rainbow shirts instead choosing to wear red, white, and blue. Others tore Pride posters off the walls while chanting, “My pronouns are U.S.A.”

Healy expressed her disappointment and said, “It doesn’t represent who we are as a state.”

Of the estimated 1.6 million self-described trans and non-binary Americans aged 13 and over, 31% take cross-sex hormones and 16% opt for surgery, according to research by the Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) from the end of 2022.

Others forms of transitioning include dressing in clothing of the opposite sex (77%), hairstyle/ style of dress (76%), and changing their birth name (57%). That same research showed a surprising 62% said they had come out by age 25, with 31% having come out by age 17.

Pushback in the states

Since 2021, 20 states have passed laws prohibiting gender-reassignment surgery and hormonal treatment, most of them in the first half of this year. Illinois wasn’t one of them. Instead, in its spring 2023 session, the General Assembly passed a trio of bills that one assistant to the governor said were intended to make the state more “welcoming, affirming, and inclusive” to the LGBTQ communities.

In contrast, neighboring states such as Indiana passed laws requiring schools to notify parents if their child requests a pronoun or name change. And in Iowa, new laws prevent doctors from performing gender transition procedures on minors. They also prevent trans students from entering school bathrooms or changing rooms that don’t match their biological sex.

In 2023, 17 states have passed laws prohibiting gender-reassignment surgery and hormone treatment in minors bringing the total to 20 states: six states have placed bans on the use of bathrooms and other facilities segregated by sex for a total of nine. And four more states passed laws barring

youths from competing in sports by gender identity, not their biological sex, for a total of 22. But, again, not in Illinois.

There is concern that judges will strike down these laws based on what some call the “dangerous politicization” of the transgender agenda. In June a federal court overturned an Arkansas law banning the provision of sex-change procedures to minors—off-label “puberty blockers,” opposite-sex hormones, and surgery. Judge James M. Moody Jr.’s verdict cited the Endocrine Society’s “widely-accepted clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of gender dysphoria” among reasons to overturn the restrictions.

In a June 28 Wall St. Journal op-ed by Roy Eappen, a practicing endocrinologist, and Ian Kingsbury, research director at Do No Harm, the two claim the Society has been co-opted by activists and that the guidelines are based on “flimsy evidence...despite a growing body of evidence to the contrary.”

They argued that in the U.S., “medical professionals are being cowed into silence and coerced into providing treatments they know are dangerous to children” by activist-controlled groups.

At the same time, the medical establishment in Europe has taken steps back from “gender affirming care” as it is practiced in the U.S., due to concerns over the physical and emotional wellbeing of children. England, Ireland, Sweden, and Finland have all put restrictions in place for treating minors, while health officials in Norway, Belgium, France, and Italy have also begun raising serious concerns.

Increasingly, the U.S. stands alone in its ready prescription of gender reassignment for minors.

Even some who have led the more radical forms

A recent survey shows three-fourths of young people undergoing sexual transition, started with cross dressing and hairstyles.

JOURNEY

– Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation

of gender reassignment are acknowledging concern for minors. Blair Peters is a surgeon at Oregon Health & Science University who identifies himself as “queer” and performs irreversible transgender surgeries on pre-pubescent children. In a recent online video, he acknowledged the difficulty of obtaining consent from young children who fail to understand the risks and long-term consequences associated with such surgeries. He said they lack the understanding of the often life-long physical pain they will endure, limited use of the newly created organs, and still experimental nature of these surgeries.

“We’re kind of learning and figuring out what works,” said Peters. He described some of the surgeries as having a “really demanding post-operative care process.”

Caring for people

The evangelical church doesn’t often look for allies in secular culture, but in terms of pushback on wholesale acceptance of transgenderism, one measure of resistance is coming from beer drinkers. An ad campaign for Budweiser that featured transwoman Dylan Mulvaney may prove to be a tipping point in the culture. Budweiser lost 30% of its sales due to protests after the company platformed Mulvaney in April.

A leader in the Christian response to transgenderism describes the movement as one “that is won or lost by social conditioning.” Katie McCoy said. “We need to decide as (God’s) people whether we’re going to listen to the whims of culture and we’re going to follow after our own personal desires or going to see what God desires for us.”

