It may not be surprising that Illinois dropped three spots in a new survey of the states and how well they protect religious freedom. What’s probably surprising in Baptist circles is that Illinois was in first place in the first place.
A conservative legal organization ranks states’ legal safeguards of religious freedoms based on 47 measures to protect actions of conscience. The annual report by the Center for Religion, Culture, and Democracy at the First Liberty Institute shows Illinois lost 11 percentage points, falling from 81% 2024 and 85% in 2023. Still, the state ranked third overall at 68.8%.
First Liberty Institute was so surprised by Illinois’ ranking as “America’s free exercise leader” in its first two surveys that they commissioned a graduate law student to
study the origin of such remarkable safeguards of religious freedoms in an otherwise liberal state.
“Although still among the top five states, Illinois fell from its first-place position in [the Religious Liberty in the States survey in] 2023 and 2024. It now protects only 69% of the safeguards we consider, whereas in 2022 it protected 81% of them,” researchers Mark David Hall and Paul D. Mueller wrote. “We add new religious liberty protections to the index as we discover them, as long as they have been implemented in at least one state.”
Florida is now in first place (74.6%) and Montana is second (70.6%) in RLS 2025. Ohio, Mississippi, Arkansas, and South Carolina ranked just below third-place Illinois. While they blamed some of Illinois’ drop on the addition
Total giving by IBSA churches as of 6/30/25 $2,690,422
2024 Budget Goal to date: $3,173,903 2024 Goal: $6 Million
Inspired by the newly formed Peace Corps, Southern Baptists began sending young people on two-year mission trips all over the world in 1965. Pictured at the Nyeri Baptist High School in Kenya, Doris Glenn and Diane Hutto prepared for a venture to share the gospel with neighboring peoples.
Today the mission continues. This International Mission Board Journeyman on a recent assignment in Kenya led Bible studies with the Lodwar people. IMB celebrated the kingdom achievements of six decades at the SBC in Dallas in June.
The Illinois Baptist staff
Editor - Eric Reed
Contributing Editor - Lisa Misner
Graphics & Production Manager - 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.
Company ready
Throughout my childhood and teenage years, we lived next door to the church where my dad was pastor. The upside was that I could always roll out of bed and still get to church in less than two minutes. But on the downside, it seemed we always had to be ready for company.
Living in the shadow of the church, we never knew when a church member or someone in need might drop by. Most pastors’ families live in a bit of a fishbowl. But when the fishbowl is also next door to the church, you learn to keep an eye out for company. Don’t tell, but for some visitors you may even close the drapes and hide.
I’m mostly kidding, of course. But I’m not kidding when I say that, in a similar way, churches are not always ready for company. Unwittingly, they can do the equivalent of closing the drapes and hiding, or at least making their guests feel they did.
I recall vividly a church our family visited several years ago in Georgia. It was August, we had just moved there, and we chose to visit the churches closest to our home first. Though our family of five walked into the church’s main entrance on a Sunday morning, the small class meeting in the auditorium seemed shocked by our intrusion. As they dutifully scrambled to figure out who we were and what to do with us, it was clear to us that this was a church that didn’t expect guests.
How does a church get ready for company? This is especially important for churches to consider as the fall and back-to-school seasons approach.
It starts with praying for company, inviting company, and then expecting company. The missionary purpose of each church is to join Jesus in seeking and saving the lost, especially in its own community. Many churches focus on this during seasons like Christmas, Easter, or perhaps Vacation Bible School. But churches truly intent on reaching the lost make readiness for guests a part of their culture, with a year-round commitment and posture.
For example, in today’s world, an up-to-date and inviting church website is essential. Most potential guests now check out a church online before they decide to visit in person. In addition, a church that plans events and provides services that are sensitive to the community’s needs gives its members multiple reasons to invite their friends. And challenging members to pray specifically for one or more lost friends helps them focus their invitations on those who need them most.
Churches intent on reaching the lost make readiness for guests a part of their culture.
A church with a heart of readiness usually finds that its hands and feet quickly follow. When you are praying for, inviting, and expecting company, you also find yourself looking around the church building to see what’s messy, what’s worn or broken, and especially what might be confusing to newcomers.
You also think of multiple ways to greet guests warmly, beyond just handing them a bulletin. Just as you would for company at home, you watch for them. You may meet them before they even get to the door. You help them know where to go. And a warm question like “Is there anything else I can do to make you feel more at home here?” can go a long way.
Of course, there are many other readiness steps a church can take. But none are more important than making sure that the love of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ is clearly and winsomely presented to everyone. We are inviting people not only into our buildings and into our friendship, but into the family of God for eternity.
Nate Adams is executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association. Respond at IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org.
NATE ADAMS
From the front: liberty growing tenuous here
Continued from page 1
of new measurements, researchers concluded that religious freedom “now seems more tenuous in the Land of Lincoln.”
The team surveys such measures as euthanasia refusal, health insurance mandates, ceremonial use of alcohol by minors, designating clergy as mandatory reporters, foster parent requirements, absentee voting for religious reasons, and allowing clergy to refuse participation in weddings they object to on religious grounds (e.g. same-sex marriages). The team also surveys whether public officials or private companies are allowed non-participation based on their own religious beliefs.
“Florida is an exemplar for how state legislators can improve their state’s protection of religious liberty,” the report said, advancing from 58% of the safeguards in 2022 to 75% today. “Most of its improvement derived from legislation strengthening its medical conscience protections in 2023 and legislation protecting houses of worship from discriminatory treatment during pandemics and other emergencies in 2022.”
While Montana more than doubled its score in three years jumping into second place, the bottom of the list is mostly unchanged. West Virginia ranked last for the third year in a row (19.6%). Wyoming is in next-to-last place (23.3%) followed by Michigan (27.4%), Nebraska (29.1%), and Vermont (29.3%).
While some states made strides in legislative protections in the three years since the survey began, RLS pointed out that Illinois failed to implement new religious freedom protections enacted in other states in that period.
“Almost all of Illinois’s religious liberty protections were adopted between 1934 and 1998,” the report stated.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has pursued new laws that advance school choice, designate churches as essential services in case of emergency, and created a school chaplain program.
