July 1, 2023 Illinois Baptist

Illinois Baptist

SBC Presidency Landslide win for Barber

2-1 margin says much about future direction

New Orleans | Before the convention started, few people were making predictions about the outcome of the presidential election. Certainly the word “landslide” was not in the ether, because so many things about the annual gathering were uncertain— starting with the presidency.

Incumbent Bart Barber was being challenged after serving only the first year of a customary two terms in office, a rare move. “He is not owed a second term, but he has more than earned it,” Barber’s nominator said in his short speech before the election. Pastor Jarrett Stevens of Houston listed a string of recent SBC accomplishments including aggressive confrontation of sexual abuse, and Barber’s noteworthy 60 Minutes interview in his first term.

PLUS: ‘Why I’m proud of my family’ by Nate Adams. P. 2

Heath Tibbetts Table Talk

The Illinois Baptist staff

Editor - Eric Reed

Graphic Designer - Kris Kell

Contributing Editor - Lisa Misner

Comm. Coordinator - Nic Cook

Team Leader - Ben Jones

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The BIG Baptist family album

Our Illinois mission field

Redeemer South in Rockford launched in April and is already reaching 70 children every week. The new church will be meeting in a facility just donated to them in the central part of the city, which is their target area. Planter Matt Joiner is a Channahon native. He and his wife, Erin, have two daughters. Matt has an M.Div. from Southern Seminary and is working on a doctorate in Biblical Counseling. He asks for wisdom adapting the facility and reaching the unreached of Rockford.

Pray the news: EC President Search

The new search committee charged with nominating a candidate for SBC Executive Committee President and CEO was elected May 1. The group began meeting right away. The nominee presented by the previous committee was turned down by the trustees, so the EC has had interim leadership since October 2021.

Your CP Offerings at work

Serve Tour Chicago is Aug. 4-5. Churches from all over will pay their own expenses, but Cooperative Program supports the work of missionaries and church planters organizing the event. The group pictured here served through community events in Montgomery, Ala. in March.

Total giving by IBSA churches as of 5/31/23 $2,269,803

2023 Budget Goal to date: $2,365,769

2023 Goal: $6 Million

NATE ADAMS

Proud of my family

Most of us learn over time that it’s possible to be proud of your family without necessarily being proud of everything every family member does. That’s one way to describe how I feel about my Southern Baptist family as I reflect on the 2023 Southern Baptist Convention I just attended.

Almost 13,000 messengers from all over North America attended this year’s SBC, plus more than six thousand guests and exhibitors. Streets, buses, hallways, and meeting rooms were full, and the heat and humidity of June in New Orleans lived up to its reputation. More to the point, some of the issues messengers were asked to consider this year were susceptible to misunderstandings or sincere differences of opinion.

Even a close family placed in those conditions is bound to make a few mistakes and step on one another’s toes. And I saw that happen both figuratively and literally. There were times I found myself embarrassed at the behavior of a few thoughtless or immature family members.

Still, I left the meeting proud of my family. The proceedings of the convention were handled with Christian grace and civility, following the encouragement and example of President Bart Barber. More messengers spoke from the floor this year than in any annual meeting I can remember, bringing multiple motions, amendments, and questions. Yet all received due process and were treated with consistent fairness. It was refreshing to see so much of the convention’s input and direction come from the floor and not just the platform.

I was also proud of my family because they faced into some important and challenging issues. The serious work of convention-wide sex abuse prevention was affirmed and continued, while stepping back from partnership with controversial Guidepost Solutions. The appeals of three churches deemed not in friendly cooperation with the SBC were respectfully heard yet denied, including an appeal from Saddleback Church, formerly one of the SBC’s largest. The Baptist Faith and Message (2000) doctrinal statement on the office of pastor being reserved for men was clarified and supported in multiple ways.

Task forces to further study issues of considerable concern were created. Even President Barber was challenged for reelection, breaking the tradition of recent years. Yet, civility and decorum prevailed.

Perhaps most important, I was proud of my family because Great Commission business remained the main business. While messengers carefully and democratically addressed many challenging issues, 79 new international missionaries were celebrated. Six SBC seminaries delivered encouraging reports about the ministers and missionaries being prepared for today’s and tomorrow’s churches. The ministries of thousands of chaplains, church planters, disaster relief volunteers, and many others were celebrated. And a nationwide rebound in baptisms was reported.

You may not have agreed with every proposed action or decision at this year’s family gathering. I didn’t. Occasionally I wondered why harder questions weren’t asked. Or I raised my ballot with the minority and wondered if I was out of step. At times I understood why some churches feel strongly enough to vote their convictions with stern letters or rechanneled giving. And if you have concerns like that, I’d like to listen.

But none of my concerns were even close to being substantial enough to lead me away from our Baptist family, or to presume I could find a better one. This is my family, and I’m still proud of the overwhelming majority of what we’re doing together.

So let me recommend that you make next year’s SBC in nearby Indianapolis a priority. I think you’ll find that, like all families, ours isn’t perfect, yet. But I think you’ll also find that gathering in humility, and sincerely seeking the Lord’s leadership toward biblical unity, still gives us many, many reasons to continue being proud of our family.

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

There were a few missteps at the convention, but lots to celebrate.

Finding home

Church comes to rescue for refugees

Chicago | The lines of migrants streaming across the Rio Grande into El Paso seem far away, until they begin arriving by bus and plane in your state. More than 10,000 refugees have arrived in Chicago since the first group was bussed from Texas in August 2022. The numbers may seem unreal, until you learn those migrants are living in police stations, like the one in your neighborhood.

