Who will fill their shoes?

Missions ‘moonshot’
Midwestern Seminary to launch 100 missionaries annually for unreached people groups



Kansas City, Mo. | Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (MBTS) plans to produce 100 new missionaries annually in what President Jason Allen is calling a “missions moonshot.”

Allen announced the plan and a $2.5 million gift to fund it at the seminary’s spring convocation in January.
Allen began the service referencing President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 moonshot address to rally the American people to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. The term ‘moonshot,’ Allen explained, is shorthand for a goal that is so daunting and ambitious that it requires a special, collective effort of sacrifice and determination.
Midwestern aims to produce each year 100 individuals who are committed to overseas service to unreached or underreached people groups for a minimum commitment of two years. The initiative comes in partnership with the International Mission Board (IMB).

“What we long to see God do here in the years ahead is a deepening and expanding of our Great Commission work so that annually we can see and celebrate 100 students or graduates going out to the nations,” Allen said. “We don’t intend this number generically, but through a countable, defined, and identifiable group of men and women who are called to the nations.”
Preaching from John 10:16, Allen referenced how many consider this one of the greatest missionary verses, motivating missionaries
NATE ADAMS
The sock club
Gifts to be grateful for P. 2
TRACKER
Put students to work
If you want to keep them
P. 12
YEAR-END REPORT


It all adds up IBSA churches’ missions giving through Cooperative Program Section B

where it’s needed
The Illinois Baptist staff
Editor - Eric Reed
Graphic Designer - Kris Kell
Contributing Editor - Lisa Misner

Team Leader - Ben Jones
The general telephone number for IBSA is (217) 786-2600. For questions about subscriptions, articles, or upcoming events, contact the Illinois Baptist at (217) 391-3127 or IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org
The Illinois Baptist is seeking news from IBSA churches. E-mail us at IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org to tell us about special events and new ministry staff.

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

The BIG Baptist family album
Our Illinois mission field
Litchfield native David Baker has formed a core group and will be launching a new church plant in neighboring Hillsboro. The church is sponsored by Net Community Church in Staunton. With his wife, Alana, and their four children, David wants to reach unchurched and dechurched people with hope, and to partner with the city in service to the community.
Pray the news: Summer evangelism
IBSA camps, Lake Sallateeska and Streator (right) are looking for staff and preparing for summer ministry. Pray for the teams, workers, volunteers, and camp leaders God is preparing to serve Illinois students. Pray for salvations in every week of summer camp.

Cooperative Program at work
The International Mission Board fully supports over 3,500 missionaries serving across the globe, from the megacities of Asia to the jungles of the Amazon. This missionary doctor traveled with a team providing medical clinics and evangelism programs to a remote village in central Peru. 81 of your IMB missionaries call Illinois “home.”

Total giving by IBSA churches in 2022: $5,513,999
2022 Budget Goal: $6,200,000 2023 Goal: $6 Million
NATE ADAMSYear-round gifts
Though Illinois winters can be cold and grey, bright spots we should remember as the new year gets underway are the Christmas gifts that we can now enjoy! For example, I received several pairs of funny or unusual socks this year. Each time I pull on a new pair I smile and think about how I will explain them to anyone who notices.

I also received a fun poster comparing the highest points in each U.S. state, from 20,310-foot Denali in Alaska to 1,235-foot Charles Mound in Illinois. Each time I see it now, I think about when and with whom I might climb some of those summits, including Charles Mound.
A few faraway family and friends sent baskets of treats, or gift cards to a favorite restaurant. We are still nibbling on some of those goodies and eagerly anticipating a night out to that special restaurant.
We can enjoy gifts given at Christmas for a long time. Unfortunately, as time passes, we may also forget who gave us something, or that it was a gift at all. Recently I made the mistake of asking my wife to remind me which one of our sons gave me a gift I was really enjoying. Shaking her head and rolling her eyes, she replied, “I gave that to you. You’re welcome.”
Sometimes it’s simply the passage of time that makes us forget the source of our gifts. Or perhaps the gift wasn’t that special or useful. But I think it can also be that we don’t make special enough the moments in which significant gifts are bestowed.
For example, my parents helped fund all four of their children’s college educations. As our little sister’s college commencement approached, we realized it would be easy for us to take their sacrificial gift for granted. So, at her graduation party, we presented my parents with a sheet cake that read, “Thanks, Mom and Dad, for college.” Each of us then expressed our thanks personally, sharing what their sacrifice meant to us. Remembering that moment now allows us to live in continual gratitude for their gift.
In a sense, Christmas and Easter and Pentecost Sunday and other celebrations in our churches are “moments to remember” the great gifts we have been given in Christ. They should also motivate us to use those gifts actively and sacrificially for his glory, all the time.
God’s gifts to us are both lifelong and eternal. He graciously and generously gives salvation, his Spirit, his word, his faithfulness and provision, deep and lasting relationships through our churches, and eternity with him in heaven. He gives us spiritual gifts to use in service to one another and on mission to those who don’t yet know Him. Our very life and breath for each new day comes from Him.
But unless we remember, all year long, Jesus as the source of all those good gifts, we risk living our lives as if we earned or deserve those things ourselves, and as if they are ours to consume and not gifts to be shared with others.
I think we may distribute Christmas gifts differently at our house next year. Instead of having all the presents under the tree handed out to everyone all at once by a couple of eager elves, I think we will slow things down and let each gift giver hand each gift personally to each gift recipient. I think there may be something about remembering the moment in which a gift is bestowed, and the face of the person who bestows it, that will help us remember the giver, and to use the gift all year long with a more grateful heart.
Nate Adams is executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association. Respond at IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org.

Taking time to remember the gift and the giver.
From the front: UUPG missions launch
Continued from page 1
such as David Brainerd, William Carey, and David Livingstone.
“We look at John 10:16 not only to motivate us for the nations, but also to embolden us with confidence for our work,” Allen said. Allen said this is the right moment for a denominational call to the nations that would eclipse all other distractions that might hold Southern Baptists back.
The gift was given anonymously by one couple in honor of layman and seminary trustee Wayne Lee.
“I’m overjoyed by this announcement of their ‘missions moonshot,’ and this timely expansion of their Great Commission vision,” IMB President Paul Chitwood said. The Lord’s provision of financial support, strategic academic programs, rigorous overseas opportunities, and gospel-minded leadership at Midwestern Seminary makes achieving this bold goal possible—and even more.”
IMB partners with MBTS and its Spurgeon College to send students overseas for a summer after completing a year of study in missions. With a growing emphasis on missions worldwide, the school has students from 63 countries.
“God has given us a reach far beyond what we could have dreamed 10 years ago,” Allen said, referring to the time of his arrival as president, “a reach that must be maximized for the sake of the gospel.”
IBSA camps prepare for summer
Streator seeks staff and volunteers



Despite the current weather forecast, summer is coming soon. Streator Baptist Camp is seeking staff members to serve during the busy season that will see hundreds of children and teens enjoy multiple weeks of disciple-making camps.

