February 1, 2022 Illinois Baptist

Illinois Baptist

Bigger battles for smaller armies

P. 2 Nate Adams

Convergence

Springfield | Southern Baptist Convention President Ed Litton has his eyes on Anaheim and his mind on racial reconciliation. The southern California city is best known as the home of Disneyland, but it will also be the site of the SBC Annual Meeting June 12-15, 2022.

Litton is planning to address what he called “the stains” on Southern Baptist life, briefly naming race and sex abuse in his talks with church leaders attending the Midwest Leadership Summit in Springfield in January.

“My hope is for Southern Baptists to discover the power of crying out to God,” he said. “Even with ‘our stains,’ past stains and abuse—God is mov-

agenda

ing through Southern Baptists to address these stains. Let’s make sure first to deal with the source of the stain,” Litton urged in the opening plenary session at the Crowne Plaza Hotel and Convention Center.

In another, smaller session, Litton said he is planning to roll out a strategy for racial reconciliation. And he is working with Dallas pastor and popular radio preacher Tony Evans on a plan that churches can use. “It always helps to have steps to follow,” he said.

Litton referenced a book called “Removing the Stain from Southern Baptists.” “We better deal with the cause of the stain before we deal with anything else,” Litton said.

TABLE TALK

Are we welcoming immigrants?

Let’s take this job seriously

P. 9

SPORTS

Glue guys (and girls) These players hold things together

P. 12

The Illinois Baptist staff

Editor - Eric Reed

Graphic Designer - Kris Kell

Contributing Editor - Lisa Misner

Copy Editor - Leah Honnen

Team Leader - Ben Jones

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The BIG Baptist family album

Our Illinois mission field

Sean Hall planted a church in Belleville in April 2021. The core team seeks continued commitment to their families and to the church, to a few personal disciple-making relationships, and to their Western Illinois mission field.

Pray the news: Church leaders

On their faces before God at the Midwest Leadership Summit, pastors and leaders renewed their ministry commitments. Pray those in attendance will employ the spiritual discoveries from their time in Springfield.

Cooperative Program offerings at work

NATE ADAMS

Midwest advance

Late last year, Illinois Baptists celebrated the 50-year anniversary of relocating the IBSA staff and building to Springfield from Carbondale. It was a difficult decision at the time, to move further from where most of IBSA’s current churches were located, and toward the mostly unreached mission field of central and northern Illinois.

But Illinois Baptists weren’t the only ones sensing the call northward. About that same time, Baptist leaders from seven North Central states, along with leaders from the national SBC, were engaging in serious missiological discussions about advancing the gospel and doubling the number of Baptist churches in the upper Midwest.

It was a vast undertaking for these relatively small networks of churches. Yet they embraced their Great Commission responsibility for the 25% of U.S. population that lived in their states, knowing that most did not yet know Jesus personally.

Out of those discussions grew the North Central Mission Thrust of 19771990, a coordinated domestic missions effort that resulted in the planting of 564 churches over 14 years, increasing the number of SBC churches in the region by 24%. Many of us worship today in churches that were planted during that period.

The North Central Mission Thrust continued for ten years beyond its planned conclusion in 1990 and established a lasting fellowship among Baptist leaders in the region. Today an expanded group of leaders from nine state conventions representing twelve Midwest states gather regularly to discuss strategy and best practices, and to plan a biannual leadership event now known as the Midwest Leadership Summit. Last month, IBSA hosted about 850 pastors and leaders for the 2022 MLS in Springfield.

In preparing for that conference, I discovered a 28-page report summarizing the “before and after” history of the North Central Mission Thrust, including its leaders, its missional goals, its key strategy decisions, and its results. As I compared those dynamics to today, three thoughts are lingering in my mind.

First, I marvel at the level of intentional missional strategy and cooperation that took place between autonomous Baptist entities and leaders, many of whose names I recognize from my father’s generation and relationships. I fear that in these current days of cultural acrimony, denominational controversy, and heightened autonomy we have lost too much of that spirit of selfless, missional cooperation.

Second, I was surprised at how much gospel and church planting advance was made during that intentional 24-year period, and how relatively little has been made in the 21 years since then. Though we plant and affiliate new churches every year, the net number of Baptist churches in Illinois is barely larger than two decades ago.

Cooperative Program at work: IMB missionaries the Crosbys* work with a local teacher, Natalia,* sharing Christ. They minister in a nominally Orthodox Christian country that is populated by Muslims. (*Names changed for security reasons.)

Giving by IBSA churches as of 01/24/22

$295,805

Budget Goal: $357,693

Received to date in 2021: $429,692

2022Goal: $6.2 Million

And finally, I reflected on the recent 2022 Midwest Leadership Summit, itself a continuation and legacy of the North Central Mission Thrust. Midwest participants and national leaders alike consistently describe the MLS as the most practical, helpful church leadership event they attend. They describe us Southern Baptist leaders who live in the north as the most eager and teachable they find anywhere. It has made me wonder if we could do more together than just plan a good event every two years.

Here in Illinois, and I presume throughout much of the Midwest, the pandemic has taken a heavy toll on our churches and their leaders. The 2021 Annual Church Profile shows 34% fewer in worship attendance, 33% fewer in Bible Study, and 44% fewer baptisms than in 2019. Still, I recall from Judges 7 that Gideon started with 32,000 potential soldiers and the Lord pared it down to an army of 300 so all would know the true source of victory. Now may be just the time to take our smaller army of truly committed to the battle.

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

An important job for ‘northern’ Baptists.

From the front: Litton plans ahead for convention

Continued from page 1

He pointed out that of the 300,000 SBC members at its 1845 founding, one-third were enslaved people.