If you are Jonathan de la O, that’s when you call your church into action. “When we saw what was happening, knew we had to help,” he said. Many of De la O’s church family were immigrants themselves not too many years ago.

De la O drove to Precinct 25 to find young men and some families huddled outside with their few belongings, and others inside were sleeping on the floors. They have nowhere to go, and without help, little chance for work.

So the young pastor of Starting Point Church in the Belmont-Cragin neighborhood, a congregation he planted nine years ago for first- and second-generation Hispanics, opened their doors.

“Our facility has spaces that we have used to house mission teams, but I’ve had to call the teams and say we’ve had a change in plans. We have moved the teams into the auditorium, because we need the sleeping space for migrants.”

Portable partitions form a maze of small rooms on the church’s second floor. Most are about 10’ by 10’, with two air mattresses. Others are slightly larger and sleep three. They provide some dignity and privacy for the guests.

One young man said how grateful he was to be at the church. He described sleeping under a staircase at the police station. The overwhelmed facility had nearly 25 people housed in rooms only slightly larger than his new bedroom at the church.

Downstairs, the migrants have access to a clothing closet, showers, and a kitchen to prepare meals and eat together. The pastor described one man breaking down in tears when De la O showed him the food pantry and told him, “This is yours.”

A young Venezuelan woman, Franchesca, 25, painted a picture of why full shelves bring a grown man to tears.

“Because of the dictatorship of the president, there is no food, there is no work, and it is killing the youth,” Franchesca said through a translator. “Everyone that rises up against the government is being killed.”

Franchesca and her father, Benardino, 62, escaped their home in Venezuela through Cúcuta, Colombia. They spent three months mostly on foot traversing jungles, mountains, and then hopping a train

for the last stretch through Mexico. Franchesca described the dangers they faced, like holding onto a rope to cross swift-moving crocodileinfested rivers, and avoiding human dangers of robbery and rape in the jungles.

Once at the U.S border with Mexico, they were able to request legal asylum. After about 10 days they were transported to Chicago. The depravation “is something that remains in your mind, the traumas from everything we experienced. But we are so grateful to be here, at peace, now.”

De la O has found help from other churches in the Chicagoland Baptist Association. Elmwood Park Community Church, which recently opened a food bank, regularly supplies the pantry. Real Life Church, which

moved into a facility that formerly housed De la O’s congregation, supplied portable air conditioners.

“Our friends at churches in the Association asked what we needed,” the pastor said. “When we told them, they were here right away.”

In the way that crisis becomes opportunity, De la O is finding, too, that opportunity produces some crisis. During the day, he helps the men find work and navigate the immigration system so they can get established in their new home. The plan is for them to stay at the church for a couple of months, then secure housing when they can afford it.

The church, which offered some ministries in English and Spanish, has increased its bilingual worship and Bible study. And De la O is finding his guests, some from Catholic backgrounds, are open to the gospel, because of their open doors.

“I’ll show them their rooms, and I can’t control myself.” De la O admits shedding some tears too. “I go home and tell my wife, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’”

Then he does it again the next day. “It’s overwhelming, but it’s a good thing.”

SETTLING

and his daughter, Franchesca, make a temporary home at Starting Point Church in Chicago. After three months fleeing from economic crisis in Venezuela, they arrived at the U.S. border. Moved from Texas, their next stop was a Chicago police station (above), as it has been for many of the 10,000 refugees.

IN – Benardino

From the front: QUIET CAMPAIGN WITH LOUD OUTCOME

Continued from page 1

Barber presided over most of the first day’s proceedings at the SBC Annual Meeting in New Orleans June 13-14—including debate over upholding the dismissal of three churches, the denomination’s stance on women as pastors, and whether to renew the task force implementing sexual abuse reforms—not knowing if he would be in office two days later to finish what he started.

He is.

The avuncular rancher-pastor from a mediumsize Texas church was reelected to a second oneyear term by a 2-1 margin, turning away the challenge from Georgia pastor Mike Stone. Barber won 7,531 votes to Stone’s 3,458 votes, 68.38% to 31.40%.

Barber declined social media sparring, while Stone spoke in multiple churches and the Twitterverse was alight with arguments over concerns he raised.

Stone ran for office two years earlier as a candidate for the emerging Conservative Baptist Network (CBN). He ran on a similar platform this time, saying the denomination is adrift and has lost its evangelistic focus. Stone was critical of the abuse reform that moved responsibility for tracking abuse claims to the denomination at the national level, rather than leave it to autonomous local churches. He criticized Barber’s appointments to the Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force last year which included vocal abuse survivors.

Stone advocated a clearer constitutional stance on women in ministry. In online interviews, he called the “soft complementarian” views he’s heard expressed in the denomination just another form of egalitarianism.

Stone’s nominator, Pastor Willy Rice of Florida, told messengers that “a cancel culture has replaced a gospel culture” in the denomination.

He urged messengers to “chisel” their objections “in stone.”

Stone was in attendance at a breakfast on the morning of the election hosted by the CBN. A series of men called for recommitment to Baptist distinctives and bold stands for biblical values in culture. Chuck Kelley, former president of New Orleans Seminary, stressed that the SBC has been in a crisis of evangelism for years. “Look at the Methodist denomination,” Kelley said. “That’s where we’re headed unless we put the Great Commission back at the center of what we do…. Continuing as we are right now is a road to insignificance.”

