April 1, 2021 Illinois Baptist

Illinois Baptist

Churches that shape us

A thank you

Nate Adams

P. 2

Vision cast Board adopts new statements, budget

The Board of Directors of the Illinois Baptist State Association approved new mission and values statements for the organization during a virtual meeting March 30. The newly adopted statements resulted from a multi-year vision process that gives new direction and language to IBSA’s goals and strategies.

The mission, values, strategies, and measures are parts of a “vision frame” developed with Will Mancini of Denominee, an organization IBSA is working with to craft long-term vision and strategies. IBSA also partnered with Rob Peters of Corpus for church revitalization ministry.

“We believe that IBSA’s mission for the future is to deliver network value that inspires each church to thrive in health, growth, and mission,” Executive Director Nate Adams said in his report to the Board. Adams also introduced IBSA’s four value statements, each focused on churches: excellence churches, helpfulness to engagement with

Reaction after Beth Moore says she’s ‘no longer Southern Baptist’

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM

Snapshots from the world of Illinois Baptists

BACK TO CHURCH

Lifeway Research asked Protestant churchgoers: When COVID-19 is no longer an active threat to people’s health, which best reflects your plans for attending worship services at your church in person?

Attend more 23%

Never attend 1%

Rarely attend 2%

Attend less 6%

Attend the same 68%

– Lifeway Research, March 2021

CHURCH NEEDED HERE

Location: Hurst

Focus: Residents of this small southern Illinois city

Characteristics: Hurst was established as a coal and railroad town in the early 1900s. The current population is estimated at under 800.

Prayer needs: Pray for the hope of the gospel to be present in Hurst.

– IBSA Church Planting Team

Giving by IBSA churches as of 3/29/21 $1,342,643

Budget Goal: $1,430,772

Received to date in 2020: $1,184,709 2021 Goal: $6.3 Million

The Illinois Baptist staff

Editor - Eric Reed

Managing Editor - Meredith Flynn

Graphic Designer - Kris Kell

Contributing Editor - Lisa Misner

Administrative Assistant - Leah Honnen

The general telephone number for IBSA is (217) 786-2600. For questions about subscriptions, articles, or upcoming events, contact the Illinois Baptist at (217) 391-3119 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 627034440. Subscriptions are free to Illinois Baptists. Subscribe online at IBSA.org.

NATE ADAMS

Each church thriving

R

ecently our IBSA staff set aside a day for spiritual retreat and focus. Since the beginning of the year, our weekly chapel services have been focusing on the Bible passages that undergird key words and phrases in our new mission statement: “Deliver network value that inspires each church to thrive in health, growth, and mission.”

Each word and each phrase in that statement carries deep meaning and has strong biblical foundation. But on this special retreat day, we focused on the phrase that is intentionally placed right at the center of our mission: “each church.”

In the first session of our retreat, I shared the special impact that “each church” where I have been a member has had on my life. From my earliest memories, through childhood, adolescence and youth group, and on to the churches that taught me to lead and the churches I planted or pastored, I described the 10 churches that have shaped my life. It’s an exercise I would sincerely recommend to every Christian, whether that list contains one church or dozens.

The second session of our retreat was then led by several staff members who had volunteered to share 5-10 minutes about only one or two churches that had been especially transformational in their lives. Instead of spanning one specific lifetime, these testimonies spanned a wide geography of places and people and churches, both within Illinois and beyond. By the time the last volunteer finished speaking, we had heard grateful, often emotional, testimonies about probably 25 unique churches.

Several of the churches we heard about had changed their names over the years, and some had changed locations. A couple of them had even ceased ministry over the decades. But those changes didn’t diminish our love for them, or the transformational impact they have had on our lives.

The common thread in all our testimonies was a deep appreciation for the people, often the leaders or teachers, who personified that church during that season of our lives. Of course that reminded us of a very important truth, that a church is not a location or a building, but the people of God who are his body in that place and at that time.

The final session of our retreat turned our attention to the churches that we serve today, throughout Illinois. Just as each of the churches we testimonialized had deeply impacted and transformed our lives and matured and equipped us as disciples of Jesus, so each church we serve throughout Illinois has that same power and potential in the lives of its people. That’s why we do what we do.

The New Testament mentions at least 34 individual congregations, and at least six groups or regions of churches, such as “the churches in Galatia.” Yet when Paul, or Peter, or John wrote to those churches in their international association, it was clear that they knew and cared about each context, each unique set of issues and problems, each person, each church. And whether they were delivering a relief offering or doctrinal clarity or leadership training, those traveling network leaders sought to deliver value, from the entire network to each church in it.

That’s why I wanted to share briefly about our recent staff retreat here. I want each church in Illinois to know that it is at the very center of our newly stated mission. And I want each church to know that we as a staff pursue that mission out of deep gratitude for each church that the Lord has used, and continues to use, to shape our lives.

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

I’m grateful for how God works through his people.

From the front: ibsa board approves new mission, values

Continued from page 1

churches, and advance through churches.

In his report, Adams also highlighted bright spots amid the challenges of 2020—an “asterisk year” in almost every respect because of the impact of COVID-19 forced closures. Giving through the Cooperative Program and annual Mission Illinois Offering was down, he noted, but IBSA’s reduced spending and funding from the CARES Act more than offset reduced giving. He reported 14 new churches were planted in 2020—more than the previous year’s total—and 10 churches affiliated with IBSA at the Annual Meeting in November. Also, IBSA leadership development events engaged almost double the number of participants from the previous year, largely because more resources were offered online.

“No one wishes for a year like 2020,” Adams said, “yet God has been faithful.”

IBSA MISSION

Deliver network value that inspires each church to thrive in health, growth, and mission.

VALUES

While most metrics measured through the Annual Church Profile dropped in 2020, and some dramatically, many of IBSA’s goals for the year saw improvements over 2019. For instance, 943 pastors or leaders participated in an IBSA leadership development event, compared to 474 the year before. Increased availability of online training and resources resulted in 558 pastors or leaders attending an IBSA webinar, compared to just 65 in 2019.

“We found that online engagement and tech tools and strategies have really increased significantly for IBSA,” Adams said.

In 2019, IBSA restructured staff and resources in order to address key priorities including church revitalization. While the COVID-19 pandemic forced many pastors to put their revitalization plans on hold, more than half of those who responded to IBSA’s Annual Church Needs Survey indicated their church’s need for revitalization is either “urgently needed” or “needed now.”

“Our restructuring put us in a good position to

endure the pandemic,” Adams said, “and our strategic planning is really putting us in a good position to plan what a network of churches should be for the future.”