Litton is pastor of Redemption Church in suburban Mobile, Alabama. Mobile was the landing site of the last slave ship arriving in America in 1860. The Clotilda dropped 110 or more people for sale in the slave market before it was sailed up the Mobile River, scuttled, and burned.

Litton joined pastors in three cities to craft the “Deep South Joint Statement on the Gospel, Racial Reconciliation, and Justice” to encourage biblical reconciliation. “The reality is we have a steep history,” Litton told Baptist Press at the time the statement was released in October 2020. “We have a deep and painful scarred past, and we’re saying in spite of that, we believe God can heal us.”

A year later, Litton’s church hosted a conference called “Shrink the Divide,” organized by a multidenominational group of pastors seeking reconciliation in Mobile.

“I’ll tell you what’s hurting us today. Nobody in the Southern Baptist Convention, nobody in my church, and probably nobody in your church would ever want to be called a bigot,” Litton said, “but indifference is killing us.”

In comments to Baptist Press, Litton said Southern Baptists have made tremendous progress toward racial reconciliation in the past 25 years, but he said work remains. The election of Pastor Fred Luter of New Orleans as the first African American SBC President is one example. Litton has consulted with Luter on the issue of racial reconciliation.

Another issue ahead of the Anaheim meeting is whether Litton will run opposed for a second term. It is customary for SBC presidents to serve two one-year terms, and often they run alone in the second-year election. Litton prevailed in a four-man race in 2021 that saw Southern Seminary president Al Mohler and Northwest Baptist Convention Executive Director Randy Adams eliminated in the first balloting.

Litton was elected president in a runoff with Georgia pastor Mike Stone, a leader

in the Conservative Baptist Network. The group was created in protest of Baptists’ current direction on social justice and other issues, and some members had referred to the meeting in Nashville as an opportunity to “take the ship.” The vote was close— 52.04% for Litton and 47.81% for Stone.

The 2021 convention in Nashville, Tennessee, drew 15,726 registered messengers, the highest messenger total since 1995, with more than 21,000 in total attendance. Meetings held outside southern states don’t often draw large crowds, so the 2022 convention in California may be considerably smaller. Another factor is whether another candidate will declare his intentions to run against Litton. Such announcements often happen in February or March. “Offyear elections” don’t often generate crowds either.

While in Springfield, Litton saluted Summit organizers for the unique regional event that brings together leaders from twelve Midwest states. “You’re a testimony to the nation,” Litton said. “If all our regions would be so united together to perfect our skills and each other, that would be amazing.”

He also praised midwestern Disaster Relief volunteers, citing the example of Michigan teams he met working in Colorado after wildfires. “At our best, we are brothers and sisters in Christ, working together to spread the gospel,” Litton said.

– Eric Reed

SBC Executive Committee

Interim nod pending Vote set for Feb. board meeting

Nashville, Tenn. | Officers of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee planned to meet with EC vice presidents by the end of January, with a recommendation for one of them to serve as interim president at the Executive Committee’s February meeting, EC Chairman Rolland Slade told Baptist Press. The vice presidents are eligible to serve as interim leader when the president/CEO post is vacant, according to EC bylaws. The officers are given the responsibility to select the nominee.

The current EC vice presidents are Jonathan Howe, Communications and Willie McLaurin, Great Commission Relations and Mobilization. A third officer who was considered a candidate for the position, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Pearson, announced his resignation Jan. 25, effective Feb. 15.

EC members were called together for a solemn prayer assembly in mid-January. Prayer leader Claude King facilitated the event. Slade urged members of the 86-seat board to participate in a season of fasting and prayer for the decisions they face.

“We certainly appreciate the patience that has been shown to us in these critical times,” said Slade. “Our vice presidents are each godly men who have worked cohesively with the officers to provide leadership that has not gone unnoticed.”

In addition to Slade, other board officers include Stacy Bramlett, vice chair; Monte Shinkle, secretary, and committee chairs Erik Cummings, Convention Events and Strategic Planning; Andrew Hunt, Convention Missions and Ministry; Jim Gregory, Southern Baptist Relations; and Archie Mason, Convention Finances and Stewardship Development.

The EC presidency became vacant on Nov. 1 after Ronnie Floyd resigned. Floyd had served as EC president since May 2019. His departure followed disagreements on the handling of an investigation into EC’s response to sexual abuse allegations within the denomination, and specifically the role of a specially-elected task force in contracting an independent investigation.

The EC board meeting is set for Feb. 21-22.

– from Baptist Press with additional reporting by Illinois Baptist staff

COMMENDATIONS – SBC President Ed Litton, on stage at the Midwest Leadership Summit Jan. 18, praised the regional event for its unity and gospel focus.

HOWE McLAURIN SLADE

New persecution leader

Afghanistan has replaced North Korea as the most dangerous nation for Christians, not because conditions have improved under Kim Jong Un, instead persecution as risen dramatically under the Taliban. This is the first year since Open Doors began publishing its annual report in 1992 that North Korea has not topped the list. Somalia, Libya, and Yemen round out the top five. In all, 360 million Christians live in nations with high levels of persecution. That is 1-in-7 Christians worldwide.

Devore serves BCHFS interim

Carmi | Former Executive Director of Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services, Doug Devore, will return as interim leader while the BCHFS Board conducts a search for a new head. Denny Hydrick departed in November after five years as Executive Director. Before that, Devore served with BCHFS 43 years, retiring in 2016.

Board President Rebecca Whittington said after lengthy interviews and a day-long board meeting, the decision by the board to bring Devore back in a temporary capacity was unanimous. Whittington reported “great energy” among board members and a warm welcome by staff receiving the news. “Doug is walking into a situation with a board and staff that are ready to move forward,” Whittington said.

