August 6, 2018 Illinois Baptist

Illinois Baptist

Three in One

Rejoicing in the Trinity

Protect the vulnerable Greear forms sexual abuse study group

Raleigh-Durham, N.C. | Newly elected Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear announced July 26 he will appoint a Sexual Abuse Presidential Study Group to advise him on issues related to sexual abuse and assault.

The announcement followed months of discussion in the Southern Baptist Convention about how SBC entities and churches are handling allegations and instances of abuse.

“How we as a convention of churches care for abuse victims and protect against vile predators says something about what we believe about the gospel of Jesus Christ,” said Greear, pastor of The Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham. “Our churches should be a refuge for the hurting and a safe haven for the oppressed.”

Greear is partnering with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission to create the study group, whose members will be announced at a later date, Baptist Press reported. The team will include outside experts, SBC leaders, and local church pastors, according to Greear’s office.

“Over the next year, I look forward to hearing from this group and partnering with our Story and photos P. 7-10

SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION

Named #1 Christian Newspaper by the Evangelical Press Association

As Illinois turns 200 in 2018, IBSA is seeking to engage at least 200 churches in each of these challenges. Is your church one of them?

As of July 27

GO NEW PLACES – Church Planting

Goal: 200

NATE ADAMS

Miss Myra’s (Illinois) mission

110

ENGAGE NEW PEOPLE – Evangelism

MAKE NEW SACRIFICES – Missions Giving

DEVELOP NEW LEADERS – Leadership Development

Churches Churches Churches Churches

Last Saturday I received three voicemail messages from the same number. I suspected it was a mistake or a telemarketer, because the number wasn’t familiar, and I recognized the area code as being from out of state.

148

Total Participating Churches: 158

Read more about these challenges and register your church for one or more at IBSA.org/Pioneering, or contact IBSA’s John Carruthers at (217) 391-3110 or JohnCarruthers@IBSA.org.

BICENTENNIAL MOMENT

Happy 200th Birthday, Illinois!

Celebrating our state and Baptist work across two centuries

Steven Stilley was a one-man churchplanting movement. He was born in 1765, before the United States. At age 47, he served in the War of 1812. Afterward he returned home and continued planting churches in Kentucky, Illinois, and Missouri until his death in 1841 at age 76.

the cooperative program

Giving by IBSA churches as of 7/27/18 $3,367,732

Budget Goal: $3,634,616

Received to date in 2017: $3,305,865

2018 Goal: $6.3 Million

The Illinois Baptist staff

Editor - Eric Reed

Managing Editor - Meredith Flynn

Graphic Designer - Kris Kell

Contributing Editor - Lisa Misner

Multimedia Journalist - Andrew Woodrow

Administrative Assistant - Leah Honnen

The general telephone number for IBSA is (217) 786-2600. For questions about subscriptions, articles, or upcoming events, contact the Illinois Baptist at (217) 391-3119 or IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org

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

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

Indeed, the first message sounded like an elderly lady, who simply apologized for possibly dialing the wrong number. But in the second and third messages, the same lady said that she was sorry for bothering me again, but she was trying to reach the “Illinois Baptist Convention.” She asked if I could call her back and at least let her know if she had reached the right number.

Though it was a Saturday evening, and I couldn’t imagine what this lady might need, the frequency and urgency of her messages led me to call her back. It was then that I met Miss Myra, a 95-year-old grandmother from Kentucky.

After a few minutes of conversation, I learned several things about Miss Myra. She had just moved into a new assisted living facility a month earlier. She was nearly blind due to macular degeneration. And years ago, she had served for a while on the board of the Kentucky Baptist Convention. That’s how she knew to call me.

But I learned all those things after Miss Myra told me the primary reason for her call. Her grandson Ben had recently moved to Chicago, and she was concerned that he wasn’t attending church in that new, big city. His parents had raised him in a different denomination, she said, but he hadn’t seemed to stay connected with that church. And she didn’t know anyone to call there anyway. But she knew Southern Baptists, and she knew that if she called “the state convention office,” someone there would help her find a nearby church for her grandson. And she knew that church would be Bible-believing and gospel-centered.

I probably receive 3-4 calls a year like Miss Myra’s, often from someone in the South whose family member or friend has moved to Illinois, usually the Chicago area. They frequently are afraid that Southern Baptist churches “up there” are few or non-existent, and that the city is huge, and probably dangerous.

With Ben’s address, I was able to go to our online database and quickly find several churches within a few miles of where he lived. I did need to filter the options, because some of the IBSA churches nearest him were Spanishspeaking, or Russian, or Vietnamese. After all, Chicago is an international mission field. But a large-print letter went out to Miss Myra the following Monday, with contact information for six churches and pastors, and my offer to contact them personally if she or Ben would like me to do that.

The calls and e-mails and letters I receive like that one from Miss Myra remind me why IBSA continuously plants churches, especially in population centers like Chicago. I didn’t need to find a Chinese, or Romanian, or Korean church this time. But I could have.

Miss Myra’s call also reminds me why we ask churches to collect a Mission Illinois Offering each year, and why we ask Illinois Baptist church members to give generously. That annual offering helps us plant new churches in places like Chicago, or in one of the 22 Illinois counties that still have one, or zero, Baptist churches.

At one point in our conversation, Miss Myra said to me, “You know, I’m 95 and almost blind. I can’t do much. But I can do this.” I will remember her words when I give my Mission Illinois Offering through my church this year. I hope you will too.

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

Her call for help is our call to give generously.

FROM THE FRONT: greear announces sexual abuse study group

Platt apologizes For IMB’s failure to report abuse

Richmond, Va. | Two “thorough, outside, independent” investigations have been initiated by International Mission Board President David Platt into the IMB’s handling of any past sexual abuse allegations and into its policies of zero tolerance for such abuse.

Platt also stated a public apology to Anne Marie Miller, who has alleged sexual abuse by an individual who subsequently became an IMB missionary yet was not reported to authorities following a 2007 IMB inquiry.

PRIORITIZING SAFETY – “Our churches should be a refuge for the hurting and a safe haven for the oppressed,” Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear said in announcing he will form a Sexual Abuse Presidential Study Group. Greear, pictured above at the SBC’s annual meeting in Dallas, was elected in June as the denomination continued to navigate the #MeToo movement and its implications for churches.

Continued from page 1

churches, state conventions, local associations, seminaries, and national entities to determine what we can do to equip churches to minister effectively and stand guard against any who would seek to prey on the vulnerable,” Greear said.