“We are prayerfully seeking workers to serve alongside us as we show the love of Jesus through camp ministry,” Streator Camp Manager Jacob Kimbrough said.
Summer workers are needed for ten weeks, beginning May 26. These paid positions will assist with recreation for visiting groups, facilities care, meal preparation, and more. The positions are for a five-day week, except for a few occasions when church groups are booked on a weekend.
Camp Cook will manage food service for groups of 30 to 150, organize kitchen staff, and keep the dining service running on schedule. Candidates must have a state food service manager’s license or obtain one before June. “We’re looking for someone who is kind and welcoming to our guests,” Kimbrough said. He’s also looking for a self-starter in this position.
Active SBC church membership is required for all staff. Candidates must pass a background check and take Ministry Safe Training on their first day of employment. Housing and meals are provided for summer staff.

New state DR director named
Arnold Ramage joined the IBSA staff as State Director of Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief in January. He will organize the work of volunteer teams on callouts, along with current Assistant State Directors Harold Booze, Dennis Felix, and John Lindeman. “Serving as director affords me the opportunity to share my enthusiasm and desire to help survivors during the worst days of their lives,” he said.
Ramage has served as DR chaplain and leads training for new DR workers. Ramage and his wife, Paula, have served in DR since their first callout when Hurricane Harvey hit East Texas in 2017.
“Disaster Relief volunteers are often asked why we wear yellow shirts from doorstep to doorstep, meaning from the time we leave home until we return,” Ramage said.
“On our most recent callout to Port Charlotte, Florida, our team stopped at a Love’s Truck Stop for fuel and refreshments.
Upon exiting our van, I noticed one of our volunteers in conversation with a lady. They were praying.
“After the lady returned to her car, our volunteer said the lady asked to pray for our team. If we had not worn yellow, this opportunity to witness our faith would not have existed.”
Retired from business leadership, Ramage is a member of Second Baptist Church of Marion.

In addition to the paid workers, Kimbrough said the camp would welcome longterm volunteers to work alongside kitchen staff, assist recreation, and facilities upkeep all summer. He also has short-term volunteer openings for one-to-five weeks in June and July.
Contact JacobKimbrough@IBSA.org
More information and applications are posted at StreatorBaptistCamp.org

In addition to the preparations at Streator, Lake Sallateeska Baptist Camp is leaning into summer ministry with multiple weeks of camps for children and teens. The theme for Summer 2023 is “I am a follower.” The full schedule and online registration for camp weeks at both IBSA facilities is available at IBSA.org/ministry-resources/kids/.
Stewart remembered
Thurman Edward Stewart, 86, died Dec. 18, 2022. A founder of Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief forty years ago, he is remembered for his service in childcare. Stewart had a bachelor’s degree, three masters, and a Ph.D. in Physics. Prior to entering Midwestern Seminary to earn a Master of Divinity, Stewart taught physics at Tenn. State University. He also served as a minister in Hettick where in 1978 he married his wife, Carol, who survives him.
Stewart was preceded in death by one daughter. He is survived by another daughter, and three grandchildren, among other relatives. Thurman and Carol were members of Lincoln Avenue Baptist Church in Jacksonville.

Where persecution grows
North Korea earned its highest-ever persecution score in the 30th World Watch List (WWL) on treatment of Christians. The score reflects increased arrests and house churches closed. Arrest usually means execution or life in prison facing starvation, torture, and sexual violence.

Escaped prisoner Timothy Cho said the regime’s “aim is to wipe out every Christian in the country.”
North Korea is followed by Somalia, Yemen, Eritrea, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Sudan, and India. Five of the countries are in Africa due to rise in Islamic terror. “The whole region is heading into catastrophe,” WWL reported.
Christians lead Congress
The percentage of Christians in the 118th U.S. Congress is almost unchanged since the 1970s, in sharp contrast to the decline in American adults who identify as Christian. Of 534 members, 469 say they are Christian. That’s 91%, compared to 63% of the general population.
There are 303 Protestants and 148 Catholics; 9 are Mormon, 8 Orthodox, 33 Jewish, 13 other, and 20 don’t know or refused to answer. Among the Protestants, 67 identified as Baptist, and Baptist Press reported 20 of them were SBC, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy who is a member of Valley Baptist Church in Bakersfield, Calif.
Law expands abortion licensure

Springfield | In the final minutes of the Illinois General Assembly session ending January 10, lawmakers in both House and Senate approved regulation changes to expand licensure for abortion practitioners.
House Bill 4664 allows registered nurses and physicians assistants to perform non-anesthesia abortions. A physician will not need to be present, as Illinois Right to Life pointed out. It also allows health care providers to retain their Illinois medical licenses despite having their licenses revoked in another state for performing a procedure that is legal in Illinois.
The legislation, which IRL Executive Director Mary Kate Zander called “horrific and sweeping,” also limits legal action against “healthcare professionals and medical institutions for the wrongful death of a person caused by a botched abortion, as long as the abortion was legal and consensual,” she said.
IRL Assistant Legislative Chair Molly Malone, who was in the capitol hallways while legislators were debating reconciliation of differences in the House and Senate versions of the bill, said the legislation will result in recruitment of staff who have performed illegal abortions in other states. “HB 4664, combined with the passage of the Reproductive Health Act and the repeal of parental notification, genuinely takes abortion to the back alley—and does so at taxpayer expense,” Malone told the Illinois Baptist
Differences in the House and Senate versions were reconciled just before the deadline and the measure went to the Governor’s desk for his signature. The final version did not include “language that directly attacked pregnancy resource centers and sidewalk counselors” or “language allocating taxpayer funding to abortions performed on women from outside the state of Illinois,” IRL reported.
Sen. Sue Rezin of Peru said the legislation as passed “allows the Governor to ignore provisions within our constitution.” She tweeted after the session ended, “Illinois has reached a point beyond being an abortion-friendly state to being a state of extreme pro-abortion laws.”
The legislation could lead to further expansion of abortion measures and limitations on the status of the fetus, Rep.
Shirt offends mall cop
A street preacher wearing a T-shirt that read “Jesus Saves” was told to remove the shirt or leave the Mall of America in Minnesota. On an earlier visit, Paul Shorro was told to stop handing out tracts because it was deemed religious soliciting. He complied with that request, but he objected when the security guard said Shorro’s shirt was offensive. The back side read “Jesus is the only way” and the word “coexist” was crossed out. “Jesus is associated with religion and it’s offending people,” the guard said. Shorro pointed out his first amendment rights. Eventually another officer intervened and Shorro was allowed to wear the shirt. A video of the encounter posted on Facebook has gone viral.