Illinois’ surprising history
list in 2023 and 2024 prompted the Institute to commission a study. Regent University School of Law student Caleb Ridings researched legislative floor debates dating back a hundred years. He found that most legal safeguards were enacted prior to 2000.
From the timing of actions and arguments in the Illinois General Assembly, Ridings concluded that “Illinois is a state that is highly responsive to national trends and major changes in the Supreme Court.” He cited Illinois laws protecting the “right of conscience” that came on the heels of legalization of abortion by Roe v. Wade in 1971 and samesex marriage by Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015. “Illinois clearly has an active legislature that considers free exercise issues in the midst of active national discussions,” Ridings wrote in his research paper called “The Illinois Antinomy.” (Antinomy means paradox, a contradiction in beliefs.)
But why would Illinois bolster religious freedoms in relation to such liberal court rulings? This question growing importance as Illinois now routinely “enshrines” liberal national laws. Ridings points to the influence of the Catholic church across the decades “which springs throughout the legislative record.” He offered House arguments over mandatory reporting involving the confessional and serving communion wine to minors as examples to consideration for religious exemptions, as many legislators respectfully referenced their Catholic faith in floor debate.
“One may intuit from Illinois’ performance that states who consider the practices of religious minorities (such as Catholics) offer more robust standards,” Ridings surmised.
The report made three overall conclusions: (1) The states differ widely in their protections of religious freedoms, as evidenced by the scores in the top five and bottom five rankings. (2) The majority of states (38) are doing less than half what they could to offer such safeguards. And (3) all states could improve their protection of religious freedom with passage of additional measures.
Among safeguards not protected in Illinois are “no religious discrimination in foster parent eligibility” and “houses of worship protected from closing.”
Illinois’ surprising placement at the top of the
Illinois also showed that religious safeguards need not be a hyper-partisan issue, Ridings said, as many were passed by a Democrat-majority senate, and a couple of them passed unanimously. “It is only in the past 20 years that votes in this area started resembling pure party line,” he wrote, specifically over healthcare and marriage conscience.
“If other states took away from Illinois’ story that religious liberty needn’t be relegated to only one side of the aisle, the next decade may see a flourishing of free exercise across the nation from both the conservative and progressive states,” Ridings’ report concluded.
Illinois would do well to learn from its own history. Ridings expressed concern that Illinois’ concern for religious freedom safeguards is slipping. First Liberty Institute urged state legislators and citizens in all states to visit their website to see measures their own states could enact. —Eric Reed, with additional reporting by Christian Post
Paul Westbrook 1961 - 2025
His love for people will be missed
Springfield | IBSA Associate Executive Director Paul Westbrook died Sunday, July 13, at age 64. He helped provide direction to the Association’s Health, Growth, and Mission Teams, while also coaching pastors one-on-one and in small groups, passing on wisdom gained through planting and growing one of the state network’s largest cooperating churches. He also used his fluent Spanish, learned as a child of missionaries to Argentina, to provide training and encouragement to many Hispanic churches in Illinois.
“Paul was exceptionally gifted with a strategic mind, a zealous work ethic, a passion for the gospel, and a tender heart for those far from God,” IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams said. “We were blessed when he brought his experience of 30-plus years planting and growing a healthy church and invested it in hundreds of pastors and leaders across the state. Paul had a special passion to see churches effectively reaching the next generation, and he will leave that challenge echoing in many hearts.”
Westbrook joined the IBSA staff in May 2022, first serving as a Director of Church Planting before stepping into his role on the Executive Team in July of the following year.
He spent over 30 years as the lead pastor of Metro Community Church in Edwardsville. He and his wife, Melody, moved from Oklahoma in 1991 and started the church in their duplex along with six other couples. Metro eventually grew to more than 1,000 worshippers with campuses in Edwardsville and Vandalia and has consistently been a leading church in the state in baptisms and Cooperative Program giving.
“It has always been about the people,” Westbrook said when retiring from the church in March 2022. He carried that same passion for people into his IBSA work, showing deep love for pastors and tireless energy to help churches reach the next generations.
Westbrook collapsed at his home after an early morning bicycle ride. He is survived by his parents, wife, Melody, three adult sons and their wives, and two grandchildren.
“For me personally, Paul was a beloved friend, a prayer partner, and a constant encourager,” Adams said. “He will be greatly missed.”
the briefing
Notable deaths
John MacArthur, 86
Known for expository preaching, Bible commentaries, the Master’s Seminary which he founded, and Grace to You media ministry, MacArthur drew support in SBC circles for his Reformed theology, although his Grace Community Church in Los Angeles was independent. In a column for World magazine, Southern Seminary President Al Mohler called him “a lion of the pulpit” and the “greatest expositor of our times.” MacArthur, distantly related to WW2 icon General Douglas MacArthur, did legal battle with the government over ignoring closure orders during Covid, and with Beth Moore, when she was at odds with SBC leaders. He said she should “go home.” MacArthur died July 14 of pneumonia.
Jimmy Swaggart, 90
The TV evangelist and singer was at his peak in 1988 when, at the same time PTL-founder Jim Bakker fell for sexual misconduct, Swaggart’s own indiscretions with prostitutes were revealed. His weepy televised confession led some to forgive and forget, but not the Assemblies of God, which withdrew his credentials. Three years later, when the act was repeated, Swaggart reached a new tidal ebb from which he never recovered. Broadcasting from his church base in Baton Rouge, the cousin of Jerry Lee Lewis continued his satellite operation to his mostly Pentecostal supporters. Swaggart died July 1 after a long illness.
Kay Arthur, 91
The founding teacher of Precept Bible Studies said about 40 years ago that if she died unexpectedly, it would be because she asked God to take her home before she could make a big moral mistake. She served faithfully four more decades. Arthur was a groundbreaking teacher on video tape of the inductive Bible study method, with its many notes and cross-references and color pencil markings in the margins of students’ Bibles. She was the author of dozens of 12- and 16- week Bible book studies with prodigious daily homework for serious students. She wrote the popular books “Lord, Teach Me to Pray” and “Lord, I Need Grace to Make it.” Arthur died May 20.