McCoy is director of Women’s Ministry at Texas Baptists (BGCT) and the author of To Be a Woman: The Confusion Over Female Identity and How Christians Can Respond (B&H Publishing, 2023). As a measure of its rapid social acceptance, she points out that in 2017, there was only one gender reassignment clinic in the U.S. By 2022 there were 50.

Leading the move to surgical reassignment is first a shift in language, such as self-selected pronouns. “Language is now seen as something that creates reality. It no longer reflects what it

Legal pushback in many states

is,” McCoy told Baptist Communicators at their annual meeting in April. “You can become whoever or whomever you want to be.”

Much of gender dysphoria in males can be traced back to pornography, McCoy shared. “It’s a secret in the trans community.”

She explained that we live in a post-Christian culture that still hangs on to some of the “virtues of Christianity but got rid of its exclusive claims.” They include the exclusivity of Christ and sexual ethics. “People want the Kingdom, but without the King,” said McCoy who also holds a Ph.D. in systemic theology from Southwestern Seminary where she served on faculty for five years.

Southern Baptists, through multiple statements, have affirmed that gender is God-given, self-evident, and not to be tampered with. But in these days of gender fluidity, a compassionate response is called for. This is especially challenging for pastors balancing truth and love in this environment,

Rob Collingsworth, director of strategic relationships at Criswell College and a member of the 2023 SBC Resolutions Committee, said the committee tried to approach the topic in a way that “balances grace and truth.”

While he believes Southern Baptists “hold genuine sympathy and care and compassion for those affected by gender dysphoria, we can also state very plainly that the long-term effects of gender transitions on children are devastating. While that may be a very controversial opinion in the world in 2023, that is a very uncontroversial opinion among Southern Baptists.”

The resolution declares “God created humans in His own image as distinctly male and female.” While opposing their actions, the resolution extends the love of Christ along with “compassionate care and tender mercy” to those with gender identity issues.

At the same time, it reminds them and the reader, that all are within the saving grace of Christ. It affirms government leaders who have made laws protecting minors from genderreassignment surgery and hormone treatments, while calling on those who have affirmed them to reject and correct their error.

Even in Illinois.

Law or policy banning genderreassignment surgery and hormone treatment in minors

Law or policy banning genderreassignment surgery and hormone treatment in minors is being considered

BLUE ORANGE RED

Law or policy affirming genderreassignment surgery and hormone treatment in minors

SBC Resolution on Opposing Gender Transitions

Messengers to the 2023 SBC Annual Meeting in New Orleans approved the resolution “On Opposing Gender Transition.” Though non-binding, it is meant to as a declarative representation of SBC churches on the issue of transgenderism. Among its declarations are:

The Bible teaches that the differences between men and women are complementary, determined at conception, immutable, rooted in God’s design, and most clearly revealed in bodily differences (Genesis 1:28; Psalm 100:3), not in self-defined and ultimately false notions of “gender identity”;

These so-called medical interventions are not only spiritually destructive but also render otherwise healthy children sterile for life, impairing or destroying their fertility, reproductive organs, capacity for sexual pleasure, and at times causing lifelong medical dependency as well as unknown long-term consequences;

We call on legislatures to reverse any law or policy that supports “gender transition” interventions, undermines parental rights, or creates supposed sanctuary jurisdictions that facilitate these harmful interventions for minors;

We commend the legislatures who have undertaken just and praiseworthy action to protect children from “gender transition” interventions, have reaffirmed the rights of parents to direct the upbringing of their children, and have defended the free speech and conscience rights of religious believers from governmental efforts to coerce them into endorsing gender ideology;

We call on any members of the Southern Baptist Convention who are performing or actively supporting “gender transition” interventions to immediately repent and refrain;

We extend the love of Christ...to those experiencing identity or body-related distress and/or are currently undergoing or have undergone “gender transition” interventions.

Read more at SBC.Net/resource-library/resolutions

Accreditation at ‘warning’ level

Fort Worth | Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS) has one year to respond to the criticisms that have placed its accreditation at warning level by its accrediting agency, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).