– Info from The Baptist Paper, Pew Research Center, Christian Post
Jil Tracy of Quincy warned on the House floor. “That fetus, whether born or unborn, still has rights, criminally, in this state,” Tracy said. “God help us if we remove that stipulation, but it is coming, I suspect.”
Leading cause of death worldwide
Abortions were quadruple the number deaths from infectious diseases in 2022, according to info from the World Health Organization, making 44 million abortions the top cause of death in the world. Communicable diseases killed 13 million people, cancer claimed 8 million, smoking 5 million, alcohol-related deaths 2.5 million, and AIDS 2 million. This is the fourth year in a row that abortion claimed more lives than the other top causes.
Fewer recorded after Roe decision
Fourteen states that halted or limited abortions after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade reported 125,082 fewer abortions in the second half of 2022. A 15-week abortion ban in Florida stopped 3,805 abortions, according to Susan B. Anthony Pro-life America. An Iowa law preventing abortion after sixweeks affected 1,918 abortion decisions.
Pro-life march moves to capital
March for Life Chicago has renamed itself Illinois March for Life and moved its annual march to the State Capitol in Springfield on March 21. The event’s website states as “abortions are no longer concentrated in Chicago and no longer limited to just Illinois residents” organizers wanted to move the march to where what it calls those “egregious” laws are being made. For more information visit illinois marchforlife.org.
– info from The Center Square, WorldOMeter, Christian Post
Biggerstaff charged with grooming
Mt. Vernon | A pastor from McLeansboro was arrested Jan. 5 on two counts of grooming minors for sexual purposes. Garrett Biggerstaff was charged after a four-month investigation that included seizure of his electronic devices and collection of evidence at his home. A juvenile first reported the claims to Benton police. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department led the investigation which produced evidence to support a second charge. Biggerstaff was taken into custody and booked at the Jefferson County jail in Mt. Vernon.
Biggerstaff, 28, was employed by the
Spring Garden Consolidated Community School District in Ina, but he resigned from the school position when the investigation became public in November. He was also pastor of Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Fairfield. The church suspended Biggerstaff immediately after they learned about the investigation, and he did not return to the pulpit. Following his arrest in January, Biggerstaff offered the church his resignation, which was accepted in a church business meeting Jan. 8. Biggerstaff’s first appearance in court is set for Feb. 14.
IN FOCUS
Supply chain problems
As pastors age and retire, churches are having trouble finding replacements.

The average pastor in Illinois Baptist churches is 58 years old. That age has crept up steadily over the past two decades. The result is when they retire, churches that once had a plethora of fresh candidates to succeed them are struggling to find qualified applicants. Younger people aren’t looking for ministry positions as they once did, on any rung of the pastoral ladder. So the search process gets more difficult, and lasts longer.
Here are a few numbers: About 30% of SBC churches in Mississippi are without a pastor, church planter and blogger Brandon Langley recently noted, as are 17% of churches in Louisiana. Those numbers are surprising in the Southern seed bed where the majority of Baptist pastors are sprouted. In Illinois, that number is 85 IBSA churches searching for a pastor right now, about 10%.
In Illinois, pastors stay 9.2 years, much longer than the national average, IBSA Associate Executive Director Mark Emerson said. That’s a
good thing, but the shortage of candidates still has its impact. Drawing pastors to Illinois, which doesn’t produce enough of its own, is a growing challenge, especially as other states have their own supply chain problems. And as the wave of pastors nearing retirement here grows, replacing many of them simultaneously could be tsunamic.
In 2021 Barna Research reported more pastors were over 65 than under 40. The dearth of up-and-coming pastors extends across all denominations.
Jim Allen pastored Grace Baptist Church in Palmyra for 15 years. Six months ahead of his retirement, Allen let the church know and “we put out feelers,” he said. They felt nothing. The church of 40 had seasons of effective ministry among children and teens in the remote town where the local school was their only other activity.
“I really thought God would lead some young man to come and get experience. He might not
“We believe God hasn’t stopped calling people, so we must get back to the business of calling out those he has called… including a specific time in (the) invitations for people…to surrender to the call of ministry.”