5 victories for Baptist values
Parents can opt-out of LGBTQ lessons
Washington, D.C. | Schools are preparing for parents to remove their children from gay-oriented lessons, as the U.S. Supreme Court upheld their right to “opt-out” of the classes. That was one of five rulings by the Court that favored Southern Baptist values.
The Court ruled that parents of public-school children in Montgomery County, Md., have a right to remove their kids from reading times with books the school board labels as “LGBTQ inclusive.”
Twenty books were introduced in 2022 for pre-K through eighth-grade students. They teach gender is more a construct than a biological fact and same-sex marriage is acceptable.
The school board’s opt-out option was discontinued a year later, leading a coalition of more than 300 Christian, Muslim, and Jewish parents to file a lawsuit, Mahmoud v. Taylor. Petitioner Tamer Mahmoud is a Muslim parent; the defendant is school superintendent Thomas Taylor.
The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision agreed with the parents, that the schools’ decision to withhold notice from parents and then forbid opting out of the program “substantially interferes with the religious development of petitioners’ children.”
Justice Samuel Alito wrote, “The right of parents to direct the religious upbringing of their children would be an empty promise, if it did not follow them into the public school classroom.”
The SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission joined 10 faith groups siding with the parents in an amicus brief. ERLC President Brent Leatherwood was pleased with the ruling. “As the primary teachers of their home, parents should have the right to opt their children out of curriculum that actively undermines their religious convictions regarding marriage, family, gender, and sexuality,”.
ABC News reported the ruling is expected to produce a wave of opt-out requests at schools across the nation. The head of the National Education Association predicted a “chilling effect” on the use of LGBTQ materials in classrooms.
Illinois began implementing LGBTQ curricula in 2020, but faced federal pushback with the incoming Trump administration in 2025. The state has not withdrawn its gay-oriented content or other diversity lessons, the state school board reported in February, despite federal threats of funding withdrawals. Some local school systems have chosen not to use the explicit sex education materials.
Other
rulings
Transgender treatments for minors: The Court upheld a Tennessee law banning gender transition medical treatments for minors as constitutional. The law prevents healthcare providers from prescribing medication or performing procedures on minors in order to “transition” them to an identity opposite of their biological sex. The case, U.S. v. Skrmetti, was brought by three transgender teenagers and the Biden Administration to preserve “gender affirming care.”
Medicaid funding for abortions: South Carolina can continue its effort to defund Planned Parenthood by barring abortion clinics in the state from participating in Medicaid programs. “The Court’s ruling will support other states as they seek to deny Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers taxpayer money,” Leatherwood said. That includes Arkansas, Missouri, Mississippi, and Texas, which have such laws.
Age verification on websites: A Texas law was upheld that requires websites to verify users are at least 18 years old if at least one-third of their hosted content is considered “harmful to minors,” such as pornography. So far, 20 states have such laws.
Tax-exemption for religious charities: The Court ruled that a Wisconsin Catholic charity deserved the same tax-exempt status granted to churches. ERLC and a large group of religious representatives filed amicus briefs supporting the case. —IB staff with Baptist Press, with additional reporting by Christian Post, ABC News, and ADF
BYPASSED— The High Court declined to consider the appeal of Liam Morrison who claimed his free speech rights were violated by his Massachusetts junior high school. Morrison, now 14, was in seventh grade when he wore a shirt declaring “There are only two genders” during Pride observances. School administrators forbid it, and now the courts have ruled twice they had the prerogative, despite support from 18 states’ attorneys general. Attorneys from Alliance Defending Freedom (pictured above), an IBSA ministry partner, represented Morrison.
IBSA Executive Director
Search committee solicits resumes
Springfield | The Executive Director Search Committee of the Illinois Baptist State Association (IBSA) has begun fielding candidates for its next Executive Director. Committee chairman Jeff Logsdon, Pastor of Island City Baptist Church, said they will be seeking resumes from qualified candidates until September 15.
The Committee is searching for the successor to current Executive Director Nate Adams, who has served Illinois Baptists in the role for more than 19 years. In February, following the IBSA Board Committee meetings, Adams announced his retirement would come “in about a year.” At that
time, he stated that Board leadership had requested an overlap period with his successor to allow for a smooth transition.
“Nate has led us well over the years and has helped churches navigate through many changes in society and Southern Baptist life in the past two decades,” Logsdon said.
“The ability of many churches to bounce back following the COVID pandemic is just one recent example of the results of his leadership over the years.
The IBSA Executive Director leads the Springfield-based staff in their service to the nearly 900 cooperating churches of the Illinois Baptist State Association. Their stated mission is to deliver network value that inspires each church to thrive in health, growth, and mission.
The 11-member search committee, which includes men and women from IBSA’s Board of Directors and Association Officers, has approached their assignment with a listening posture, Logsdon said. They have spent significant time in prayer, both together and individually, and have gathered input from Illinois pastors and IBSA
Ben Mandrell called to Adrian Rogers’ pulpit
Illinois native leaves Lifeway for senior pastorate at Bellevue in Memphis
Cordova, Tenn. | From his native Tampico, Illinois, along a trail that has led to church planting in Colorado and leadership of the SBC’s publishing entity, Lifeway Christian Resources, Ben Mandrell’s journey now takes him to the pulpit once commanded by Adrian Rogers. Mandrell was called as senior pastor July 13 by Bellevue Baptist Church, described by an Illinois Baptist familiar with it as “the megachurchiest megachurch.”
It’s an apt description, both for the size of the congregation and its facilities in suburban Memphis, but also its role in SBC life. Mandrell succeeds Steve Gaines, who followed Adrian Rogers, who followed R. G. Lee. All three served as SBC President and steered the denomination at key turns.
“Our entire family is deeply grateful for these years in Nashville with Life-
way,” Mandrell told the Lifeway staff. “This ministry is filled with salt-ofthe-earth people, and it’s truly heartbreaking to think we won’t see their faces as often in the years to come. Even so, the Lord has made it crystal clear that it’s time for us to return to the pastorate and to join the Bellevue family.”