In June, messengers to the SBC’s annual meeting in Dallas approved a resolution condemning abuse and encouraging leaders in churches and entities “to be faithful examples, through their words and actions, and to speak against the sin of all forms of abuse.”

Also in Dallas, two motions related to abuse were referred to the ERLC. One urged the creation of a task force to address issues related to abuse and recommend best practices for ministering to victims; the other motion asked the ERLC to study resources that will help churches protect themselves from sexual predators.

Southern Baptists have been living what Southern Seminary President Albert Mohler called the denomination’s “horrifying #MeToo moment” since comments about domestic abuse by former Southwestern Seminary President Paige Patterson resurfaced earlier this year. Patterson, who was terminated by his trustee executive

The Ticker

committee prior to the annual meeting in Dallas, also allegedly failed to report allegations of sexual assault while serving as president of Southeastern Seminary.

In July, former International Mission Board missionary Mark Aderholt was arrested in Texas and charged with sexual assault of a minor under the age of 17, charges which stem from alleged incidents in 1997. The Fort Worth Star Telegram reported the IMB investigated charges against Aderholt in 2007, and did not report the allegations to authorities (see story at right).

“Sexual assault and sexual abuse are Satanic to the core, and churches should be the ones leading the way when it comes to protecting the vulnerable from predators,” said ERLC President Russell Moore. “Thankfully, every Southern Baptist pastor I know cares deeply about these issues. We as a denomination, though, owe it to our pastors and churches to come together and provide the very best resources and recommendations possible to address this crisis.

“That’s exactly what an advisory council like this is able to do, and I am eager to work alongside this group in any way possible to serve our churches and minister to those in our pews who have suffered abuse.”

“Many facets of this situation are extremely disturbing,” Platt said of charges filed against Mark Aderholt for sexual assault of a child under 17 stemming from a 1996-1997 relationship when he was 25, and of the 2007 IMB investigation. Aderholt was arrested July 3 and released on bond.

Platt apologized to Miller and thanked her for her courage. “I realize the actions I have outlined above cannot remove her hurt and pain, or the hurt and pain of others who have experienced similar situations,” he said. “But I am committed to doing all that I can so that her courage, and the courage of others like her, will prevent hurt and pain among others in the future.”

– From Baptist Press

Summit loses sites

Amid allegations against former Willow Creek pastor

South Barrington | The Willow Creek Association said its annual Global Leadership Summit has lost 111 host sites due to allegations of sexual misconduct against Willow Creek Community Church pastor Bill Hybels, who resigned in April. This year’s summit, broadcast from Willow Creek’s headquarters in Chicagoland, was expected to be shown at more than 600 sites, The Christian Post reported.

In March, The Chicago Tribune reported detailed allegations against Hybels of sexual misconduct from several women who had been in leadership positions at Willow Creek. He was cleared after inquiries by church leaders, but Willow Creek elders apologized in May, saying their initial response “had too much emphasis on defending Bill and cast some of the women in an unfair and negative light.”

– From The Christian Post

PLATT

Gardner sees ‘God’s open door’

Educator elected to serve as SBC’s first seminary chairwoman Parking tax could add up

BY SETH BROWN

Becky Gardner believed she would grow up to be a schoolteacher in West Tennessee. But now, as superintendent of an award-winning Christian school in central Illinois and the first-ever chairwoman of a Southern Baptist Convention seminary’s board of trustees, she believes she is right where God wants her to be.

“I have the philosophy that if God opens the door, I need to walk through,” she told North Carolina’s Biblical Recorder newspaper.

A provision in U.S. tax legislation adopted last year could cost churches and other ministries that provide parking for employees. Just how much it will cost is unclear, said analysts who are monitoring the issue.

At issue is the Republican-sponsored Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which created a 21% tax on some transportation-related benefits provided by nonprofits, including employee parking. Baptist Press reported that while some believe the new law will levy taxes on all churches and nonprofit ministries with employee parking, others say only those in areas where parking is highly valued will be affected.

Church ‘wake-up call’

A study from Clemson University sociologist Andrew Whitehead indicates children with autism, ADD/ADHD, and other health conditions aren’t being served by religious communities in the U.S. The research shows children with certain conditions are almost twice as likely to never attend religious services, compared to children with no chronic health conditions.

“I would like to think that this research could serve as a wake-up call to the religious communities in our nation,” Whitehead told Christianity Today. “In many ways, this population is unseen because they never show up, or when they do, they have a negative experience and never return.”

Liberty task force planned

Following a 3-day summit on religious freedom sponsored by the State Department, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the creation of a religious liberty task force July 30.

The announcement came on the heels of the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, a gathering of government officials and religious leaders to discuss religious liberty and persecution around the world. At the summit, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo introduced the Potomac Declaration, which he described as “a formal affirmation that says right up front that the United States takes religious freedom seriously.”

– Baptist Press, Christianity Today, Religion News Service

Gardner was recently elected to chair the board of trustees at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) in Wake Forest, N.C. The vote was unanimous. She is the first female to hold the chief trustee position at a Southern Baptist seminary, according to SEBTS.

Since she joined the board in 2010, Gardner has previously served as trustee secretary and chair of the campus planning committee.

“Throughout my life, I have tried to be obedient in whatever opportunities God provides,” she said. Gardner said fellow SEBTS trustees and administration officials have made her feel at home, not “forgotten or second-thought.”

“I never felt like I was just a check in the box,” she said. “They really do value each one of the trustees and the perspectives they bring.”

Gardner and her husband, Joe, are members of Woodland Baptist Church in Peoria. He is an IBSA zone consultant and director of missions for the Metro Peoria Baptist Association. They have three children and five grandchildren.

“I have really enjoyed seeing God at work in the missions opportunities [at SEBTS] and through their strong academics—really encouraging their student body and professors to seek God and be on mission wherever he leads them,” she said. “It’s a blessing to be a part of that.”

When asked for her advice to young women who aspire to denominational leadership, Gardner said, “they don’t need to put themselves or God in a box.”

“What we have comes from him,” she said. “I encourage them to prayerfully look for opportunities and not be afraid to step into those opportunities....My life verse is Proverbs 3:5-6, ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.’...We don’t know where God is going to give us opportunities, and many times we don’t know the impact we have.”

Gardner’s experience at Peoria Christian School, where she has worked for more than 25 years, seems to fit well with the mission and vision of SEBTS.

Peoria Christian, which educates more than 600 students from preschool through 12th grade, says its goal is to “produce academically skilled students who are equipped with a biblical worldview and who will impact the world for Christ.”

It has been named a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education twice in the last 10 years for high test score performance. Gardner has been superintendent for six years. Prior to that, she was principal and an elementary teacher.