Looking ahead

IBSA’s new mission is deeply grounded in the activity of the New Testament church, Adams said in introducing the statements to the Board. The epistles of Paul, John, and Peter all indicate these early church leaders “were trying to inspire each church to thrive in its own context and setting, and in the midst of its own problems; and for it to have health and growth, both internal and external; and to be on mission taking the gospel throughout the world.”

The mission is one of four pieces in IBSA’s vision frame, which also includes the values and new strategies and measures. IBSA has identified five strategies for the future: engagement, revitalization, leadership development, mobilization, and mission partnership. Additionally, 12 measures will shape IBSA’s work in terms of overall, inspirational net results. Adams referred to several during the Board meeting: heartfelt cooperation; breakthroughs in personal ministry effectiveness; expanding the leadership capacities of pastors and leaders; and providing pathways and partnerships for each church to “turn inside out” into the lostness of its community and world.

“That’s not to avoid the accountability of numbers,” he said, noting each measure includes numerical objectives and key results. “But we think that this vision frame of having measures that are followed by objectives and key results will set our sights a little bit higher on the kinds of things we’re really trying to see happen in our mission field.”

Other business

The Board approved a motion from the Resource Development Committee that the Executive Director prepare a 2022 budget and salary structure based on a Cooperative Program goal of $6.2 million, and the utilization of up to $700,000 in reserves due to continuing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Adams reported CP giving from churches is rebounding compared to a year ago. CP funds are to be distributed at a ratio of 56.5% for ministry and missions in Illinois and 43.5% for national and global SBC causes, excluding shared expenses not to exceed 10% of the CP goal. Funds received beyond the goal will be distributed at a ratio of 50%/50%.

The Board also approved IBSA’s clean 2020 audit by CapinCrouse, and recognized 20 years of service for Production Manager Kris Kell.

Tibbetts takes gavel

Simmons joins NAMB in Ga.

Springfield | Heath Tibbetts, pastor of First Baptist Church in Machesney Park and IBSA vice president, will complete Sammy Simmons’s current term as IBSA president. Simmons, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Benton, will relocate to Georgia to serve as Send Relief National Project Director for the North American Mission Board. Simmons has served 10 years at Immanuel and is in his second one-year term as IBSA president. In his role with NAMB, he will plan and lead mission trips in coordination with churches, local associations, and state conventions. Simmons told his church the relocation will also allow his family to care for family members in Georgia. His last Sunday at Immanuel is April 11.

“I want you to know, church, that my family and I, we deeply, deeply love you,” Simmons told his church. “And I still believe that the best days that God has planned for this church are ahead. God is not done using you to impact the 26,000 that are lost in our county who do not know him.”

SAMMY SIMMONS

HEATH TIBBETTS

Nominees added

For Southern Baptist offices

Matt Henslee, pastor of Mayhill Baptist Church in New Mexico, will be nominated for president of the 2022 Southern Baptist Convention Pastors’ Conference. Henslee was to be nominated last year to lead the 2021 conference, but the SBC annual meeting was canceled due to COVID-19.

The pastor said he wants to put on a conference reflecting the wide range of Southern Baptist pastors. “In its 86th year,” he said, “the SBC Pastors’ Conference should allow every pastor the privilege of looking at the platform and seeing themselves represented, encouraged, and edified.”

Mississippi pastor Dusty Durbin will be nominated for SBC second vice president. Durbin is pastor of Big Level Baptist Church in Wiggins, Miss.

Durbin cited three reasons for allowing himself to be nominated: a desire to be faithful and obedient to God’s calling, his commitment to the work of the SBC, and a desire to represent normative-size SBC churches like his that “give generously and serve faithfully through the cooperative efforts of the Southern Baptist Convention.”

Ramon Medina will also be nominated for second vice president. He is lead pastor to the Spanish ministry at Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston, and began this year leading the church’s Hispanic church-planting residency program in cooperation with the North American Mission Board.

Medina is also president of the SBC Hispanic Council, a group of Hispanic pastors working toward unity and cooperation in serving Hispanic Southern Baptists.

Don Currence, administrative pastor at First Baptist Church in Ozark, Mo., will be nominated to serve as SBC registration secretary. Kathy Litton announced his nomination, noting Currence “represents the best of who we are as Southern Baptists.” Litton, elected to the role in 2019 over Currence, stepped down in January when it was announced that her husband, Ed, would be nominated as SBC president.

Currence previously served two terms as registration secretary, and assisted longtime registration secretary Jim Wells for 12 years.

Greear aide tapped

To lead N.C. Baptists

The board of directors of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina will vote April 16 on Todd Unzicker as the convention’s next executive director-treasurer. Currently chief of staff at The Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, Unzicker has worked closely with Summit Pastor J.D. Greear during Greear’s tenure as president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Unzicker’s ministry also has included leading Summit’s missions and church planting efforts, serving as a director of missions in Florida, and two years as a missionary in Central America.

southern baptist convention

Litton on the SBC’s biggest challenge

Candidate calls for unity grounded in the gospel

Editor’s note: Baptist Press will publish interviews with each of the four announced candidates for SBC president. The Illinois Baptist’s excerpts of each interview are available at IllinoisBaptist. org/SBCpresident. Full interviews are available at BaptistPress.com.

Mobile, Ala. | Ed Litton is one of four announced candidates for president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Currently in his 27th year as pastor of Redemption Church in metro Mobile, he is also a former first vice president of the SBC. In recent years, his ministry has included a renewed focus on racial reconciliation in his city. Litton spoke with Baptist Press recently about what he views as the major issues facing the SBC:

Our biggest challenge

I think the biggest issue is unity. Obviously for a convention of churches that has so much variety, our unity is in the gospel. It’s in the Great Commission. I think one of the things that really has moved me in this direction, to let my name be nominated, is because I see there’s a part of the Great Commission that we seem to have forgotten about. And the way I put it is, the gospel is the heart of our unity—and the love of Jesus is the heart of the gospel. The Great Commandment has been, I think, lost to some, or seemingly lost to some. We’ve lost sight of what Jesus told us would drive the Great Commission, and that’s to love one another. Love God first, love each other. By this will they know you’re my disciples.

Obstacles to unity

One of my favorite statements ever made at a Southern Baptist Convention [annual meeting] that I’ve attended was from Dr. E.V. Hill. He said, ‘I love Southern Baptists for who they think they are.’ And I think aspirationally, we know that that’s what our unity is centered around. Practically, the spirit of the age kind of invades the way we talk to each other, the way we belittle, attack, criticize, rumor,

innuendo. That’s a political model and it doesn’t serve the kingdom.

Successes and needs

Our disaster relief is something we should all be proud of. Our international missions, we all are excited or need to be excited and focused on that, reaching the nations. And none of these are without struggles, but I think our church planting efforts are focused in the right direction as far as reaching unreached cities. So I would say those things I’m very excited about….I know the numbers of young men going into the role of pastor is declining, and we need to address that. I don’t think the seminaries can change that. I think the local church has to address that issue. And we need to invest in young people, call our people out to ministry, call our people out to service for the Lord.