Throughout his tenure, and in his appearances in Illinois at the Midwest Leadership Summit on several occasions, it was clear that Mandrell loved local church ministry, and still had a place in the pulpit.
At 67, Gaines has served Bellevue since 2005, the year Rogers died. Gaines has suffered health issues in recent years. Bellevue reported 7,382 in average worship attendance and online last year.
Mandrell leaves Lifeway after six years as President and CEO. He has
staff through surveys and listening sessions.
“We are just now finishing the process of collecting information with two more listening groups scheduled,” Logsdon said. “We are transitioning into collecting resumes from candidates who are interested in the position. We will allow several weeks for potential candidates to respond, as we gather information about them. Early in the fall we anticipate conducting actual interviews.”
More information, including a candidate profile and contact to submit a resume, is available at IBSA.org/executive-search.
guided reinvention of the publishing entity following closure of all 172 of its bookstores, the sale and relocation of a second downsized headquarters, the outsourcing of Lifeway’s remaining warehousing, and the transition to a mostly digital “work from anywhere” model.
In addition, the pastor who admitted his church in Colorado did not use Lifeway materials because its Deep South Bible Belt assumptions were out of touch with his modern, urban congregation of younger believers, pushed the publisher to make content for the 2020s, not the 1970s.
Mandrell took on great trials when he succeeded Thom Rainer. He confronted the financial challenges and loss of business to internet sources. At its peak in the early 2000s, Lifeway had more than 2,000 employees, most of them working at its nine-building, one-million square foot hub in downtown Nashville. Today, the publisher
has about 300 employees. Its hub is a sleek, much smaller “teaming space” in suburban Brentwood where staff use flexible areas for meetings.
From about $400 million in annual revenue in 2001, Lifeway sales bottomed out at $206 million in 2020 (the Covid year) and rebounded to $319 million last year. It’s been a long climb up.
The Lifeway Trustees met July 15 to form a search committee. Mandrell’s ministry at Bellevue begins August 10. — IB staff, with info from Baptist Press and Lifeway.
CHANGING TIMES— Outgoing Senior Pastor Steve Gaines (left) greets Ben and Lynley Mandrell at Bellevue Baptist Church on July 13. The church called Mandrell as its next senior pastor in an overflow service.
LOGSDON
R.G. LEE ADRIAN ROGERS
BIG SUMMER
IBSA Camps
set record attendance, 47 saved
Students coming to Lake Sallateeska and Streator broke records in attendance and celebrated multiple salvations in all the weeks of IBSA camps. Attendance reached 1,175 in eleven week-long sessions.
“We have surpassed our previous all-time record of 1,089 set in 2019,” Leadership Development Director Michael Awbrey announced. Most camps focused on “The Good Life” with Matthew 5:1-11 as theme verses.
Many decisions were reported: 47 professions of faith, 50 indicated their desire to be baptized in their local church, 13 expressed feeling a call to missions or ministry.
“I think that God really spoke to me while I was at Super Summer and I learned a lot about what it means to closely follow Jesus,” one student reported after the camp that specializes in shaping Christian teens into leaders.
“Fantastic!” was one parent’s assessment following camp week. “I’ve never seen my son openly worship until after camp last week.”
“The parents are still talking about the gospel conversations they are having at home as a result of camp,” one leader told Awbrey.
This year there were eight IBSA Summer Camps, plus Super Summer, and two weekends of Level Up Guy Camps scheduled. They are all hosted at IBSA’s two camp properties, except Super Summer, which was held at Hannibal-LaGrange University.
The two IBSA camp properties, Lake Sallateeska Baptist Camp near Pinckneyville and Streator Baptist Camp named for the nearby town, also host numerous camps and retreats planned by local Baptist associations and churches throughout the summer, adding to the total of young lives changed by the gospel.
The camps, supported by Cooperative Program giving to missions and tuition from campers, have seen terrific renewal of the facilities and rebound in attendance after the pandemic.
VBS is biggest yet in Marshall
This was a record-breaking year for Marshall Baptist Church with an explosion in Vacation Bible School participation. With 197 kids and 130 workers, the church bested its best VBS numbers.
“I was blown away by our attendance this year!”
Pastor Paul Cooper said. “A full week of evening VBS can be exhausting, but the excitement kept people going.”
The VBS workers “were amazing,” the pastor said. “Our church truly gathers to be on mission together” through the annual community outreach.
While other local churches trimmed their VBS schedules, Marshall kept the full slate in a Sunday night through Thursday night format. That was followed by a special Sunday morning worship service attended by about 100 kids and their families. The kids sang songs from the week.
The church used Lifeway’s VBS curriculum “Magnified,” which focused on revealing Jesus in every lesson.
Ten children made decisions in Marshall and five were baptized soon after. “I think God is moving in young families right now,” Cooper said. “We just need to join him in what he is doing.”
In the Heartland Network VBS has become
a team event for several churches. They share large, colorful stage pieces (photo page 1) as they intentionally plan their VBS weeks in succession. About half of IBSA churches hold VBS each summer. In the SBC, 25% of all baptisms result from faith decisions made at VBS.
Mission trip the Cowboy way
Pam Harbison had taught the children in her missions class about a Cowboy Church in Wyoming. The new church connects people from ranch life with the gospel. The kids at First Baptist Church of Eldorado, Illinois were very excited about the concept. “I believe in visual or living stories,” Harbison said. “I feel our kids grasp that concept better than when they only read something out of a book.”
Through a series of seeming coincidences involving her former foster son, Landon, Harbison connected with Bill Kehoe of Brush Arbor Meeting Cowboy Church in Long Point. That was too far away for a day trip, but the church was going to the Shawnee National Forest in a few days on a mission trip, only 25 minutes from Eldorado. Harbison took 18 kids and 12 adults to Bear Branch Campground. The kids rode horses and tried roping. They had dinner with Cowboy Church members and listened a message by Kehoe. One of the girls had recently lost her father. “When Bill had her on the horse, she started to open up to him about that,” Harbison said through tears. Harbison told the pastor she didn’t think her foster son, Landon, had accepted Christ. He had been moved when he was around seven, but they stayed in touch. Kehoe talked with the young man now in his 20s, and he made a profession of faith. “Sometimes God puts people in our life that we don’t realize why,” Harbison said.