At a B-21 luncheon, a panel that included Southern Seminary President Al Mohler, Southeastern Seminary President Danny Akin, and former SBC President J.D. Greear affirmed Barber’s nomination.

Messengers went with Barber by more than twothirds. In SBC elections, that is a huge landslide. It was what The Tennessean called a win for a “conservative mainstream faction” over a hard-edged conservatism. Announced late in the first day’s business, the outcome was met with vigorous applause.

Stone tweeted his congratulations to Barber. “May God continue to grace you with wisdom, discernment, and strength. That will continue to be my prayer for you as you lead.”

AMS charged with abuse in La.

Pineville, La. | The Associational Mission Strategist serving two Louisiana Baptist associations was jailed on a total of $1.4 million bond after he was charged with 16 counts of felony sexual abuse of a minor. The investigation of Daryl Stagg has expanded from three parishes in Louisiana to Kenosha, Wisconsin, just across the Illinois state line where he served as Director of Missions for Lake County Baptist Association from 2005 to 2012.

Stagg was arrested June 8 on 12 counts of felony sex crimes by the Grant Parish Sheriff’s Office. At a later news conference, officials announced four additional charges from crimes alleged to have happened in neighboring Union Parish. At the time, deputies said the investigation was underway in Kenosha, but no additional details were released. They urged possible victims or their families to come forward.

Only one victim has been identified so far.

Stagg led the Big Creek and

CenLA Associations in Louisiana since 2018. Before that he was employed by Harmony Baptist Association in Sedalia, Missouri from 2012-2018, after leaving Lake County. Leaders of the association of local churches north of Chicago were notified after the Illinois Baptist State Association was alerted to the arrest.

The Louisiana Baptist Convention issued a statement after Stagg’s arrest saying they didn’t have supervisory responsibility for local association strategists. “Therefore, we have no comment on this matter as it is being investigated by the appropriate persons and agencies involved. However, more importantly, our prayers are with all those involved for an appropriate and healing resolution to this matter.”

If Stagg posts $500,000 bond in Grant Parish, he will be transferred to jail in Union parish where his bail is $950,000.

– with information from KALB and Baptist Press

Java jive

In his President’s message just three hours before the election, Barber did not deliver a campaign speech. Instead he preached from Philippians 4:8-9, where Paul urged believers to dwell on truth and beauty in a list of uplifting adjectives.

“God is calling on us to dwell on the right things—to develop a distinctively Christian sense of taste,” Barber said. Perhaps Barber was laying the house rules for ensuing debate on abuse, autonomy, women pastors, and church dismissal.

But Barber inserted a joke which was not in his manuscript. His illustration about personally disliking coffee included the comment, “Coffee is bitter water for bitter people facing bitter times.” After a few groans in the audience, he chuckled and said, “I think I just lost the election.”

FBC Fairview Heights pastor Scott Douglas tweeted: “I’m so glad for @bartbarber to be re-elected. But his opinion on coffee is mistaken. So, I happily drink this bitter water to finish the #SBC23 well.”

At a news conference after he had guided messengers through complicated but decisive actions, Barber said some people outside the SBC were having “real difficulty trying to put a label on what has happened here.

“The Bible calls us to defend those who are abused, to defend those who are weak, to oppose the kind of sexual misconduct that hurts people for the rest of their lives,’” Barber said. “We want to be a fellowship of churches who are all committed to that and to also be a fellowship of churches who are not afraid to say, we believe the Bible says things about the roles of men and women that are worth following.”

Barber’s influence will be felt for a long time, as now messengers have charged him with naming a panel to clarify “friendly cooperation,” the constitutional basis for determining which churches can stay in the SBC.

Civil suit filed in Illinois case

Springfield | The mother of a former resident of the Illinois Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services (BCHFS) has filed a civil lawsuit on behalf of her daughter against the former BCHFS employee who pled guilty to two counts of criminal sexual assault of a minor. The suit also names BCHFS and the Illinois Baptist State Association (IBSA).

Daniel W. Lanning, Jr., was sentenced to 22 years in prison in White County Circuit Court on Nov. 3, 2022. At the time he was employed as a houseparent at the Carmi facility, along with his wife. She was not implicated in the case. BCHFS representatives said at the time they were fully cooperating with investigators.

The civil suit, filed in Sangamon County Circuit Court on May 16, 2023, alleges that Lanning was fired from a previous job based on allegations of sexual misconduct, and that his background was not adequately investigated prior to his employment with BCHFS.

The suit names former BCHFS Executive Director Denny Hydrick, claiming that he knew about alleged touching incidents involving Lanning beginning in November 2021, but did not report them to authorities. Hydrick’s resignation was accepted by the BCHFS board at a meeting on Oct. 16, 2021. Hydrick left the employ of BCHFS in November 2021.

Former BCHFS Executive Director Doug Devore returned as interim director and was active throughout the investigation. Kevin Carrothers, who is also an attorney, became BCHFS Executive Director in January 2023. Carrothers issued this statement after the civil suit was filed:

“BCHFS has been named as a defendant in a civil lawsuit alleging acts of sexual misconduct by a former BCHFS staff member. We remain committed to providing Christ-centered services to the community and ask the Illinois Baptist family to pray for everyone involved.”

STONE

– Eric Reed

SBC IN FOCUS

The Executive Committee elected a new Chair. The first vote was split 36-35. The second vote was 35-35. Nominee Russ Barksdale withdrew and Philip Robertson, a leader in the Conservative Baptist Network (CBN), won.