Serving as President

I wasn’t looking for this. I’m old school when it comes to this. Adrian Rogers said, ‘The man doesn’t seek the office, the office seeks the man.’ And some people came to us and said, ‘We want you to pray about this.’ And we took it seriously and prayed about it, and God birthed a vision, both myself and Kathy, that there’s a time and a place for everything.

I don’t have infinite wisdom. I have access to His (wisdom) but not mine. I’m a pastor. I think this role is a unique role for a pastor to lead pastors and churches. I think God has given me gifts of leadership, but I don’t possess everything necessary. But I do believe that God has enabled me to pull people together and to focus on a vision that glorifies the Lord and will make us a better ‘E pluribus unum’ for the gospel.

In the lengthy interview, Litton also addressed:

• racial reconciliation and the SBC

• his church’s involvement in church planting

• the SBC President’s role in leading toward unity

MATT HENSLEE

DUSTY DURBIN

DON CURRENCE

– Baptist Press

RAMON MEDINA

TODD UNZICKER

Lawmakers mull sex ed bill

General Assembly could mandate lessons for K-12 students

Springfield | Illinois legislators will soon consider a proposal to mandate sex education for public school students in kindergarten through 12th grade. But many Christians worry the legislation further mainstreams LGBTQ lifestyles and introduces support for abortion in the minds of children as early as third grade.

The Illinois Responsible Education for Adolescent and Children’s Health (REACH) Act is touted by its supporters, including Planned Parenthood, as a bill that would “require age-appropriate, comprehensive, and inclusive personal health and safety education to be taught in public schools, grades K-12.”

Beginning in kindergarten, lessons would focus on personal safety, respecting others, and identifying trustworthy adults. In grades 3-5, students would study anatomy, sexual orientation, gender identity, local resources related to reproductive health, and gender expression. In grades

6-12, the curriculum includes abstinence, abortion, birth control, and how to prevent getting STDs.

In a recent webinar on the REACH Act hosted by Illinois Right to Life Action, Ralph Rivera, the organization’s legislative chairman, said, “The way they’ve framed the material that has to be taught, really Planned Parenthood and their kind can be the only ones that can come in and teach it along with the teachers that are asked to teach this. They will now have complete access to our public school children to indoctrinate them and to give them information [about abortions].”

Although the curriculum would be mandated in all public schools and determined by the Illinois State Board of Education, private schools and homeschoolers would remain exempt. The bill passed through committee March 17 and is expected to soon go to the State House floor for its first reading.

Most support parental notice act

Springfield | A new poll shows the majority of people in Illinois do not support a bill calling for the repeal of the Parental Notice Act, which requires minor females to notify a parent or guardian before obtaining an abortion.

The Repeal the Parental Notice of Abortion Act was introduced in the Illinois General Assembly’s spring legislative session.

According to a survey by The Tarrance Group, 72% of Illinoisians agree or strongly agree if a minor were seeking an abortion “the law should require her parent or guardian to be notified before the procedure.” The

current law does not require them to get an adult’s permission to undergo an abortion procedure, only to notify an adult.

When those surveyed were asked, “If a minor is seeking an abortion, do you believe a parent or guardian should be notified?” just 22% replied “no” or “strongly no.” Responses also showed 76% of minority men and 74% of minority women support the current law.

The Catholic News Agency reported about 1,000 minors in Illinois undergo an abortion annually. In the U.S., 37 other states have some form of a parental notification law.

Equality Act raises liberty concerns

Washington, D.C. | The Equality Act received a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee March 17, but Southern Baptist leaders expressed concern the measure would contradict “fundamental liberties” guaranteed in the Bill of Rights, should it become law.

In submitted testimony, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission said the farreaching gay and transgender rights proposal “would needlessly penalize and discriminate against millions of Americans who possess no animus toward those this bill purports to aid. As law, the Equality Act would undermine pluralism, legalize coercion, imperil religious liberty, eliminate conscience protections, and erode the very freedoms enshrined in the First Amendment.”

In a March 15 article for The Public Discourse, Southern Seminary President Albert Mohler said the Equality Act “represents the greatest present threat to religious liberty in the United States.” Mohler described the scope of the bill as so vast that “no aspect of American public life would be unchanged” and that it would also intrude on private lives.

The Equality Act passed by the U.S. House of Representatives Feb. 25 by a largely partisan vote of 224-206. Passage in the Senate would require a super majority of 60 votes to break an expected filibuster to bring it for a vote.

In the meantime, Harrison Smith of Alliance Defending Freedom said it is wise for churches to ensure their constitution and bylaws documents are current. One good policy is to identify in a church’s constitution with the 47,000 sister Southern Baptist churches of the SBC by affirming The Baptist Faith and Message (2000). Additionally, all inhouse documents should match policies. For example, if the bylaws state the church only rents space to members, then the church only rents space to members, no exceptions. IBSA partners with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) to provide assistance answering legal questions and writing documents. Visit adfchurchalliance.org/IBSA and enter code IBSA125 to pay just $125 for your first year of membership.

– Lisa Misner

Church members in minority

Only 47% of Americans are members of a church, synagogue, or mosque, Gallup reported March 29, meaning the percentage of church members has fallen below the majority for the first time in at least 80 years. Researchers pointed to two trends driving the decline: a growing number of adults with no religious preference, and lower membership rates among those who do have a religion. “Unless we want to be a regional group of Christians who only talk to ourselves,” Wheaton College’s Ed Stetzer told Baptist Press, “we’ll need to redouble our efforts in evangelism and church planting to engage an increasingly secular context.”

Pastor poll: gender change

Lifeway Research found 72% of U.S. Protestant pastors say it is morally wrong for an individual to identify with a gender different from the biological sex they were born. An earlier study found Americans are likely to agree God created male and female—79% said so in Lifeway’s 2020 State of Theology survey. But according to research from 2016, 44% percent of Protestant Americans and 35% of all Americans said gender change is immoral. “While most Americans accept the biblical narrative of God designing male and female,” said Lifeway Research’s Scott McConnell, “pastors take changing that design much more seriously.”

ERA back on the table

The U.S. House of Representatives narrowly approved a resolution March 17 to retroactively eliminate its 1982 deadline for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The amendment states, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” But that language, pro-life advocates say, would establish abortion rights in the U.S. Constitution and block restrictions on abortion and abortion funding.

“Abortion does not honor women but instead places them at an even greater disadvantage as abortion targets baby girls and harms women’s health,” said Chelsea Sobolik of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. “A bill that promotes the killing of the unborn, like the ERA, cannot ultimately be pro-woman.”