She also highlighted the importance of being “a lifelong learner” and serving others, rather than “seeking some big, great, glorious title.”

Gardner said she hopes current discussions about women in Southern Baptist life will avoid quarrels over “men versus women.”

She asked, “How can we serve in the places God has called each one of us...in our local churches, in our communities?” and called all Southern Baptists—men and women—to champion the Great Commission.

“We need to come back to what God has commanded us to do as believers,” Gardner said. “Let’s rally around that.”

– Reprinted with permission from the Biblical Recorder

ILLINOIS’ OWN – Becky Gardner is chairwoman of Southeastern Seminary’s board of trustees and superintendent of a Christian school in Peoria. Her husband, Joe, serves as an IBSA zone consultant and director of missions for Metro Peoria Association.

“I never felt like I was just a check in the box. They really do value each one of the trustees and the perspectives they bring.”

– Becky Gardner

POMPEO

Church destroyed in fire

Blaze claims historic sanctuary in Centralia

Volunteers offer aid

After crises in multiple states

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers from Illinois and other states responded in the aftermath of July events in Missouri, Iowa, and Colorado:

Missouri

Centralia | For the second time in two weeks, an historic Southern Baptist church building in Marion County was damaged by fire. On July 15, the sanctuary of Zion Hill Baptist Church in Centralia was destroyed in a fire caused by a lightning strike. The building, which dates back to 1863, was one of the oldest standing churches in the county, the Southern Illinoisan reported.

The blaze was the second church fire in Kaskaskia Baptist Association this summer. Earlier in July, a fire believed to be arson at Bethel Baptist in Odin did extensive damage to the building’s interior.

At Zion Hill, Pastor Kyle Emery and his church are already in the rebuilding process. Volunteers gathered at the church for a work day July 21. Local businesses have supported the church by hosting a fundraiser and providing printed signage to point people to their temporary meeting space at their local Baptist association office.

“We were blessed with offers from many churches and businesses in town, but we made the decision to meet in the Kaskaskia Baptist Association office,” Emery said. Zion Hill is meeting at the office for worship services and business meetings, and Director of Missions Mike Hall invited Emery to set up a temporary office there too, the pastor said.

Emery told the Illinois Baptist that once demolition is completed on the damaged building, renovation can begin inside the adjacent fellowship hall building, which suffered smoke and water damage. The goal, Emery said, is to be meeting onsite again in six weeks. Zion Hill marks its 158th anniversary this year.

“Please pray for my people,” Emery said. “Many of them have gone to this church their whole life and losing the church is very difficult for them. Pray that we unite in vision and purpose, and that we use this tragedy to bring glory to God.”

Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief teams ministered to emergency managers and investigators after a boat capsized in Branson July 19, killing 17 people. Chaplains and feeding volunteers were on the scene shortly after the accident on Table Rock Lake.

When too many volunteers showed up for the feeding ministry, Tri-County Baptist Association teams served at a makeshift memorial for the victims, handing out cups of cold water and offering to pray with people passing by.

Iowa

Illinois Disaster Relief teams joined volunteers from other states in Iowa, where homeowners are picking up the pieces after severe flooding in Des Moines and tornadoes in Marshalltown.

Jan Kragness, a Disaster Relief volunteer and chaplain from Williamson Association, posted on Facebook about her team’s experience in Des Moines, including one man who came to faith in Christ. “We were able to make a difference in 7 homes this week, not counting neighbors whose lives were touched,” Kragness wrote. “This is not because we are so great, but because we have a mighty Savior…”

An Illinois team of assessors and chaplains served in Marshalltown in late July, followed by a chainsaw team from Greater Wabash Association.

Colorado

Disaster Relief volunteers were almost evacuated themselves as they worked in the shadow of wildfires in southern Colorado. The state’s Disaster Relief force starting serving just days after the Spring Creek Fire developed in late June, working all hours to provide meals for first responders.

Additional teams from other states arrived in July to help with feeding and clean-up efforts. The ministry is having a positive impact on people in the region, said Dennis Belz, Disaster Relief director for the Colorado Baptist General Convention.

“We’re bringing help, hope and healing, and the people are so appreciative of what’s being done,” he told Baptist Press. “We’re doing the best we can, and everybody is very pleased. They [members of the community] love Southern Baptists now. They’re very open to us.”

– Facebook, Baptist Press

– Meredith Flynn

COMFORTERS – Disaster Relief volunteers in Branson, Mo., prayed with people at a makeshift memorial for victims of a boat accident July 19.

FIRST RESPONDERS – Firefighters from the Centralia Fire Protection District and surrounding departments battled a fire at Zion Hill Baptist Church July 15. Photos by Tim Ferguson, WJBD/WSIQ

HISTORIC – Before fire destroyed the sanctuary, the Zion Hill building had been in use since 1863.

Facebook photo

BFI awards scholarships

Congratulations to the 39 students who received college and seminary scholarships for the 2018-19 academic year through the Baptist Foundation of Illinois! For more information about the scholarship program, visit baptistfoundationil.org.

Josiah Aviles | Calvary Baptist Church, Elgin University of Chicago

Gunner Bailey | Red Hill Church, Edwardsville

Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Bradley Braddock | Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church, Iuka • University of Southern Indiana

Richard Buck | Vale Church, Bloomington

University of Oxford, Faculty of Theology & Religion

Macy Clem | First Baptist Church, Thompsonville University of Kentucky

Bailey Drone | First Baptist Church, Harrisburg Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville

Timothy Drury | First Baptist Church, Bethalto

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Kacey Elam | Bethel Baptist Church, Vandalia Union University

Lynzie Emerson | Western Oaks Baptist Church, Springfield Hannibal-LaGrange University

Jeremiah Fitzjerrells | Lebanon Missionary Baptist Church, Mt. Vernon • Olivet Nazarene University

Clayce Fletcher | Immanuel Baptist Church, Benton

Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

David Scott Foshie | First Baptist Church, Steeleville

Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Tyler Gallion | First Baptist Church, Petersburg Southwest Baptist University

Allison Grace | Second Baptist Church, Marion Murray State University

Matthew Grove | First Baptist Church, Fairview Heights Union University

Olivia Howard | First Baptist Church, Fairview Heights Southwest Baptist University

Faith Hudgens | Second Baptist Church, Marion Austin Peay State University

Benjamin Jackson | Emmanuel Baptist Church, Sterling Southwest Baptist University

Daniel Johnson | First Missionary Baptist Church, Flat Rock • Liberty University

Trevor Johnston | First Baptist Church, Valier Southern Illinois University-Carbondale