SWBTS was notified June 15 of three areas of failure of compliance related to its governing board characteristics, financial resources, and financial responsibility. Within two years, accreditation could be downgraded to probation or removal.

The warning comes after reports that under previous President Adam Greenway, the seminary had engaged in unfettered spending resulting in $15 million loss in net assets from the prior year, according to a 2022 audit, and an $8.7 million deficit in cash operating expenses for the year. The seminary reported Greenway spent $1.5 million on furnishings and renovations of the president’s home at a time the school was cutting faculty and staff.

Over the past two decades, SWBTS has had a cumulative deficit of $140 million dollars that dates to Greenway’s predecessor, Paige Patterson.

David Dockery, who succeeded Greenway in April, stated that the board is “fully committed to take all necessary steps to address concerns related to the July 31, 2022 financial audit and financial decisions that led to it.” It falls to Dockery, who previously headed Union University and Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois, and former Guidestone President O.S. Hawkins as Chancellor to fix the problems.

At the SBC Annual Meeting in June, Dockery pledged “to continue the best of Southwestern Seminary’s Baptist and evangelical heritage, sharing the foundational convictions regarding Scripture and the gospel initiated by our founder, B. H. Carroll, and carried forward by dozens and dozens over the past 115 years—doing so with an unapologetic commitment to the truthfulness, authority and sufficiency of Scripture with an unflinching conviction regarding the faith once for all delivered to the Saints and our shared Baptist distinctives.”

Dockery also told messengers “we recommit ourselves to institutional stewardship with a high priority given to this each and every day.”

Training Events

August 22 – Wayne City Baptist, Wayne City

September 12 – Twin Oaks, Sleepy Hollow

September 19 – Friendship Baptist, Plainfield

September 26 – Chatham Baptist, Chatham

October 3 – First Baptist, Metropolis

October 10 – Metro Community, Edwardsville

Kansas City, Mo. | President Jason Allen reported to messengers at the SBC Annual Meeting in June that Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (MBTS) completed the current academic year with an enrollment of 5,100 students, compared to 1,100 when he took the post just over a decade ago. In addition, 10,000 lay leaders are enrolled in the online For the Church institute. Allen also reported Midwestern has net assets of $90 million, up from $10 million eleven years ago.

He pointed to the MBTS “Missions Moonshot,” a plan to partner with the International Mission Board and produce 100 students for missions abroad. With students in all 50 states and 64 countries, he expressed the seminary’s desire to continue to increase its reach for the sake of the lost.

“When we think of our work, we don’t just think of the numbers,” Allen said in a message focusing on three kinds of stewardship. “We think of the young men and women being trained on our campus to serve your churches and to reach the nations for the cause of Christ.

“It’s a theological stewardship, a missional stewardship, an operational stewardship, and collectively, a precious stewardship,” Allen said.

MISSION

New leaders

Focused discipleship turns following into leading for high school students.

Aback-to-basics approach to student discipleship may seem an unlikely attraction for the upcoming generation, but for future leaders at IBSA’s Super Summer, the concept was a winner.

“I wouldn’t call it a camp,” Kendall Hempkin said. “Super Summer is more like a Bible school where actual teachers and preachers teach you.” And for this 13-year-old, that was just the ticket.

“It is very Christ oriented,” she said. The fun activities don’t overwhelm the larger purpose, which is to develop young believers into strong leaders. “Even if you do some of the fun activities, they incorporate a lot of Christ stuff into it. Like in vocal basics, we sang Christian songs. And in Stomp, we looked at the Word of God and see where it shows us how to worship him.” Stomp is a music class led by Pastor Tony Muñoz using buckets, trash cans, and drum sticks.

There were a total of 222 students and volunteer staff at Super Summer in July.

For Lindsay Wineinger, a veteran serving as Super Summer director for the first time, this reaction to the 2023 theme “Elements of Faith” is just what she hoped to hear.