Beth Moore says she is no longer Southern Baptist

Some leaders call for ‘soul searching’ after author/teacher’s split with LifeWay

Nashville, Tenn. | Beth Moore’s split from the Southern Baptist Convention spurred lament from many SBC leaders and led some to wonder if her exit will cause others to do the same. The Bible study author and teacher said in March she is no longer tied to Lifeway Christian Resources after 25 years of partnership with the Southern Baptist publisher.

“I am still a Baptist, but I can no longer identify with Southern Baptists,” Moore told Religion News Service. “I love so many Southern Baptist people, so many Southern Baptist churches, but I don’t identify with some of the things in our heritage that haven’t remained in the past.”

Moore has spoken often in recent years about the SBC’s need for repentance and change around racism. She is also an advocate for victims of sexual abuse and has been critical of sexist attitudes toward women, including the behavior of former President Donald Trump. In 2019, she was at the center of a controversy over women’s roles after she suggested on Twitter she planned to speak at a church on Mother’s Day.

The controversies affected Moore’s book sales and attendance at her live events, RNS reported. From fiscal year 2017 to fiscal year 2019, her Living Proof Ministries lost more than $1.8 million. Moore had planned for her events in 2020 to be a farewell tour with Lifeway, but most were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lifeway will continue to carry Moore’s books and promote some live events.

As the news of her departure broke online, some Southern Baptist leaders reacted to the news with

sorrow and concern over what Moore’s exit means for the denomination.

“I am grieved anytime someone who believes in the inerrant Scripture, shares our values, and desires to cooperate says that they do not feel at home in our convention,” said SBC President J.D. Greear in a multi-part Twitter thread about Moore. Texas pastor Phillip Bethancourt, former executive vice president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, noted how Moore had often encouraged others to “keep going” amid various trials. “So, when she leaves the SBC because she can no longer say ‘keep going!’ to the denomination that shaped her, that should have our attention,” he tweeted. “Don’t we need to do some soul searching?”

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Not all leaders were disappointed by Moore’s exit. “Beth Moore is a perfect example of what is wrong with the SBC,” wrote Tom Buck, a Texas pastor who has been critical of Moore’s positions. “If the SBC were healthy, the RNS story would not have been that Beth Moore had severed ties with Lifeway, but that Lifeway had severed ties with Beth Moore.”

Moore’s departure adds more potential controversy to the upcoming SBC annual meeting. Wheaton College’s Ed Stetzer tweeted that “the convention mtg in Nashville must decide if they want leaders who (continue to) drive others out OR those who build up. Time to decide.” Stetzer also noted Moore will be teaching a course this summer on “The Life and Leadership of the Bible Teacher,” through Wheaton’s partnership with the ministry Propel Women.

Moore told RNS, “I am going to serve whoever God puts in front of me.”

Some national media reports about the departure focused on whether women who grew up attending her Bible studies and learning from her will follow her out of the SBC. After the announcement, many posted on social media about her influence and legacy, including popular teacher and author Jen Wilkin. “Thank you, @BethMooreLPM for the light you carry, for the compassion that drives you, for the steadfastness that marks you,” Wilkin said on Twitter. “I wouldn’t be teaching today if I hadn’t seen you do it first. I might have given up if I hadn’t seen you persevere. What a debt we owe you.”

CUTTING TIES – Bible teacher Beth Moore’s longtime partnership with Southern Baptists included advocating for sexual abuse survivors at the 2019 Caring Well Conference. ERLC photo

– Meredith Flynn, with reporting from Religion News Service

IN FOCUS

Ready to rebound

IBSA’s weeks for kids and students return in 2021

The themes of IBSA’s 2021 summer camps forecast a joyous return to the places many adult leaders credit with deepening their faith. Bounce Rebound Comeback. If 2020 was a year without camp, this summer is shaping up to be a relaunch of treasured ministries and memories.

Lynnette Wilson has helped lead camp for her church, First Baptist in Atwood, for many years, and also directs IBSA’s camp for students in junior high and high school.

“It’s something I think you look forward to as a kid. It gets you built up, and focused on your relationship to reconnect with God at a level that you don’t get to connect with regularly,” Wilson said. “It’s kind of a regrowth, or a restart.” Especially in 2021, when people of all ages are in need of a getaway.

IBSA camp facilities—Lake Sallateeska and Streator—closed for several months in 2020 due to COVID restrictions. But the camps reopened to small groups late last year, and both are planning Opening Day celebrations to welcome people back to camp in 2021—Lake Sallateeska on May 22 and Streator on June 5.

In June and July, the camps will host IBSA’s weeks for kids and teens:

Bounce is offered at both camps for students who have completed grades 3-12 (Streator) and grades 3-6 (Lake Sallateeska).

Rebound is July 19-23 at Lake Sallateeska for students who have completed grades 7-12.

Additionally, Super Summer, IBSA’s annual discipleship week for students who have completed grades 6-12, is June 29-July 3.

The camp themes have a dual meaning, said Jack Lucas, a director of leadership development for IBSA. Camp is in its comeback year, bouncing back after a year of COVID shutdowns. Also though, Lucas said the camps will help students think through how they rebound from failures in their lives, and build deeper faith in Jesus.

Paul’s words Romans 8:18 will lay a foundation for the camps: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (CSB).

This will be Wilson’s sixth year directing IBSA’s student camp. She said 25 students attended camp the first year, but that number had grown to more than 100 before last year’s shutdown. Just like adults, she said, students are looking for an opportunity to get away and focus on their relationship with God.

“I think kids honestly want to disconnect from the worldly distractions,” she said, “that they want to focus on their spiritual growth.”

Come back to camp

Lake Sallateeska, Streator welcome visitors after COVID hiatus

BY LEAH HONNEN

IBSA’s new camp managers moved to Illinois when many COVID-19 restrictions were still in place, limiting to a very small number the people they met in their first months at Lake Sallateeska and Streator. But they’ve used the last few months to prepare for a camp comeback this summer.

At Lake Sallateeska, Manager Brock Vandever and his wife, Polly, oversaw renovations to the camp’s chapel and many other improvements they hope will ease campers’ return to the Pinckneyville retreat. In Streator, Manager Jacob Kimbrough and his wife, Katie, led updates to the camp’s Lakeview Center sanctuary and Prairie Center lodge and conference center.

The Illinois Baptist spoke with both couples about their vision and prayer for the camps they manage.

P. 8

‘Let us help you’

Brock and Polly Vandever view Lake Sallateeska Baptist Camp as a tool to share Jesus with the outside world. In a season of little to no contact with others, they had to truly pivot to pursue their new neighbors.