have stayed a long time, but it would have been a good start,” Allen said. “We talked with some young ones, but they were looking for something else.”
The search continued 22 months after Allen retired, with a string of supply preachers. “Some were Southern Baptist, but not many,” he said. “Some were on the fringe.”
Finally, one of the occasional substitutes said he felt called to serve the church despite its location 50 miles from his home. At 78, Douglas Peirce is not the typical pastor Grace Church might have looked for, but with experience helping rebuild several congregations, Allen says the congregation is hopeful.
Even larger churches, once considered plum opportunities, report receiving fewer resumes when the notice goes out—a lot fewer, said Emerson, who studied the pastoral search process in Illinois for his doctoral degree. “Churches that used to get many resumés, hundreds, now tell us they’re receiving twenty. And the candidates are often not experienced pastors from other churches.”
More are willing to stay put than to “move up,” even after the pandemic that has left more than three-fourths of pastors coping with smaller numbers. “We recommend that churches use a variety of resume searches,” Emerson said, including IBSA and SBC boards, “and other online boards such as churchstaffing.com.”
Even though some respondents may be from outside the denomination, everyone has to cast a wider net these days.
The shortage extends to youth ministry. First Baptist Church of Hendersonville, Tennessee, has searched for a youth pastor more than two years—unsuccessfully. Senior Associate Pastor Bruce Raley says ministry has gotten more demanding. “Struggles with gender identity, same sex attraction and issues like these were never discussed just a few years ago,” he told The Baptist Paper. Ministry in this environment may require a pastor “with more life under their belt” than many candidates in their early twenties have.
The proliferation of other positions, including family ministry, campus, and executive leadership, may lead them in other directions. Some are skipping the few years in youth ministry as a training ground, responding instead to the cry for senior pastors.
And there’s the need for church planters. Many young men are hearing the call to ministry as a call to start a new congregation, while avoiding the baggage of the existing or traditional church. Even so, the pipeline for church planters is also dribbling these days, as the North American Mission Board often points out.
Many are called, but few are answering.
New problem, old solutions
Through much of the 19th and early 20th centuries, as Protestant Christianity spread westward across the continental United States, there was a shortage of trained ministers. With most of the seminaries in the East, attracting their graduates to the rough and tumble frontier wasn’t easy. Evangelical denominations, Baptists and Methodists in particular, came up with two distinct, but practical solutions. Both of them could work today.
The Methodists pioneered the circuit rider concept. One trained pastor served several congregations, traveling on horseback from one
to another, usually spending a week with each church before moving to the next one.
As cars replaced horses and drive times grew shorter, the “yoked parish” emerged. One pastor served two or sometimes three churches, often able to preach in multiple pulpits on a single Sunday. In rural Illinois, some churches still follow this model, with an early service in one town and a late service in another, and the preacher driving between them during the Sunday School hour. In some ways, the multi-site church is a kind of yoked parish, sharing staff among two or more campuses. Sermons delivered by internet have changed the dynamic somewhat, but the net result is fewer preachers serving more churches. Craig Groschel of Life Church in Oklahoma City preaches to 45 video venues in 12 states every Sunday. After we all attended virtual church during Covid closures, it doesn’t seem so strange. Baptists were not as keen on sharing their pastor among churches. The autonomous nature of Baptist life made sharing staff and calendars and accommodations with other churches less attractive, so Baptists pioneered a different approach to the growing need for clergy: the “preacherfarmer” model.
Baptist theology with its focus on the priesthood of all believers says that anyone can study Scripture—no degree required. And with ordination resident in the local church instead of the denominational hierarchy, anyone with a sense of calling and some speaking ability could fill the pulpit.
In rural America, that was often one of the deacons who also farmed. Plowing the fields gave ample time to contemplate Sunday’s sermon, it seems. For the churches, there was the advantage of having one of their own as a pastor they didn’t have to share with anyone else. What may have been lost in education was compensated by incarnation.
The current president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Bart Barber, may be considered an example of the pastor-farmer. He has served First Baptist Church of Farmersville, Texas for 24 years. He is unlike previous generations of agrarian pulpiteers in that he has a Ph.D. in Church History and 21,000 Twitter followers.



A better example of the pastor-farmer is the bivocational pastor. Illinois is full of them.
With the average IBSA congregation at 65 in Sunday worship, and hundreds of churches in two- and three-dozen attender range, the pastor who works two jobs is a necessity—and a lifesaver. Of nearly 900 IBSA churches, 300 are served by part-time pastors who are also bankers and teachers and bus drivers and maintenance workers or partly retired. As evidenced by the 2022 Bivocational Pastor of the Year, Ron Mulvaney of Farina First Baptist Church, pastors
working somewhere else on weekdays can serve the local church effectively.
With the rising cost of health insurance and housing, more churches are turning to the bivocational pastorate. It may not be an easy decision, giving up their full-time pastorate, but it keeps a preacher in the pulpit. And it’s a workable alternative when full-time candidates—and the salaries to support them—are short.
Another alternative is raising up pastors from within the congregation.
Opportunity calling
Southern Baptists identified the urgent need to raise up a new generation of pastors in 2021. As part of the multi-point Vision 2025 plan for the convention, SBC Executive Committee CEO Ronnie Floyd urged passage of a measure to “call out the called.” Pastors and churches simply are not urging their young people to follow God’s call to ministry, missions, and church planting as they once did.
Floyd’s call may have been obscured by the sex abuse scandal and Floyd’s own resignation soon after SBC messengers approved his plan in Nashville, Tennessee. But others, even ahead of Floyd, were pouring more effort into young leaders.
A few megachurches, including Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, led by recent SBC President J. D. Greear, are raising up vocational ministers and planters from within their own congregation, and training them themselves. Many don’t head off to seminary, but they learn their church’s methods for leadership and church planting. Even so, the numbers produced by these “teaching” churches aren’t making up the deficit. The importance of mentoring and developing church volunteers as part of the solution to the pastoral leadership shortage shouldn’t be missed.
As volunteer leaders grow in godly character and abilities while they serve in church ministries, some will recognize that God has called them to vocational ministry.

In their book Calling out the Called, authors Scott Pace and Shane Pruitt point to this reality. “A primary element in discerning a call to ministry involves discovering spiritual passions and gifts through service opportunities. As people explore, exercise, and employ their spiritual gifts, they may also discern God’s calling on their lives to serve in a similar vocational capacity.”
Simply put, investing in current servants will lead to more pastors and ministry staff being called out. Intentional, practical mentoring works. But it takes time and personal investment by current leaders before their time runs out.
illinois leadership summit
Bring someone with you
What happens when church leaders encourage mentoring relationships with their team members