Anna Keirn | Metro Community, Edwardsville Butler University

Kenneth Kelley | Metropolitan Baptist Church, Gary, IN Grace College & Theological Seminary

Jacob Kirkwood | Trinity Baptist Church, Gillespie Faith Baptist Bible College

Andrew Lawrence | Fellowship Baptist Church, Vienna Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Matthew Lehr | Bethel Baptist Church, Troy Greenville University

Brett Lunn | Calvary Baptist Church, Edwardsville Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

Matthew Mills | Church of the Beloved, Chicago Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Evan Morris | First Baptist Church, O’Fallon Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Ryan Mulvaney | Immanuel Baptist Church, Benton

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Andrew Nippert | Third Baptist Church, Marion

Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Tamara Placeres | Armitage Baptist Church, Chicago

Moody Theological Seminary

Emily Richards | First Baptist Church, Bethalto Lewis & Clark Community College

Matthew Scheibel | Mosaic Church, Highland

Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Danielle Seidel | Connexion, Mt. Vernon

Southeast Missouri State University

Theodore Siu | Immanuel Baptist Church, Chicago

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Janek Squibb | Chatham Baptist Church

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

Bethany Toler | First Baptist Church, Harrisburg

Southeastern Illinois College

Rachel VanBebber | Meadowbrook Baptist Church, Auburn

Southwest Baptist University

Nathaniel Weaver | Unity Baptist Church, Vandalia Greenville University

IN FOCUS Gathering places

For kids and teens in Illinois, summer camp is a space to meet new friends, learn new skills, and build deeper faith.

BY ANDREW WOODROW

Lake Sallateeska | In her years as a camp counselor, Leslie Schultz has seen lives change right in front of her.

“You can take a kid out of camp, but you can’t take camp out of a kid,” said the leader from First Baptist Church in Atwood. “I have kids who live for this week.”

They’re drawn to the chance to get away from the pressures of life, she said, to come and relax, to build relationships, and—at Lake Sallateeska and its northern Illinois counterpart, Streator Baptist Camp—to learn more about God and develop their personal faith in Christ.

The theme of this summer’s IBSA camps at Sallateeska and Streator focused on that vertical relationship. “UP” camps were held throughout the summer for kids in elementary school and high school, along with two additional specialized weeks of camp for teens—Elevate and Fused.

Testing the waters

Camp is for canoeing, rock climbing (page 1), and developing a closer walk with God. At IBSA’s UP summer camps, kids and teens learned to “set their minds on things above.” At Super Summer and Summer Worship University, students are encouraged to dive deep into Scripture and into the calling of every believer to worship in spirit and in truth.

Photos by Andrew Woodrow

P.

SCHULTZ

Watch a video from IBSA’s summer camps at Vimeo.com/IBSA/camp.

At Greenville College, Super Summer continued its more than 20-year tradition of training the next generation of Christian leaders, a mission shared by Summer Worship University at Hannibal-LaGrange University.

Going to camp comes with an expectation, Schultz said, to see kids and students leave with their lives changed. The camp experience is difficult to describe in words, she said, but the evidence is clear.

“Once you come to camp, it’s in you.”

Family of faith

At UP camp at Streator, kids were grouped into family units, with a “Ma” and a “Pa” assigned to each. “For our kids, we want Streator to feel like a home,” said camp co-director Jacki Mattingly. “And to further enforce that family feel, most all our leaders have been working at this camp for about 10 years, creating a consistent, continuing relationship with our returning campers.”

The same sentiment also rings true at Lake Sallateeska.

“The camaraderie the kids get to experience each year they revisit camp is just wonderful,” Schultz said. “For the older kids, camp gives them fellow Christian friends they can connect with and call up and keep each other accountable in ways that your regular school, club, or sports friends cannot.”

Similarly, Super Summer and Summer Worship University have also seen a budding community grow among returning campers. The annual weeks for students in junior high and high school are focused on learning—about God, about worship, and about living out your faith in the real world.

Super Summer director Chad Ozee describes it as a “week-long intensive Bible school for kids grades 6 and up.” For Samantha Johnson, it’s where she found a family of faith.

“Super Summer is a place where you can find other people who really care about you,” Johnson said. Once a Super Summer student herself, she said her inspiration to return as a Team Leader was through the family she gained there (see page 10).

“You’re going to be around people who are strong in their faith,” Johnson said. “And you’re not always going to be around that out in the world.”

Travis Strobel has come back to Summer Worship University for six years in part because of the friendships he’s developed there. “They’re like family to me here,” he said of IBSA’s annual week-long camp focused on music, worship, and training in evangelism and hands-on missions. This summer was Travis’s last year before he leaves for college, but even that hasn’t stopped the student from First Baptist Church in Ramsey from wanting to come back.

“I’d for sure like to come back and help out if I could.”

Along with the relationships he’s developed, Strobel has also seen his musical talents grow at camp. “The skillsets SWU has taught me are amazing,” he said. “I’ve learned how to effectively lead worship not just for people, but for God.”

Delving deeper

At Summer Worship University, students learn how to be effective worship leaders inside and outside the church. At Super Summer, the focus is on biblical interpretation.

SCENES FROM CAMP – 1. UP campers at Lake Sallateeska pray before a group Bible study session.

2. Streator’s UP campers engage in a game of tug-of-war.

3. Elevate campers at Lake Sallateeska study Scripture together.

4. A Summer Worship University class performs a worship song in sign language.

5. A Streator camper displays the catch of the day.

6. Super Summer students meet on the Greenville College quad for a family group session.

7. Campers try archery at Streator Baptist Camp.

8. The brass choir class at Summer Worship University rehearses at Hannibal-LaGrange University.

“These kids are learning how to hear from God in Scripture and how to know the Bible from Genesis to Revelation,” said Phil Nelson, pastor of Lakeland Baptist Church in Carbondale and a long-time leader at Super Summer. “These are lessons many adults don’t even get to have.”

After 23 years at Super Summer, Nelson said he continues to marvel at the many things he still learns there.

“You can’t come to Super Summer and not have your life changed,” he said. “The whole purpose of this camp is to elevate a change in our students’ lives and to mature them as young disciples. And quite honestly, there are many things I learn here at Super Summer that I did not even learn when I went to seminary.”

Lonnie Trembly, who leads ninth graders at Super Summer, loves the week because of its focus on Christ, and the impact it has on students. His son, a former Super Summer camper, now leads the week’s worship band. “Seeing the next generation taking up the mantle, stepping up, loving Christ,” Trembly said, “it’s both emotional and awesome at the same time.”