“With the ‘basics’ approach, we wanted to solidify why we do what we do, and who we do it for,” Wineinger said. “So often our students are getting bombarded with why this is wrong and that’s not OK, but we chose a more positive approach. (The students) need to remember

SUPER SUMMER — The big week of intense Bible study and leader development ended with an all-out battle for bragging rights. In the Mega Messy Relay, the schools (age groups identified by color) competed in Penguin Dash, Leap Frog, Tunnel Crawl, and more. On page 1, the Orange School (ninth grade) marched into the arena.

WINEINGER

why we choose to love Jesus and why we choose to live” as his followers.

The students are divided by school grades and each one is assigned a color. Then each group has a series of Bible studies and classes in worship, missions, and electives.

One of the electives I thought was really good was biblical womanhood,” Kendall said. “We talked about a bunch of hard stuff and stuff some people are uncomfortable talking about. It was good to have the opportunity to share if you wanted to. Honestly it felt like a safe place to share.”

Likewise, Javen Sweitzer, 18, from Albion First Baptist named the class on biblical manhood. “It’s something that is really important to our generation, how to be a biblical man and lead this world to have a Christian view.”

He found the atmosphere at Hannibal LaGrange University, host to the annual IBSA camp, especially encouraging. “I just love this place,” he said, with the Spirit of God “filling us up to inspire the world to share among all nations that Jesus

Christ is Lord.”

For Bella Daubs of Living Faith Church in Sherman, the positive environment was encouraging. “I was really nervous when I first got here,” she said. “But I really enjoy my roommate. I’ve had some people come over and play board games and it’s been really fun, even though I didn’t think it would be.”

The 14-year-old hopes the week will carry over into her life back home. “I can’t wait to tell my friends that I have met some really good girls that I know know the Lord. They will help me in my faith. I am so excited to tell them about the positive people I have met.”

Young people building up each other is a running theme at Super Summer. The big orange wall is one example. “Tony wanted it to be like a ‘social media wall’ similar to Facebook,” Annie Rhodus posted later. “So, every kid took a picture of themselves, put it on a bag they decorated, and hung it on the wall. Throughout the week students were able to put notes in their friends’ bags to read after Super Summer was over.”

Wineinger related the stories of a couple of young people who have struggled in past years. “I watched one girl through high school and a boy who dealt with big hurdles. But seeing them progress through their struggles and get ready to go to college, it’s so encouraging.

“They are ready for college, ready for their next step, and ready to go back into church and into life and into leadership,” Wineinger said. “I don’t see any fear.”

– With photography and field reporting by Maykayla Proctor

1. MUSIC TRACK – Guitar class is a popular elective choice.

2. QUIET TIME LESSONS – Gray school (seniors) learn to “experience being alone with God in prayer” taught by Pastor Phil Nelson.

3. MISSIONS CLASS – IBSA’s Shannon Ford shares from his years an IMB missionary.

4. COMPANIONABLE SILENCE – Green school (juniors) turns Bible study into a creative experience.

5. WORSHIP – The auditorium at Hannibal-LaGrange University serves as home for daily worship sessions.

6. FINAL LAP – On the last day, yellow school (sophomores) make a play for victory in the messy relay race.

7. GROWING – Camp leader Adam Anglin guides worship in green school.

“I’ll go home and tell my friends how my heart has been moved and about the people I have met. That has always been one of the best things about Super Summer.”

– Mason Eschmann, 17

“I wouldn’t call it a camp. Super Summer is more like a Bible school where actual teachers and preachers teach you.”

– Kendall Hempken, 13

GROWING

MEET THE TEAM

table talk

The roar of the crowd

Recently I ran a 10k with my pregnant wife. When we signed up for the race in Orlando, Cassidy wasn’t pregnant. After checking with her obstetrician, we decided that it would be fine for her to “walk” the race. We would walk it together.

Jacob Kimbrough

Streator Baptist Camp Manager

Hometown: Diamond, Mo.

Family 411: Katie and I have been married four years. We are expecting a little girl soon, and we plan to name her Lila Roo.

Schooling: Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice from MSSU in Joplin

Before IBSA: I served in youth and children’s ministry and worked for the Missouri Baptist Children’s Home.

