Illinois Baptist Learning from my students
NATE ADAMS
Right here, right now
Jesus’ words to Illinois P. 2
ERIC REED
Baptist proposes creed You gotta be kidding P. 6
SCOTT HARRIS
For the pastor Revive us, O Lord P. 16
Trustee chair resigns after failed attempt to dismiss
Nashville Tenn. | Brent Leatherwood appeared unemployed briefly on Monday, July 22. Then, in just few hours, the announcement of his firing was rescinded, and he was back in place as President and CEO of the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission “with our support moving forward,” an ERLC Executive Committee statement said early Tuesday. And the man who tried to engineer the coup, Kevin Smith, was out as ERLC Trustee chair.
The drama that stretched across three days started when Leatherwood posted a column praising the decision announced on Sunday by President Biden to withdraw as Democratic nominee for the post. He called the decision “correct” and “selfless.” That ignited a firestorm among Southern Baptists on social media.
Leatherwood was sharply criticized for
LEATHERWOOD
SMITH
Total giving by IBSA churches as of 6/30/24 $2,824,080
2024 Budget Goal to date: $2,932,659
2024 Goal: $6 Million
give local
Unreached people from all over the world are in Paris during the Olympics. Southern Baptists seize the opportunity by sending mission teams. More than 300 volunteers from across North America will share faith with visitors to the 2024 games. France has many areas of up to 300,000 people with no evangelical witness, according to the SBC’s International Mission Board.
NATE ADAMS
Right here
hen we hear the phrase “mission field,” we often think internationally, and we imagine people who don’t look like us, or who don’t speak our language, or who don’t live with many of the blessings that we enjoy. We remember with respect and gratitude those called missionaries who leave home and who go to live in faraway places to share the gospel, sometimes with people who will hear it for the first time.
But even as we pray and send and give so that missionaries can go to “the uttermost parts of the world,” we should remember that Jesus also said the Holy Spirit would empower his disciples to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria. More than just those specific, first century locations and disciples, I believe Jesus was describing in Acts 1:8 a history-long, worldwide mission, with each faithful church creating its own ripple effect in these ever-widening, concentric circles.
Impact global
OLYMPIC EFFORT
“Our desire is to see outreach during the Olympics launch us into a fruitful season of church planting in Paris, alongside the French church,” said IMB’s Jason Harris. This building was home to the first Baptist church in Paris, until the church died. It is now a bookstore and art gallery.
The Illinois Baptist staff
Editor - Eric Reed
Graphic Designer - Kris Kell
Contributing Editor - Lisa Misner
Comm. Coordinator - Nic Cook
Graphics Assistant - Makayla Proctor
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
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In other words, your church and those near you share a Jerusalem mission field. Our churches here in Illinois share a Judea mission field. And yes, there’s plenty of Samaria here in our home state too, plenty of people who seem different from us in background or culture or language, and who we might think are difficult to reach with the gospel. Yet when we go there, we often find them surprisingly receptive, as did Jesus and the early disciples. In fact, many people groups from the ends of the earth now call Illinois home as well.
Acts 1:8 is just as relevant and commanded for churches today as it was when Jesus first spoke these final words before ascending into heaven. For us, these mission fields are right here in Illinois. And we and our churches are among the closest missionaries.
Last year IBSA churches reported 3,359 baptisms, a 21% increase over the previous, pandemic-oppressed year. And together we planted or restarted 11 new churches, though many more are desperately needed. We are making an impact on the lostness of our state. But frankly, that lostness is growing faster than our efforts or resources.
Your Mission Illinois Offering can accelerate the spread of the gospel in our most accessible mission fields.
Your church’s gifts through the Mission Illinois Offering can make a tremendous difference in accelerating the spread of the gospel here in our most accessible mission fields. As you invest in missions here in Illinois, our IBSA network can not only send more missionaries such as church planters, but we can invest more in strengthening and assisting the churches that are our state’s primary missionaries. For example, last year IBSA assisted more than 100 churches and pastors in personal assessment and revitalization processes, to help them get “unstuck” and moving forward on mission. Our staff strengthened the leadership skills of over 750 pastors and church leaders and trained almost 1,700 church workers in various church ministries. More than 100 churches were equipped with evangelism strategies, and we trust that these efforts contributed to the resurgence in baptisms.
One of the primary reasons IBSA exists is to help churches work together to reach especially those three closest-by mission fields Jesus described in Acts 1:8. We can do this because of the generous gifts of churches, not just through the Cooperative Program but also through the Mission Illinois Offering, which most churches receive during the month of September.
With today’s economic and cultural challenges, I can’t recall a year when your state missions offering is more needed. You can learn more at mission illinois.org and if your church isn’t receiving a formal offering at this time, you can give securely there too. Why? Because your church’s Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria mission fields are right here, in Illinois.
Nate Adams is executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association. Respond at IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org
IMB photo
making favorable comments about Biden that were posted on the ERLC website and on Baptist Press. “We should all express our appreciation that President Biden has put the needs of the nation above his personal ambition,” Leatherwood wrote in a lengthy essay. “Despite what some partisans will say, to walk away from power is a selfless act—the kind that has become all too rare in our culture.”
Among the leading critics of Leatherwood was Florida pastor Tom Ascol, who spearheaded a campaign to shut down the ERLC with motions at
Until now, Leatherwood has proven to be a slightly less controversial figure than his predecessor, Russell Moore. As Moore’s second in command at the time, Leatherwood replaced him in September 2022.
Smith, who was elected to chair the trustees in September 2023, has proven to be no less a controversial figure. He was quoted in secular reports at the time of his election as making incendiary remarks about SBC supporters of former President Trump and criticizing opponents of writer Beth Moore at the time she left the convention.
the 2024 SBC Annual Meeting in Indianapolis a month ago. That effort failed by about three-fourths of a raised ballot vote by messengers.
Smith picked up the drumbeat and led the move to fire Leatherwood on Monday. Although the Biden column was not cited in public reports, the effort at ouster came less than a day after the controversial essay was posted.
Ascol commented when it appeared Leatherwood was out, and an announcement of his firing was posted. “Despite what some will say, for the trustees to remove Brent from this position of power is a righteous act—the kind that has become all too rare among trustees in our SBC culture,” Ascol said.
As the Tennessean newspaper in Nashville pointed out, Leatherwood “was also critical of Vice President Kamala Harris’ record and potential presidential run, writing she would be ‘cause for considerable concern among pro-life advocates and those who hold to a biblical definition of marriage.’”
Smith was previously a professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and executive director of the Maryland/ Delaware Baptist Convention. He served as an ERLC trustee since 2018. Smith presently pastors in Florida.
The head of the SBC entity can only be dismissed by the officers for gross misconduct, according to its rules. And the original statement about the firing promised more information at the ERLC’s September board meeting, seven weeks away. In its subsequent statement, the ERLC Executive Committee said no “authorized meeting, vote, or action” had been taken to fire Leatherwood.
Apology, also withdrawn
Smith posted an apology on Tuesday after the firing announcement was rescinded, but later removed the post. Smith said he made a “consequential procedural error” based on his understanding from phone conversations with trustees that he had support to remove Leatherwood. But “it is a delicate matter and, in an effort to deal with it expeditiously, I acted in good faith but without a formal vote of the Executive Committee,” Smith posted. “This was an error on my part, and I accept full responsibility.”