Continued

Room to grow

The moment she graduated high school, Samantha Johnson knew she wanted to come back to Super Summer. She signed up as team leader and for the past two years has helped lead a small group of tenth graders during the week-long discipleship experience at Greenville College.

Johnson started attending Super Summer as a camper her junior year of high school. But she was hesitant at first because she was a new Christian and didn’t think she was “spiritual enough” to go to a camp like Super Summer, she said.

But her friends encouraged her, and she finally gave in. Only then did she realize the benefit Super Summer brought her in growing her relationship with the Lord. The people around her invested in her, she said. “And, more importantly for me, I was given grace to grow in my relationship with the Lord.”

For someone like her who had moved around a lot, Super Summer was a place she could call home.

“Here, you find your family because people here have been saved by the same great God that you have,” she said. “You see that family of God working here.”

After visiting Super Summer as an adult several years ago, Lonnie Trembly felt challenged in his faith and recommitted to growing more in Christ, leading him to leave the corporate world and go into full-time ministry.

After more than 20 years at Super Summer, Trembly now says he has seen more students’ lives changed there than any other place.

“This camp will change you because the leaders are passionate about the things of Christ. And our students respond to that.”

Lives are changing

Jerry Higdon tells his church their two greatest evangelistic opportunities happen in the summer: Vacation Bible School and camp. The pastor of First Congregational Church in Kewanee has served as a counselor at Streator and has seen the impact of camp in his own home.

“The joy we saw happening in our kids through camp was just infectious to our entire family,” he said during UP camp this summer.

Camp is a place where many kids meet the Lord for the first time. Jacki Mattingly was one of those kids. She made her personal decision to receive Christ as her Savior at church camp.

Because of her experience, Mattingly’s desire is to see kids grow in Christ at camp and to find him there. Even for those who are Christians, she hopes camp can offer a rekindling of these students’ faith.

“We stay because we want to see our kids grow up in the Lord,” Mattingly said of the camp leaders and counselors. Before camp even begins, leaders at Streator pray for the students, asking the Lord to shape and mold them and to have campers find him there.

At Lake Sallateeska, Leslie Schultz has always enjoyed working with youth and watching their lives change and grow in the Lord. It’s what inspires her to serve as a leader at camp. She has had opportunities to lead people to Christ and watch them grow in their faith.

She has seen campers from her church in Atwood change throughout the years because of the experiences the kids take back home with them.

“I’ve seen one of our own girls grow in her leadership, tell her testimony, and encourage others,” Schultz said. “It’s been such a joy to watch her blossom in her relationship with the Lord.” For many, that’s what camp is all about—a chance to get away, learn more about the Lord, grow in your relationship with him, and return home different than before.

Schultz said, “It’s a chance to come with an expectation to leave with a life changed.”

Cultivating community

João Mahmud is from Chicago. But that doesn’t stop him from driving four-and-a-half hours south to Lake Sallateeska every summer to see his friends and learn more about the Lord. This is Mahmud’s third year at Lake Sallateeska, but his seventh year attending IBSA’s summer camps. Now 18, this was his last year as a camper.

Mahmud’s love for camp has grown “through the friendships he’s developed,” he said. He built those relationships at Streator Baptist Camp, and when his friends signed up to attend camp at Sallateeska, he did too.

“I’ve remained close to my friends from camp since my first visit at Streator,” he said.

Along with the friendships he’s developed, Mahmud also credits his spiritual growth to his camp experience. The daily worship experiences “revitalize my spirit,” he said, and recreation opportunities help build new relationships while growing the old ones.

“Camp has impacted my life on a spiritual level because I’ve been going to camp with the same people for seven years,” he said, “and it’s allowed me to create an accountability group that even when we’re in different parts of the state, we’re able to communicate and call each other in times that we need each other.”

HOMECOMING CONCERT – The IBSA All State Youth Choir began their annual music and ministry tour with a training week at Summer Worship University, and concluded with a concert at the IBSA Building in Springfield. In between, they sang and served in Michigan, Ohio, and Canada.

LISTEN & LEARN – Campers and leaders engage in an evening worship service during UP camp at Streator. MATTINGLY

MISSION Prayerwalking in Pingree Grove

Asking God to do what they say can’t be done

BY ANDREW WOODROW BAILEY

ingree Grove,” Tim Bailey said, “is a small town in desperate need of a church.”

Situated in the far western suburbs of Chicago, just west of Elgin, Pingree Grove was once a small farming community with less than 200 residents. The markers were a tiny white clapboard church that would close, and a cemetery. That was in the year 2000. Now, this rapidly developing city is expected to grow to over 15,000 people by 2020. The residents live in neighborhoods sprawling across what were once cornfields, and they commute to work in the suburbs and the city.

But this burgeoning bedroom community had no church.

“During a visit to Pingree Grove, I recognized there was nothing of a spiritual nature there,” said Bailey, an IBSA church planting catalyst in northern Illinois. “But as I prayerwalked in that community, I recognized that there was something special there— something that God wanted to do.” Bailey was praying and walking the area last summer when he had an idea. Several groups of teens from all over Illinois were coming to Chicagoland for a week in July to assist church planters. Calling on Ken Wilson, his IBSA counterpart from southern Illinois, Bailey put forth his plan.

A compelling vision

Continued from page 11

“He said, ‘I want to plant a church in four days, and they say that we can’t do that,’” Wilson recalled. “And the last thing you want to tell a southern Illinois redneck is that you can’t do something. So, I wanted to be part of something that only God can do.”

Imagine a place in America where people have never heard the gospel. Imagine a growing town with no church to share the Good News of Jesus. That place is Illinois, and that community is Pingree Grove—rather, it was. Now, church planter R.T. Maldaner and City of Joy Church are taking the gospel to Pingree Grove, with the help of IBSA church planting strategists.

People in Pingree Grove are catching a vision of what it would be like to see their community transformed. The spiritual need there, and across Illinois, is at the heart of the 2018 Mission Illinois Offering & Week of Prayer.

13 million people call Illinois home. More than 8 million of them do not know Christ.

Acts 1:8 commissions believers in Christ to share the gospel everywhere, from their home towns to the ends of the earth. Tucked into that call is “Judea,” which modern readers often translate to mean our state. Our Judea is spiritually needy, with millions who don’t know Christ, and at least 200 places in need of a new church.

Baptists have long been people of vision, especially for missions. We give cooperatively to send missionaries to North America’s largest cities, and to remote villages around the world. Here in Illinois, people need the truth of Christ just as desperately. Imagine whole towns and cities transformed. Churches made stronger by members intentionally living out the gospel, and sharing it with their neighbors. Lives changed—for eternity.