Replanting offers fresh start
On Easter Sunday, First Baptist Church relaunched as Ashburn Baptist Church—Crystal Lake with 85 people. As the weather turned warm, they baptized two new believers, remarkable for a body that dwindled to a dozen and wrestled with starting over for more than two years. “Replanting can be a hard sell for some people,” DeWanna Oliver said, “but we knew we were going nowhere in a hurry if something didn’t happen.” Oliver and her husband, Joe, a former IBSA Zone Consultant, encouraged the process, along with Church Planting Catalyst John Yi.
Ashburn Baptist and Pastor Tommy Thompson made replanting plans, rehabbed the facility, and called Ed Han as pastor. “We’re excited to see what God has in store,” Oliver said. “People from the neighborhood are coming, which is thrilling.”
World Changers changes worlds starting in Du Quoin
“It was like dark to daylight,” World Changers logistics director Jon Hodge said, describing the difference in appearances in the places where teams visiting in the Du Quoin area worked.
More than 180 young men and women from 10 churches came together in Illinois for one week in July to work on 16 homes in need of repair. They painted, built wheelchair ramps, sided a house, and filled in an old in-ground swimming pool.
Not only were there physical changes, but spiritual as well. Volunteers prayed for 96 people, made 42 gospel presentations, and saw two people profess belief in Christ. In all, 140 lives were changed.
Before and during the project, students partici-
pated in mission studies. They learned how to share their testimonies, including using Bible verses known as “The Romans Road” to share the gospel. Hodge, who lives in Jackson, Tenn., once served on the staff of First Baptist Church in West Frankfort. He recalled a World Changers project in the Illinois town where a seventh-grade girl who had been nervous about sharing the gospel was cleaning up for lunch after painting. An elderly man walking by their work site stopped and asked why she was there.
“The girl told him, ‘I’m here because I love Jesus. Do you know my Jesus?’
“And he said, no. She said, ‘Can I tell you about my Jesus?’ And he said, ‘Sure.’ So, she did that and wound up leading him to the Lord,” Hodge said.
“As I pulled up, she was jumping up and down, saying, ‘I did it, I did it, I did it! And he was jumping up down, saying, ‘I’m going to heaven, I’m going to heaven, I’m going to heaven!’”
Five participating churches were from Illinois: Ditney Ridge in Norris City, First in Du Quoin, Friendship in Plainfield, Jackson Grove in Benton, Nine Mile in Tamaroa, and Ten Mile in McLeansboro. Volunteers from the other churches were from Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, and North Carolina.
World Changers is celebrating its 35th year. This is also the ministry’s fifth year operating independently from Lifeway, which discontinued it in 2020 due to Covid and a decline in participants. David Flatt, a pastor from Panama City, Fla., led a group to purchase the ministry, which he now leads.
BFI awards larger scholarships
Seeks
Springfield | The Baptist Foundation of Illinois (BFI) awarded 24 scholarships to students from IBSA churches in June. The total amount distributed, $97,250, was a new record. Since 2015, BFI has awarded 416 Illinois Baptist students with $914,825 in scholarship support.
The BFI Board of Trustees increased the scholarship award amounts beginning with this scholarship cycle. Seminary scholarships were increased to $7,500 (up from $2,625). Bachelor or Masters awards rose to $5,000 (up from $2,000). And Associate level grants increased to $2,000 (up from $1,000). Some students received a partial scholarship due to the amount of available funds.
“Our hope is to make a much deeper impact on the lives of students” with the larger grants, BFI Executive Director Doug Morrow said.
The recipients gathered for a luncheon in Springfield June 7, with Eric Turner, New Testament professor at Hannibal-LaGrange University, as speaker. “Even exposure to Christian authors and thinkers like Dr. Turner as we did at this dinner is designed to help students ask and answer deeper, more meaningful questions about their service to Christ wherever they are going to school,” Morrow said.
“With numerous students renouncing their faith in college, there has never been a more strategic time than now to think about identity and world view as students engage in higher education.”
Seminary scholarships
Shayne Alcantara
Liberty Baptist Church Pekin
Ronald Brown First Corinthians BC Chicago
Charles Campbell
Delta Church
Springfield
Hannah Howard FBC, Casey
Nathaniel Martin
Waldo Missionary BC
Metropolis
Nancy Nolin
Emmanuel BC
Sterling
Marcus Schomburg
Red Hill Church
Edwardsville
Sam Winkleman
Rooted Community Lebanon
Undergraduate scholarships
Lizabeth Conkle FBC Metropolis
Rachelle Cox
Joppa Missionary BC Joppa
Heath Ellis
Logan Street BC
Mt. Vernon
Anna Forbes
Bethel Baptist Church Vandalia
Toby Gallion
First Baptist Church
Petersburg
Savannah Hildebrand
Bethel Baptist Church
Troy
Savanna Hulbert
Panther Fork MBC Texico
Rachel Lands FBC Harrisburg
Mitchell Mannhard Westgate BC Trenton
Devan Powell Together Church Springfield Dominick Powell Together Church Springfield
Emily Smith FBC O’Fallon
Lucy Taylor Net Community Church Staunton
Hannah Wachtveitl FBC Rochester
Molly Wielgus
Unity Baptist Church Granite City
Luke Winkleman
First Baptist Church Harrisburg
AWARDS— Pictured are recipients (front row, l-r) Emily Smith, Hannah Wachtveitl, Lucy Taylor, Rachel Lands, Rachelle Cox, Anna Forbes, Heath Ellis; (back row) Shayne Alcantara, Dominick Powell, Mitchell Mannhard, Devan Powell, and Ronald Brown.
INSIGHT
Why early days on campus are crucial
The first 48 hours of a student’s time on a college campus are some of the most important hours that a student will ever go through in their life. That may sound like a big statement, but it is true. It certainly was for me.