Disaster Relief

Court debates Christian flag

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Jan. 18 regarding whether the City of Boston erred in its decision to deny a Christian education group’s request to fly a Christian flag outside City Hall. Three flagpoles there fly the U.S. flag, state flag, and usually the city flag. However, at times the city flag is replaced with a specialty flag. From 2005 to 2017 the city approved 284 requests to raise other flags.

When Harold Shurtleff of Camp Constitution requested to fly the Christian flag, his was the first request to be denied on the grounds the city would appear to be endorsing one religion over another. Lower courts agreed, but the American Civil Liberties Union and Biden Administration agree with Shurtleff. At the hearing, the justices appeared to agree with Shurtleff. The Court’s decision won’t be announced until late spring.

Hearing continued

A pre-trial hearing was postponed until Feb. 25 for a former Illinois pastor charged with grooming a minor. The attorney representing Joseph M. Krol asked a Macon County judge for a continuance in a brief court appearance Jan. 7. The judge agreed.

Krol is charged with four counts relating to texting activity with a minor. He pled not guilty to all four counts at his Dec. 1 arraignment.

Krol was pastor of Rochester First Baptist Church at the time of his arrest in October, although the case does not involve anyone at that church. Rochester FBC dismissed Krol after his arrest. He was employed there three months. Krol was previously pastor of Galilee Baptist Church in Decatur.

Vax registry opposed

A Christian lobbying group alerted members that a vaccination-related bill filed in the House could come for a committee vote on short notice, and they urged members to file witness slips against it. HB 4244 will register all residents of Illinois involuntarily into the Illinois Department of Public Health Immunization Data Registry. Some opponents say that could be a violation of first amendment rights, if a person refuses immunization on religious grounds. Concerned Christian Ministries reported nearly 13,000 posted their opposition with the Illinois General Assembly as of Jan. 19.

DEVORE WHITTINGTON

The board identified several areas that will be the focus of Devore’s service while the leadership team conducts a search for the next Executive Director. Whittington said the board members are praying daily at 6:00 a.m. She invited Illinois Baptists to join in prayer as well.

Illinoisans assist after Colorado fires

Near Boulder, Colo. | Four volunteers from Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief (IBDR) joined a team manning a feeding center in Colorado where wildfires just before New Year’s wiped out several communities in Boulder County. More than 1,000 homes were destroyed and tens of thousands were forced to evacuate. A semi-trailer mobile kitchen and a support unit were set up immediately and reported serving 250 meals a day at the outset.

While snowfall helped extinguish the fires, the weather has hindered the ability of many people to deal with their losses. “Much of the work may not be able to begin until the spring or summer, as typical Colorado winter weather will prohibit this type of work,” said Coy Webb, Send Relief Crisis Response Director for the North American Mission Board. Webb expects the weather to contribute to the response’s longevity.

“We also anticipate requests from church planting/church leaders for ministry grants to provide relief and recovery help in the affected areas,” Webb said.

Illinois team leader Randy McClellan is serving with trained IBDR volunteers Cathy Dudley, Marilyn Vaughan, and Pamela Les-

lie, along with two volunteers from Ohio through the end of January, according to IBDR state director Butch Porter. They will provide relief for volunteers who have been on site for about three weeks.

Among the Colorado volunteers, Dale and Linda Hinkle have served in the feeding unit. They lost their Louisville, Colorado home of 30 years, barely having time to escape with a few items out of the house.

“All I have right now is my faith in God, family, and friends,” she said. “But as tragic as it is, it makes you realize what’s important. All of these possessions that we cling to…you can’t take them with you anyway. You realize how many people care about you [from the] love of our church, our friends, and our family.”

With 900 trained volunteers, Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief is a ministry of the Illinois Baptist State Association, with its member churches and teams from local Baptist associations. Send Relief, operated by the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board, is the third largest disaster relief ministry in the nation.

– Illinois Baptist staff with additional reporting from Baptist Press

Fresh calling

A Midwest tradition spurs regional unity and local evangelism

Springfield | “The Midwest is all about hard work, blue collar, get it done,” Noah Oldham told the people at his breakout session. “It is to these people you need to be able to cast a vision,” said the planting pastor of August Gate Church in St. Louis and Send City Senior Planting Director for the metro area.

Leaders attending the Midwest Leadership Summit in Springfield came with questions about ministry in the region, and many found answers.

“This year was especially inspiring and enlightening to me,” said Michael Nave, pastor of Cornerstone Church in Marion. “I connected and reconnected with a handful of fellow pastors and leaders in a really meaningful way. I don’t think I have ever walked away from MLS so encouraged!”

Some of the focus of the gathering was about fellowship and relationships. Some 850 pastors and church leaders from 12 states and nine Baptist state conventions filled the halls and ballrooms at the Crowne Plaza, juggling conversations and notebooks and busy schedules. The

main purpose of the event, as it has been since it began, was equipping leaders for ministry that matches our north central territory.

“Southern Baptist churches in the north have unique challenges and opportunities,” said Nate Adams, Executive Director of the Illinois Baptist State Association and one of the organizers of the event. “And the Midwest Leadership Summit is a unique opportunity to network with other pastors and leaders, and to hear about ministry approaches that are effective in this Midwest context.”

The Summit is a partnership between the nine state conventions, the North American Mission Board, Woman’s Missionary Union, and Guidestone Financial Resources. Leaders attend three plenary sessions, and they may choose six breakout sessions from a list of 70 options featuring experts and practitioners in church leadership, evangelism, missions, and church planting.