ERLC trustees commented online, including Tulsa pastor Eric Costanzo. “Brent deserves countless apologies for this error and all the assumptions that came with it. He has proven to be a faithful leader and man of integrity time and again,” he posted on X (formerly Twitter).
So Leatherwood continues to lead the ERLC, although the social media universe is rife with speculation about his leadership clout going forward. He posted after his un-firing was announced, “I deeply appreciate everyone who
2024 SBC Annual Meeting in Indianapolis.
has reached out, especially our trustees who were absolutely bewildered at what took place yesterday and jumped in to set the record straight.”
In the meantime, the nine days preceding Leatherwood’s one-day “ouster” leave the rest of the nation to wonder about more pollical tumult and possible fallout. Calls to prayer by Baptist leaders after the July 13 assassination attempt on President Trump were followed by the Republican National Convention in Chicago, then a week of debate over President Biden’s ability to serve.
Chicago pastor Corey Brooks, known for his rooftop residency to raise funds for a Southside community center, brought the benediction at the first night of the RNC. “Many believe America is in trying divisive times and has not been her best,” Brooks prayed. “We know this to be true. We have not been steady, firm, resolute. Too many of us have forgotten how to be Americans…. Lord, we ask for your divine presence to bless every heart and mind. Grant us wisdom and courage and discernment as we chart the path of our beloved country…Let us be reminded that we are one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”
Eric Reed, with additional reporting by Lisa Misner
STILL ON DUTY A day after a failed attempt to oust him, ERLC President Brent Leatherwood attended a reception for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left), who was in Washington, D.C. to seek support for his nation’s ongoing military response to Hamas in Gaza. On social media, Leatherwood said he shared with Netanyahu the support of Southern Baptists as expressed in a resolution passed at the
BIDEN HARRIS TRUMP VANCE
the briefing
Pot sales reach $1B early
Marijuana sales in Illinois passed $1 billion on July 1, ten days earlier than last year, according to the governor’s office. The state’s Cannabis Regulation Oversight Office shows Illinois residents made 81% of the total value of cannabis purchases for the first six months of the year, according to CBS Chicago. Out-ofstate consumers made the other 19%. The sales broke down to 49% cannabis flower, 32% vape, and 22% edibles —along with liquid edibles at 1.1%, the state said.
The governor lauded the development as significant in producing funds for the corrections system and communities affected by crime. Cannabis sales have produced $244 million in grants for youth programs, economic development, and violence prevention, the state said.
There are 218 licensed dispensaries in Illinois.
Voters polled on IVF?
The ballot for the Illinois General Election November 5 will be set August 26. It may include three non-binding referenda, including one on in vitro fertilization.
The question would read: “Should all medically appropriate assisted reproductive treatments, including, but not limited to, in vitro fertilization, be covered by any health insurance plan in Illinois that provides coverage for pregnancy benefits, without limitation on the number of treatments?”
The referenda questions were approved by the assembly after maneuvering that prevented Republicans from submitting a slate of questions. The remaining referenda poll a property tax relief measure on income more than $1 million and possible regulation on election interference.
Addicted babies could go unreported
A bill bound for the governor’s desk would prevent mandatory reporting when infants are born with evidence of the mothers’ drug use, thereby preventing toxicology reports as evidence in a fitness hearing. Opponents argued that a baby testing positive for drugs at birth is proof the child is being neglected and abused and DCFS should be mandated to report that neglect and abuse to law enforcement, The Center Square reported. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, nearly one in 12 newborns in the U.S. in 2020, or about 300,000 infants, were exposed to alcohol, opioids, marijuana, or cocaine before they were born.
—CBS News, The Center Square
Pro-Life News
Illinois abortions up 60%
In two years since Dobbs ruling
Springfield | It’s been two years since the U. S. Supreme Court’s historic decision to overturn Roe v. Wade which had guaranteed a woman’s right to an abortion. While pro-life forces in many states welcomed the decision, the Illinois legislative majority criticized the new limitations and began promoting “abortion access” in the state. The tactic worked, with nearly 91,000 abortions reported in the state in the calendar year 2023—a 60% increase over 2022.
On the one-year anniversary of the Dobbs decision, just six months’ worth of data was available to demonstrate its effects. Here in Illinois, abortions rose from almost 52,000 in 2021 to 56,457 in 2022. Comparing calendar year 2021 (without Dobbs’ limitations in neighboring states) and 2023 (with Dobbs’ limitations) abortions increased a staggering 75%.
Since the ruling known as Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization—or as it is commonly called, the Dobbs decision—gave individual states the freedom to pass their own laws regarding abortion access, Governor J.B. Pritzker and Democrat representatives in the General Assembly have pledged to make the state an abortion safe-haven. The latest statistics from Guttmacher Institute,
which supports “abortion rights,” bear that out. Guttmacher estimates there were 90,600 clinician provided abortions in Illinois in 2023, the first full year since the Dobbs decision. That’s an average of 7,670 abortions each month over the last six months. The number includes both procedural and medication abortions. The month with the highest number of estimated abortions was March with 8,200, with the lowest in February at 7,170. Guttmacher also reports a 71.5% increase in clinician-provided abortions since 2020.
In 2023, no state was more traveled to for an abortion than Illinois with 37,300 women chosing it as their destination. The New York Times even dubbed Illiniois “an island of access in the Midwest.” Women from at least 16 states traveled to Illinois to undergo an abortion. States with the highest number of women receiving abortions were Missouri 8,710, Tennessee 7,120, Indiana 5,420, Wisconsin 5,240, Mississippi 2,060, Arkansas 2,040, Kentucky 1,850, and Texas 1, 570. Pro-choice state legislators have introduced 248 abortion-related actions since 2023. Guttmacher rates Illinois’ abortion policies as “protective” along with 10 other states.
IBSA camps reported wet, not flooded
While summer storms dispatch DR teams to Iowa, Missouri
Lake Sallateeska | “We’re wet. We’re experiencing a lot of water, but everything is draining well.” That was the word from Lake Sallateeska Baptist Camp Manager Brock Vandever on July 16 after the camp received six inches of rain in six hours. The camp was hosting its final week of IBSA Summer Camps for the season, a camp for 155 7th-12th graders.
Director Scott Sloan and the team quickly shifted to indoor activities.
The heavy precipitation caused a dam in nearby Nashville, Ill., to fail causing the residents in the area around the Nashville City Reservoir to be evacuated. There was no immediate danger to Lake Sallateeka.
The camp is located 10 miles south of the dam and is on higher ground.
The actual lake at the camp is in a valley but “all of our buildings are on high ground,” said Vandever. He did note that the lake level is “higher than I’ve ever seen it.”
“The kids are still having fun,” he said. “We have power, electricity, we’re fine.”
At Streator Baptist Camp, some trees were downed, and the Streator Baptist Camp sign was damaged July 15 when a severe thunderstorm swept through the area. Camp Manager Jacob Kimbrough said the camp was hosting Fox Valley Baptist Association’s Children’s Camp at the time, but all the children were safe inside when the storm hit around 9 p.m. Camp leaders led the 40 children in their evening worship service during the storm.
Summer storms in neighboring states had Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief (IBDR) volunteers on standby. Two flood recovery teams were called to Spencer, Iowa, July 14 to join eight assessors
already on scene. “There’s still a lot of work that needs to be assessed,” said State Disaster Relief Coordinator Arnold Ramage. The team has already identified 87 jobs, ranging from minor to major, according to Ramage.