Springfield | If the church is going to have leaders tomorrow, it’s going to take a new wave of mentoring from existing leadership today. This reality drove organizers of the 2023 Illinois Leadership Summit (ILS) to ask those coming to the annual event, “Which younger leader will you bring with you?”
The evidence that many pastors took that challenge to heart could be seen across the crowd gathered at the IBSA Building in Springfield Jan. 17-18. The two-day event featured 12 breakout sessions led by church pastors and staff, as well as four plenary sessions. This year’s featured speaker was Rodney Harrison, President of Baptist Homes and Healthcare Ministries, and former Dean of Doctoral studies at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Harrison recently led Hannibal LaGrange University through a significant transition that many credited with saving the Missouri Baptist college.
Many attenders were there for the first time, thanks to an invitation extended by a mentor. At 19, Irina Yeakley may have been one of the youngest leaders in the room. She was initially invited by IBSA Leadership Development Director Carmen Halsey, and came with several leaders from Tabernacle Church in Decatur. Yeakley says she feels called to the mission field, specifically Eastern Europe.
Contrary to common impressions, rising young leaders from both Millennial and Gen Z desire to learn from older generations. However, according to a 2019 Regent University study, the high value these generations place on relational transparency, compassion, and difference-making means the mentoring relationship may need to look different than in the past. Simply giving them a book to read or placing them on a committee won’t keep them involved. They need more intentionality and availability.
Who’s asking?
Church leadership expert Mac Lake says, “One of the biggest factors in getting new people into leadership is their relationship with the person making the ask.” Mentoring, developing relationships, and intentionally investing in people, makes all the difference.
Josiah Nichols’s path toward leadership looks different than Yeakley’s, but mentorship is also playing an important role.
TEACHING FOR TOMORROW — In a packed 24 hours over two days, about 200 pastors, leaders, and potential leaders worshipped and learned in multiple sessions. (Top) Justin Falloon of FBC Bethalto and Kyle Avripas of Redemption Church in Johnston City led worship.

Yeakley was born in Russia but has lived her entire life in Central Illinois with her adopted family. She has experienced mentoring both at her home church and with Halsey through connections she gained by serving as an IBSA intern last summer. She came with an open heart and a desire to listen and learn.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Yeakly said. “It said leadership, and I know I’ll be doing that (as a missionary). I have been doing it, but I honestly know I need more knowledge and understanding, especially from people with experience and who have seen God work in their lives and other people’s lives around them. So, I just came to grow.”
(Bottom left) The team from Alpha Church in Bolingbrook, (l-r) Tigelique Woods, Alexander Cooper, Jason Powell, Olajide Odelana, was invited by their pastor, Bruce Kirk

(Bottom right) Three pastors and a panelist addressed mentoring dynamics: Pastor Paul Cooper of Marshall Baptist Church, Pastor Doug Munton of FBC O’Fallon, plenary speaker Rodney Harrison, and Tommy Thompson of Ashburn Baptist in Orland Park.

Pastors such as First Baptist O’Fallon’s Doug Munton recognize this. Asked what his church is doing to develop their next leaders, Munton pointed to the importance of engaging young leader through small group accountability.
“The younger generation isn’t just going to go to meetings because you have meetings,” he said during a panel discussion while advocating connecting young people with ministry responsibility and gathering them with purpose.
“We need each other,” Munton said. “The young guys need us, and the old guys need them.”
Munton’s point is well made as the median age for pastors in Illinois has increased from 44 in 1992 to 57 in 2022. Doing the hard work of mentoring the next generation of leaders is essential.
As a young man he was passionate about the Bible. This passion led him to pursue biblical education. He published a few books on how to read the Bible and apply it to important issues. That same passion eventually led to pastoral leadership at a rural non-denominational church. After two rocky pastorates, Nichols needed a safe place to grow in ministry. That’s when he met pastor Dwight McDaniel of Highland Avenue Baptist Church in Robinson. McDaniel said to the young man, “Please come here, we’ll take care of you.”
“Here at (Highland Ave.), my family has been loved and nurtured,” Nichols said. “The pastor has taken me under his wing, and I’ve seen his process. This is what I’ve wanted this whole time. And he’s really been a good mentor to me, kind of like a father figure in my life.”
“I need more knowledge and understanding…. I just came to grow.”
Out of his relationship with McDaniel, Nichols learned about ILS. “It’s been a healing conference, to know that conflict shows up at times in every church… It’s comforting to know that and how to have some pointers on how to deal with that conflict a little bit wiser in the future.”
Mentorship is vital to calling out the next generation of missionaries and pastors, but it’s also an important part of raising up new leaders in every area of church life.
Pastor Bruce Kirk of Alpha Baptist in Bolingbrook brought four younger leaders with him. Some are long-time volunteer leaders; others are growing disciples with leadership potential.
Kirk said he has recently doubled down on investing in future leaders at Alpha. The pastor said he knows that potential leaders are sometimes identified by their faithfulness, and at other times by their availability.
Multiplying leaders, such as Kirk,
seek to invest in both.
Kirk’s team of developing leaders from the Chicago suburbs left with a clear impression to keep the main things central. Alexander Cooper emphasized the necessity to focus on growing in godly character and skills throughout life and letting God determine the leadership role.
The Summit “reminded me that leadership is a lifetime thing,” he said.
“It’s not even just being in a position of leadership, but a life thing,” Cooper said.
“Prayer, Bible study, application, fasting,” teacher and trustee Jason Powell identified. “You keep the main things, the main things, you don’t seem to go off track. And unfortunately, I heard it said more than once, people go off track…. So how do you make it 25, 40 years in the faith? Man, you got to keep those things. You got to stay grounded. And so, I was reinspired to stay grounded.”
That challenge issued to those registered for the Summit early on, “Who will you bring with you?” was answered. But it’s about more than bringing someone to a leadership training event. That question needs to be asked every day by every church leader. And applied to the leader’s life.
Or as panelist Paul Cooper, Pastor of Marshall Baptist Church, put it, “You only have one life. Are you going to spend it all investing in yourself or invest it in things that will live on beyond you?”
The ILS is held in rotation with the biennial Midwest Leadership Summit which brings together about 1,000 church leaders from nine midwestern Baptist state conventions for three days of intensive training.
The MLS returns to Springfield in January 2024.
3 upcoming events for leaders
Springfield | Pastors and church leaders have an abundance of opportunities for refreshing and leadership training over the next few months from IBSA and the North American Mission Board (NAMB).