Prior to managing Lake Sallateeska, IBSA’s camp facility located near Pinckneyville, the couple served as missionaries in sub-Saharan West Africa. They trained the local, national church in church planting and discipleship to reach semi-nomadic people in ways that the church had perhaps not utilized before. The Vandevers worked with the church year-round while offering specific trainings twice a year in discipleship.

“That experience speaks into our current life by preparing us to prepare a place for others,” Polly said. “A lot of our position now is getting ready for the next or current event that is hosted here. We remove distractions so that the people can grow and see Jesus.”

Their first year at Lake Sallateeska did not include the camps for children and students that IBSA hosts each summer. Instead, the Vandevers were able to really learn the campground and all it has to offer. They invested in relationships with the few people who have come, and with locals and churches that

may not have known about Lake Sallateeska in the past. 2020 was a valuable time to cast the vision for the camp and encourage people to come back when they’re ready.

Brock is adamant that Lake Sallateeska become a place not only for children. “We’re really trying to help teams, churches, and groups see this property as a tool for Jesus for them,” he said. “We’re a part of their toolbox.”

Polly agreed. “We hope to host lots of things the camp hasn’t hosted in the past, because Brock’s got this vision to have this camp be a tool for people. If you’re wanting to reach businessmen and host a seminar, we’re here….Have a carnival, have whatever. Let us help you do that. Our plan is to simply be available and help people think outside the box to share Jesus.”

Living the pivot

Instead of finding a facility bustling with children, camp staff, and activities, Jacob and Katie Kimbrough found a serene retreat in a season of waiting when they arrived at Streator Baptist Camp in late 2020. In the months since, the Kimbroughs have built on Streator’s reputation as a valued getaway and place where God is at work among Illinois Baptists.

Both Kimbroughs have work experience in the secular world: Jacob in social work and Katie in teaching preschool. It is those experiences, along with years of volunteer youth ministry, work at the Missouri Baptist Children’s Home, and theological education that allow the couple to cast a vision for Streator’s future

in what is hopefully near the end of a socially-distant pandemic.

“We’ve spent our time connecting with pastors through pastor retreats, and [have strived to] emphasize stewarding to pastors themselves while they steward their congregations,” Jacob said. “We tried to live the pivot—ministry didn’t stop, we just pivoted to the ministry needed.”

Since so many pastors had to unexpectedly adjust their ministry like never before, they were stressed like never before. The Kimbroughs stepped into that gap, allowing pastors to come to the camp for respite, and to hopefully find peace and a new direction for ministry.

Katie, who graduated with her master’s degree in counseling from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2020, has dedicated her time to renovating common spaces at Streator to accommodate more men’s and women’s groups who may need a break more than before. Together, the couple envision a retreat away from the external pressures of our day-to-day lives for all stages of life.

“We want people to know we’re enjoying it and looking forward to camps coming this year,” Katie said. “June 5 is Opening Day—time for people to meet us and see updates!”

Brock and Polly Vandever

Jacob and Katie Kimbrough

Help with planting, painting, and clean-up to get the camp ready for summer.

Enjoy IBSA’s camp in northern Illinois, and join us for a hot dog lunch at noon.

ALABAMA’S JUDSONCOLLEGE

On March 3, Judson College’s trustees launched an aggressive 30-day $5 million campaign to save the 183-year-old institution. The College asks her friends to demonstrate their support of the only evangelical Christian women’s college in America. Register a gift for the 2021-2022 year at judson.edu/all-in/.

What does the woman who opened the WMU Training School have in common with four executive directors of state WMU organizations?

What do they have in common with a college student who spends her summer breaks investing in missions efforts in Alaska, or a woman supporting her Christian brothers and sisters in Myanmar?

These women, though separated by centuries and continents, earned an education and discerned a vocational calling at Judson College in Marion, Alabama.

Equipping women to make an impact for God’s Kingdom in their communities and the world — no matter their vocation — has been the mission of Judson College since 1838.

Make it possible for future generations of women to leave their mark on the world.

Alumnae and friends, we need your help.

Learn more now at judson.edu/all-in

www.judson.edu | 800-447-9472

MARION, ALABAMA

Pastor gets creative to change his community

New Beginnings Church plans new center to help families

Chicago | Corey Brooks plans to clean up his city one neighborhood at a time, and he started in one of the worst: Woodlawn.

Creative thinking led to some notoriety for the Southern Baptist pastor, but it’s his innate acceptance of all people—the poor, the better-off, gang members, and released felons—that has garnered Brooks a multi-faceted ministry.

“It was ingrained in me by my mom to be considerate and compassionate about the people around me,” said Brooks, founding pastor of New Beginnings Church in Chicago. Six years after the new church started, New Beginnings bought a building the size they’d been praying for, with space for worship and ministry: a former skating rink and bowling alley in Woodlawn, one of the city’s most violent areas.

“Our church started growing real fast,” Brooks said. “We were sharing the gospel, working hard, but not making the difference in the community we needed to make.”

Part of the problem was the gone-to-seed hotel across the street, in what was a decaying commercial district surrounded by a sea of decaying high-rise housing blocks. After weeks of protests

from the church and community, the hotel’s owners finally closed it down, but prostitutes, drug dealers, and gang leaders found ways of infiltrating the property.

A concerted effort by the church and others in the community to clean up the area seemed to have no effect, so about 5 a.m. one chilly November morning in 2011, Brooks propped a commercial ladder on the building and climbed to the top, hauling a tent, sleeping bag, and his Bible. He was going to stay on the roof until donors came up with $450,000 to pay for the building and another $100,000 to demolish it, he announced. The local news media spread the word nationwide, but he was on that roof 94 “freezing cold, wet, lonely” days before Hollywood producer Tyler Perry gave the final $98,000.

Five months later, Brooks set off from Times Square in New York City to walk with two of his sons to Los Angeles to raise $14 million for the construction of a 94,000-square-foot building on the bare land where the hotel had stood. Brooks and his sons walked all but about 800 summerhot miles across west Texas, New Mexico, and Ar-

izona in four months and raised about $500,000. Since then Brooks and New Beginnings of Chicago have been raising the rest of the money to build and furnish the community center. The center will include training in carpentry, plumbing, electricity, heating and air conditioning, culinary skills, hospitality expertise, entrepreneurship, and more. Eighty percent of Woodlawn adults are single parents, the pastor said. The community center will minister in various ways to them and their children. Its counseling will promote adoption over abortion. There will be facilities for sports, fitness, music, and the arts.

About $4 million has already come in for the community center construction from donors large and small, including the owner of the Chicago Cubs.

Brooks said he wants to redeem his community from poverty and hopelessness to entrepreneurism and hope—hope undergirded by God’s unconditional love and acceptance.