With a divided vote in the EC, the future of the SBC Presidency seemed in question. But incumbent Bart Barber won by a 2-1 margin He defeated Mike Stone, who ran in 2021 under the CBN banner.

By raised ballots, messengers voted by more than two-thirds (67%) to amend the constitution to say that pastoring is for men only. A second vote will be required next year in Indianapolis for the constitutional change to take effect.

Approximately 9-in-10 messengers (88%) voted to uphold the dismissal of Saddleback Church by the EC in February, because of its ordination of three women as pastors. By a similar margin, 92% supported dismissal of a Kentucky church. Rick Warren and Linda Barnes Popham spoke for their churches. Southern Seminary’s Al Mohler spoke for the EC, citing “lack of friendly cooperation,” the constitutional reason for dismissal.

Five former SBC Presidents stood together as James Merritt brought a motion to clarify “friendly cooperation.” A study committee will report in Indianapolis next year.

The Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force (ARITF) was renewed for a second year. The panel will populate data for the Ministry Check website that tracks sex abusers in SBC churches. They will seek to clarify the term “credibly accused” and criteria for posting names.

Messengers passed nine resolutions on issues including immigration, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and objection to transgender procedures for minors.

The International Mission Board commissioned 79 missionaries to go to 33 countries. IMB also unveiled Project 3000 targeting 3,072 unreached people groups.

Power of the vote

Messengers’ views coalesce through several key ballots

AN ILLINOIS BAPTIST TEAM REPORT

By the time it ended, messengers to the 2023 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in New Orleans took clear action on several key issues facing the denomination, but reaching those conclusions took time, was kind of messy, and is somewhat unfinished.

Messengers voted to change the SBC constitution to clarify the role of pastor as a biblical office for men only. They voted to uphold the dismissal of three churches, two for having women pastors and one for mishandling sexual abuse claims. They agreed to a one-year study of the definition of “friendly cooperation,” the basis on which those churches were disfellowshipped. And they voted to continue the work of preventing sexual abuse in SBC churches and tracking abusers, while still developing criteria for determining credible accusations.

Among other things.

Messengers also sang, worshipped, dispatched missionaries, approved entity reports, and lined up at microphones—that sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t—to make a record 30 motions about the operation and direction of the denomination that has recently wrestled with its future amid cries about mission drift and cultural liberalism.

At the center of the three-ring confab was a ring-

master who didn’t know his own fate in SBC leadership until halfway through the big church business meeting he engineered. A Texas pastor of a not-big church who loves Baptist polity and congregational government wanted this Annual Meeting to feel more like the meetings back home in Farmersville, where everyone who wants to speak does and where every voice is welcome.

Even when he had to rule some of them out of order, according to Roberts.

Attendance wasn’t quite as high as at the 2021 Nashville meeting after the pandemic year, but it was close with 12,737 elected messengers. (That included 186 messengers and 46 guests from Illinois.) Moving from Charlotte to a city with more convention space and hotel rooms proved wise. Counting registered guests and exhibitors, 18,901 people braved the heat, humidity, and high calorie counts in the Big Easy to do the Lord’s work.

Near the end of the first day’s closing session, Bart Barber learned he had turned away a rare challenge to a sitting president and would serve the customary second one-year term. (See story on page 1.)

And as results were announced on a string of ballots, the will of the convention was becoming clearer.

BART BARBER, SBC PRESIDENT

Other issues

Dramatic moments and long-lasting actions

This is only round one on clarifying women’s roles and ‘friendly cooperation’

Messengers headed to New Orleans for the Southern Baptist Convention were anticipating some of the dramatic moments. Rick Warren would stand to defend the choice by the church he founded over 40 years ago to ordain three women as pastors and ask to be reinstated. The woman pastor of another church would do the same. Then messengers would decide whether to sustain a vote by the SBC Executive Committee (EC) in February to put those churches out of the convention or to let them back in. The big issues were whether the pastorate is reserved for men according to the Bible and SBC practice, and the broader definition of “friendly cooperation.”

These dismissals were a case study. But longerterm actions would come in other votes, if those motions ever made it to the floor.

Changing the constitution

Both candidates for SBC President had said they favored letting messengers vote on an amendment to the SBC constitution adding “men” to the definition of pastor, thereby disqualifying churches with female pastors from “friendly cooperation” as stated in the constitution. After Pastor Mike Law of Arlington, Virginia made the motion in 2022, it resided with the EC.

“We need to make it very clear where we stand,” EC member Todd Burgess of Alaska told his fellow trustees. The 86-member panel with 71 present in New Orleans was debating whether to bring the motion to the convention floor. Overall, it was said, the EC did not favor a constitutional amendment. Updating the denominational statement of faith, the Baptist Faith and Message (2000), seemed a more likely tactic to answer whether “pastor” in that document means senior pastor or any pastoral role, and whether women can hold any position with “pastor” in the title.

The EC debated sending the Law amendment to messengers, but said they did not favor that path-

way for addressing the larger issue. Ultimately, the constitutional amendment went to the floor as written, without any judgments from the EC.

At the time of the floor vote, Colorado pastor Bob Bender spoke against the motion. “Southern Baptist brothers and sisters, I beg of you,” he said. “Do not do this. All the liberals have left us. It looks like we conservatives are left to fight amongst ourselves.” Women in associate pastoral roles need to be recognized for their contributions, Bender said.

Denny Burk from Louisville, Kentucky countered that the amendment “does nothing to diminish [women’s] calling and their work among us.” Burk is director of the Center for Gospel and Culture at Boyce College.