A shower trailer from Franklin Baptist Association was stationed outside a shelter in Correctionville for a few days at the end of June to serve residents left homeless by the flooding.
Marshall Bourne, a member of Tabernacle Baptist in Decatur, is another of the Illinois Baptists currently onsite. Bourne has worked with Missouri Baptist volunteers at local shelters helping to share information about assistance funds available to “those who need it most.”
“There’s a lot of hurt,” he said. “We got to pray with 22 [people] who are homeless now. They’ve got no idea where they’ll be living next week, next month. Some have small kids. I only got to see some of it around the edges. It was tough.”
Profiles in cooperation
SBC messenger from Illinois grateful to join something greater
Indianapolis | Though Victoria Awbrey didn’t become a Southern Baptist until adulthood, the Cooperative mission built into the SBC had a profound impact on her early life. “I was saved at Falls Creek Camp in Oklahoma as a seventh grader, when a friend invited me to church camp,” she said.
Years later, she and her husband, Michael, would find themselves in Tremont, Illinois, where he was a pastor. When the church decided to begin cooperating with the Illinois Baptist State Association, Awbrey started to really learn how much Southern Baptists do together, to serve one another and to take the gospel to their state and around the world.
“I really enjoy the broader SBC life,” she said, from the Registration area of the 2024 Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis. “(This meeting) is something I look forward to every year. In fact, my birthday often falls over convention. And I like to say I enjoy spending my birthday at a good Baptist business meeting!”
This year, Awbrey took her newfound love for Baptist cooperation to a new level. She served as a member of the SBC Registration Committee. By mid-afternoon on June 11, the first day of the annual meeting, just under 14,000 total messengers and guests had been checked in by the staff working the registration desks inside the Indianapolis Convention Center. That equals
fellowship of churches, were pre-registered, so they sailed smoothly through the line to receive their credentials.
However, those who had not completed preregistration were directed to a separate area, where members of the Registration Committee like Awbrey greeted them to walk them through registration as messengers or guests.
“I was nominated by my church’s pastor and received a phone call from Bart Barber to ask me to serve in this capacity,” Awbrey said as she chatted about how she ended up on the committee and how members serve. A new computer system was in use this year, she said, so they expected that she and her fellow committee members might handle more requests for help as bugs were worked out of the new system.
“They were expecting about 11,000 registered messengers, and they expected to have problems or need assistance from the committee with about 350 of those. That’s the estimate. But they did 350 on Sunday,” Awbrey said.
That pace had slowed dramatically as the software engineers quickly made adjustments and the early rush of messengers subsided. And Awbrey enjoyed the work.
“Everybody’s been pretty polite, a few confused people here and there, but you just work through it,” she said.
When asked how she has bridged the gap between what she experienced as a child at Falls Creek and being part of this big missional family, she pointed to the Convention.
“It’s not something I fully comprehended until I visited my first convention,” Awbrey said. When I walked in and I saw the depth and breadth of everything that the cooperation brings to the individual churches, to the people, to the missionaries, that’s when I really realized that I’m truly a part of something that’s greater than just our individual church— just my individual self. But together we can do such amazing, huge things that we wouldn’t be able to do without one another.”
—Ben
Jones in Indianapolis
retirement
Harold and Judy Booze
A couple very familiar to Illinois Baptists will be retiring to Texas after decades of service here in Illinois. Harold and Judy Booze have been instrumental leaders in Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief, helping victims, training leaders, and most recently equipping volunteers in Iowa in a restart of the ministry there.
The couple has been members of Woodland Baptist Church in Peoria, with Harold serving as a deacon and as mission leader for the church and for Metro Peoria Baptist Association. In addition, he served on the boards of Christian Activity Center in East St. Louis and Judson University in Elgin. Harold helped students on international mission trips with construction projects and gospel outreach.
IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams was at Woodland Church on their last Sunday and presented an IBSA fleece as a parting gift.
Dewayne and Judy Taylor
After 42 years in ministry and 24 years as senior pastor of Dorrisville Baptist Church in Harrisburg, Dewayne Taylor retired at the end of May. He pastored four churches after a career in the U.S. Air Force.
After serving two churches in Missouri, Dewayne and Judy moved to Cobden, Illinois, where he pastored First Baptist Church for 14 years, then 24 years in Harrisburg. He led a mission-minded church to greater service in the local community as well as Uganda and the islands of Lake Victoria, Mali, Niger, Bulgaria, and the United Kingdom.
The church celebrated with a luncheon and testimonies of appreciation.
The Taylors are not calling this “retirement,” but a new chapter. A picture in their home says, “Before you ask, Lord, the answer is yes.”
LONG-TIME SERVICE—IBSA’s Drew Heironimus has worked with his IT counterparts in other state conventions to organize the annual meeting registration. His daughter, Marissa, has served alongside Dad.
ENGAGED—Victoria Awbrey from Tremont volunteered to work with the registration team at the Southern Baptist Convention, helping the relatively small number of people whose registrations needed attention.
Are Southern Baptists becoming a creedal people?
Time (and the Executive Committee) will tell
y “Wait! What?” moment during the proceedings at the 2024 Southern Baptist Convention was the proposal that the Convention add up to three creeds to the Baptist Faith and Message (2000)
Wait! What? Baptists are not a creedal people. Why does anyone want to tack a creed or two or three to our statement of faith? Aren’t we the people who do NOT recite the Apostles’ Creed in worship? Or the longer Nicene Creed? Didn’t we leave that to the Methodists, Presbyterians, and Episcopalians? And wasn’t that decision for good reason?
Yet, in Indianapolis, three separate motions would have endorsed these statements as part of our own statement of faith. Stephan Lorance, a pastor from North Carolina, along with another pastor and two seminary professors said two weeks before the convention they would bring the motion to encourage doctrinal clarity and promote unity. They called the BF&M underdeveloped in some areas, especially in relation to the Trinity.
(OK, I see that. In a sermon series on the BF&M, we added a message on the Trinity after the sermons on Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for that reason.)
But rather than broadening the Convention’s statement of faith, some of the creed-advocates said it could serve to limit future adjustments, based on appeal to the two-millenia history of the appended creeds. And some observers said the
addendum could stop the further narrowing of our stated beliefs according to a particular theological stance within the denomination.
Already there are efforts to prevent a parliamentary sleight-of-hand like the motion concerning the BF&M last year redefining officers of the church as “pastor/elder/overseer” and “deacon” and stating explicitly the male-only pastor rule. While messengers debated the Law amendment to the SBC constitution again this year, most missed that the BF&M was amended last year with a single motion and a couple of minutes discussion. New rules recommended by the Cooperation study group will prevent such speedy action in the future.
“The Cooperation Group had a unanimous agreement that what transpired last year in editing our confession from the floor was a nightmare that should not be repeated, even under good auspices,” Southern Seminary professor (and Illinois native) Andrew Walker posted prior to
History in Flames
the convention. He affirmed his appreciation for the Nicene Creed, but said, “It is wrong to insert the Nicene Creed at the eleventh hour” to prevent fiddling with the BF&M.
“Should a motion be [brought] forward to add the Creed, I think it is entirely appropriate to amend the motion to refer it to the Executive Committee to consider how to incorporate our adherence to the Apostle’s, Nicene, and Athanasian Creed in a manner that respects the integrity of the BF&M,” Walker said before the meeting.