The Mission Illinois Offering is a lifeline to vital ministries and missions here. Your MIO offering helps start new churches, strengthen existing congregations, and train people to share the gospel in their neighborhoods and beyond.

Many IBSA churches will observe the Mission Illinois Offering & Week of Prayer Sept. 9-16. Your church should have received an offering kit in the mail, and additional resources are available at missionillinois.org.

If your church is planning to collect the offering for the first time, or the first time in a while, the IBSA ministry staff will gladly help you communicate with your church about the vital nature of state missions. Please contact the Church Communications Team at (217) 3913119.

In our state of great need, we have a compelling vision—to see the gospel transform lives, churches, towns, and cities.

“For the first time we decided instead of going and helping a church planter,” Bailey said of the usual summer projects teaming teens and planters in Chicagoland, “we were going to attempt to plant a church with just 11 people in four days.”

The 11 people included several teens from First Baptist Church in far south Metropolis, led by associate pastor Cliff Easter, and the students from Clarksville Baptist Church in central Illinois with their youth leader, Leslie Propst.

The group divided into groups of two and prayerwalked Pingree Grove, knocking on more than 650 doors in those four days. They prayed for the people in the community, asking the Lord to save the lost, connect them with people looking for a church, and to help develop friendships in Jesus’ name. And they invited the people to a Bible study on Thursday night.

As church planting catalysts, Wilson and Bailey are part of a partnership between IBSA and the North American Mission Board. Gifts to the Mission Illinois Offering help provide support services for these church planting missionaries, allowing them to recruit and train men who will plant and pastor new churches in some of the 200 places in Illinois where IBSA has identified the need for new congregations. With Mission Illinois as both a goal and a calling, IBSA seeks to establish evangelistic, gospelteaching churches within easy reach of every lost person in Illinois.

“The Lord granted us immense favor,” Wilson said. “We met many people interested in knowing more about a church plant possibility, and a few more who even recommitted their lives to Christ.” The superintendent of a local school gave them permission to have a meeting there. Four families attended, Bailey said, and that was the start of a church.

But we need a leader

“We were far from finished,” Wilson said, “We prayed for Pingree Grove, that God would send a church planter to lead where we began.” Little did they know, God had begun his work in Pingree Grove three years earlier.

R. T. Maldaner and his family of eight had moved to Illinois from Idaho. Maldaner was serving in a church staff position in Elgin, but he sensed the Lord leading him to plant a church. “But we really didn’t know where,” Maldaner said. His desire for church planting was encouraged by a mentor who told him that he had the DNA of a church planter. “He told me of IBSA’s need for solid, gospel-centered men to plant solid, gospelcentered churches,” Maldaner said, “and he then connected me with a gentleman from IBSA by the name of Tim Bailey.”

In January, six months after that summer outreach, the two met at Starbucks in South Elgin. “Tim and I were sitting down drinking coffee,” Maldaner said, “talking about my desire to church plant when he asks me his final question for the interview: ‘Where do you live?’”

When Maldaner said, “Pingree Grove,” Bailey pounded the table and yelled, “Praise the Lord!”

“R.T.,” Bailey told him, “we have been walking around Pingree Grove, and driving around Pingree Grove, and praying around Pingree Grove for a year that God would send us a church planter for Pingree Grove.” One month later, Maldaner started a gathering. Since that Sunday, 150 people have attended faithfully, Bailey said, “and we have yet to begin the major push in encouraging people to come.”

Maldaner recognizes that the “Lord has orchestrated a miraculous thing….Knowing that our church isn’t a church plant in isolation, knowing that we have IBSA and a plethora of other brothers standing alongside us and helping us is a very liberating feeling.”

The church, called City of Joy, is set to launch officially on September 9.

“It is nothing we did,” Bailey insists, “It was only because of prayer, and more prayer, and even more prayer, that God decided to open the door to this church.”

Wilson remains invorated by the experience of prayerwalking for a church plant.

“I see God wanting to do this in multiple places, even rural areas across Illinois…Because he wants to touch Illinois (even more) than we want to reach it.”

A call to prayer

Please encourage your church to pray for state missions during the Mission Illinois Offering & Week of Prayer, September 9-16. Pray especially for church planting across the state, to reach more than 8 million people here who do not know Jesus Christ as Savior. Pray for Church Planting Catalysts Tim Bailey, Ken Wilson, and other members of the IBSA Church Planting Team. And pray for R.T. Maldaner as he leads the new City of Joy Church in Pingree Grove.

MALDANER

Why we can rejoice in the Trinity

God the Father, Spirit, Son Veiled in glory

Three-in-One

One true God in Persons three

Wondrous divine Mystery

The last Sunday in May was Trinity Sunday, so I preached a sermon focused on the Trinity from the baptism of Jesus in Mark 1:9-11. It’s a powerful passage that displays God’s triune saving work.

A lot of Baptists, though, might think it a bit unusual to observe Trinity Sunday; we tend to leave this to our high-church brethren in other denominations. That’s a pity, because the doctrine of the Trinity is the vital heart of the Christian faith, and we should be regularly rejoicing in this great mystery. Here’s why:

First, God the Holy Trinity is the God we worship. Christianity is a relationship with God, and what is a relationship without knowing the other person (in this case, persons)? If the goal of our lives is to be near to God, to know him, then the Trinity is essential. Our prayer and worship, our personal relationship with God, is grounded in knowing him as God triune.

Second, God is our triune Savior. The doctrine of the Trinity is not only a biblical truth, it is a truth of Christian experience. God triune has saved us. When we were lost in sin and darkness, the Father sent the Son by the Spirit to rescue us. In the power of the Spirit, the Son lived a perfect human life in obedience to the Father. Having died for our sins, Jesus rose from the dead and sent the Spirit from the Father to indwell the hearts of believers. The Spirit living in us unites us with the Son by faith, for adoption as children of the Father.

Salvation is a thoroughly triune work, and we cannot understand redemption rightly without some understanding of the doctrine of the Trinity.

Third, God triune is the God who loves us abundantly and graciously. The Trinity tells us that relationship has always existed in the one God—there has been love between the Father, Son, and Spirit for all eternity. That means that God has never been lonely, and he loves us not because he needs us, but simply because that’s who he is—the God who loves. The wonder of God’s love is magnified when we grasp the mystery of the Trinity.

All glory be to God our King, Lord of love, One in Three; Hearts rejoice and voices sing Praise for all eternity.

The Trinity cannot be left to professional theologians and pastors who read big books. It must be a vital element in the life and worship of the church. How do we make that happen?