“We all believe they must be a part of the Great Commission,” he said. The amendment “is about how to apply our doctrinal statement to our cooperation when it comes to female pastors.”

During the course of the debate, messengers heard varying reports on the numbers of women in pastoral roles from Law and others. One website, American Reformer, said there are 111 women senior pastors in SBC churches, although other SBC sources have said the number is closer to 50.

The number of women who hold associate pastor roles or other non-senior pastor positions was said to be about 1,800 but that count is not official.

Messengers passed the constitutional amendment by more than two-thirds margin.

“I am grateful to Southern Baptists for standing on Scripture,” Law tweeted.

But that is only round one. A constitutional amendment requires a second reading and two-thirds vote. That will happen at the 2024 SBC in Indianapolis.

High drama

The dramatic moments that set up the vote on the Law amendment and forecast its passage came on the first day.

“If you think every Baptist thinks like you, you’re mistaken,” retired Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren said in an emotional appeal to let his church back into the Convention.

Saddleback was one of six churches dismissed for “lack of friendly cooperation” with

Tweets on a memorable election

“As the #SBC23 votes for a president this afternoon, here is the dividing line. If you think all is well in the SBC and we can keep going in the same direction, vote Bart Barber. If you think the SBC trajectory is ‘unsustainable’ and in need of life support, vote Mike Stone.”

– David Schrock, Woodbridge, Virginia

“@bartbarber is God’s man for the hour. As @AdrianRogers said he is “3 feet to the yard and 12 inches to the foot.” He represents the best of what Southern Baptists are...humble, holy and happy in the Lord.”

the denomination by the EC in February. Three chose to appeal.

Linda Barnes Popham, the pastor of Fern Creek Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky appealed her church’s ouster. “Why now?” she asked, after 33 years pastoring in the town that is home to The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Each church was given three minutes to state its case.

Warren traced differences that the denomination has previously allowed over theological issues, and he sought to add women as pastors to the list. “No one is asking any Southern Baptist to change their theology,” Warren said.

“I’m not asking you to agree with my church. I am asking you to act like Southern Baptists who have historically agreed to disagree on dozens of doctrines in order to share a common mission.”

Warren said he only disagreed with one word in the Baptist Baith and Message: “men” as it limits the qualifications for pastor. “Why should this one issue cancel our fellowship?” Warren asked.

Warren’s acceptance of this theological position is recent. He said he was convinced by the Great Commission in Matthew 28. Everyone is sent to preach, teach, baptize, and make disciples, he contends.

Popham delivered a similar, perhaps more impassioned plea. “We’re not here to convince any of you to let your church have women pastors; that’s not the issue here,” she said.

Popham pointed out several issues where churches have been allowed their own opinions, including Calvinism and Covid closures. “I don’t agree with you, but I don’t want to kick you out of the family,” Popham said. “We want to partner together to share the good news to the ends of the earth.”

Both Warren and Popham exceeded their time limits and their mics were cut off.

In both cases, Southern Seminary President Al Mohler was appointed by the EC to bring its response. Mohler spoke briefly to the theology of women as pastors, but mostly he pointed to “lack of friendly cooperation.”

“It is the responsibility of the Southern Baptist Convention to understand what it means for a church to be in friendly cooperation with this convention,” Mohler said. “This is an essential

“The 68%-31% victory by @bartbarber is a clear signal of where Southern Baptists are: committed to our mission and committed to unity.”

– Phillip Bethancourt, College Station, Texas

– James Merritt, former SBC president, Duluth, Georgia

NEW SBC OFFICERS – (Left to right), Recording Secretary Nathan Finn, Second Vice President Kason Branch, President Bart Barber, First Vice President Jay Adkins, and Registration Secretary Don Currence

RICK WARREN

LINDA BARNES POPHAM AL MOHLER

part of our responsibility and our identity. It’s also important for us to recognize that the congregations of the Southern Baptist Convention are autonomous and we do not seek to invade the autonomy of any local church.”

Mohler served on the committee that wrote the Baptist Faith & Message (2000). Mohler said from the floor of the convention last year that the word “pastor” was clear when the statement of faith was updated in 2000, and the biblical limitation of its use for men only was also clear.

“The issue of a woman serving in the pastorate is an issue of fundamental biblical authority that does violate both the doctrine and the order of the Southern Baptist Convention,” Mohler said to messengers in New Orleans.

The vote to uphold dismissal of Saddleback was 88%, and Fern Creek’s dismissal was by more 91%.

The vote was taken Tuesday afternoon, but the results were not announced until Wednesday morning. President Bart Barber urged a temperate response from the messengers. “We don’t throw divorce parties at our church,” Barber said. “Whatever these results are, I’m asking you to act like Christians.”

When the votes were announced, there was virtual silence in the hall.

One more word on women

Prior to the other votes involving women, messengers adopted a resolution titled “On the legacy and responsibility of women fulfilling the Great Commission.”

As Baptist Press summarized it, the resolution celebrated the “multitudes of women” who had served the convention as missionaries, writers, apologists, teachers, mentors, and leaders. They also affirmed women’s intrinsic worth, gifting and dignity “for the purpose of his own mission and glory” and honored the work they are currently doing in “homes, churches, communities, and workplaces.”

The resolution asked Southern Baptists to work together to train and support women in disciplemaking efforts as they pass on the Christian faith “to the next generation.”