And that’s what happened.
One related motion was ruled out of order and two were sent to the Executive Committee for their review and recommendation to the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting. Perhaps cooler heads and a slower process will prevail before we run headlong to embrace the historic creeds.
I was taught that Baptists are a non-creedal people, and that it’s a good thing. So, I remain reluctant to add historic creeds to our governing documents. Such a position is consistent with our stance on soul freedom, the priesthood of the believer, and reliance on Scripture alone as our standard of measure for the New Testament church. Maybe I’m a little naïve, but if a local church decides to recite one of the creeds as part of their worship, that’s their choice. But let’s leave it at that.
Eric Reed is IBSA media editor.
The Historic Sanctuary of First Baptist Church of Dallas went up in flames on July 19. More than 60 units responded to the blaze at the 1890 Victorian church building in downtown. This is the place where W. A. Criswell preached for much of his 44-year pastorate, and the famed George W. Truett before him. Robert Jeffress has pastored the church since 2007. He led construction of a 3,000-seat sanctuary in 2013, part of a $130 million project on their six-block campus. The old sanctuary had served as home for a contemporary worship service.
Photo by SBC Dallas
Watch these videos at Missionillinois.org
Please promote state missions through September. Look for the MIO kit in your church office.
Display the Posters
RIGHT HERE
Working together to reach our Illinois mission field
Perspective is everything. A passport, packed bag, and an international flight changes the way a Christian thinks about the man driving the taxi or the woman at the local market. Have they heard the name of Jesus? Where will they spend eternity? To the local, it’s just their home. To the traveler, it’s a mission field.
How would your perspective change if you saw “right here” as a mission field?
With over 8 million people lacking a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, there is a mission field right here in Illinois.
“Sometimes the enemy lulls the church and church people into saying, Everybody in our community is saved,” says IBSA’s Scott Harris. “This is where we have to help people really see what Jesus saw when he looked out and said, ‘The fields are white to harvest.’ He said, the problem wasn’t lostness. The problem was people willing to go serve in the harvest and harvest it.”
RE-IGNITE
Evangelism consultation helping church turn inside-out
Every church and pastor goes through seasons of ups and downs. There are years when baptisms come in waves, and new people show up each week. And there are dry seasons, where it can feel like a struggle to reach the lost.
In communities, large and small, across the state, there are people in need of the good news about Jesus. They are the neighbors, family members, friends. The convenience store clerks, the college students, and the little league coaches.
When Pastor Will Ferguson of Temple Baptist in Canton came to an Ignite evangelism training in Peoria, he was personally in a dry season. “I was starting to lose a little bit of my passion for (evangelism),” he said.
Distribute the prayer guides
“Illinois college campuses are the ripest harvest far and away in the world. Here at Illinois State, we’ve got close to 24,000 students,” said Salt Church pastor, Daniel Nemmers. “Our best guess is, maybe 2,000 are in a gospel-centered college ministry or church. That leaves over 20,000 students who aren’t regularly hearing the name of Jesus preached. That gets refilled every single year.”
Ferguson went away encouraged to lead his church to be more outwardly focused, but wasn’t sure where to start. He reached out to IBSA’s Scott Harris for consultation where Harris guided him through IBSA’s Next Step process that “help(s) pastors think through that one key next step that you can take and lead your church toward that really captures the heart of what you feel like God is doing in your heart as a pastor.” That led to diagrams and a 4-step plan drawn out on large sheets of paper that still hang on Ferguson’s office wall. The current cycle started with a prayer movement for specific names of friends, family, and neighbors and will end with church members participating in planned opportunities to engage the community around needs.
Share the mission story videos
Collect the offering
The mission field is in cities like Decatur and Peoria, where IBSA is working with existing churches to reach their communities and start new churches to reach changing neighborhoods. It’s in small towns, like Mt. Sterling, where Don Hannel is planting New Vision Community Church, to reach residents of rural Brown County. It’s in the crowded streets of Chicagoland, with more than 9 million people, most of whom do not have a saving relationship with Jesus.
IBSA is right here, working alongside churches to reach our Illinois mission field. Through church planting, evangelism training, and ministries to the next generations, Illinois Baptists are working together to change the eternities of our neighbors. Through leadership development, church revitalization, and ministries like pastor retreats, we are investing in existing churches to expand their reach and keep them thriving on their mission fields for years to come.
“God’s already given us the plan,” Harris says, referring to how Illinois Baptists reach our vast mission field. “It’s just a matter of us obeying and partnering with the Holy Spirit in us to be able to have a heart that is broken and compassionate for those people around us that we say we love and care about.”
“God’s at work,” Ferguson said. “People are praying for people, and they’re sharing their stories.” After a few months of specific prayer and invitations to people on their list, Temple had one of the highest attendance Sundays in their history and has more than doubled baptisms from the previous year. In his evangelism work around the state with churches like Temple, Harris sees a common denominator in turning churches inside-out to reach the lostness in their communities. “If your people aren’t praying for lost people that they know by name, then they’re not sharing the gospel with people that they know are lost. They’re not inviting them to church. Because it’s through prayer that God gives us his heart for these people.”
With between eight and nine million lost people in Illinois, it can be easy to pray for this large number, but become numb to it, Harris said. His work keeps the gravity of the enormous mission field right here in Illinois in view, but helps move churches to local action in places like Canton by helping them reach the lost people they know.
“When we start to pray and go, Oh, God, my mom’s lost, my son’s lost, my spouse is lost, my daughter’s lost. We began to think about that and pray for them with a passion of God.” And according to Harris, changed prayers turn into personal action, “God’s heart wasn’t just broken over lostness. It moved God’s heart to do something about lostness.”
RELATE
Walking beside church planters every step
How does an entirely new church come to life? It’s no small task. The material logistics, relational dynamics, and spiritual struggles for a church planter to overcome can be so great that it’s a wonder any new churches are ever planted.
“There’s a lot of risk in it,” Kevin Jones explains. “And to be honest, that’s one of the most beautiful things about church planting, is there’s a lot of risk and there’s guys laying their lives down on the line to share the gospel with a community that is underserved. That’s what gets me up on Mondays.”
As Director of Church Planting for IBSA, Jones is there to help church planters as they navigate the perilous journey of bringing a new church from Holy Spirit inspired dream to established congregation.
Each year, IBSA works with the North American Mission Board to start 10-20 new Illinois Baptist churches. Jones personally oversees 5-8 of those, while maintaining a supporting relationship with pastors of previous years’ plants.
For Aldo Galicia, who is working with Logos Church, a 2022 plant, to start a new church reaching Hispanics in the Decatur area, having personal support has made all the difference. “Kevin has definitely helped us with resources and has encouraged us to just stay the course. And honestly, we feel amazing. We feel loved, and we love that!”
The network support delivered through a personal relationship helps church planters know they are not alone. Don Hannel, a long-time pastor in Pleasant Hill who is now starting the only IBSA church in Brown county, can’t imagine how hard it would be without that personal support from the network.
“I don’t have a staff now, I don’t have a secretary, but I feel like I’ve still got those connections,” he said. “Being a pastor for 19 years, I already have a great relationship with the IBSA staff, so I know that there’s people there that can help in our times of need.”
Whether those times of need are about finding funding, a place to meet, or the emotional toll that planting can take, for Jones the bottom line is people.