1. Preach and teach on the Trinity. Now, don’t get the wrong idea—I’m not saying you should turn your Sunday morning sermon into a systematic theology lecture. Preach on the practical significance of the Trinity. Having a Sunday a year set apart for talking about it is a good habit. But more importantly, the Trinity should be explicitly present when we preach the gospel. Talk about the work of Christ as the saving work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Talk about salvation as

being united with the Son by the Spirit for adoption as a child of the Father.

2. Shape the worship service to exalt the triune God. This doesn’t mean that every praise song has to be explicitly trinitarian. But if our worship service as a whole would be acceptable in a unitarian church, that’s a problem. We worship the one true God, the tri-personal God. Some of the old hymns are really good for this—“Holy, Holy, Holy!” is a standout example.

3. Encourage Trinitarian prayer and spirituality. The beginning of our spiritual life is marked by the Trinitarian baptismal formula—in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Carry that through into the everyday spiritual life of your church. In the public prayers of the worship service and in small groups and individual settings, model the practice of praying to the Father by the Spirit in the name of the Son. Talk (humbly) about the work of the Spirit in your life, about faith in the Son, and about the love of the Father.

Help the people in your church find devotional materials and insightful books that bring out the practical significance of the Trinity for Christian spirituality, like “Delighting in the Trinity” by Michael Reeves (IVP, 2012).

The Trinity is the heart of the Christian faith, the fundamental mystery of our great God. May our churches reflect the centrality of this awesome truth.

Joshua Steely is pastor of Pontoon Baptist Church in Pontoon Beach.

A blessing in the mirror

Read: James 1:22-25

It’s not simply the hearing of the word that blesses us but the practicing of God’s word, James reminds us. Hearing the word is not enough. Warren Wiersbe once said, “Too many Christians mark their Bibles, but their Bibles never mark them.”

To prevent this, James gives us a mandate to observe the word:

“Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” But many believe that hearing is enough, so they substitute reading the word and talking about the word for doing the word. But true disciples learn God’s word in order to do God’s word; we apply the word of God to the situations and circumstances of our lives and practice standing on the promises of God.

James also warns us that if we listen to the word and don’t obey the word, we deceive only ourselves. Others know, and most importantly God knows.

That’s why we need the mirror of God’s word. It reflects God’s glory and shows us our great need for God. And unlike those trick mirrors at the State Fair, the mirror of God’s word doesn’t lie. It always reflects the truth!

A quick glance at the Bible isn’t likely to reveal our deepest needs; we must examine our hearts in the ongoing light of God’s word. It’s like the difference between a photo and an MRI. They both involve exposure to light, but one is brief and reveals an external image, and the other is a prolonged exposure that reveals what’s inside of us. There is a blessing waiting for you in the mirror of God’s word.

PRAYER PROMPT: Father, thank you for your Word, for as we read your word, your word also reads us. Help us to look into the mirror daily and be doers of your word and not hearers only, so that you can shape and mold us to be more like you.

Adron Robinson is pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Country Club Hills and president of the Illinois Baptist State Association.

“All in favor of phasing out our old-fashioned Sunday school curriculum over the next 30 years, say aye.”

ADRON ROBINSON

It is the heart of the Christian faith, the fundamental mystery of our great God.

Illinois chaplain honored people

dave says

Insurance after diagnosis

I started looking at life insurance policies after my wife and I had our daughter. During the screening process, I found out I had cancer. I went through treatments, and the doctors have officially declared me to be in remission. Still, I can’t find a life insurance company that will work with me. I have a small policy through my employer, that is equal to double my salary. Do you have any suggestions for finding additional coverage?

It’s great news that you’re in remission. I’m really happy for you, buddy. I know your wife is thrilled.

I would advise conducting a search of every “guaranteed issue” company and policy out there. The term, guaranteed issue, means they don’t do a medical check.

The problem is these policies generally run 10 to 20 times more per thousand than those where you qualify medically. So, you’re not going to get a lot during this time. Check at work, and see if you can buy more and add it to the coverage they already provide. Some employers provide a doubleup option if you’re willing to pay for the additional coverage. If you can, and the price is reasonable, do it. If you have a mortgage, call the mortgage company and get mortgage life insurance. It’s gimmick insurance—and something I don’t normally recommend—but many times you can get it without medical clearance.

Once you get past that three- to five-year window where many insurance companies will work with you again, try to find a good, level term life insurance policy with coverage that’s 10 to 12 times your income, and drop all this other stuff. In the meantime, pick up anything else you can find—even if it’s those little $10,000 policies banks sometimes attach to your checking account for $20. Pile up those little odds and ends, until you get as much coverage as you can within reason.

God bless you and your family.

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

The International Conference of Police Chaplains awarded Illinois Baptist chaplain Dan Lovin (center) its 2018 Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement Chaplaincy. Lovin is senior chaplain for the Mt. Vernon Police and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department, and also serves as a chaplain for Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief. As the state’s chaplain coordinator, he facilitates training for Baptist chaplains through IBSA, and often shares about their vital ministry around the state. Chaplains often go where the

church cannot, Lovin told the Illinois Baptist in 2014. “We’re literally the church’s missionaries out in the field.”

Fellow chaplains Ric and Gwenn Worshill (pictured above) presented Lovin with the award at the International Conference of Police Chaplains in Lexington, Ky., July 11. He was also recognized July 21 at the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Biennial Conference in Mt. Vernon.

For more information about chaplaincy in Illinois, contact IBSA at (217) 391-3126.

Taking two for the team

Welcome

Vaughn Sanders is the new lead teaching pastor/elder at First Baptist Church, Bolingbrook. A native of St. Louis, Sanders is a graduate of the University of Missouri and a cyber security professional by trade. He served as a deacon and elder at FBC Bolingbrook before being called as lead teaching pastor. Sanders and his wife, Libby, have two children.

Affiliating with IBSA

Churches that wish to apply for affiliation with the Illinois Baptist State Association must submit an application for membership by September 18. To request a packet that explains the application process, contact Sandy Barnard at (217) 391-3107 or SandyBarnard@IBSA.org.

Find more information on ministry positions at IBSA.org/connect

Send NetworkiNg items to IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org

Calvary Baptist Church in Elgin is seeking a parttime worship leader to humbly lead, strengthen, and grow our music ministry as we pursue God’s vision for our church. We hope to find someone with experience leading in both traditional and contemporary settings. For more information or to submit a resume, e-mail cbcelgininfo@gmail.com.