Salvation story: My pastor spent a year coaching me in basketball and teaching me about Jesus while he did. I made the decision to make Jesus my Savior and Lord during summer camp that year. My call to vocational ministry was similar. I spent a few years being mentored by the youth pastor at my church, and through that discipleship time I felt the Lord calling me.

Fave verse: Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Fave person: Onesimus in the book of Philemon. Paul sent him into a difficult situation and he still went. When I struggle with difficult things, and I remember that the Lord was in control of Onesimus’s life and he is in control of my life also.

Flick: The Lord of the Rings movies

Discovery: I have enjoyed seeing how diverse Northern Illinois is.

Desert island disc: Psalms, Vol. 2 by Shane & Shane

Ice cream: Mint chocolate chip

This was a challenge because we tried to keep a certain pace. We wanted to finish the race before organizers shut it down and we wanted to receive the medal. We had to earn it, but to earn it, we had to keep our focus on the goal. As we learned along the route, this required a lot of self-control.

With about a mile left to go, we talked about how we had done so much of the race and we didn’t want to stop there. We wanted to keep going, looking for the prize.

This race was not about winning or being first. We were nowhere near first place. It was about finishing well. It was still nice to receive a medal and a T-shirt.

Before this 10K I had forgotten how supportive people are in these events. They stand by the race path shouting “You can do it!” and “You’re doing great!” It was encouraging for us to hear those words from the running community.

“How good would it be we if saw this kind of encouragement more often at church!” I said to Cassidy.

The apostle Paul used sports references a few times in his

letters, including running and boxing.

The church in Corinth would have been familiar with sporting events. The city was the home of the Isthmian games, a simple version of the Olympic games, writer David J. Williams pointed out. They knew what Paul was talking about when running a race or boxing for a prize. They probably saw winners wearing the “perishable wreath” of leaves on their heads.

Paul tells us as followers of Christ to be similarly focused and disciplined. This race is not a sprint, it is one of endurance. How nice it is when we are encouraged by other runners to keep on running!

We see the churches struggling with people leaving because they can’t find an encouraging community. It may be hard for new people at church to connect with the members. They may feel discouraged and fall by the wayside.

That is also true for old church members. When encouragement

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly...” 1 Cor. 9:24-26 (ESV).

is not part of the life of the church, it can be hard for people to want to be part of that community. Even long-time members can feel discouraged from serving and engaging with the church.

Just as the running community’s encouragement made me and my wife want to push forward and made us happy to be part of that community, so it should be with the church. How great it would be if the congregation were so encouraging that people would think, “I want to keep running with them! I am thankful for being in this community!”

The fellowship of believers is an opportunity we have for that. And as we receive encouragement from people, we have the chance to encourage others. Paul also had something to say about it: He tells us that we should encourage one another by helping to build up one another in Christ (Eph. 4:15-16).

Cassidy and I agreed that we need more of these uplifting conversations at church. We should encourage one another and help those following Christ to continue the race. If runners can do it, so can the community of believers.

As we shout to those around us “You can do this,” we know that the Holy Spirit is empowering us all to keep running this race!

Andrei Marinho is youth and discipleship pastor at FBC Sesser and a Ph.D. student at Midwestern Seminary.

Why running is sometimes more encouraging than church

“These days, God seems to be speaking to me in a quiet whisper... Especially in my bad ear.”

people NeTworkiNg

Send items to IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org

Bob Burton’s retirement was brief. Three months after his departure from the North American Mission Board (NAMB), Burton has been called as Associational Mission Strategist for Salem South Baptist Association.

He succeeds Kevin Carrothers and will start work Sept. 1. Burton served with NAMB 21 years in various positions, often working with local Baptist associations in the Midwest. Burton first served with his wife, Dana, in Illinois for seven years. In retirement he served as transitional pastor for Lighthouse Fellowship in Nashville/ Okawville. Under his leadership, the church baptized seven people on Easter Sunday.

Nick Rogers is the new pastor at Charis Community Church in Bloomington. Rogers and his wife, AnaLisa, come to Illinois from Denison, Texas, where he has served as next gen pastor at Legacy Bible Church. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from LeTourneau University and a Master’s in pastoral leadership from Denver Seminary. The Rogers have four children, from newborn to nine years old.