“It can’t be about a job. It has to be about the people. Whenever you treat people like they’re a means to an end, then you’re not caring about them. You’re not caring about their hurts, their pains, even their insecurities. You have to be about them. You have to be their champion.”
And by being their champion in the day-to-day struggles, Jones gets to in the moments of celebrating the wins – the life change demonstrated through the salvations and baptisms of these new congregations.
“Whenever I get texts that say, you should have seen what we did this week… that’s what I’m here for. That’s what we’re about... reaching the community.”
RECHARGE
Camps reach next generation and refuel pastors
Gravel crunches under tires, and the sound of the sparse traffic on nearby paved roads fades into the distance. In an increasingly distracted world, where both teens and adults are drawn to the glowing devices in their hands, IBSA Camps continue to be secluded places where God’s creation takes center stage and lives are changed.
“I think a big thing is just the focus,” said Jacob Kimbrough, Camp Manager at Streator. “They really do get to experience the Lord in a way that they don’t experience at home because they’re just so distracted by so many things.”
After just the first four weeks of summer camps season, Streator Baptist camp had already seen over 40 young people make decisions to follow Jesus or rededications, plus numerous teens saying they were being called into full-time Christian service.
Brock Vandever, Camp Manager at Lake Sallateeska near Pinckneyville, knows first-hand the spiritual impact of a week at camp. “Where I was called to be a (IMB) missionary, was at camp.” Now, he dedicates his days to providing the current generation of young Illinois Baptists with the same type of focused spiritual environment that impacted his life.
“Our whole goal for the campground itself is to be a place where we remove the distractions of the world, where they can meet with Jesus.”
The camps, purchased by Illinois Baptists in 1941 (Sallateeska) and 1969 (Streator), provide rural retreats where children and teens come by the hundreds, to experience fun, worship, and discipleship. Dozens leave each year transformed by the message of the gospel, bringing a charge of spiritual vitality into their local churches.
But the life change that happens at the camps isn’t limited to the summer months when youth dominate the properties. The camps host groups from churches yearround and offer pastors and their families the unique opportunity to get away and recharge for a night or two.
“It’s a really great opportunity for pastoral wellness that we get to see them come and take a break,” said Kimbrough. “I’ve heard pastors that are going through a lot… and they’re struggling with how to be good dads and be good pastors… And they get to come for two days and do archery with their kids and go fishing with their kids, and the feedback I get from them is just that I don’t know how I would have been able to do this by myself or do this on my schedule.”
Both camp managers are grateful for the part they get to play in such important ministry that has a statewide reach, affecting youth groups, churches, pastors, and communities.
“There’s not a lot of words you can say to say a true thank you,” said Vandever. “I think we say it by saying, look at the lives changed.” missionillinois.org
Illinois Mission Facts
Nearly 13 million people live in Illinois.
At least 8 million do not know Jesus as Savior.
More than 1.8 million Illinois residents are immigrants. 10 counties in Illinois without an IBSA church.
All 9 “affinity groups” identified by the International Mission Board are represented in Illinois.
Over 1,000 students engaged at two camp properties.
Needed compassion ministries here reach people experiencing crisis.
New churches are especially effective at reaching unreached and under-served communities.
IBSA partners to plant 10-20 new churches each year.
KEVIN JONES
Day 1: Sunday, Sept. 8
Renewed evangelism
There are millions of Illinoisans who do not have a relationship with Jesus. Without the gospel they will die separated from God. These lost people are not some faraway tribe on a high mountain or in a deep jungle, but are spread throughout this state in small towns, suburban cul-de-sacs, and urban streets. They are the neighbors of thousands of Illinois Baptists and can be reached by church members sharing their faith.
Pray for IBSA’s Scott Harris as he leads evangelism consultations that provide existing churches with encouragement, trainings, and a spark to help them share Jesus with their lost neighbors.
Watch “Re-Ignite” story video
Day 2: Monday, Sept. 9
Chicago
State Missions Prayer Guide
Day 5: Thursday, Sept. 12
Pastor health
With over 9.6 million people and immigrants from dozens of nations, the city of Chicago and its suburbs is an enormous mission field. Each of the 77 neighborhoods of Chicago has its own unique personality and culture. Most of these are shaped, and continue to be transformed, by the immigrant populations that call their city blocks home. From Rogers Park, to Austin, to Roseland, to the thriving suburbs you will find diverse populations, experiencing the joys and challenges of everyday life, but all in need of Jesus.
Pray that the lost would respond to the work of IBSA’s 150+ cooperating churches in Chicagoland, and that more partners would develop a passion to reach this metropolis.
Day 3: Tuesday, Sept. 10
Revitalized churches
Each of Illinois’ nearly 900 Southern Baptist congregations represents a people and place consecrated for God’s glory. Some have been a witness in their community for two centuries, some for less than two years. Every one of them was founded with a missionary zeal to proclaim the good news of Jesus and help people grow in their faith. Yet many of these churches are struggling to have that same vitality in rapidly changing communities.
Pray for Scott Foshie as he leads IBSA’s church revitalization efforts, and that the nearly 100 churches across Illinois who are engaged in a revitalization
Watch “Right Here” theme video
Day 4: Wednesday, Sept. 11
Planting churches
New churches are essential in reaching Illinois’ changing population. Every year, IBSA helps to plant 10-20 new churches across the state in places like Decatur, where Aldo Galicia is reaching some of the 2,000 Hispanic residents of Macon County, and in Mt. Sterling, where Don Hannel is starting the first IBSA church in Brown County. Starting an entirely new congregation is spiritually and physically challenging work that takes its toll on church planting pastors and their families.
Pray for more churches in underreached locations and for IBSA Church Planting’s Kevin Jones and John Yi as they recruit, train, and support new churches and planters.
Watch “Relate” story video
SCOTT FOSHIE
Half of pastors say the stresses of ministry are greater than they can handle. Almost 70% of pastors’ wives feel isolated with few people they can confide in about important matters. The effectiveness of a church’s mission to reach its community is directly tied to the health of its pastor. IBSA’s For the Pastor initiative and Multiply Illinois Hubs work to strengthen and encourage pastors and their families and help connect them to fellow ministry leaders.
Pray for IBSA Growth Team leaders Mark Maestas, Carmen Halsey-Menghini, and Michael Awbrey and that God would work to strengthen Illinois pastors and families and connect them to a strong network of support.
Day 6: Friday, Sept. 13
College Campuses
Almost 400,000 students study on Illinois university campuses. Living away from home for the first time and confronted with new ideas and freedoms can bring emotional, spiritual, and moral challenges. Many, even if they come from a churched background, have abandoned church by the age of 19. Church-based campus ministries, like Salt Network at Illinois State University, has seen about 50 students baptized in the last year. They meet students where they are and help them choose Jesus over the world.
Pray for IBSA supported campus ministers reaching students on six different Illinois campuses as they offer the hope of Jesus to students and disciple young believers during a critical life season.
Day 7: Saturday, Sept. 14
Camp ministries
Lake Sallateeska and Streator Baptist Camps provide places far from the distractions of a noisy world where children and teens trust in Jesus and grow in their faith. Through summer camps, youth events, and church retreats, hundreds of students are reached with the gospel and discipled each year.
And each camp has lodging designed just for pastors and their families to come for rest and renewal, at no cost.