For Pastor Nave, one session was especially insightful about the nature of the Midwest. “During Ben Mandrell’s session about

Planting, praying

A South Dakota church planter’s story brought pastors and church leaders to their faces in prayer at the Midwest Leadership Summit. Some 850 leaders from 12 states in the region attended the threeday event in Springfield January 18-20. In three worship settings and 70 breakouts, they considered again their calling and took home fresh training for ministry.

AN ILLINOIS BAPTIST TEAM REPORT

preaching to skeptics, he showed a map of the U.S. noting the prevailing religious group (in each region). We SBCers have the SEC region! In other places it is Roman Catholic, L.D.S., and Methodist.

“I found myself really encouraged by our location in the U.S.,” Nave said. “We are not in a region that is completely post-Christian, and we’re sure not in the Bible Belt. Thus, we are able to learn from our brothers and sisters in those regions and create our own hybrid approach!”

Mandrell, an Illinois native, is the President of Lifeway Christian Resources. He was a featured speaker in one of the three plenary sessions. When he interviewed with the Lifeway trustees two years ago, Mandrell admitted that his Colorado church did not use discipleship materials from the SBC publishing house because the content presumed a level of biblical literacy and church culture that were alien in the West.

The same might be said of the Midwest.

“It’s good to be here, where people drink ‘pop’ and shop at Menards,” the Tampico, Illinois native told the crowd, who laughed at the regional references. Then he launched into a strong and revealing message.

Mandrell told of his own experiences since taking that Lifeway helm that coincided with the Covid pandemic, continued financial downturns, and the need to reinvent the publisher’s ministry.

“There have been times in the last two years where I have struggled to believe, where I have cried, where I wondered what did I get myself into… where waves of fear overwhelmed me,” Mandrell said. “Anybody who leads in ministry right now has days like that.”

Citing recent Lifeway research, Mandrell said 66% of pastors say they are struggling to trust God. But he called the leaders to “fierce optimism,” another term for faith. The people of the church are counting on their pastor to exercise bold faith. “The leader, if he is to be stable, must believe that God has the power to reverse a trend, to overcome statistics.”

Mandrell called this faith “the secret sauce” of Old Testament leaders. “Without a fierce optimism, the floor will collapse beneath you,” he said to amens. “Faith is what separates the men from the boys, the big from the little in Christian history.”

“We continually hear both participants and national ministry partners describe the Midwest Leadership Summit as the most helpful and practical church leadership training event they attend,” Adams said. “And this has consistently been the case for the past 16 years that I’ve been participating in the event.”

The executive directors of the nine sponsoring state conventions addressed the challenges of ministry in the region at a lunchtime panel discussion. The presentation was wide-ranging, but “outside the pandemic” as instructed by Tim Patterson of Michigan, who moderated the panel.

“The objective of a network of churches is to focus on the common ground that churches have,” Adams said. “We look for things that unify us and bring us together. Let’s not go out into the margins where there isn’t so much agreement.”

The new convention leader of the Dakotas, Fred McDonald, talked about the distance between SBC churches in his part of the country and a resulting sense of isolation. “Loneliness is an issue in the Dakotas,” McDonald said.

“Our churches are very spread out from each other. It creates loneliness among pastors, discouragement, and loneliness among pastors’ wives separated from family who live far away.” McDonald’s observations drew nods of recognition.

God’s success stories

“Yes, ministry in the Midwest can be hard,” said Kirk Kirkland, planter and pastor of Revive City Church in Cincinnati. “Ministry in the city, ministry in the pandemic. We have moved our location 11 times” in the past two years.

Big territory, big challenges

Begun as the North Central States Rally on a triennial basis, the Summit now meets every two years. The state convention partners are Dakota Baptist Convention, Illinois Baptist State Association, State Convention of Baptists in Indiana, Baptist Convention of Iowa, Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists, Baptist State Convention of Michigan, Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention, Missouri Baptist Convention, and the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio.

As a regional equipping event focusing on a multi-state region, the Midwest event is unique in Southern Baptist life. It is funded by the state associations and national partners Guidestone Financial Services, North American Mission Board, and Woman’s Missionary Union. Church leaders are invited by their local associations.

Kirkland described ministry among homeless and addicted people—and seeing God at work in a neighborhood once named the most dangerous in America. The obstacle in that situation is escape. “It’s really hard when you start getting job offers,” Kirkland said, but he urged pastors to stay put. “The gospel is able to break up the hardest of soils,” he said. “God can give you the grace of grit.

“I’m indebted to Midwest pastors,” Kirkland said, acknowledging the value of comradery. “There was a pastor in Indianapolis who encouraged me, gave me guidance, and sent me back home” to continue the work.

With unity and cooperation, evangelism was the third strand in the leadership cord. David Martinez, a Mexican pastor of 23 years who is now planting Spanish-language churches in Nebraska, charged the leaders to look to the needs of their Samaria, referencing Acts 1:8. “Jesus was committed to reach poor and rich, old and young people,

MARTINEZ

“The gospel still works. The pandemic does not push pause on the gospel. People are hungry for what we have.”

KIRKLAND McLAURIN

– Shane Pruitt NAMB VP/Next Gen

“I’m going to drink more coffee (chuckle), because that’s where you build relationships with pastors and encourage each other.”

– Bob Carruthers Sandy Creek

Association Strategist

“We’re better together, we’re stronger together, and it’s time to stay together.”

– Jeremy Westbrook, emcee and Ohio Convention Executive Director

Prayer, meeting – Lifeway President Ben Mandrell (above) led prayer after a sermon on pastors and their faith. Midwest state convention executive directors (top) fielded a wide range of topics in a panel discussion.