Revive 23
It all begins with Revive 23 March 17-18 featuring Mark Clifton and Richard Blackaby at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Mt. Vernon. Clifton is a pastor and senior director of replanting for NAMB, which is co-sponsor of the event. Blackaby is an author, president of the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary, and the oldest son of Henry and Marilyn Blackaby.
Breakout leaders will include Bob Bickford, NAMB Replant Director; Frank Lewis, Revitalization Pastor, Tusculum Hills Baptist Church, Nashville, Tenn.; Joseph Crider, Church Music and Worship Dean and Professor, Southwestern Seminary; and JimBo Stewart, a church replanting expert for NAMB.
IBSA Health Team Leader Scott Foshie said the free summit will “encourage pastors and church leaders while rekindling and refreshing their visions for their ministries and churches.” For more information and to register, visit www. IBSA.org/revive23.
Priority Conference
This year’s Priority Conference promises to develop steadfast followers of Christ, according to IBSA Leadership Development Director Carmen Halsey. “We want to create true followers of Christ who won’t walk away when hard times come,” she said. “Those who cultivate the opportunities with what God is doing in your life.”
Keynote speakers are Dewayne Taylor, Kathy Litton, and Christi Gibson. Taylor is an Illinois Baptist pastor who just celebrated 40 years in the ministry, a 12-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force,
Watch session videos at IBSA.org/ils23
and author of the blog, “Grits with Grace.” Litton is director of NAMB’s Planting Spouse Development and wife of Ed Litton, pastor of Redemption Church in Mobile, Ala. Gibson is a storyteller and teacher who served 30 years in New Orleans. Now widowed, she serves while traveling in a camper van she named Amazing Grace.
The cost is $50 per participant, $25 for the Leadership Breakfast (optional), $15 for the Ministers’ Wives Luncheon (optional). To register or find out more, visit www.IBSA.org/priority.
Ignite Evangelism Conference
Summersville Baptist Church in Mt. Vernon is hosting the first Ignite Evangelism Conference of the year April 30-May 1 featuring John Reed, President of Georgia Baptist Evangelists, and Scott Harris, IBSA Mission Team Leader and Director of Evangelism.
IBSA Church Planting Director Kevin Jones will help lead breakout sessions.
Harris said the conference will “focus on calling out the church to pray for the lost and asking the Spirit of God to help them make an impact for the Gospel.”
The free event will start Sunday at 6 p.m. and includes Monday morning sessions ending with a grab-and-go boxed lunch at noon.
Keep watching www.IBSA.org for more details, registration information, and for additional Ignite Evangelism Conference dates.
GROWING
MEET THE TEAM
Time alone with God
Does your devotional life measure up?

Hometown: Greeneville, Tenn., also the home of President Andrew Johnson (Lincoln’s VP)
Family deets: My wife, Audra, and I met in college while singing in a jazz group together. Married 21 years, we have three children, ages 11 to 16.
Education: Bachelor of Music Ed. from East Tenn. State U., Master of Theological Studies from Midwestern Seminary, M. Div. and D. Min. from Southern Baptist School for Biblical Studies
Ministry background: Worship, youth, evangelism, and education; then as lead pastor at Steeleville Baptist and Associational Missionary for Nine Mile Baptist Association.

Life verse: “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me” (John 15:5).
My favorite Bible person: Daniel. He confronted some very lost, wayward people who needed God while never failing to treat them with love and respect.
Illinois discovery: Overlooking the Mississippi River from Fort Kaskaskia. (The Popeye statues and museum are in nearby Chester.)
Ice cream of choice: Strawberry Cheesecake or Salted Caramel
Authors: Henry & Richard Blackaby
Character: Jack Ryan in the movies based on Tom Clancy novels.
A quote I find myself saying often: Nate Adams shared this from former Lifeway CEO Jimmy Draper. “What are you doing today to serve the churches?” It is a perfect reminder as we serve IBSA churches.
Early in the year when many people have started new Bible reading plans and devotional routines, it’s a good time to ask if we’re accomplishing a larger goal: time alone with God. A new Lifeway Research survey shows a majority of Protestant churchgoers spend time alone with God at least daily, but there’s a range in what they do in that time and which resources they use.
In a survey of 1,002 people who attend church at least once per month, 65% intentionally reserve time alone with God every day— 44% saying daily and 21% saying more than once a day.
“We see a pattern in Scripture of followers of God withdrawing to spend time alone with Him. Jesus Christ Himself also did this,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research.
“Most Protestant churchgoers continue this relational interaction with God and use a variety of resources as they do.”
This time looks different for different churchgoers, but they are more likely to talk to God through prayer than to listen to him through his Word. Churchgoers most often pray in their own words (83%), thank God (80%), praise God (62%) or confess sins (49%).
Noteworthy, however, is that fewer than 2-in-5 said they read from the Bible or a devotional (39%).
When it comes to spending time alone with God, females are more likely than males to say this is a daily habit for them (49% compared to 38%).
Southerners are more likely to report daily alone time (49%) that in other regions. And Baptists are most likely to say they have more than one alone time per day (25%).
When spending time alone with God, some prefer to pray in their own words, while others would rather repeat a set prayer.
Younger churchgoers are more likely to prefer reading prayers, while older people would rather pray in their own words. Generally, about one-third use written prayers (31% of those ages 18-34, for example) while two-thirds or
more prefer to use their own words (highest among people over 65 at 89%).
“There are many reasons to pray a set prayer. Whether someone is praying the model prayer Jesus gave or repeating the same request to God each day, these can be meaningful,” McConnell said. “At the same time, Scripture also records Psalms and prayers within its narrative accounts that show how personal and forthright we can be when talking to God in our own words.”
Women (86%) are more likely than men (79%) to pray in their own words. And those in the South (86%) are more likely to pray in their own words than those in the Northeast (77%).
“An earlier discipleship study from Lifeway Research showed that praising and thanking God is one of the top five predictors of high spiritual maturity,” McConnell said. “This is a widespread practice among churchgoers when they are alone with God.”
The youngest adult churchgoers (ages 18-34) are the most likely to read Scripture from an app (40%) and the least likely to read from a devotional book that prints some Scripture (21%). “Today’s Christians have more resources than ever to aid them,” McConnell said. “But there is also a strong relationship between spending time alone with God’s Word and worshiping frequently with others who may encourage you in your walk with God.”
“This microphone is defective. My congregation is only hearing what they want to hear.”
bus rolls again
How you start often affects where you end up. For instance, if you’re going to Detroit from Chicago, you start by heading east on I-94, not going south on I-65. So at the start of the year, I pull away from social media (focus), I “turn down” my plate (fast), and I get intentional about spending quality time in the Lord’s presence (fellowship).
This habit has carried over to my work as prayer coordinator for Chicagoland Baptists. We began hosting a prayer conference each January that after five years became the CMBA Prayer Bus Tour. The tour rolls again in February.