Pray for camp directors Brock Vandever and Jacob Kimbrough and their families as they serve the thousands who come to the camps each year. Pray for lives to be forever changed by time spent in these rural retreats.
Watch “Recharge” story video
Day 8: Sunday, Sept. 15
Compassion ministries
Disaster Relief ministries, food distributions, and service projects show the love of Christ in tangible ways and open doors for the gospel to people in need. IBSA provides strategic support, helping distribute funds and deploy local church volunteers to deliver physical help and spiritual hope to people in need. Whether local families are experiencing a weather related crisis or a season of food instability, Illinois Baptists are helping meet that need.
Pray for energy and opportunities to share about Jesus for church volunteers who respond to disaster and serve Illinois neighborhoods, and for IBSA Mission Director, Shannon Ford, and Disaster Relief Director, Arnold Ramage
SCOTT HARRIS
MARK MAESTAS
BROCK VANDEVER
SHANNON
KEVIN JONES
JACOB KIMBROUGH
Growing leaders
This year was Evan Reindl’s fourth year attending Super Summer and his fourth time participating in the class on prayer. “A lot of special things would happen in those classes,” he said.
The member of Chatham Baptist Church and recent high school graduate said he looks forward to the class taught by Phil Nelson, pastor of Lakeland Baptist Church in Carbondale.
Each evening as the worship service was beginning, Reindl said the students would pray as a class for two hours straight. “Praying over the preacher for that night, I felt so close to God. It opened my eyes to what a relationship with God should be in that moment,” he said. Reindl, who feels called to serve as an international missionary, is also one of his church’s three summer interns.
He was one of 181 students, and 47 adult volunteers from 28 churches gathered on the campus of Hannibal-LaGrange University for Illinois Super Summer from June 24-29. The students, in grade seven through those entering college, were there for a training and learning experience designed to develop and strengthen their leadership skills.
Ahron Cooney, the church’s youth pastor, has been taking a group to Super Summer for the last four years. This year the church sent 16 students, with five attending Nelson’s class on prayer.
“We have a group that meets to pray every Sunday morning before the service,” Cooney said. “It used to just be senior adults. Now we have a handful of youth committed.” It was Reindl who led the way for students to join the senior adults in prayer. He is also seeking ways for them to become more involved, including starting a church-wide prayer ministry.
Cooney said, “The students who’ve gone to Super Summer come back more mature, and more serious about faith…. They come back looking for ways to serve.”
The students’ participation in the prayer group is already making an impact. “We had a leadership meeting last Sunday and our leadership prayer coordinator said the older adults felt challenged and encouraged,” said Cooney. “The students were reigniting their passion.”
At this year’s Super Summer, 5 students made professions of faith, 20 indicated they wanted to be baptized by their home church, and 36 expressed feeling a call to ministry or missions.
IN FOCUS
Summertime
And the camping is life changing
BY LISA MISNER
Summer camps are a rite of passage in popular culture, especially in books and movies. While IBSA Summer Camps may clock in at just under a week, they can be life-changing experiences that have eternal consequences.
Brock Vandever, manager at Lake Sallateeska Baptist Camp, shared one example. “This year I really pushed my staffers to interact and encourage the kids,” he said. “Then, I saw one of the kids come running up to my staffers and say, ‘I just got saved!’”
But the worker didn’t hear the young teen well and asked, “You got saved from what?”
The teen replied enthusiastically,
“Saved from sin!”
Eight IBSA Summer Camps for students in grades 3-12 were held in June and July, four at Lake Sallateeska Baptist Camp in rural Pinckneyville, and four at Streator Baptist Camp in Streator. Some were in partnership with local Baptist associations.
One moment that stood out for Vandever was during an especially tiring and stressful week. “I felt like we weren’t really where we needed to be keeping up with things,” he said. “I came outside with some trash and kids were coming outside of the chapel praying with counselors. I knew something was happening, and even though I wasn’t part of being in the room when it happens, I was a part of that. God was making things happen. It just broke my heart, and it was great!
Super Summer
Continued from page 10
This year, 581 students, from 93 IBSA churches, attended IBSA summer camps. Lake Sallateeska reported 44 salvations, while Streator reported 31.
Marcia Bost, a member of Chatham Baptist Church, served as a camp nurse at Streator during one week in June. “The camp experience fosters growth in kids,” Bost said. “It’s fun to see that play out.” She gave the example of seeing “older ones helping younger ones. They’re not prompted by parents telling them you should do this or that.”
Bost said she keeps coming back because she enjoys seeing how IBSA Summer Camps bring out “independence in kids” and “gets them outside their bubble.”
Daniel Johnson, was looking for a camp experience for his 13-year-old son Jacob, who is almost completely blind. They attended the same camp as Bost and are members of Raymond Baptist Church.
Johnson said his son, who has also been to Lake Sallateeka Baptist Camp, enjoyed Streator Baptist Camp and “everybody treated him with respect.”
Jacob navigated the camp with a cane or grabbed
Daniel’s shoulder as a guide. With a little assistance he was able to participate in the outdoor recreational activities. “He did all the challenges and the games,” said Johnson. “He had a kill shot with archery. He did very well with axe throwing, but none stuck.”
But Jacob’s specialty was a game called Gaga Ball. “He was winning at Gaga Ball,” said Johnson. Both camps are ADA compliant. Manager of Streator Baptist Camp, Jacob Kimbrough, runs a special camp for kids with disabilities at the end of
July each year.
“My son is 75-80% blind and he was able to participate in everything,” Johnson noted. “Streator Baptist Camp had the staff to help him with everything. They were amazing.”
Marilyn Sones, served as director of the IBSA Summer Camp for grades 3-6 at Lake Sallateeska from June 24-28. The member of Heights Community in Collinsville said the camp was filled with “God moments.” There was a girl who lived in foster care who wasn’t sure she would fit in. “We reminded her Jesus is the ultimate parent for her. She blossomed throughout the week,” Sones said. There was the child whose last-minute arrangements worked out for her to be there. And the three counselors who led crafts and huddled for prayer between sessions found camp meant as much to them as to the kids.
“I was seeing God work every single day in the lives of the kids and counselors,” Sones said.
“It was good. All my workers said they will be coming back next year.”
GROWING
MEET THE TEAM
John Calio IBSA Zone Consultant
Home state: Virginia
Family 411: I’m married to Julie. We have three sons, two daughters-inlaw, and three grand children.
Higher Education: M.Div. from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; D.Min. from Trinity International University
Ministry prior to IBSA: Sr. Pastor, First Southern Baptist Church of Mattoon.
All roads lead to IBSA: My wife was graduating from Southern Seminary with a degree in counseling, and we were moving back to Illinois. One thing led to another and I became Zone 3 consultant, in the same area where we had served previously.
Favorite verse: “I can do everything through him who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:13).
Favorite Bible person: This is a hard one because I like Paul, Barnabas, and Joshua. My common denominator for this is their desire to move forward with the mission and work of God.
Favorite book: Boundaries for Leaders
Preferred social media: Facebook
Hobby: I enjoy things motorcycle related.
Favorite ice cream flavor: Coffee
My hat of choice: Either a knit hat or a bit more formal hat.
Secret talent: I’m a pretty good pool player.
table talk
What I’m learning from
students
My new post is teaching me a lot about the new generation
’m looking forward to school starting again in August. I anticipate my return to the position I accepted last year as Spiritual Life Director at Rockford Christian School, overseeing weekly chapels and spiritual growth activities for our students. I’ve learned some important lessons from my students this year.