Jews and Gentile,” Martinez went on to name black and white, Hispanic and Somali and Karin and Burmese. “We need to reach others,” he said. In the Midwest, “we have our Samaria also.”

Yankton, South Dakota church planter Jeffrey Mueller ignited the crowd with his testimony. “We have to be part of the community and not a pocket community,” Mueller said. “Church planters all say ‘We’re gonna be a different church, be part of the community.’ We said it, but we didn’t do it. Our outreach was only to get people to come hear me preach, and I wasn’t any good at preaching,” he said, receiving laughs.

be well acquainted with the smell of the carpet in his office, not from being on his knees, but from having his face on the floor before God.

A few moments later, Mueller was on his face on the platform at the Crowne Plaza. “You might be one special shift away from discouragement to encouragement,” he said. Pastors and church leaders across the ballroom joined him in prayer with their faces on the carpet.

“Where will IMB get missionaries like Jeffrey?” another Illinois native, Sandy Wisdom Martin, asked after the season of prayer. “They will come from your church…. At WMU we want to help your people develop a mission lifestyle.”

The Executive Director-Treasurer of National WMU frequently tells the story of her calling to mission service that was encouraged in her home church in Carbondale. She invited pastors and church leaders to call on WMU for mission support and education.

In the final message, Willie McLaurin, Vice President for Great Commission Relations and Mobilization for the SBC Executive Committee focused on unity in the Southern Baptist Convention.

From the Breakouts

Just a few highlights from 70 sessions

Kathy Litton, “The Emotionally Healthy Leader” Spiritual leaders’ emotional health will be on public display, and we won’t even know it. “It is our spiritual maturity that grows our emotional security,” Litton said at a packed session for ministry wives. Litton is the wife of SBC President Ed Litton and Director of Planter Spouse Development for the North American Mission Board.

“When pastors and their spouses work on their own emotional health, it’s a real gift to the church,” she told the women, quoting author Michael Hyatt. “We should lead our heart, not follow it. The heart can lead to a downward spiral (to) depression. We can lead the heart to trust God.”

Will Mancini, “Future Church”

In his early bird session, founder of Denominee leadership consultants and author of “Younique” said real church growth starts with a culture of mission, not worship. For many churches, this is a significant change of mindset. “The gospel is not designed to draw a crowd. Who duped you into thinking you have to draw a crowd?” Mancini said. “That doesn’t exist anymore.”

Mancini told the story of riding an amusement park ride as a kid, thinking he was steering the little car. Then saw the track beneath the car. He wasn’t driving, an engineer was. Young Mancini was running someone else’s design. “Whose design are you running?” he asked the church leaders. Then he pointed to God’s design.

Every man and woman in your church has an Ephesians 2:10 calling: “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do” (CSB).

Noah Oldham, “Identifying the Call to Plant”

“God said the command was to go to them, not for them to come to you.”

Mueller and his wife returned to their small hometown to plant Restore Church. Today the church has two campuses and four ministry points, including a crisis pregnancy center and an indoor playground serving their financially challenged area. “Our whole life, the community has cried out that there’s not enough free or affordable family fun. Most of the activities are drunken parties with the approval of the community.” Restore Church responded with services that double as open doors for evangelism.

Mueller said his ministry changed when he took seriously this statement: The pastor should

“We need to get on the same side of the rope and pull together,” McLaurin said after describing his childhood tug-of-war games. He recited a list of differences among Southern Baptists, including theology, ethnicity, and politics. “We don’t need to focus on a donkey or an elephant, we need to focus on the Lamb,” he said as the crowd applauded. “We have one enemy and he is already defeated!”

“We need to get busy getting people off the road to hell and on the way to heaven,” he said. “There is not one problem the church has that soul winning cannot solve.”

McLaurin concluded, “Any way you slice it, we are Great Commission Baptists, because we are better together.”

Are you a 4-H influencer? Not the ag club kind, the St. Louis Send City Senior Director of Church Planting Deployment said. Then he outlined four characteristics leaders and planters need: humble, hungry, happy, and hustle.

In contrast to the sarcastic, negative culture that does not honor one another, a humble leader is “a leader people want to follow.”

“Are you more like Eeyore or Tigger?” he asked. Not bouncing all over, but upbeat and energetic. This leader says, “I want to get after this, I want to see God do something.” Based on the leader’s example, the church will either become a happy church or an angry church. “I still believe (my theology), I’m just not mad about it,” he said. “We don’t need more jerks for Jesus. We have enough in that club. I was once the president.”

“Leaders need hustle,” Oldham said, like a weightlifter adding weight to the barbell. “But they also need to know when to ask for help instead of bailing out.”

Written by Eric Reed with additional reporting by Lisa Misner and photography by Meredith Flynn.

LITTON

Jeffrey Mueller

David Higgs and Chris Gregg

Illinois gallery

Will Mancini’s early bird session was standing room only. After registering on arrival Tuesday afternoon, Summit attenders packed a conference room at the Crowne Plaza for Mancini’s overview of Future Church, based on his recent book. Mancini leads Denominee, a consulting group engaged by IBSA for development of the “next steps” church vision process.

At the Illinois Leadership luncheon following the MLS, Executive Director Nate Adams asked for observations. Nelda Smothers, who traveled from Metropolis said, “Sometimes we reach the age that most people think you need to sit down, that you’ve served, and they ask, ‘How far away is that, Mama?’ But then we realize we are called to a life of ministry. It just brightens my day. It’s like a revival to be here with you.”

At the “Thrive” table, IBSA’s Fran Trascritti (right, foreground) and Kevin Jones (background) talked with leaders about their church’s next steps, a focus continued from the 2021 Annual Meeting.