Richard Nations is the new Associational Mission Strategist for Sandy Creek Baptist Association. Nations comes from Kirksville, Missouri where he was Director of Missions for Thousand Hills Baptist Association for 11 years. Nations previously served with the Iowa Baptist Convention. He pastored churches in Iowa, Missouri, and two Illinois churches, in Elk Grove Village and Carrollton.

Nations is a graduate of Hannibal-LaGrange University, Southwest Baptist University, and Southwestern Seminary. Nations and his wife, Rachel, have two adult children. He succeeds Bob Carruthers.

Ryan Tackett was called as lead pastor at First Baptist Church Carterville in July, after serving as Minister to Youth and Families there since 2015. Tackett was licensed at Chatham Baptist Church and ordained by Calvary, Monticello, where he served as Minister to Youth from 2008-2015. He is an online student at Southern Seminary. Tackett and his wife, Claudia, have four children.

Faith, Family & Freedom Fall Banquet

Back by Popular Demand!

Eric Metaxas

Author, Radio Host & Cultural Commentator

Friday, November 3, 2023

Bolingbrook Golf Club / 2001 Rodeo Drive, Bolingbrook, IL

Reservations before Sept. 4th / $100

Eric Metaxas is the bestselling author of fourteen books, including his most recent Letter to the American Church; Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy; Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery; and If You Can Keep It: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty. His books have been translated into twenty-five languages. The host of nationally syndicated radio and television shows and the acclaimed conversation series Socrates in the City, Metaxas is a prominent cultural commentator whose work has appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New Republic, and the Wall Street Journal.

Proceeds Benefit Illinois Family Institute For Reservations & Information (708) 781-9328 / illinoisfamily.org

Bankston Fork Missionary Baptist Church seeks a bi-vocational pastor. Please submit resume to attorneyninabrown@gmail.com, or write to Pastor Search Committee, 5890 Highway 13 West, Harrisburg, IL 62946.

Cornelia Avenue Baptist Church seeks a bi-vocational pastor to reach out to the Lakeview community and beyond. Send resumé to cornelia baptistchicago21@yahoo.com or to Pastor Search Committee Chair, 1709 West Cornelia Avenue, Chicago, IL 60657.

Search more church openings at IBSA.org/pastor-search or scan this code.

CLASSIFIED AD

Salem Baptist Church of Florissant, Missouri seeks a full-time pastor. Applicants must have formal pastoral experience, seminary training, heart of a missionary, and desire to work with us as a team. Contact: Pastor Search Committee 19715 Old Jamestown Road Florissant, MO 63034-1125

Salempsc6@gmail.com

voices

This movie fuels my passion to end human trafficking

Something’s brewing. I don’t know exactly what it is, but God is at work. I have a part to play in ending injustice.

That’s how I felt after watching the new movie “Sound of Freedom.” It’s the story of a Homeland Security agent who risks his own life to rescue children from the devastating cycle of human trafficking. At the end of the movie, one of the actors talked about the pivotal role of storytellers. They control the whole narrative, he said. In that moment, I sensed God speaking to my heart: You have a story and you’re going to tell it.

Ending human trafficking has been part of my story for six years. Ironically, it was a different movie that first sparked the passion in me. I was 14 when I saw “Priceless,” a movie that grapples with the reality of human trafficking. I walked out of the movie theater feeling like I was supposed to do something, like I couldn’t walk away and not do anything.

But because I was only 14, I didn’t feel like there was anything I really could do. Until I started praying. As I wondered why this burden wasn’t going away, God began to impress on my heart a simple instruction: walk.

I remembered hearing about a boy who walked hundreds of miles to raise awareness about homelessness. It was then I had the idea to walk to Mexico. My mom will never say yes to that, I thought. However, when I finally asked her about it, she immediately got out her calculator to determine how many miles it would be and how long it would take. We quickly ruled out a journey that long, but we kept praying. We decided I

would walk to Nashville, Tenn., home of Hope for Justice, the anti-trafficking organization I would be raising money for. Walking to Nashville meant I could deliver the donation in person.