Intercession is often described as “love on its knees,” which will be our theme. We will pray on-site with insight as we visit urban and suburban churches, culturally diverse churches, church plants, and established churches.
It’s an opportunity to see God at work in different churches. It’s a chance to hear the heart and prayer needs of pastors serving those congregations. And it’s an occasion for us to go on mission. Not only do we pray on site (in the church), but we also pray enroute (on the bus).
As prayer missionaries, we are prompted to pray for communities by the things we see and hear as we travel.
Serving as tour guide on the bus, I facilitate prayer using tools like the Chicago Neighborhood Prayer Guide (2014) and Neighborhood Mapping (2014) by Dr. John Fuder of Moody Bible Institute to pray with keener insight about the
neighborhoods in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs.
During the I-55 Prayer Bus Tour in 2020, the song Waymaker (Sinach, 2015) served as our inspiration and praise. We sang it in English at Alpha Baptist, in Spanish at Cristo Del Rey, both in Bolingbrook. In Romeoville, we knelt in prayer at the altar while the song was playing in the background at Love Fellowship. We rejoiced with youthful enthusiasm in University Village with college students and other members at Immanuel Baptist.
In addition to praying for I-55 commuters, we prayed for the salvation of scientists, administrators, and post graduate students at Argonne National Labs, where I’d recently completed a temporary project assignment, so I could share firsthand insight into the challenges they faced.
As the bus came down off the raised highway structure of I-55, when approaching Chicago, we





saw people in homeless encampments under the highways where precious ones were living in boxes, sleeping bags, and some tents. We began to pray. One of our prayer missionaries that year was a regional director of MomsIn-Prayer Int’l. She saw children and began to share with us the plight of children in homeless and unhoused situations, as relates to health, school, self-worth, and trauma. We began to pray anew.
This year the Chicagoland Baptists Prayer Bus Tour takes place on Saturday, February 25, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. We begin at The Peoples Community Church in Glen Ellyn (Pastor James Shannon), then to go Baptist Church of Schaumburg (Pastor Andrew Kim). We will enjoy a sack lunch as we travel to Elmwood Park Community Church (Planter Sean Stevenson) and end our day in the city praying at Real Church Chicago (Pastor Nate Brown). There is no charge, lunch and parking are free. If you’re interested in traveling to Chicagoland from other areas in Illinois, I can direct you to our host hotel.




Cheryl Dorsey is prayer coordinator for Chicagoland Baptists, and for Beacon Hill Missionary Baptist Church where she serves with her husband, Pastor Rick. For registration information, contact Cheryl@chicagobaptists.com.


NeTworkiNg
Send NetworkiNg items to IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org
Rosiclare First Baptist Church seeks bivocational pastor with good biblical knowledge and desire to see the church grow. Send resumé to courtm82@gmail. com or to Wendell Robinson, P.O. Box 8, 201 Charles St., Rosiclare, IL 62982.
First Baptist Church of Dupo seeks church secretary. Contact Pastor Matthew Pinckard, fbcdupo@htc.net, or write to 620 Godin Avenue, Dupo, IL 62239.
New Life Baptist Church of Waverly seeks highly motivated bi-vocational preacher. Must have knowledge of the Bible and be willing to share it with others. Help grow our church and have a desire to serve God. Send resumé to 341 East Elm, Waverly, IL 62692.
Herod Springs Baptist Church seeks bivocational pastor with good biblical knowledge. Send resumé to Linda Banks, 315 Karbers Ridge Rd., Herod, IL. 62947.
WELCOME
Darrick Holloman comes to First Baptist Church of West Frankfort after two pastorates in Kentucky—Calvary, Princeton and High Point, Mayfield. Holloman holds a bachelor’s degree from Boyce College and is completing a masters in Biblical Counseling from Midwestern Seminary. Holloman and his wife, Katherine, have four children.

Douglas Peirce has been called as pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Palmyra. At age 50, Peirce was called to full-time ministry, sold his civil engineering firm, and went to seminary. After ten years as an associate pastor in Indiana, Peirce focused on helping small churches rebuild their ministries, serving in Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado, before coming to Illinois. Peirce holds three doctorates. He is married to Ruth.
John Truax is the new pastor of Charity Baptist Church in Carlinville. He comes from Cross Church where he was Mobilization Pastor and Pastor of the Staunton campus. He previously served churches in Collinsville and Okinawa, Japan. Truax holds three degrees from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. He is married to Gretchen. They have four children.
Mulvaney is Bivocational Pastor of the Year
Ron Mulvaney was honored as the 2022 Bivocational Pastor of the Year at his church, Farina First Southern Baptist, Jan. 8. That was the second time he was recognized, because during the first announcement at the IBSA Pastors Conference in November, Mulvaney was at work—at his other job. He works full-time in facilities maintenance at a nursing home and assisted living center.
IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams presented the honor to Mulvaney in person in the church’s Sunday morning service. Around 60 people stayed afterward for a luncheon fellowship, including many of the pastor’s family members. Mulvaney and his wife, Delaine, have two sons in ministry: Jeremy serves as Minister of Youth and Music at FBC Altamont, and Ryan serves as Children’s Pastor at Immanuel Baptist Church of Benton.
Mulvaney has served as pastor of Farina FSBC since August 2012. He is among 300 pastors in IBSA churches who hold secular jobs, either full-time or part-time, in order to serve their churches. That’s about 4-in-10 IBSA pastors.
The annual award recognizes the unique challenges of bivocational ministry and honors those who serve sacrificially. Candidates for the award are submitted by Associational Mission Strategists (AMS) from local Baptist Associations and the chosen pastor is announced each November at the
IBSA Pastors Conference.
AMS Joe Lawson of Louisville Baptist Association nominated Lawson for the honor. “Ron is a faithful servant of the Lord as a Bible teacher, shepherd, and leader,” Lawson said. “He consistently challenges his church to share the gospel.”

After all, that’s what Mulvaney does on his job— his other job. During the pandemic, he began leading daily devotions over the intercom, and residents requested that he lead their chapel service once a month. “God has blessed the services with good attendance from staff and residents,” he said.
The 2023 Bivocational Pastor of the Year will be named at the IBSA Pastors Conference Nov. 8 at Cornerstone Church in Marion.