Leadership Development Director Carmen Halsey (center) used the meetings to build relationships. In breakouts and hallways, their value was a common theme.

National WMU Executive Director Sandy Wisdom Martin (standing) met early arrivals at her daily “Missions Moments” prayer sessions. She told stories about God’s work. An Alabama family adopted a child with severe health needs, then almost inexplicably felt God’s calling to Idaho. Against the odds, that was the one place where their child could receive a badly needed transplant. Wisdom Martin distributed cards for the prayer participants to write to the family.

Church Planter Catalyst Jorge Melendez said 40 pastors participated in the Hispanic Summit track. A member of Iglesia Bautista Emanuel in Aurora, Graviel Hernandez (far right at the table), expressed gratitude at the Illinois luncheon for missionaries who shared Christ with his family in Cuba in 1910.

Pastor Tony Munoz of Iglesia Bautista Latina in Effingham is drummer in the worship team. Led by David Higgs of Dorrisville Church in Harrisburg, the musicians led worship at the Summit and the IBSA Annual Meeting.

GROWING

illinois voices

Ministering to immigrants

Jared Pryer of Ten Mile Baptist Church once expressed to me a burden that God laid on his heart. He explained the overwhelming need of ministering to hundreds of migrant workers who would travel to Southern Illinois and work for three months, before heading back to their home countries. They would come, work, and go home. For Jared this was an opportunity to serve a people group that needs the gospel.

For others of us, the needs of people from outside the United States may not be so obvious. Whether at the barber shop or nail salon, in line at the DMV, or sitting in class next to an exchange student, we all have encountered someone from another country. The busboy whose English is limited. The customer service representative with a heavy accent. Do we think of them in the way Jared considers the temporary residents in his community?

Throughout Scripture we read about biblical heroes who were immigrants—heroes such as Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Daniel, and others. Jesus himself can be considered a two-fold foreigner: in his divinity, Jesus left his heavenly home to reside on earth; in his humanity, he lived in Egypt before calling Nazareth his home.

Coupled with the understanding that everyone is an image bearer of God, we can more effectively minister to immigrants as we focus on where they’re going versus how they got here.

Ultimately, everyone needs Jesus. Our main concern should be people’s citizenship status in heaven and not their citizenship status in this country.

Here are some stepping stones toward relationship-building that can eventually lead to more gospel-centered conversations.

1. Assist during the period of transition and adjustment.

Immigrants often come to this country to study or work. One way to help in their transition is by providing classes or resources that lead toward meeting their goals.

ing things. This fosters connection despite language barriers.

Some examples can be premiering a sporting event of the immigrant group’s country or opening up the fellowship hall to host festivities such as a quincenaera. One way that we do this at Starting Point Community Church is by representing, highlighting, and praying over the different cultures and countries of Latin America during Hispanic Heritage Month.

3. Help immigrants build up their home.

Many leave their country with nothing, only to find themselves starting from scratch. Living conditions are not optimal and many often find themselves just trying to survive from day to day. Churches and individuals can provide temporary housing, and resources such as food, clothing, or household items.

A ‘real’ welcome

Even before Ali* and his family escaped Afghanistan in August 2021, Brad and Leslie Lovin were planning a reunion with their friends. Ali had served as Brad’s translator for a year when he was deployed with the U.S. Army in 2011. Eventually the Muslim translator immigrated to the U.S. Last year, as Ali and his family visited Afghan relatives for several months, Brad kept in close contact. When the government fell, Brad spent days making calls on their behalf, trying to help the family get out—again.

The rise of Afghan refugees seeking asylum in the U.S. and the overwhelming flow of immigrants crossing the border cause us to consider this question again. As we do, we must understand our Christian responsibility. People from all over the world will continue to come, seeking a place of refuge, longing for a better life. How will we minister to them?

Before sharing tangible ways of serving foreigners, we must be clear on one important point. Our view of immigrants shapes the way we treat them. Often what we were taught, how we were raised, or even the political position we affiliate ourselves with becomes the basis of how we view immigrants. This should never be the starting point.

The Bible, which must be the lens through which we view and treat immigrants, says, “‘The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God” (Lev. 19:34 NIV).

Offering English language classes, typing or computer classes, or life skills training including paying bills and developing a resume can help newcomers learn to live in a new country.

2. Show curiosity and respect for the life, culture, and values of the immigrant.

Taking the time to get to know someone’s interests and life experiences is one of the most welcom-

For those looking to minister to immigrants, start by praying for their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Reflect on where you live, work, worship, and play and consider if there are immigrant communities in need of support. Too often, newcomers go unseen. And consider connecting with other churches and organizations, like Jared did, that specifically support immigrant populations.

Jonathan de la O is pastor of Starting Point Community Church in Chicago.

“We sat on the floor around a tablecloth,” Brad said, describing their reunion dinner of spicy goat served with tomatoes, peppers, and flat bread. “Our kids love it—sitting on the floor, eating with their fingers, and playing with Ali’s kids all day.”

The Lovins have four children, Ali and his wife Hasinah* have five. “None of them spoke English except Ali,” Brad says of their families’ first meeting in 2014, “but within an hour, the kids were having a great time and begging to stay longer.”

Brad and Leslie helped Ali’s family get settled in the U.S. The Lovins were in Louisville when Brad was in seminary, and that’s where Ali had relocated.

“I remember taking them to the dentist, and it was a messy time,” Leslie said. “I was holding a kid, Hasinah was holding a kid, there were cavities and drilling.” But it was opportunity to build our relationship.