Over 27 days, I walked 302 miles. I walked by myself, but I wasn’t alone. My mom and siblings followed me, pulling a camper behind our car. As soon as we got back home to Arthur, my legs were itching to do something else. This time, I rode my bike from Mexico to Canada, accompanied by two of my siblings and a cousin.

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OUR CULTURE IS CHANGING

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A few years later, I had the opportunity to go to India, where I spent nine months teaching English as a Second Language to children in a red-light district. Our goal was to break the cycle of trafficking before it even started for them, by providing education and eventually, a way out of poverty.

I had only been back in Illinois a few weeks when I saw “Sound of Freedom.” And there was that buzzing again. The desire to help people feel safe and loved. The anger and grief that anyone can look at a child and have such malicious intent toward them. I can’t just stand by when people are being treated like livestock. I can’t afford to do nothing.

The church can’t either. We have an opportunity right now to end the injustice of human trafficking at home and across the world. We can give to organizations that are engaged in the work. We can commit to teach our children a biblical view of sexuality, acknowledging our own country is one of the largest consumers in the trafficking industry.

Perhaps most importantly and most immediately, we can love people in our communities who are desperate for acceptance and security and therefore more susceptible to those who would do them harm. We, all of us, have a part in this story.

Lindsey Yoder is a member of Arthur Southern Baptist Church.

Nominations

The Nominations Committee will draft a slate of candidates for at least 30 elected positions in IBSA leadership. Organizers emphasize the important role committee members play in IBSA. In addition to IBSA’s six committees, the Nominating Committee will recommend people to serve on the Association’s three boards: IBSA, the Baptist Foundation of Illinois (BFI), and Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services (BCHFS).

Deadline to receive nominations is August 7. The online nominations forms are posted at IBSA.org/ nominations.

Affiliations

Churches wishing to apply for affiliation with the Illinois Baptist State Association must submit an application for membership by September 19. To request an affiliation packet, visit IBSA.org/membership.

Direct questions about nominations or affiliation to BarbTroeger@IBSA.org or 217-391-3107.

FREEDOM RINGS – Jim Caviezel’s new movie was made in 2018, but not released until 2023 because of Hollywood dealings. The small-budget film on human trafficking has far outperformed bigger films in its first month at theaters.

BRIGHTER DAY EVENTS

When love feels hard

One of my dad’s favorite sermon illustrations is a story from our family’s theme park vacation. On a particularly hot, crowded day, my sister and I were standing in line with our parents to ride something that would offer, at most, one minute of breezy relief. Flying elephants. Just in front of us, a child kept taking off her shoe and waving it at her mother. The mom, increasingly irritated, refused the child’s attempts to reconcile with a hug. I, then 7, was stunned that a parent would deny their child this bit of affection.

Fast forward 35 years to a restaurant at the very same theme park, when my own child stopped just short of hurling her over-priced tater tots at me because of the unfamiliar sauce drizzled over them. Five minutes later, she wanted to sit in my lap as she ate her dessert. Much like the mother with the shoe, my first instinct was not to welcome her with open arms.

Shortly after our first child was born, I read a blog post by another new mom titled “When love feels heavy.” The piece, which went viral, was about the very real tension between love for a child and the pressure, anxiety, and fear that accompany parenthood. Over the years, I’ve modified that title in my head because love, I’ve found, often feels hard. It’s a sacrifice, especially when the person in front of us is, in our opinion, not acting lovable.

Scripture is clear that love is a defining characteristic of people who follow Christ (John 13:34-35). The apostle Paul said it must be a motivating factor, unless we want to be merely sounding gongs or clanging cymbals (1 Corinthians 13:1).

Most of my most obvious reminders to love currently come amid parenting challenges, but we all have occasions to heed Paul’s words: when discourse gets angry, when misunderstandings abound, when personal faith feels dry or distant.

The way my dad tells the shoe story, my parents reassured me they would always love us and welcome our affection. The argument in front of us eventually dissipated. As we inched closer to the elephants, my 4-year-old sister reached down, took off her own shoe, and held it up to my parents. As if to say, my dad recounts, “Prove it.”