“Project H.O.O.D.”—Helping Others Obtain Destiny—is the name of the non-profit he founded in 2011. “It takes lots of prayer,” Brooks said. “I would not be able to survive living in Chicago, in the community, in the work I do, without prayer.”

the greatest story ever told

Southern Baptists’ Cooperative Program is the most effective missions funding system in history. Through it, Illinois Baptists give about $6 million each year for missions, evangelism, church revitalization, and leadership development in our home state. Plus we support student ministry through IBSA’s two camp facilities and on campuses.

Together with all Southern Baptists, we give $190 million annually to support 6,648 missionaries sharing the gospel globally.

COREY BROOKS

– Karen Willoughby for Baptist Press

MISSION

On the road again

After a year of travel restrictions and shelved plans, mission teams stalled during the pandemic are headed back to the field.

Volunteers juggle multiple ministries in Kenya

Ken Schultz hadn’t performed in nearly a year when he dusted off his suspenders for a mission trip to Africa. The pastor of Crosswinds Church in Plainfield and long-time entertainer recently traveled to Kenya with a mission team to share the gospel with schoolkids. Schultz wowed the crowd with juggling feats and sleight of hand while also telling stories from the Bible.

KEN SCHULTZ

His team included several members of his church, including a couple that facilitates ministry in several African countries. The team had planned to go to Kenya in 2020,

but the trip was postponed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There’s very much an openness to the gospel in Kenya,” Schultz said. On the March trip, he performed a 40-minute set for 10 different school groups. During the opening juggling bit, there was no language barrier, the pastor said, and the kids ate it up. He moved into a gospel presentation, juggling and performing various tricks to portray several parables from Luke 15. With the help of a translator, Schultz talked about lost sheep, lost coins, and a lost son. At the end, students were invited to accept Jesus.

Missions: Continued

Pastor Ken Schultz entertained children and shared Jesus’ parables during a mission trip to Kenya in March. The trip was postponed last year, but Schultz’s Crosswinds Church in Plainfield was finally able to send a volunteer team to the country this spring.

Before their trip, Crosswinds volunteers had also collected yarn donated by local churches to be made into blankets and other handcrafts by widows in Kenya. “We took down as much as we could carry,” Schultz said, “huge duffel bags full of yarn and took that to the widows, who promptly starting crocheting it.”

The team also made daily visits to an orphanage run by Hands On Africa, the ministry they worked with while in Kenya. One young boy living there was very sick, Schultz said, and the team prayed fervently for him. By the end of the trip, he was much better. It’s not often a mission team sees the influence they have on people they serve, Schultz said. “We really saw a dramatic change in him.”

Illinois team uses webinars in Bolivia

Across the Atlantic, Bob and Carol Evaul also traveled on a mission trip several months after they were originally scheduled to go. The southern Illinois couple had canceled a trip to Bolivia planned for last August. But in February, they returned to the country where they spent 18 years as missionaries. Bob ministered to Bolivian pastors by translating training led by Illinois Baptist volunteers. Carol worked with pastors’ wives and taught on dealing with difficulty and loss.

Similar to many churches in Illinois, Bob said, churches in Bolivia are seeking revitalization and renewal. Working toward that goal, IBSA Revitalization Director Scott Foshie met for six weeks over Zoom with a cohort of Bolivian pastors prior to the team’s trip to the country. Once there, Foshie facilitated training sessions attended by around 100 pastors gathered in person or online. Wes Hahn, pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Bridgeport, trained the pastors in discipleship.

Like countries all over the world, Bolivia has felt the effects of the pandemic. But the nation is also starting to recover, the Evauls said. They’re planning to send another team of Illinois Baptists

people

Welcome

Nate Mason joined the staff of First Baptist Church in Effingham as lead pastor in August 2020. A graduate of Southern Seminary, he previously served as associate pastor of First Baptist Church, Mishawaka, Ind. He and his wife, Callie, have two children.

Grace Southern Baptist Church in Virden recently welcomed new pastor Nathan Williams. He is a graduate of Pittsburg State University (in Pittsburg, Kan.) and Southwestern Seminary, where he met his wife, Jessica, while both were students there. The couple welcomed a son in 2020.

Corwin Wong is the new senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Winthrop Harbor. Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, he is a graduate of Gateway Seminary and previously served as associate/youth pastor of Brentwood Bible Fellowship in California. He and his wife, Mandy, have four children.

Honored

Chaplain Dan Lovin recently received the Bill Mehrtens Lifetime Achievement Award from the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police. Lovin, a law enforcement chaplain for more than 20 years, also coordinates chaplaincy for IBSA and serves as a chaplain with Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief.

to Bolivia this summer.

“There were a lot of tears because we had losses right in the room,” Carol said of her meetings with pastors’ wives. During one session, she led them in a painting project and taught about loss, death, and faith.

“I said, ‘This is your chance in this community to be a light,’” she recounted. “We don’t grieve the way people who don’t have faith grieve. We have a living hope.”

With the Lord

Thomas P. Asbury of Alton died March 3 at the age of 74.

With his wife, Karla, he spent 29 years pastoring churches in North Carolina and Illinois, including IBSA churches in Cottage Hills and Bunker Hill. He also was a member of IBSA’s Constitution and Bylaws Committee from 2005-2006.

Bob L. Wagner of Marion died March 17 at the age of 76. With his wife, Sandra, he spent more than 40 years as an active member of the Marion community, where he served more than 30 years as pastor of Second Baptist Church. Wagner also served on the IBSA Board of Directors in the early 2000s.

SPECIALIZED TRAINING – Illinois pastor Wes Hahn (right) leads training for pastors in Bolivia aided by translator Bob Evaul. Top: Pastors’ wives in Bolivia show paintings they created during a lesson on faith amid loss. Submitted photos

KNIT TOGETHER – Women in Kenya crochet blankets from skeins of yarn donated by Illinois churches and brought to Africa by a Crosswinds Church mission team. Photos by Hands On Africa – Meredith Flynn

RESOURCE

Let me ask one question

This inquiry energizes my team—and myself

Ileft the deacons meeting one proud pastor. It had been a tiring Sunday evening filled with meetings and preaching. However, I went home greatly encouraged by how God was at work using our leaders.

In our meeting, five deacons told stories about how they had shared the gospel with someone during the past month. Two deacons had hard conversations and shared the gospel with family members, one deacon had talked with a co-worker, another with an acquaintance, and one got the opportunity to share the gospel with someone they had been praying for.

No one had led someone to saving faith that month; but I am overly grateful to serve with leaders who are faithful to share their faith.

Pastors and leaders I admire have encouraged me to keep focused on having gospel conversations and encouraging the church to share their faith. They will say things like, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” If I am honest, however, it’s sometimes hard to keep a focus on sharing the gospel with so many other things filling up my schedule.