Within my first 48 hours at the University of Wyoming, I had met future roommates, future study partners, and even someone who would be in my wedding! But maybe most important, I was invited to a campus ministry and to a local church that faithfully discipled me for the next four years and supported me as I wrestled through my call to ministry.
If those first 48 hours had gone differently, if I had not met those friends who challenged me and pointed me towards God through the ups and downs of college, I do not know where I would be today.
The testimony of what God did during my college years began with the faithful prayers of many around me, people of all ages, from across the country and in countries around the world.
As a local church pastor in a university town, I ask how can we engage in what God is doing on college campuses throughout Illinois? We can pray.
Here’s how.
Pray for new students on campus. Whether it is incoming freshmen, transfer students, or graduate students, there are always new students coming to campus. Much like what I experienced, they are going to go through a whirlwind in their first few days on campus. They will start building friendships, finding “their people,” and so much more.
A great verse to remember when praying for new students on campus is Matthew 28:18-20 where we see Jesus commissioning his disciples. We are to go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of Jesus, teaching them to obey all that Jesus has commanded, and to remember that Jesus is with us always. Join me in praying that students will be plugged in with other believers who will take the time to share the gospel with them, to disciple them, and to point them to Jesus.
Pray for returning students and staff
As they settle back into campus, returning students need to build relationships with the students around them. Pray that they grasp the tremendous opportunity that God has provided for them to share the gospel with people all around them and to make disciples of all nations.
We should also pray for an often forgotten group, the faculty and staff
“All in favor of allowing men to wear caps during the worship service . . . say aye.”
A few days’ prayer right now can change a lifetime.
who work on campus. Pray for them to be bold for the gospel and for their hearts to be burdened for their co-workers who do not know Jesus. Students are not the only harvest that is abundant.
Pray for churches reaching students College is such a strategic opportunity for students to invest in their faith, and it is great opportunity
for churches located near college campuses. Pray those students will be met by churches who are passionate about wanting to disciple them and equip them for a lifetime of effective and passionate ministry. College ministry requires time and energy, so pray for churches to have the time, energy, and willingness to reach their local campus.
In Matthew 9, we see Jesus preaching and teaching to crowds of people and healing them. Jesus is brokenhearted at the crowd’s need. He is filled with compassion. He is burdened for the crowd’s needs. He gives the disciples some instructions. Jesus says that they are to “pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.” But Jesus does not just ask for them, or for us to pray a few empty words, or to check a box on our prayer list so that we can sleep well at night. Instead, another way to translate the verb “pray” is to translate it “to beg.” We should fervently plead with God to send out laborers into the harvest that is our college campuses. Let’s plead for God to prepare the hearts of students. Let’s beg God to send out laborers into the harvest that is our college campuses across the state of Illinois.
Daniel Good is lead pastor of Cornerstone Church in Savoy.
Revival Generation by Shane Pruitt (Lifeway, 2024)
Study guide with short video teachings for 6-8 week series, for students, ages 12 to 25. This study focuses on spiritual awakening and guides students to pray for themselves and their friends. Pruitt is a NAMB VP, next gen expert, and frequent preacher at student events.
Gen-Send Podcast: The Hand-off (NAMB)
“How to bridge the gap between student and collegiate ministry” is the title of this episode of the podcast produced by NAMB. It features Pruitt and four leaders from a webinar on connecting with college freshmen in their crucial first months on campus.
TABLE TALK
reporter’s notebook
After Texas floods: Where is God when it hurts?
The recent flooding in Texas has left so many of us reeling. The loss of lives, especially the lives of children at Camp Mystic, is beyond comprehension. Our hearts crack open with sorrow, and the question rises like a tide: Where was God? How could he have allowed this?
It’s not a new question. It echoes through the ages, from the psalms of David to the suffering of Job, from the groans of the prophets to the cries of Jesus himself: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). There is a sacred honesty in that cry. And it’s OK to ask it.
Because here’s the truth—God could have stopped the flood. He could have redirected the storm clouds, held back the rushing waters, and saved every life. So why didn’t he? But maybe the deeper, more haunting question is: Why does God sometimes choose restraint, even when it breaks his own heart?
That’s not an easy question to answer. It brushes up against mystery, sovereignty, and the aching limits of our human understanding. But I believe the cross gives us a lens through which to view suffering.
Jesus, the Son of God, faced the ultimate injustice. He was mocked, beaten and crucified. And yet, at any moment, He could have stopped it. As He told Peter in the garden, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53).
But he didn’t call for angels. Not because he was powerless, but because he saw the purpose.
Legal Guidance for Churches & ministries
The ADF Church & Ministry Alliance is an affordable membership program designed to ensure
teach, and serve in accordance with God's call. Through legal guidance and practical resources, we equip you to confidently pursue your mission:
WEEPING— Camp Mystic is a private Christian Camp near Kerrville, Texas. Of the over 200 dead and missing after the July 4the flood, 27 were girls and counselors here.
A redemptive plan was unfolding—not one that delighted in pain, but one that used suffering to defeat sin and death forever.
We want God to intervene the way we think he should. Sometimes he does. Miracles happen. Storms pass. Healing comes. But other times, he chooses the path that seems unbearably quiet. Not absent, not indifferent, just restrained. Why? Maybe there’s more going on than we can see. Maybe eternity is longer than this life, and what breaks us now will somehow, someday, be made right. Still, that doesn’t make today’s pain any less real. This flood did not take God by surprise. But let me be clear: Nor was it his delight. God is not some cruel puppeteer orchestrating tragedy for fun. He is a Father, a healer, a Savior. His heart breaks with ours. He is “near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18).
So, if you’re asking today, “Where is God when it hurts?—I believe he’s closer than you think. He’s in the arms of the parents who are holding each other through the night, unsure how to keep breathing. He’s in the prayers of a community that can’t find the words. He’s in the hands of rescue workers, the voice of a pastor offering comfort, the quiet faith of those who keep trusting even when nothing makes sense.
He’s present. Not always in the way we want, but always in the way we need.
God is still good. That hasn’t changed. His goodness isn’t based on our circumstances. It’s rooted in his character. The same God who walked with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fire walks with us through the flood. The same God who wept at Lazarus’ tomb weeps with those who mourn today.