1. Teens are confused about the gospel.
Despite how often I’ve shared and explained the gospel, confusion remains. My open door policy leads students to casually walk in throughout the day and chat. Many of their questions are about heaven.
One high schooler I had gotten to know over several months walked in and asked, “If I wanted to, how would I actually become a Christian?”
Despite all the times he had heard it in school, chapel, and elsewhere, he still wasn’t totally clear on how to take the first step of faith. Since then, we’ve seen him say yes to Jesus and baptism, and we talk regularly about being a new creation in Christ.
Another day was suddenly interrupted by a group of middle schoolers. A couple took chairs and the rest sat on the floor as they began peppering me with questions from Revelation. A student expressed the common misconception of Christians becoming angels which allowed me to walk them through the 3 Circles plan for sharing the
gospel. They returned to class, but several weeks later one of those students returned to say she was ready to say yes to Christ.
Whether in a Christian school or a church, we keep expressing the gospel with simplicity and clarity. We can’t presume everyone understands.
2. Value every conversation.
The school where I work is a missional school, meaning we don’t require students to be in a place of personal faith to attend.
Knowing this, I ended the first few chapels roughly the same way: “I’m absolutely convinced who Jesus is and have placed my faith in him. You may not believe like I do, but I hope you know that your questions are welcomed. I will never cut you down because of your doubts.”
Those opening weeks revealed many students willing to share their doubts, and others who didn’t want to engage with faith at all. One day, a high schooler asked me about my favorite music. He was surprised to hear that I had non-Christian bands among my favorites. This led to weekly music swaps. I’d share a band with him, and he’d share a band with me. We’d comment honestly on what we liked and disliked. I made sure to sprinkle some good Christian bands into the rotation, which allowed me to bring up faith.
He was clear that he didn’t believe in Jesus, but said it with no malice or anger. I thanked him
“Last week’s sermon on submission seemed totally irrelevant until I applied it to Edgar’s
for his honesty, told him that his opinion was welcomed, and that I would pray he sees the truth of the gospel. While he hasn’t placed his faith in Jesus, he hasn’t stopped talking to me either.
3. Quietness doesn’t equal disinterest.
We’ve all had teenagers who are unwilling to engage in conversation. Their silence can fill any adult with doubt and lead us to end the attempt and slip off. I tell you, don’t quit!
Each day after teaching my freshman Bible class, I would walk into the library. It had nearly the exact same students each time, several of them who had never talked to me. I’d wander over and say hi, take what I could get, and move on. After investing many weeks, these students began smiling as I walked in. They’d show me what they were working on and our chats grew longer.
One afternoon a group of these students seemed a little down.“It seems like something is bothering you,” I said. “If you don’t want to talk about it, I’ll leave you be. But if I can be a help, I’m here.”
One student began to tearfully share a challenge she was facing as I simply listened. She and her friends asked if I had any thoughts, which I shared. Then I prayed for all of them before I left. Our relationship totally opened up after that, and a couple of those students found me at the end of the year to share how much they appreciated I took that time with them.
They were quiet. They didn’t show much interest, but it was definitely there.
Today’s teenagers have grown up different from previous generations. Yet they are capable of the most honest conversations on faith we’ve ever had. We can share the gospel clearly when we get to know the whole student, and earn the opportunities.
Heath Tibbetts is a teacher and Spiritual Life Director at Rockford Christian School.
A Call to Humility and Prayer
We MUST Appeal to God for Mercy. Are you concerned about where the nation is headed? Do you think that God has abandoned us? Or is it more likely that we have abandoned Him?
Our request today is simple in concept but beyond our comprehension in power. We are calling our brothers and sisters to a penitential period of prayer this fall. Could the times be any riper?
– 65 million children sacrificed in “legal” abortion since 1973
– Assisted suicide on the horizon
– Children exposed to graphic, immoral, “comprehensive” sex ed/racism
– Soaring rates of STDs, addictions, and suicide
– Prideful celebrations of LGBTQ+ deviancy
– Human/sex/drug trafficking
– Marriage and gender redefined
– Gender confusion taught in schools
– Fatherlessness at all-time highs
– Church attendance at all-time lows
– Legal prostitution under consideration
– Corrupt politicians and media
– Deliberate destruction of the family unit through social welfare programs
– Pornography/adultery
– Growing gang violence, murders and crime
This is only a sampling of what’s happening in the nation, unabated. We can honestly say that the foundations are crumbling (Psalm 11:3). Our state and our nation need Christians to intercede in prayer to ask Almighty God for His mercy as the November election approaches.
We know that our hope does not lie in our elected officials, but even so, we believe God is moved by the prayers of His people. This is not a call to pray for a political victory. Even so, we want to see a wave of pro-life/pro-family candidates win their races for state and federal office. That will not happen if we do not humble ourselves and seek God in prayer.
Our prayers must be focused on personal repentance. We must acknowledge our culture’s rebellion against God. We must pray that “we the people” of the United States would honor Almighty God.
We must pray for national repentance.
So, we urge you and your church to join others in seeking the Lord in corporate prayer for the future of the United States.
Our nation is in desperate need of repentance and God’s healing. While we recognize the judgment we deserve as a nation, we must continue to look to God who hasn’t changed. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God has given us a template for the repentance and restoration we so desperately need:
…if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
While this conditional promise was given to Israel, we believe that even today, God is pleased by those who would follow –in spirit and in truth – this biblical prescription. And while God owes us nothing, in His mercy and compassion that are new every day, He invites us to bring Him our prayers, petitions, and requests.
In this verse, we are called to humble ourselves, pray, seek God, and repent.
If we come to Him with a truly contrite heart and repentant demeanor, we have no reason to believe He will not hear, forgive, and heal our land
Scan the code to learn more
WELCOME
Chris Nolin has joined the ministry of the Sinnissippi Baptist Association in Northwest Illinois as their new Associational Mission Strategist.
Nolin has recently served as IBSA Zone Consultant. He is also pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Sterling. He is married to Nancy and they have two adult children. Nolin holds degrees from the University of Florida, Southwestern Seminary, and Luther Rice Seminary.
He served as pastor and church planter in three states and East Asia prior to coming to his Illinois pastorate in 2019.
“Chris has been a blessing to the churches of Zone 4 and an important part of our IBSA team these last two years,” said IBSA Health Team leader Scott Foshie. “Even though Chris is leaving our staff, he will continue to be a great partner for the churches.”
NeTworkiNg
Send NetworkiNg items to IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org
Long Branch Baptist Church, 2480 Hamburg Rd. near Galatia, is a historic, mission minded, small country church in southern Illinois that is seeking a co-vocational pastor with good biblical knowledge and a desire for church shepherding and growth. Send resume to Pastor Search Committee, 600 Galatia Rd., Galatia IL 62935 or email LBBC2480@gmail.com
First Baptist Church of Dupo seeks a full-time pastor for medium-size traditional church with traditional Baptist theology. Experience preferred. fbcdupopastorsearch@gmail.com.
Dorrisville Baptist Church in Harrisburg seeks a senior pastor after their former pastor retired. The church has a regular attendance of 300 and is mission minded. Submit a résumé and three references to dorrisvillebaptistchurchsearch@gmail.com.
Search more church openings at IBSA.org/ pastor-search or scan this code.
THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF PLAINVILLE in Plainville, Illinois is searching for a PASTOR. We are a small, rural church seeking leadership, shepherding, and growth. We offer a fairly generous compensation package, but because we are a small church, that package is probably not enough to be the only income. The Pastor would probably need to be bi-vocational.
PLEASE SEND ANY QUESTIONS AND RESUME TO ALLEN. FLYNN1968@YAHOO.COM
AD COMING IN NOVEMBER!
BECOME AN IBSA COOPERATING CHURCH
Churches wishing to apply to become a cooperating church with the Illinois Baptist State Association must submit an application by September 17. To request an application packet, visit IBSA.org/cooperate.
Direct questions about becoming an IBSA cooperating church to BarbTroeger@IBSA.org or 217-391-3107.
Turned around BRIGHTER DAY
In almost nine years of our parenting, neither of our daughters has ever been lost or even out of sight long enough to raise alarm. Until this summer. On a bike ride in my parents’ neighborhood, our youngest broke away from the pack and nearly lapped us all before realizing she couldn’t see us behind her. She turned around and back again, unable to recognize her grandparents’ house.
As frightening as it must have been for her, it was worse for her mother. After a quick search on foot was unsuccessful, I jumped in my car and started praying she would be around the next corner. And then she there she was, standing uncertainly on the sidewalk. I told her I had prayed we’d find her, and she said she had prayed too. As relief settled in, I tried to ease her fear. “You just got turned around. We were really close the whole time, we just couldn’t see each other.”
We didn’t use the word lost, maybe because neither of us wanted to admit how scary even that brief separation had been. “Turned around” is temporary. Lostness carries with it the specter of permanence. Some lost things are never found.
I’ve been thinking about lostness ever since that scary two minutes, spiritual lostness in particular. It strikes me that when we’re lost, we may not know it for a while. Until something shakes us from the direction we were headed, and we realize we don’t know where we’re going or why. Dead in the trespasses and sins in which we once walked, Paul writes in Ephesians 2, “following the course of this world.”
“But God,” he writes a few verses later, launching into a clear explanation of the mercy required to bring us out of lostness, to turn us around from the path we were heading down toward something new. At a meeting with new coworkers years ago, we went around the table and each told how we had become a Christian. One man sitting across from me only got a few words out before his voice broke. “I’ve just never gotten over it,” he said. I don’t remember anything particularly dramatic about his testimony, but I haven’t forgotten how keenly he understood his own lostness, and what it meant to him—still— to have been found.
How grateful I am for a God who finds— children turned around in an unfamiliar neighborhood, and sinners such as me.
Meredith Day Flynn is a wife and mother of two living in Springfield. She writes on the intersection of faith, family, and current culture.
EVENTS
September 8-15
Mission Illinois Offering and Week of Prayer
What: When your church gives to the Mission Illinois Offering, you’re investing in the health of hundreds of fellow Baptist churches in our state.
Goal: $350,000
Info: MissionIllinois.org
Contact: MissionIllinois@IBSA.org
September 15-16
Ignite Evangelism Conference
Where: Chatham Baptist Church, Chatham
What: A two-day evangelism event to encourage, inspire, and instruct you to effectively share your faith.
Cost: Free
Info: IBSA.org/events/ignite-evangelism-conference/
Contact: MarkEmerson@IBSA.org
Multiply Hubs
What: Multiply IL is a collaborative space for growth and learning. This gathering will help pastors and leaders take their churches to the next level with best practices for growing, healthy, thriving churches. Explore proven strategies. Connect with passionate peers. Deepen your knowledge.
September 17 – South, FBC Metropolis 5:30-8:30 p.m.
September 19 – Metro East, FBC Fairview Heights 9 a.m.noon and 5:30-8 p.m.
September 25 – Central East, FBC Rochester 9 a.m.-noon
September 26 – Chicago, SEND Relief Ministry Center/ Chicago West Bible Church 9 a.m.-noon
October 3 – Central West, The Journey Church, East Peoria 9 a.m.-noon October 5 – Hispanic Chicago, TBD 9 a.m.-noon Info: MissionIllinois.org
Contact: MissionIllinois@IBSA.org
September 20-21
Priority Retreat: Pastors’ Wives
Where: IBSA Building, Springfield
What: A weekend for rest, fellowship, renewal, worship, and encouragement.
Cost: Free for those who opt for a hotel room w/ double occupancy; $58 for a private room.
Info: IBSA.org/events/priority-retreat-a-gatheringfor-pastors-wives/ Contact: TammyButler@IBSA.org
October 11-12
Northern Ladies Retreat
Where: Streator Baptist Camp, Streator
What: An extended sabbath retreat designed for women to get away for rest, fellowship, fun, and most of all to grow in their walk with the Lord.
Cost: Friday and Saturday- $50, Saturday only- $35
Info: IBSA.org/events/northern-ladies-retreat-streator/ Contact: TammyButler@IBSA.org
November 12-13
Thrive ’24 IBSA Annual Meeting
Where: Ashburn Baptist Church, Orland Park
What: A condensed two-day schedule with breakouts, preaching, ministry gatherings, worship, and business sessions, in the easy-to-access southwest Chicago suburbs.
Cost: Free
Info: IBSAannualmeeting.org
Contact: BarbTroeger@IBSA.org
November 22-23
Youth Encounter
Where: Thelma Keller Convention Center, Effingham
What: A two-day youth evangelism weekend with Shane Pruitt, National Next Gen Director for NAMB.
Cost: TBA
Info: IBSA.org/ministries/students/youth-encounter/# Contact: KevinJones@IBSA
see the IBSA calendar for more events. www.ibsa.org/calendar/
Revive Us, O Lord for the pastor
ou can book it, but they won’t come” was the warning in a planning meeting for a fall revival. Is that true? Are we too far removed from the successes of the annual week of preaching that drove evangelism for decades? Are people so skeptical they won’t come out for a series of church services to hear about Jesus? Is the evening cocooning fostered by a plethora of entertainment technologies at fault?
“We are starting from a different place today,” said IBSA’s Evangelism Director Scott Harris. “We’re trying to give people spiritual truths, but they have never experienced a spiritual atmosphere,” he cautioned. So how does a church create a spiritual atmosphere? “It’s not just the feel of the revival services,” Harris said. “It starts long before that.”
First, a church has the break up the ground with regular, planned prayer for lost people. Harris introduced the SOW evangelism app in Illinois to help believers track their prayer for unsaved friends. The second step is inviting people to sit under anointed preaching of the gospel. And third is learn-
ing to share your personal story of salvation.
“We’re praying for the Holy Spirit to do something in them, that is creating a spiritual atmosphere,” Harris said. “He is also doing something in me, as I pray for them, see them with God’s eyes, and feel for them with God’s heart. God says, ‘I want you to join me in the pursuit of this person.’”
While serving an interim pastorate recently, Harris led a church to engage this model for a couple of months before revival meetings were held. Nine people were saved.
“I think churches gave up on revivals because they held meetings, but didn’t see a harvest,” Harris said. A reason for that may the missing piece of the evangelist. Harris points to the Ephesians 4 “APEST” list of church ministries—apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd, teacher. “Churches need to ask the evangelist to help bring in the harvest. That’s their gifting from God,” Harris said. His team can help connect pastors with evangelists who have proven ability to draw the net.
MEREDITH FLYNN