If I am not careful, I can spend all my time caring for those who are hurting, counseling, preparing sermons, planning the next ministry event, and going to meetings. If I am not intentional, months could go by before I realized I haven’t shared the gospel with anyone.

One way that I have found to keep our focus on gospel conversations—for myself and our leaders—is to ask this question during meetings: “Who have you gotten to share the gospel with this past week?” I ask that question to our staff almost every week and to our deacons almost every month.

I usually ask that question early in the meeting so that I don’t skip over it if the meeting runs long. Asking this one question helps me keep “pressure on the hose” for evangelism. My staff and deacons know that I’m likely to ask during every meeting. I never give demerits or shame anyone if they haven’t had a chance to share the gospel. I ask the question to keep us all focused on looking for opportunities to have gospel conversations.

I am always greatly encouraged when I hear how God is using others around me. When I hear their stories, it fuels my heart to not miss looking for opportunities

The Learning curve

The Gospel According to Job

Mike

The subtitle of this book describes it well: an honest look at pain and doubt from the life of one who lost everything. It’s also full of ideas for preaching and ministry.

The Way of the Shepherd

to share the gospel with people I come in contact with. Simply asking this question, and knowing that it will be asked, keeps sharing the greatest news in the world on the front of my mind. It keeps me focused on praying for opportunities and praying by name for people to come to Christ.

After asking the question in a recent staff meeting, I later passed by our student pastor in a deep conversation with a young man. He was sharing the story of the prodigal son, and it brought tears to the man’s eyes. His name was Kevin. He had been released from jail that morning and walked to our church. Within minutes, Kevin was praying for God to save him. God works powerfully through the obedience of his people to share the gospel. It is vital that we keep the main thing the main thing. So, may I ask you a simple question: “Who have you shared the gospel with this past week?”

Pastor and IBSA President Sammy Simmons will transition in April to a new role with the North American Mission Board in Georgia.

Where Life and Scripture Meet

These short 20-minute podcasts are packed full of Scripture and prove how it is powerful and sufficient to meet the needs of our lives.

dave says

DAVE RAMSEY

It’s just not worth it

Do you think I should get a new hybrid car to save money on gas? A lot of my friends have done this, and with the rise in gas and oil prices lately, they’re telling me I should, too. According to them, I’ll save a ton of money, especially since I have a bigger car and a longer drive to work. What are your thoughts?

I get lots of questions about these kinds of scenarios, and how it plays into people’s budgets. Many folks wonder if it would be better to go out and get a new vehicle with better gas mileage. Well, do you really want to lose more money?

Let’s say you currently drive a vehicle worth $10,000 that gets 15 miles per gallon. There’s a $25,000 hybrid you’re thinking about buying that gets 25 miles per gallon. That’s a $15,000 price difference just to get 10 more miles a gallon. If you drive 100 miles a week, that’s about a $10 difference a week. That would be about $40 extra you’re spending a month in gas if you stuck with the current car. A monthly car payment is a whole lot more than that! In short, the math doesn’t work. You’d have to drive to the moon and back to make it worthwhile.

There are a lot smarter things you can do to cut down on your fuel bill. Have you thought about trading for something smaller? If you’re driving a gas guzzler, trade it in on another car worth no more than your current car’s selling price. This means better fuel efficiency without a car payment. Carpooling is an option, too, even if you split the driving just a few days a week.

If you want to get a little more radical with the money-saving ideas, you could think about moving closer to work. Spend some time doing the calculations and looking at the specifics to see if it makes sense in your case.

Financial advisor Dave Ramsey is a prolific author and radio host.

Mason

– Ric Worshill, chaplain and member of Crossroads Community Church, Port Barrington

Kevin Leman and William Pentak “My all-time favorite,” Tracy DeRossett said of this book, which offers 7 principles for leading people based on an ancient sheep/ shepherd metaphor.

– Tracy DeRossett, kids ministry director, Bethel Church, Troy

Podcast

– Nikki Tibbetts, ministry leader, First Baptist Church, Machesney Park

“Are you proud of your church’s response during the COVID-19 pandemic?”

86% said Yes!

– LifeWay Research

After the ‘three-year pandemic’

An Illinois pastor’s century-old story affirms our own glimmers of hope

The stories we hear right now are anecdotal: churches here and there witnessing something of a revival after months of closure and privation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some pundits warned that it may take years for all the regulars to return to church services, if they ever do. But more recent polls show people are growing eager to return to the normal things in life, including church attendance.

In a few places in Illinois, accounts of young families seeking out church services even as the schools remain online only are especially encouraging. Church plants holding their first

people dying all over town, just like rats.... At times, you couldn’t even find able-bodied men to dig graves. I’ve helped with as many as ten funerals in one day.

Most funerals were in the homes, often with two or three members of the family watching from their sickbeds, not knowing if they might be next. I remember a sister and sister-in-law who died 30 minutes apart, in the same house. We had a double funeral for them, and at that service, I was the preacher and undertaker, and everything else.

In some cases, I might bury the father one day, and the mother a couple of days later. Often the little children would come running to me, some of them sick with the flu, asking what was to become of them.”

– A.E. Prince

schools and church attendance for the next 40 years.

Can it happen again? Can something good come from such troubled times? Before we attempt a conclusion, let’s consider just how dark those days—and years—were.

“The Spanish Influenza broke out in Europe in 1918, then spread worldwide,” Aaron Prince wrote. “All told, 20 million people died,” he said, more than twice the number who died on battlefields in the just-concluded first World War.

Prince, a Fairfield native, had just been called to serve as pastor of First Baptist Church of Eldorado, Illinois, in February 1919, when the Flu broke out there. “Some folks went out of their heads with temperatures up to 105 degrees, chills and vomiting. There was nothing we could do. We didn’t know what to do.”

Still, Pastor Prince tended the sick after the town doctor went down with the disease, using a bit of wartime medical training to dispense aspirin and quinine. Then when the undertaker got sick, he took on that task too. A nearby funeral home would send an assistant to set up the embalming machine for two or three bodies at a time, and Prince would handle the rest, including dressing the deceased and arranging them in caskets.

“Those three years—February 1919 to September 1921—saw the hardest work of my ministry. I’m not exaggerating when I say that sometimes I was up 24 hours at a time. When I came home at night, my wife, Pearl, would

have me a clean change of clothes. I changed over at the church, for fear our children might get contaminated.”

Churches closed for up to two months at a time across three winters, along with “all public meetings including the picture shows. Everyone was told to stay home,” Prince wrote. “But in spite of the flu, we kept winning people to Christ. I guess our best revival was in January of 1920... I baptized new converts twice a day for two weeks, at the 2:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M. services, nearly 100 in all.”