Ongoing abuse prevention

While disfellowshipping two churches for having women pastors drew more attention in the convention center and in public debate, uphold-

ing removal of a third church from SBC rolls over sexual abuse pointed to the Convention’s other big issue.

Freedom Church in Vero Beach, Florida appealed its dismissal for mishandling abuse claims involving the pastor.

A church representative said the pastor had been cleared by an outside investigation, but he had since resigned so that the church could pursue reinstatement. A representative from the SBC Credentials Committee said the church had been unresponsive in the investigation, and the pastor was still actively involved in leadership.

Freedom Church’s dismissal by the EC was upheld by over 96% of the messengers who voted.

Later, the EC asked for renewal of the Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force (ARITF) and its work for a second year. As the Annual Meeting opened, the panel launched the Ministry Check website to track abuse claims and convictions, but the site is unfinished. So is the rollout of abuse prevention materials for local churches. Messengers approved the one-year extension.

The ARITF did not bring a motion to continue its relationship with Guidepost Solutions or a subsidiary that Guidepost formed to operate the abuse tracking website. In June 2022, as Guidepost rolled out its 288-page report detailing EC handling of abuse claims in SBC churches and entities, the company was criticized for posting LGBTQ-favorable messages during “pride month.”

The SBC’s association with Guidepost was reportedly ended after the report was finished last year. But more recently a continued contract for operation of the Ministry Check website was reported; however, no contract was proposed at this Annual Meeting. (See more on ARITF on page 8.)

Friendly or unfriendly

One of the remaining questions after the New Orleans business session is about future church dismissals. If “lack of friendly cooperation” is the basis for dismissing churches under rules that gave that responsibility to the Credentials Committee, how far does that definition extend?

While options were swirling about the Law constitutional amendment or revising the BF&M (2000), Pastor Clint Pressley of North Carolina posted that he would bring a motion to study “friendly cooperation.” He later changed his mind about making the motion, choosing not to muddy the waters. But former SBC President James Merritt saw the need for clarity and took up the measure.

Four other past SBC presidents—Steve Gaines, J.D. Greear, Ed Litton, and Bryant Wright—stood at the microphone with Merritt as he made his motion.

With an affirmative vote, messengers authorized Barber to appoint a study committee. They will bring a report in Indianapolis.

Back to you, EC

Interim Executive Committee President and CEO Willie McLaurin called for renewed commitment to the Great Commission and to the Cooperative Program in his report. While giving to local churches is increasing, McLaurin acknowledged a 30-year decline in percentage giving to CP: from 9.62% per church in 1993 to 4.5% today.

“While we all are searching for creative ways to do more with less, we must forge a new path forward if we are going to reverse the decline and reinvigorate our commitment to cooperative giving,” McLaurin said.

Messengers adopted the 2023–24 SBC Cooperative Program Allocation Budget of $195,250,000, and an EC/Operating budget of $8,305,500.

McLaurin continues to serve temporarily, since the nominee to take the post permanently, Jared Wellman, was rejected by the majority of EC Trustees in a May meeting that was described as bruising.

Wellman had been serving as EC chair and a member the EC’s search team. Wellman stepped down when the search team began consideration of the Arlington, Texas pastor for EC President and CEO. Trustees objecting to the process rejected Wellman’s nomination.

Vice chair David Sons took the EC chair for two months. At the EC meeting in New Orleans, Sons announced he would not run for his own full term as EC chair.

“The challenges this committee has been tasked to do have been unprecedented in Southern Baptist history,” Sons said, referring to the sex abuse investigation and tumultuous EC meetings over surrendering attorneyclient privilege during the probe.

Sons described himself as “weary” from the past three years, with “wounds that have yet to fully heal.”

Two votes for a successor to lead the EC Trustees were evenly divided. Then one of the candidates, Sons’ own nominee Russ Barksdale of Texas, withdrew. That left Philip Robertson, a Louisiana pastor who is a leader in the Conservative Baptist Network (CBN) to take the one-year chairmanship.

“I don’t think there’s as much encampment on the EC” as the divided vote seemed to indicate, Robertson said. “We need to seek to make the EC reliable again.”

“My heart is, whenever possible, we need to trust the messengers and let these positions be dealt with by the messengers,” he said. “My heart is to be a bridge builder.”

Even as he takes the wheel in a season of debate over women in ministry and tracking abuse claims, Robertson sounded an optimistic note. “As I tell our people, there’s a reason why the windshield of your car is 200-plus times larger than the rearview mirror. We do occasionally need to be able to look behind us, but primarily we need to look ahead of us.”

This Illinois Baptist team report was produced by Eric Reed, Lisa Misner, Kris Kell, Nic Cook, and Makayla Proctor in Springfield, and Ben Jones in New Orleans. With thanks to our reporting partners at TAB Media/The Baptist Paper and Baptist Press.

HEAVY WEIGHTS – Five former SBC Presidents stood at the mic while James Merritt (center) proposed studying “friendly cooperation,” the basis for dismissing six churches this year. Pictured (l-r) are Bryant Wright, Ed Litton, Merritt, Steve Gaines, and J.D. Greear.

The SBC Annual Meeting in Indianapolis is set for June 11-12, 2024.

WILLIE McLAURIN

Collecting ballots

Resolutions confront today’s culture

Messengers approved all nine resolutions presented to them by the SBC Resolutions Committee. They included such topics as the Great Commission impact of women, God’s sole lordship over human conscience, the confessional heritage of the office of bishop/elder/pastor, care and support for pastors and ministry leaders, and the importance of revitalizing and replanting churches.