“Allow people to see you be vulnerable, to see you with your family,” Leslie said. “If they see you have flaws, that your house is messy more times than it’s clean, then they can see we’re all broken people who need to be redeemed.”

The families shared Thanksgiving, and the Lovins answered lots of questions about Christmas. A real breakthrough came after Leslie repeatedly asked to help in the kitchen, and Hasinah finally accepted. “She stopped treating me as a guest,” Leslie said. Today the women talk about children, culture, and values, sometimes with a translator.

“If you’re going to just give them things, you may hurt the real opportunity to share the gospel,” Brad said. “They’re going to be convinced by relationship.”

Brad Lovin served three years as IBSA Mission Director. Today he is director of Washington Street Mission in Springfield. (*Names changed.)

“...Mask, proof of vaccination, and photo I.D.”

Let’s focus on where they’re going versus how they got here.

LearNiNg curve recommeNdaTioNs

In Our Shoes: Real Life Issues for Ministers’ Wives by Ministers’ Wives

Rachel Lovingood & Jennifer Landrith

For the pastor’s wife who may be new to the role or seasoned in ministry, this book is excellent. The authors understand my situation as a pastor’s wife in a rural area. I recommend it to any wife supporting her husband in ministry, no matter the context.

Jackson honored for 35 years at IBSA

Springfield | An IBSA staff member celebrated 35 years at the Association in January. Kendra Lynch Jackson joined the staff January 5, 1987, not long after graduating from high school. She began her career as part-time afternoon receptionist.

– Abby King Ministry Leader Hillview Church

The Making of a Leader

J. Robert Clinton

You will have to read this book multiple times over a few years to get the most out of it. Like the author said, “Learn a little, use a lot.” The Fuller Seminary professor does an excellent job applying his research of the providential process that God takes a leader through.

After working two years in that position, she was promoted to the role of ministry assistant in the financial services area, working with the now retired Janet Craynon and the late Melissa Phillips. Six years later she became the IBSA bookkeeper, a role in which she has flourished. The IBSA staff celebrated Jackson’s anniversary at its January Staff Meeting where she was presented with 35 red roses, one to represent each year she’s been employed. Jackson’s supervisor, Administrative Director Jeff Deasy (above, left), presented the bouquet, and Executive Director Nate Adams thanked Jackson for her long and faithful service. He also noted it could be 15 years before IBSA has opportunity to recognize another 35-year tenure.

with the lord

– Jorge Melendez IBSA Church Planting Catalyst, Chicago

Simplify Your Spiritual Life

Donald S. Whitney

Copying Scripture focuses my mind and calms my spirit. Don Whitney’s book, “Simplify Your Spiritual Life,” emphasized quality over quantity in journaling, taking time to drink deep, and even gave some ideas for writing prompts as I journaled. Other resources I use are “Journibles” for copying Scripture, and a good notebook and pen.

Martha “Charlotte” Swinford, 93, died in Springfield January 17, 2022. Mrs. Swinford was the wife of the late former IBSA Executive Director Maurice Swinford and was by his side as he served in that role from 1988-93. Prior to that, she served alongside him as pastor’s wife at seven churches: Makanda, Union near Charleston, Enon in Ashmore, FBC Casey, FBC Pinckneyville, and FBC Herrin in Illinois and Bethel in Indiana. He preceded her in death in 2006. Swinford was a member of Chatham Baptist Church. She is survived by daughters, Valorie Mount, Debbie Dotson, and Laurie Goodwin; eight grandchildren; and 11 great grandchildren. Her granddaughter Marci and husband Bryan Coble are church planters in the Independence Park neighborhood of Chicago. Burial will be held at a later date at Herrin City Cemetery.

Jackson is also a bridge to IBSA’s past, having worked with Betty Walker, IBSA’s longest serving staff member at 42 years. Walker held various leadership roles, starting at the Carbondale office in 1947 and concluding in Springfield in 1989. The celebration was part of an exciting few months for Jackson whose first grandchild, a boy, was born in October, followed by a granddaughter in January.

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

Send NetworkiNg items to IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org

Dupo First Baptist seeks full-time pastor. Our current pastor is retiring. Send resumé to FBC Dupo-Pastor Search Committee, 620 Godin, Dupo, IL 62239 or email to dupofbc@yahoo.com.

Grace Baptist Church in Palmyra seeks a bivocational pastor. The church was founded in 2000 in a community of 750, about 40 miles SW of Springfield. Send resumé to jallen@frontier.com or Jim Allen, 1309 Chesterfield Blacktop Road, Rockbridge IL 62081.

New Life Baptist Church of Waverly seeks a bi-vocational pastor. Submit resumè to 341 East Elm, Waverly, IL 62692. Contact Gloria Henning for more information at (217) 414-5849.

‘Who’s Your One?’ Rally March 6-7

Evangelist Johnny Hunt will be the featured speaker at the Who’s Your One? Rally at First Baptist Church O’Fallon March 6-7. The event starts Sunday evening with a worship service designed to inspire believers to spread the love of Christ through their personal evangelism efforts. The workshop on Monday morning will equip pastors and church leaders to live on mission and lead in evangelism.

– Jeremy Byrd Senior Pastor Lincoln Avenue, Jacksonville

Who’s Your One? is an evangelism strategy created by J.D. Greear, a former SBC President. The North American Mission Board developed the content, used successfully in Greear’s North Carolina church, for use across the SBC. It encourages evangelism through personal relationships, one person at a time.

Learn more and register at https://events.whosyourone.com/tour_stop/ofallon-ill/

Churches face legal issues all the time, so they need to be prepared. And when an issue arises, churches need trusted counsel.

With over 24 years of service, at all court levels, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has seen the cultural and legal trends clearly shift against the Church.