God is still sovereign. That means he is not out of control. We are not abandoned to chaos. Though the earth gives way and the mountains fall into the sea, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).
And yes—God is just. There will come a day when everything wrong will be made right. A day when death is swallowed up, and mourning turns to dancing. Injustice doesn’t get the last word. Neither does grief. Jesus does.
One day, we’ll see the whole story. One day, what now feels like silence will make sense. Until then, we walk by faith. Not because it’s easy, but because it’s the only path that leads to peace. —Tony Martin is editor of the Mississippi Baptist Record.
Application Deadline
Churches wishing to apply for friendly cooperation with the Illinois Baptist State Association must submit an application by September 16.
To request a packet of information regarding affiliation, visit www. ibsa.org/about/how-to-partner/. For more information, email BarbTroeger@IBSA.org, or call (217) 391-3107.
The ministry of getting up BRIGHTER DAY
“P
eter sent them all out of the room. He knelt down, prayed, and turning toward the body said, ‘Tabitha, get up.’ She opened her eyes, saw Peter, and sat up.”
My favorite part of the book of Acts is that we often get to read the rest of the story. The apostles did these amazing things, and then this even more amazing thing happened next. People saw the gospel in action and then believed in Jesus. Acts doesn’t leave us guessing. We get results.
The healing of Tabitha in Acts 9:36-43 is no exception. Peter came to Joppa and raised a very revered woman from the dead; people heard about it and “many believed in the Lord.” Action, result. What a wonderful account of the early church!
I have never been raised from the dead physically, nor have I seen anyone come out of death back to physical life. I have seen people get up, though. Through the power of Christ, I’ve seen people stand up out of all manner of things: addiction, gossip, workaholism, anger, greed, jealousy. We are so often “asleep” in the things we idolize, but God is good to call us out of them. And when people get up, others take notice.
Before I moved to Illinois, I lived in a city where churches partnered to minister to recovering addicts. It seemed like everywhere I went, I ran into people on either side of this ministry. Either they had heard the gospel through it, or they were somehow involved in keeping it running. It was a city-wide testimony to the power of God to call people out of death and into life. Every place has testimonies just like that. They are in your church—stories of how God’s continuous, transforming work in an individual life results in a powerful reversal from dark to light. Those stories are in our communities too, when churches stand up together to show God’s mercy and love and kindness.
The stories we know best are from our own hearts, the hidden sins from which God calls us to get up.
The example of Tabitha reminds us to recognize those stories and keep them close. Write them down. Remember the times God has called us to stand up. They are a mercy to us, and a powerful testimony to everybody watching.
Meredith Day Flynn is pastor’s daughter and an active servant at Delta Church in Springfield.
August 14
Tech Training
EVENTS
Where: Immanuel, Benton
When: 6 p.m. – check-in, 6:30 p.m. – training begins
What: Specialized church tech training for pastors, tech and/or worship leaders and volunteers.
Info: IBSA.org/events/techtraining
Contact: CarmenHalsey-Menghini@IBSA.org or BobDickerson@IBSA.org
What: Join in showing the love of Jesus in Illinois communities. Participate in ready-made, half-day outreach and service projects for the whole family. Illinois, it’s OUR mission! Where: Chicago, Mt. Vernon, Peoria Info: MissionIllinois.org
September 14-21
Mission Illinois Offering
What: Week of prayer and giving for state missions. Your MIO giving stays 100% here, and supports ministry in Illinois. Where: Your Church Info: MissionIllinois.org
What: Messengers and guests from the nearly 900 IBSA churches gather for some business and a lot of inspiration. Where: Crowne Plaza, Springfield Info: IBSAannualmeeting.org
Contact: BarbTroeger@IBSA.org
see the IBSA calendar for more events. www.ibsa.org/calendar/
NETWORKING
Send NETWORKING items to IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org
Highland Ave. Baptist Church seeking a senior pastor. Visit the church website for more information: highlandavebaptist.com. Send resume and a cover letter to 400 W. Highland Ave. Robinson, IL 62454, or email maparker81@yahoo.com.
Woodland Baptist Church seeks a full-time pastor as we carry out our mission to develop disciples of Jesus Christ who love God, love others, and live on mission. This established multi-generational congregation in Peoria has a strong foundation to build on. Check the Pastor Search Online Job Board at IBSA. org. Send resumes to searchteam@woodlandbaptistchurch.net.
First Baptist Church of Pinckneyville seeks a fulltime pastor of Godly character, who preaches the Word, provides pastoral care, has good communication skills, and serves all people with compassion and love. They seek a pastor with vision for evangelism and outreach to the next generation. Contact: Mike Cheek, 105 Mill Street, P. O. Box 157 Pinckneyville, IL 62274. fbcpvilleoffice@gmail.com
Grace Baptist Church of Granite City seeks a bivocational associate pastor, part-time, 10 hours per week. Under the direction of the lead pastor, this position could include taking over certain duties or by rotation or by substituting for absences, tailored to the gifts and talents of the individual and the needs of the church. For information, visit gbcgranite.org/ job-opportunities.
First Baptist Church of Brookport seeks a fulltime or bivocational pastor for a congregation averaging 65-75 on Sunday morning. The current pastor’s retiring after 20 years’ service. Send resume to 700 Pell Road, Brookport IL 62910. Attn: Pastor Search Committee.
New Hope Baptist Church in Waverly seeks a parttime pastor for a small congregation in the mostly farming community about 30 minutes drive south of Springfield. Contact Bob_McNeely@Royell.com or send a resume to 157 E. Tremont Street, Waverly, IL 62692
Search more church openings at IBSA.org/pastor-search or scan this code.
people
Brian Kenney is serving as interim Associational Mission Strategist for Sandy Creek Baptist Association. He is currently congregational care pastor for Lincoln Avenue Baptist Church and active in chaplaincy. He previously served as pastor of FBC Beardstown. Kenny is a graduate of Hannibal-LaGrange University, Southwest Baptist University, and Southwestern Seminary. He is married to Terry.