Three resolutions made wider comment on the current culture:

The Resolution On Opposing Gender Transition condemned “genderaffirming care” and all forms of “gender transition interventions,” calling the activities “an assault on God’s created order.”

It called on legislatures to reverse laws that support “gender transition” and affirmed legislatures that have taken action to protect children from these procedures along with supporting parent’s rights.

The Resolution On Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology is believed to be the first denominational statement on the ethics of Artificial Intelligence. It acknowledged the powerful potential of AI and emerging technologies.

It declared human dignity to be “central to any ethical principles, guidelines, or regulations for any and all uses” of these technologies.

The Resolution On Wisely Engaging Immigration affirmed the inherent dignity of immigrants and refugees while asking government leaders to maintain robust avenues for asylum seekers to enter the country and to take swift action to secure the border.

It said that every immigrant and refugee has inherent value, “regardless of their race, religion, ethnicity, culture, national origin, or legal status.” It also asked government officials to create both avenues for asylum seekers and a pathway for citizenship.

While asking the government to take efforts to secure the border, the resolution asked for elected officials to provide “adequate resources” for U.S. border patrol “and those working in the immigration system.” It also asked federal and state governments to work together to both protect the border and protect the dignity of immigrants while encouraging churches to share the gospel and provide Christlike care to these communities.

Abuse Reform Implementation Task force renewed for another year

Sexual abuse tracking site goes live, but work remains

“I’ve never been so happy to see a wave of yellow ballots,” pastor Mike Keahbone said after a vote extending the work of the SBC’s Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force (ARITF). “It’s so beautiful…. I’m thankful for another step towards healing. I know it’s a tiny step, but I’m thankful it’s a step.”

Keahbone is vice chair of the panel named last year as messengers adopted five measures to address sexual abuse in the Southern Baptist Convention. Pastor Marshall Blalock of South Carolina is committee chair.

Raising their ballots at the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in New Orleans June 14, messengers agreed to give the panel another year to complete the creation of a database to track court cases, civil suits, and credible accusations of sexual abuse involving SBC church workers and vol unteers. In contrast to the 2022 adoption of the report from the first sex abuse task force, discussion was brief. Approval was again by a wide margin.

The Ministry Check website went online just ahead of the opening of the 2023 Annual Meeting, but the current data is only a placeholder for testing purposes. The actual names and cases are being verified before they are posted. The website, which contains multiple legal notices and disclaimers, may be viewed at sbcabuseprevention.com

With another year’s work completed by the 2024 Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, Blalock hopes to see a fully functional website and SBC churches engaged with the ARITF’s training materials.

“Here’s what I hope to see happen,” Blalock said. “I hope to see the database fully functioning…with credibly accused folks’ names on there, so that churches are safer next year than they are today. I hope to see the permanent home for sex abuse reform ready to go. I hope to see permanent funding for this work in place.”

The future of the ARITF was in question before the reelection of Bart Barber to a second one-year term. Barber’s opponent, Mike Stone of Georgia, did not see the need to continue the ARITF and questioned implementation of its actions for autonomous local churches. “President Barber appointed this task force, and so we were grateful that he believed in what we were doing, and he supported us every step of the way,” Blalock said. “He’s been extremely helpful to us.

“One of those major things he has stood for is execution and implementation….So, we believe his reelection creates a lot of momentum for us to take the next steps.”

Clinical psychologist Heather Evans has served with the ARITF. “I had the privilege of being with a few survivors when the website went live yesterday,” she said. “I was a little discouraged that we weren’t further along, (but) they had tears of gratitude that really humbled me and sobered me.

“This takes a commitment to culture change that won’t be done by next year’s convention and cannot be done solely by an implementation task force,” Evans said. “It has to be a commitment in the higher-up level and a commitment at the local level.”

Going forward, some additional processes will be developed for determining whether a person has been “credibly accused” of abuse before they are included in the database. “This is not creating…some kind of free-for-all, but rather, there are very defined legal standards,” said ARITF member Rachael Denhollander. “There are very defined ethical codes.”

Denhollander is a lawyer who also served on the earlier Sexual Abuse Task Force. She is also an abuse survivor who has been instrumental in developing processes for use in local churches.

“There is a trauma-informed intake process where survivor confidentiality is tightly maintained within the team that is taking those calls,” Denhollander said. The intake team gathers all information needed to address two issues: “Is this person credibly accused, and should they be going on the database?” and “Is this church in friendly cooperation?”

Names of churches will not be listed on the database, Blalock reported to messengers when one pastor told from the floor how his church had been criticized for actions by people who left the church decades ago.

At a press conference following his re-election, Barber was asked if he thought the vote by messengers on the ARITF and other issues at the meeting showed a willingness on their part to sacrifice some church autonomy. Barber responded that he didn’t believe the vote had anything to do with church autonomy. “I think messengers are saying that they want this fellowship of churches to be a fellowship of churches who do not tolerate sexual abuse, who are active in trying to prevent it, [and] who are active in trying to serve survivors of sexual abuse.”

– IBSA staff and Baptist Press

NEXT STEPS – Task force member Rachael Denhollander (second from right) explains processes in development for determining credible accusations of sexual abuse in SBC churches. Following a convention vote to continue their work, she was joined at a news conference by ARITF members (l-r) pastors Mike Keahbone and Marshall Blalock and psychologist Heather Evans

79 international missionaries commissioned in New Orleans

Some of them spoke in the open with their images projected in the convention center. Others stood in shadow behind screens with only their outlines visible as they introduced themselves and said a few words about their mission call.