Carruthers retires from Sandy Creek
Bob Carruthers retired at year’s end after 23 years as Associational Mission Strategist for Sandy Creek Baptist Association. Carruthers came to the role in 1999 after serving five churches as pastor. Four of them were in Illinois: Emmanuel Baptist Church in Cairo, Fairview in Creal Springs, South Muddy in Newton, and Northside in Fairfield. He is a graduate of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Carruthers cited develop-
CLASSIFIED AD
First Baptist Church of Lake St. Louis, Missouri (fbclsl.org) is seeking a full-time Senior Pastor to lead a growing, motivated, and multi-generational church. We are in a highly residential area, which is in the top 25 fastest growing areas in the country. Send resumé, cover letter, and sermon links to pastorsearchfbclsl@gmail. com.
ment of pastors and servants for the churches and the completion of four major building projects at the Sandy Creek Retreat Center as highlights of his associational ministry. “We are very much appreciative to leave the association with no debt for these projects,” he said.
Both Carruthers and his wife, Melissa, have served in elected leadership with IBSA. They have three adult children and four grandchildren.

Woodman’s 10th celebrated
Motorcycle enthusiast
Cliff Woodman marked ten years as pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Carlinville in January. The church honored Woodman and his wife, Lisa, with a reception and an appropriately decorated cake.

IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams was on hand to present a plaque to the pastor during the church’s worship service Jan. 15. Woodman also serves as an IBSA Zone Consultant, serving pastors, churches, and associations in his area.
Woodman also led the SBC’s Bivocational and Small Church Leadership Network.

BRIGHTER DAY
In praise of a true team player
The last time I saw Thurman Stewart was at the IBSA Annual Meeting last fall. He and his wife, Carol, were there as part of the contingent of volunteers who serve every year, dressed in their yellow Disaster Relief garb caring for the children of Illinois Baptists who come to the meeting. Thurman died Dec. 18, leaving behind a legacy of service that far transcends the decade I knew him.
Several years ago, I wrote an Illinois Baptist column about the Stewarts asking “who’s going to fill their shoes?”
The point was that they and others like them have long filled behind-the-scenes roles that serve as the backbone to more public ministry. The Stewarts helped establish Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief years ago and spearheaded its childcare arm during disasters here and in other states. Their ministry often found them caring for kids while their parents filled out paperwork and started picking up the pieces after a storm.
That Thurman’s volunteer ministry lasted decades is especially unusual in our increasingly transient times. If you follow college football, you saw references recently to the “transfer portal.” This process by which players move from school to school has gotten easier in the last few years because they no longer have to sit out a year before suiting up for a new team.
Some commentators have said, though, that the ease of the transfer portal gives players too easy an out when things are difficult. Others think it will result in a system of free agency usually reserved for professional athletes. People differ on whether more financial empowerment for college players is a positive or negative, but no matter what side you’re on, it’s not a stretch to say that a free agent system lessens emphasis on the team as a whole. And the ability to move with ease from program to program lowers the chance of establishing anything lasting.
Not so for Thurman Stewart. He was a team player who stayed with his position.
Thurman often took time to report on the activity of Disaster Relief volunteers. He noted the longevity of the ministry in Illinois, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary. He and others like him understood the value of sticking to a higher purpose, even as the culture shifts and modifications to ministry are needed.
For our children, it’s very good example. For us in middle age, it’s an encouraging precedent. For all of us, it’s a legacy worth celebrating.
Meredith Day Flynn is a wife and mother of two living in Springfield. She writes on the intersection of faith, family, and current culture.
Tracker
Trends from nearby and around the world
Social media: Build your tribe

Church members can become the “gatekeepers of truth” for your congregation, since the trend in social media is away from reliance on institutions,and toward collectives of regular people. It’s getting hard to find reliable information “without going through someone who communicates from a tribalistic frame of mind,” writes Austin Gravely, who serves as deacon of social media for his Texas church.
“Training our congregants to use social media well includes teaching, but modeling and displaying the fruit of the Spirit online is even more important…. Pastors can help form their people into the image of Christ, and not into the image of partisan tribalists.”
Gravely says big changes are coming in social media, so now is the time for churches to watch, experiment, and regroup. We should “take things more seriously…and get in front of change instead of lagging behind.”
The shift from words on screens to short-form videos is one example.
– Baptist Press
Student ministry: Goodbye pizza, hello missions

Youth ministries must shift from molding students as “consumers of Christian content” to involving them as “participants in the gospel mission,” David Kinnaman of Barna Research told Awana leaders. Creating consumers is one reason young adults leave church after graduation. To renew student ministry, he advocates
• honest and objective evaluations of the impact we are making, • being in tune with the flourishing of those we serve and disciple,
• relying more on the Lord’s power than merely on our own smarts, and
• focusing on open hearts before the Lord, both our own and households we serve.
Helping students understand their gifts and motivations will engage them in “the kind of life on mission we all aspire to.”
– Christian Post
EVENTS
March 1, 15
Multiply Illinois
What: Church Planting Regional HUBs
Central Illinois: 3/1 - New City Church, Champaign;
Metro East: 3/15 - The Heights Church, Collinsville
Contact: KevinJones@IBSA.org or PaulWestbrook@IBSA.org
March 5-12
Annie Armstrong Easter

Offering for North American Missions and Week of Prayer

Contact: LisaHarbaugh@IBSA.org
Info: AnnieArmstrong.com
March 17-18
Revive 23
Featuring: Mark Clifton and Richard Blackaby
Where: Pleasant Hill Baptist, Mt. Vernon
Contact: IBSA.org/revive23
Ignite Evangelism Conference
4/2-3 Chicago, Church TBD
4/30-5/1 Mt. Vernon, Summerville Church
Contact: ScottHarris@IBSA.org
April 14-15
D-Now Weekend (students)
Where: Streator Baptist Camp, Streator
Contact: JackLucas@IBSA.org
April 15
Disaster Relief Training and 40th Anniversary Celebration
Where: Emmanuel, Carlinville
Contact: LisaHarbaugh@IBSA.org
Info: IBSA.org/dr
April 28-29
Priority Women’s Conference
Where: Bank of Springfield Center, Springfield
Cost: $50 per participant, $25 Leadership Breakfast (optional), $15 Ministers’ Wives Luncheon (optional)
Info: IBSA.org/priority
Bring your team to the VBS Clinic
Breakouts for directors, crafts, music, children, and preschool.
2/25 Chatham Baptist Church, Chatham
3/11 Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, Mt. Vernon Contact TammyButler@IBSA.org
3/25 Brainard Ave Baptist Church, Countryside