MEREDITH FLYNN
Take Another Look
100 years of the Baptist Faith
& Message
On the centennial of the SBC’s statement of faith, let’s explore what we believe and take time to reinforce a solid foundation.
Building to the final act
The “Kingdom of Heaven” or “Kingdom of God” is mentioned directly 125 times in the New Testament. That’s a lot, in case you were wondering. Consider a word as ubiquitous in our Baptist theology as salvation only occurs about 150 times (as a noun or its verbal cousin). Yet in many ways, our essential and beloved doctrine of salvation will likely be misunderstood, both in its implications for a person’s present and for their future, if the theology of the Kingdom is not taught.
So why is an understanding of the Kingdom so important, what does the Baptist Faith and Message (2000) tell us about Scripture’s teaching on the Kingdom. And how is this vital doctrine in Article 9 connected to Article 10 on Last Things?
First, only Kings have Kingdoms. And we’re not used to kings. Sure, we’re familiar with the toothless monarchy of modern Britain, but it is all pomp and no power. Real kings, biblical kings, don’t have limits on their power. They don’t have checks and balances. They have absolute rule within their kingdom.
Our Baptist congregational polity and our American democratic individualism can cause us problems in truly understanding what it means to be a subject of a king, because we don’t get a vote with a king. I’m not the captain of my own fate with a king. In his kingdom, he has absolute sovereignty.
IX. The Kingdom
Abraham Kuyper wrote, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” That includes the universe, and that includes you, believer. Article 10 affirms this picture of God’s Kingdom authority. By using the terms “general sovereignty over the universe” and “particular kingship over men,” our faith statement affirms that nothing happens within the universe without God’s broad permission, yet it is through the lives of those who have “willfully acknowledge(d) Him as King” that the Kingdom is presently manifest.
It is here, it seems, that the importance of understanding the doctrine of the Kingdom connects to the individual. When a person acknowledges Jesus as Lord, they willingly bow to his crown, relinquishing insistence that they are a king unto themselves.
The Kingdom of God includes both His general sovereignty over the universe and His particular kingship over men who willfully acknowledge Him as King. Particularly the Kingdom is the realm of salvation into which men enter by trustful, childlike commitment to Jesus Christ. Christians ought to pray and to labor that the Kingdom may come and God’s will be done on earth. The full consummation of the Kingdom awaits the return of Jesus Christ and the end of this age.
Genesis 1:1; Isaiah 9:6-7; Jeremiah 23:56; Matthew 3:2; 4:8-10,23; 12:25-28; 13:1-52; 25:31-46; 26:29; Mark 1:14-15; 9:1; Luke 4:43; 8:1; 9:2; 12:31-32; 17:20-21; 23:42; John 3:3; 18:36; Acts 1:6-7; 17:22-31; Romans 5:17; 8:19; 1 Corinthians 15:24-28; Colossians 1:13; Hebrews 11:10,16; 12:28; 1 Peter 2:4-10; 4:13; Revelation 1:6,9; 5:10; 11:15; 21-22.
That person accepts the truth of Jesus’ rule over all, and particularly over their life. They step into his Kingdom, joining the millions of others over the ages who have trusted in God’s promised Messiah.
Our statement of faith refers to this as “the realm of salvation.” This Kingdom is what a person is “saved to.” Now, together with other subjects of the benevolent King Jesus, believers seek to do his will in his way, in service of the expansion of his Kingdom, one heart at a time, encompassing people of every nation, tribe, and tongue.
The Kingdom that is invisible, whose citizens are made through faith, will one day be made sight. It is no less real because it does not presently have borders on a map. It was inaugurated at Jesus’ first coming, and is growing at present, awaiting the day of its consummation. Seeing this reality come to pass should be the
desire of every believer, inhabiting their prayers and energizing their activities.
That brings us to Article 10 on Last Things.
The BF&M conveys a generous eschatology, saying that God will bring the world to its appropriate end “in his own time and in his own way.” It takes no position on tribulations or weeks or millenniums. No speculation on the identities of Gog, Magog, or the antichrist. It just conveys a clear conviction that Jesus will return visibly, that the dead will be raised, that all people will be judged, and that both heaven and hell are real eternal destinations reserved respectively for the righteous and unrighteous.
So this brings us back to the Kingdom, because the return of the King is what will trigger all these last events. And it is the consummation, or completion, of that same Kingdom that will set up thrones to judge the living and the dead. It is the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, in all its Revelation 20 and 21 glory, that is both our eternal salvation and the deliverer of the judgment from which we are eternally saved, God’s wrath. Two sides of the same coin.
How will the redeemed in Christ be saved? How will every tear be wiped away and death be no more? How will those who oppose God and Christ be judged? The Kingdom is the answer, both now and forever.
—Ben Jones
X. Last Things Making it relevant:
God, in His own time and in His own way, will bring the world to its appropriate end. According to His promise, Jesus Christ will return personally and visibly in glory to the earth; the dead will be raised; and Christ will judge all men in righteousness. The unrighteous will be consigned to Hell, the place of everlasting punishment. The righteous in their resurrected and glorified bodies will receive their reward and will dwell forever in Heaven with the Lord.
Isaiah 2:4; 11:9; Matthew 16:27; 18:8-9; 19:28; 24:27,30,36,44; 25:31-46; 26:64; Mark 8:38; 9:4348; Luke 12:40,48; 16:19-26; 17:22-37; 21:27-28; John 14:1-3; Acts 1:11; 17:31; Romans 14:10; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 15:24-28,35-58; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Philippians 3:20-21; Colossians 1:5; 3:4; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 5:1ff.; 2 Thessalonians 1:7ff.; 2; 1 Timothy 6:14; 2 Timothy 4:1,8; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 9:27-28; James 5:8; 2 Peter 3:7ff.; 1 John 2:28; 3:2; Jude 14; Revelation 1:18; 3:11; 20:1-22:13.
“We are living in the end times.”
Research found 4-in-10 U.S.
are about evenly
Black Protestants (76%) and Evangelicals (63%) are most likely to believe Jesus is coming soon.
Pew
adults believed the end is near in a 2022 poll. Christians