Prince and his family stayed well through three outbreaks of the Spanish Influenza. Finally, as the last of the illnesses in southern Illinois subsided, the pastor said, “I was standing on a street corner in Harrisburg, waiting for the tram-car to Eldorado. All of a sudden, I got sick, and by morning, every member of our family was in bed. We had to hire a nurse to take care of us.”

His story of God’s care was repeated when Prince was called to the pastorate of First Baptist Church of Marion, and later as president of HannibalLaGrange College and founder of Honolulu Christian College. Looking back 100 years at Pastor Prince’s pandemic, we may ask how God can bring good from a dire situation. It has happened before.

“For I know the plans I have for you”—this is the Lord’s declaration— “plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Eric Reed is editor of Illinois Baptist media.

(Editor’s note: Thanks to Mark Emerson, who found Prince’s chapter in the IBSA history, We Were There.)

services and baptizing new believers after serving the community with food distributions and other pandemic-related ministries cause us to say, “Can it happen here?”

In fact, it has happened before.

In the darkest days of the Spanish Influenza a full century ago, some churches reported revivals. In the decade that followed, the Southern Baptist Convention’s $75 Million Campaign led to the birth of the Cooperative Program, funding the steadiest and most effective missions movement in history. It was in this environment that a Sunday school director from First Baptist Church of Marion was asked to take his burgeoning methodology nationwide.

Arthur Flake and Flake’s Formula spurred amazing growth of Sunday

“When we opened the church for vaccine distribution, the crowd in the prayer room doubled too!”

“It was really vicious,

THE NEW REALITY

More young adults identify as LGBTQ

April 23-24

Priority Women’s Conference

Gallup recently reported 5.6% of U.S. adults identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. The estimate is up from 4.5% in 2017, with a specific demographic largely accounting for the increase: one-in-six members of Generation Z identify as LGBTQ.

Gen Z (born 1997-2002) 15.9%

Millennials (1981-1996) 9.1%

Generation X (1965-1980) 3.8%

Baby Boomers (1946-1964) 2%

Traditionalists (pre-1946) 1.3%

Virtually every young Christian knows someone who identifies as LGBTQ, said high school teacher Sean McDowell. His new book “Chasing Love” encourages a biblical view of love and sexuality. For churches and ministry leaders, the current cultural shifts necessitate teaching truth in love about sexuality, McDowell said.

For ministry leaders aiming to help students navigate difficult issues, Lifeway’s Ben Trueblood advised several next steps:

Educate yourself on the topic from a biblical and cultural perspective

Create spaces where issues are discussed openly

Communicate truth about sexuality specifically and salvation in general

“Students need to know what the Bible says on this issue while also understanding the Bible’s clear teaching that Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world but to save it,” said Trueblood, Lifeway’s director of student ministry. “Yes, we must speak the truth and stand on the truth, but our condemnation of a lost person’s lifestyle doesn’t do anything to bring them closer to Christ.”

“Loving, listening, and building relationships with people that reveal Jesus through our actions and worlds build the foundation for us to speak the truth of the gospel with another person.”

EVENTS

What: IBSA’s annual women’s conference will feature encouragement and equipping from teachers Anne Graham Lotz, Missie Branch, and Betsy Bolick. Plus, worship, training, and opportunities to build relationships with fellow leaders.

Where: In person at FBC O’Fallon, online everywhere Register: IBSA.org/women

May 4, 6

Youth Ministry Training Day

What: Leaders and volunteers will experience personal and ministry development in an interactive, encouraging, and collaborative environment.

Where: May 4: Mt. Vernon, May 6: Springfield Info: JackLucas@IBSA.org

May 7-8

DiscipleLab

What: Training for the pastor and one discipleshiporiented church leader (Sunday school director, minister of education, etc.) to partner to learn, discuss, and develop a workable, practical plan for disciple-making.

Where: Lake Sallateeska Baptist Camp Info: FranTrascritti@IBSA.org

Edge Online Training

What: Become a sharper leader right where you live and serve. Multi-week courses are instructor-led, fully online, and highly interactive.

When: New courses start June 7 Register: IBSA.org/ibsa-online-courses

June 15-16

Southern Baptist Convention

What: Baptists will gather under the theme “We are Great Commission Baptists.” Ancillary meetings begin in Nashville June 13.

Where: Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, Nashville, Tenn. Info: sbcannualmeeting.net

neTworking

God’s Spirit in me

CLASSIFIED AD

FBC Oakville, Missouri, a growing church, is seeking a full-time pastor. Candidates must support the SBC and The Baptist Faith and Message. Resumés or inquiries can be sent to FBCOakvillemo@gmail.com

Find more information on ministry positions at IBSA.org/connect Send NetworkiNg items to IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org

First Baptist Church in Patoka is a small, loving, mission-minded congregation in search of a fulltime pastor. Send resumés to Tom Chapman at 595 East 100th Ave., Patoka, IL 62875 or Thomaschapman2005@icloud.com.

Grace Baptist Church, Palmyra, seeks a bivocational pastor. Submit resumés to Grace Baptist Church, P.O. Box 61, Palmyra, IL 62674. Contact John Ford for more information at (217) 204-6623.

Harvard Hills Baptist Church, Washington, seeks a bivocational pastor. Send cover letter and resumés to meyer_steve@att.net.

Logan Street Baptist Church in Mt. Vernon seeks a full-time worship and media pastor. This ministry includes leading a choir, praise team, band, and a parttime tech and media director. Job description available upon request. Check us out at loganstreetbaptist.org and send resumés to shannon@loganstreetbaptist.org.

Meacham Baptist Church seeks a bivocational pastor for a small country church in rural Kinmundy, Ill. Contact Gene Simmons at (618) 339-1872 or hesvls74@yahoo.com.

– Gallup, Lifeway Research

“Don’t assume kids know what the Bible teaches about sex and identity or why it says it. Most Christian students have little depth in regard to their theology of sexuality.”

– Sean McDowell

See you this summer

After a year off, we’re headed back to camp

Week 1 6/7-11 • 3rd - 12th grades

Streator Baptist Camp

Week 2 6/14-18 • 3rd - 12th grades

Streator Baptist Camp

Week 3 6/20-24 • 3rd - 6th grades

Lake Sallateeska

Week 4 6/28-7/2 • 3rd - 6th grades

Lake Sallateeska

Week 5 7/12-16 • 3rd - 12th grades

IBSA Kids Camps

To register for Bounce summer camps go to IBSA.org/kids

Opening

Lake Sallateeska – May 22

Streator Baptist Camp – June 5

See the camps, meet the managers, and kick off the summer!

Details on page 8

Streator Baptist Camp

7th - 12th grades

Lake Sallateeska 7/19-23 ILLINOIS

To register for Rebound go to IBSA.org/students

Turning teens into disciples and leaders

6th grade - 12th grade (completed)

IBSA STUDENT CAMP