We can help your church prepare itself for these changes.

IBSA covers half of your church’s cost for the first year of membership.

Training provided by Bruce Kugler

The Fullness of the Holy Spirit Overcoming Temptation

The Blood of Jesus Christ

Armor of God

Holy Angels

The Believer's Three Enemies

Satan and his Fallen Angels

Authority of the Believer

How Demons Affect the Believer

Activities of Demons

Generational Sins

Removing Demonic Strongholds

bruce.kugler@BKuglerMinistries.org

Member of the Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists (217) 891-8145

Western Oaks Baptist Church 5345 Old Jacksonville Rd. Springfield, IL 62711

(217) 698-8622

www.livingfaithbaptist.org

“My friend Bruce Kugler has prepared perhaps the best presentation of Spiritual Warfare I have seen in many years. It is not only theologically accurate but is very practical. I am enlisting Bruce to teach these truths to our pastors in India. I strongly encourage every pastor to invite Bruce to share this teaching in your church. We have a host of our people struggling with the world, the flesh, and the devil, and they urgently need help. These truths will set them free.”

– Dr. Ron Herrod, President R.H.E.M.A. International, Former First Vice President, Southern Baptist Convention

Begins: February 20th

Sunday Evenings: 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm

Length: 13 week class

$30 $50 (couple)

Training Manual Included

BRIGHTER DAY

In praise of glue guys (and girls)

Most Tuesday nights this winter, our family heads across town to watch our 6-year-old play on her first-ever basketball team. With only a handful of games under her belt so far, it’s still unclear what Lucy’s specialty is on the court. Her hands are a little small yet to dribble easily, and the lowered hoop is still too high for her and most of her teammates to reach. She’s also too polite to play aggressive defense.

Tracker

Trends from nearby and around the world.

Faith: Happy campers

Grey Matter surveyed 1,000 evangelicals on 14 aspects of their church, from worship to outreach. 74% were satisfied overall.

February 7

Edge Leadership Courses

What: Instructor-led multi-week online training in ministry leadership

Info: IBSA.org/ibsa-online-courses/

Contact: FranTrascritti@IBSA.org

VBS Training Clinics

February 26 – Chatham Church

March 12 – Logan Street, Mt. Vernon March 19 – Northside, Dixon

88%

85%

MEREDITH FLYNN

Where she does excel is on the bench—her preferred perch for most of each game. There she sits, chatting with teammates and sipping from her water bottle, usually with one leg crossed over the other. But don’t let her casual pose fool you. She keeps a close eye on the scoreboard and is often one of the first to cheer loudly when her team takes over on offense.

In basketball parlance, she’s a “glue guy,” her encouraging uncle noted recently. Players like her are focused on helping their team move forward together. They’re dedicated to the group’s progress. They help hold things together.

Can you think of a time when we needed glue guys and girls more than right now?

As divisions deepen and the pandemic drags on, their encouraging voices from the sidelines help fragmented communities stick together. In our churches, they’re like the ligaments Paul describes in Ephesians 4:16, keeping the body connected as it grows and builds itself up “by the proper working of each individual part.”

Glue guys are more concerned about the team’s progress than their own glory. They understand that a teammate’s success is theirs too because they’re working toward the same objective. I’ve recently watched one such teammate, a gifted teacher, take a backseat so others can explore their God-given talents.

When disagreements do arise, glue guys employ graciousness to help the larger group move to the other side. They defer to their teammates and choose to believe the best about each other. They don’t ignore differences of opinion, and they keep the lines of communication open. They’re often able to disarm conflict with good listening skills and humility.

Glue guys often aren’t a team’s marquee players, on the basketball court or elsewhere. But in the church, they’re issuing a vital reminder of our shared purpose and the call to love one another as Christ has loved us.

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

68% 22% 11% want less politics want more

High scorers: satisfied with sermon length satisfied with worship service length

satisfied with current level of donation appeals

85%

Culture: Church and politics

of regular attenders are fine with the political involvement of their congregation

Most evangelical churchgoers feel at home in their churches. While there may be a few changes they would like to make, churchgoers don’t see the congregation as a fixer upper in need of a complete overhaul.

Ministry: Holy dissatisfaction

People in the pews are mostly satisfied, but not so for pastors. Three-fourths want help

developing leaders fostering connections with unchurched people overcoming congregational apathy

What: Learn more about Lifeway’s VBS curriculum, get great ideas for teaching and outreach, and be inspired for summer ministry.

Info: IBSA.org/kids

Contact: JackLucas@IBSA.org

March 6-7

What: Two days of inspiration and evangelism training

Where: First Baptist Church, O’Fallon

Info: events.whosyourone.com/tour_stop/ ofallon-ill/

March 6-13

Week of Prayer and Annie

Armstrong Easter Offering

What: This offering supports SBC missionaries serving in North America. 100% of the monies collected go directly to the field for sharing the Gospel.

Info: www.AnnieArmstrong.com

Contact: KimAyers@IBSA.org for promotional materials

March 12

What: A workshop designed for the church pastor plus one discipleship-oriented church leader (Sunday school director, minister of education, etc.)

Where: IBSA Building, Springfield

Info: IBSA.org/disciplelab

Contact: TammyButler@IBSA.org

March 24

iConnect: IBSA/Pastors

Meet-Up

What: Pastors new to Illinois and pastors who want to reconnect come learn how IBSA can serve you.

Where: IBSA Building, Springfield

Contact: AubreyKrol@IBSA.org

– Aaron Earls, Lifeway Research

with Johnny Hunt

“Happiness is a state of mind. It’s just according to the way you look at things.”

– Walt Disney