Love is an opportunity to prove who we are, and what’s behind it. Even, especially, when it’s hard.

Meredith Day Flynn is a wife and mother of two living in Springfield. She writes on the intersection of faith, family, and current culture.

Trends from nearby and around the world

Tracker People: Amp up singles ministry

1-in-4 adults over 40 have never been married

That’s the highest percentage yet (25%). They are more likely to be men than women (28% of the male demographic). Most of them are not living with a romantic partner. Only 22% of over 40’s are cohabitating.

Expect the trend to grow, said researchers Sally Curtin and Paul D. Sutton:

While adults have increasingly postponed marriage, a record number of current youth and young adults are also projected to forego marriage altogether.

Why wait?

There’s a shortage of trophy husbands: Lack of achievement among potential mates is one reason successful women aren’t getting hitched.

“Marriage is becoming more selective, and more stable, even as attitudes toward divorce are becoming more permissive, and cohabitation has grown less stable. The U.S. is progressing toward a system in which marriage is rarer, and more stable, than it was in the past, representing an increasingly central component of the structure of social inequality.”

– Sociologist Philip Cohen

Culture:

Sex and the single Christian

A secular view of sexuality is growing among Christians, even evangelicals, a new book reports. “Despite scriptural teaching to the contrary, research has shown that most never-married Christian men and women are not living lives of sexual chastity. This engagement in sexual relationships outside of marriage coincides with and likely fuels delays and declines in marriage.”

78 22% of churchgoers are considered lonely.

July 31-August 1

Associational Roundtable

Where: IBSA Building, Springfield

What: Meeting for Associational Mission Strategists and Moderators

Contact: 217-391-3138 or AubreyShelby@ IBSA.org

August 4-5

Serve Tour Chicago

Where: Multiple locations

What: Make a lasting impact on lives in Chicago

Cost: Personal expenses

Info: sendrelief.org/serve-tour/Chicago

August 18-19

Disaster Relief Training

Where: Lake Sallateeska Camp

What: 8/18 – two-day training for chaplains 8/19 – one-day training in flood recovery, Send Relief, childcare, chainsaw, more

Cost: $15 annual fee, lunch provided Info: 217-391-3126, LisaHarbaugh@IBSA.org

Register: IBSA.org/disaster-relief/training

August 22

Equip Training Events

Where: Wayne City Church

What: Ministry skills for church leaders

Cost: Free Register: IBSA.org/equip

August 28

NAMB Evangelism Training

Where: Ashburn Church, Orland Park

When: 10:30 a.m.-1:15 p.m.

Cost: Free, includes Evangelism Kit and lunch Register: https://shorturl.at/oTU06

September 8-9

DR Training: Group Crisis Intervention

Where: IBSA Building, Springfield

What: A fundamental of CISM Training

Cost: $100, Includes workbook, lunch, snacks

Info: 217-391-3126, LisaHarbaugh@IBSA.org Register: IBSA.org/disaster-relief/training

September 10-11

Ignite Evangelism Conference

Where: FBC Herrin

Single church goers are 3 times more likely to feel lonely than married ones, with younger men outranking widows.

50% of marrieds 85 15 15% of singles

50

Church: Missing opportunity 85% of churches are spending zero dollars on marriage and relationship ministry.

When: Sunday 6 p.m.; Monday, 8 a.m. - noon Register: IBSA.org/igniteconference

September

Equip Training Events

9/12 – Twin Oaks, Sleepy Hollow

9/19 – Friendship, Plainfield

9/26 – Chatham Church, Chatham

What: Ministry skills training for church leaders

Cost: Free Register: IBSA.org/equip

September 24-25

Ignite Evangelism Conference

Where: Lincoln Avenue, Jacksonville

When: Sunday 6 p.m.; Monday 8 a.m. - noon

Register: IBSA.org/igniteconference

– Researcher J. P. De Gance of Communio family ministry

– Endgame: The Church’s Strategic Move to Save Faith and Family in America

– Nationwide Study on Faith and Relationships, reported in Christian Post