Chatham Baptist Church is seeking a part-time ministry assistant. Send resumes to Senior Pastor Milton Bost at Milton@crcomputer.com, or mail to 1500 East Walnut St., Chatham, IL, 62629. For a complete job description, visit chathambaptist.org.

DAVE RAMSEY

Vaughn Sanders (seated) was installed as lead teaching pastor/elder at First Baptist, Bolingbrook on July 15.

SWEET REWARD — Pastor Brian McWethy (seated, left) and Vacation Bible School Director Jen Gazza took pies to the face after kids at Grace Fellowship Amboy’s VBS gave $1,700 for community outreach. The offering was just one highlight of the church’s VBS, which also resulted in 10 professions of faith, including a mom.

EVENTS

August 14

Training Night

What: Quality, free training in women’s and men’s ministry, worship, students, children and preschoolers, outreach, prayer, small groups, social media, and security

Where: FBC Fairview Heights, 6-9 p.m. Register: IBSA.org/TrainingNight

Lunch and Learn Webinar Series

Aug. 15: Best Practices for Planning

Sept. 19: Leaders Eat Last

Oct. 17: Leadership Gap

When: 11:30 a.m. to noon

Info: IBSA.org/WomensEvents

August 16, 18

Coaching Clinics

What: Increase your leadership effectiveness through coaching skills

Where: IBSA Building, Springfield (clinics are single-day, identical events)

Cost: $25 IBSA-affiliated churches, $125 non-affiliated Register: IBSA.org/WomensEvents

August 18

IBSA Slo-Pitch Softball Tournament

Where: Rotary Park, Decatur

Cost: $130 per team

Info: DwayneDoyle@IBSA.org

August 25

Training Day

What: Quality, free training in women’s and men’s ministry, music, students, children, church financial practices, church security, outreach, and small groups

Where: FBC Effingham, 8:30 a.m. to noon Register: IBSA.org/TrainingDay

September 1-8

Costa Rica Mission Trip

What: Team will partner with an IMB missionary to help plant a new church through prayer walking, evangelism, and creative outreach

Info: DwayneDoyle@IBSA.org

September 8

Sunday School Director Training

What: Training from Wayne Poling, former LifeWay Sunday School Specialist

Where: IBSA Building, Springfield, 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Cost: $10 per person, lunch included Register: IBSA.org/discipleship-groups/events

September 9-16

Mission Illinois Offering & Week of Prayer

Info: MissionIllinois.org

September 11

Training Night

What: Quality, free training in women’s ministry, music, students, children, security, outreach, and small groups

Where: FSBC Colona, 6-9 p.m.

Register: IBSA.org/TrainingNight

September 14

Chicagoland Pastors & Spouses

Date Night

What: An evening of fellowship and entertainment by IBSA

pastor and comedian Ken Schultz

Where: Broadview Missionary Baptist Church

Register: IBSA.org/LeadershipEvents

September 15

Living Proof Live Simulcast

What: Teaching by Bible study author and leader Beth Moore

Where: IBSA Building, Springfield

Cost: $15 per person

Register: IBSA.org/WomensEvents

September 18

iConnect: IBSA/Pastors Meet-Up

What: Introduction to IBSA staff, ministries, training, and opportunities, for pastors and church staff members

Where: IBSA Building, Springfield Info: LindaDarden@IBSA.org

Oct. 5 – Connection Community Church (Chicago – south)

Oct. 6 – Starting Point Community Church (Chicago – north)

Oct. 7 – Tabernacle Baptist Church (Decatur)

Oct. 7 – Marion Civic Center (Marion)

Nov. 11 – First Baptist Church of O’Fallon (Metro East)

Bring your youth group to IBSA’s annual evangelism event. Choose from 5 locations, all offering great music with Christian artists and the top speakers for teens in the country. This is a great opportunity to invite students who don’t know Jesus. Meet him at Youth Encounter 2018!

Walk them through it

QOne of my children is still angry about something that happened at church a long time ago. I tell him we have to forgive and that it was a long time ago. It doesn’t help.

Exegete the culture

Understanding the world where we live and serve

Church needed here...

Location: Pontiac

Focus: Pontiac is a small town surrounded by farms and rural crossroads. These surrounding communities need churches.

Characteristics: Located on the Vermilion River, Pontiac is home to four museums, go-cart races, a collection of outdoor painted murals, several Lincoln and Route 66 heritage sites, and three swinging pedestrian bridges. Prayer needs: Even though Pontiac has a variety of churches, there is a need for the gospel to be shared here.

PAT PAJAK

AWe can often forgive quickly, but it takes a lot longer to forget when we’ve been hurt. Ask your child what purpose or good it does to carry around a grudge. The truth is, the one being punished is not the offender but the offended. If Christ could forgive all our mistakes, shortcomings, and sins, shouldn’t we be willing to do the same for others? I would encourage your child to read (and commit to memory) Ephesians

4:32. In addition, pray for and with your child for God to release them from the burden, anger, and hard feelings.

Ask for help

QMy wife and I disagree over something at church. It’s beginning to affect our marriage. Has that ever happened to you?

AEvery married couple has times of disagreement. However, when it involves something in the church there is only one solution: resolve it! I suggest that you ask an older couple in the church to spend time with you to talk through the issue. Listen to their advice, trust them to pray over your situation, and let them tell you how they have resolved their own past disagreements.

With your wife, be willing to live with any compromise that needs to be made in order to strengthen your marriage. Read the Bible together and spend time praying for each other, and you might just see the disagreement disappear.

Pat Pajak is IBSA’s associate executive director for evangelism. Send questions for Pat to IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org.

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM

Snapshots from the world of Illinois Baptists

“Mess with the music and people may grumble. Mess with theology and they’re out the door.”

Top reasons people would consider changing churches:

Church changed its doctrine

I moved residences

Preaching style changed

A pastor left

A family member wanted to change

Political views differed from mine

I didn’t feel needed

Music style changed

Relational conflict with someone

Friends stopped attending

Baby Boomers

are returning to church

A recent study by the University of Southern California found 20% of respondents born between 1946 and 1964 say they have increased their participation in religions of all kinds. As the generation is beginning to retire, they have more time. But they also are hearing the ticking of the clock.

People become more aware of the shortness of years remaining in their life,” researcher Vern Bengtson said. “Many of them want to set their house in order, so to speak, at the end of life.”

A return of Boomers to church means an increased volunteer work force

There’s also the need for new ministries for active older adults, plus a few more of those worship songs that sound like Billy Joel or The Eagles.

In Illinois Boomers average about 28 %

of the population in most counties.

– USC, Governing.com

– IBSA Church Planting Team

– Scott McConnell, LifeWay Research