International missionaries increasingly work under aliases, keeping their names and purposes confidential because of rising anti-Christian policies in the countries where they serve.

Of the 79 missionaries commissioned by the International Mission Board (IMB) at the convention in New Orleans, 57 are serving undercover.

The ceremony of introduction and prayer was an emotional moment for messengers and the families who entrust their children and grandchildren into God’s hands as they head for foreign lands and peoples.

IMB President Paul Chitwood told messengers, “They will also trust that Southern Baptists, that’s you and me, will hold the ropes for them.” The missionaries will be “taking the good news with them,

have gone to share the gospel with the lost.” They include the 3,500 missionaries and their 2,700 children on the field. He shared there are also 1,200 missionary candidates working through the credentialing process.

Chitwood unveiled a new IMB initiative called Project 3000. “The IMB has identified the remaining 3,072 unengaged people groups no one has been engaging the gospel with until now,” he said.

According to the IMB website, the goal of Project 3000 is to equip missionaries and their local partners to locate unreached communities, make initial gospel connections, and report research for future longterm gospel engagement.

the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering is up 27%. In that time NAMB church planters have planted 10,000 churches. Those churches “reflect the blood sweat and tears of the church planters who sent them,” he stated.

By 2030, one third of SBC churches will have been planted since 2010. And, he said, they are anticipated to “have an 86.2% fouryear survival rate.”

Ezell noted in a previous administration, NAMB’s church planting numbers weren’t always accurately tracked, but now the agency keeps an “accurate count of the numbers being reported” and “each church plant has a name” and an SBC ID number.

on remodeling, decorating, and an $11,000 espresso machine under the seminary’s previous president, Adam Greenway. “I own my own home, have a $69 Keurig, and go to Hobby Lobby for my Christmas decorations.” Messengers who understood the reference laughed.

Sending relief in migration crisis

Ezell and Chitwood were joined onstage by Bryant Wright, president of NAMB and IMB’s shared ministry, Send Relief. Wright reported on Send Relief efforts in Turkey following a devastating earthquake in February.

Wright shared from the recent international Serve Tours in Bangkok, Thailand and Nairobi, Kenya, a ministry model that will also bring teams from SBC churches to Chicagoland in August.

willing to leave behind comforts, friends and family, to answer God’s call upon their lives,” he said, heading to 33 countries.

In his convention report, Chitwood said that in 2022, IMB missionaries planted 21,231 new churches in 122 countries and 728,589 people heard the gospel. The totals included 178,177 new believers and 102,417 baptisms.

Wearing a baseball uniform at one point, Chitwood implored messengers to “keep cheering for the home team which is the IMB. Let us not forget to keep praying for those who

“We’re hoping to send out 100 missionary explorers this year,” he said. “They’ll be going out with just a backpack to the most difficult places in the planet.”

Chitwood asked messengers to “pray about this call on your life: 300 people will answer this call to join in this great pursuit. You can be a virtual explorer to join in this work knowing you can join them in this journey.” (Read more about it at IMB.org.)

NAMB pledges greater transparency

When it was his turn to report, North American Mission Board (NAMB) President Kevin Ezell shared that since 2010, giving to

Today’s NAMB, Ezell stated, is a “good steward of Southern Baptists’ money.” Now it invests between $2,000-$3,000 a month in individual church planters depending on their location. Every endorsed church planter is trained, and planters along with their families have healthcare coverage their first year.

As all entity heads do, Ezell fielded questions following his report. Messenger Jared Moore of Tennessee asked if NAMB would commit to financial transparency by posting its internal audits to SBC.net, in light of a recent report detailing overspending at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. “Our trustees follow a very robust process of review,” Ezell responded, noting NAMB does make its audits public.

Ezell referenced some of Southwestern’s extravagant expenditures

Crossover reaches a city in need

Outreach events in New Orleans were held the weekend before the Annual Meeting, including building new playgound in a needy neighborhood, and hosting multiple block parties. There were 12,180 participants, 3,487 gospel conversations, and 336 professions of faith. “Wherever we go, whatever we do, we’ve got to focus on the message that Jesus saves,” said NAMB’s Tim Dowdy

Chitwood shared his experience in Ukraine, where the partnership of Southern Baptists has provided help for refugees displaced by ongoing war. Giving has helped fund more than 120 relief projects in the area, impacting more than 1.5 million people, he said.

The war in Ukraine has also affected global food supplies, cutting off needed resources in sub-Saharan Africa, Wright said. Because Send Relief’s operational costs are covered by NAMB and IMB, 100% of funds given to Send Relief go to ministry, he noted.

“It’s a wonderful way to show the love of God in action as we win the right to be heard to share the good news of Jesus Christ,” Wright said. Most of all, we are a gospel ministry. We’re not a humanitarian organization. We are a gospel ministry to share the good news of Jesus Christ.”

– IB staff, with additional reporting from TAB Media and RNS

3 WORLDVIEWS – NAMB President Kevin Ezell (right), is joined on the platform by IMB President Paul Chitwood (left), and Bryant Wright, President of Send Relief (center), for a joint report on SBC missions. Send Relief is a joint ministry of the two mission boards. Its work includes Disaster Relief and global compassion ministries.

Celebrating 135 years making disciples

Even before the convention started in New Orleans, Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) was celebrating 135 years of ministry. They marked the anniversary with stories of a believer’s hope in Christ and heard from SBC missionaries at WMU’s annual Missions Celebration held at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (photo below).

Sandy Wisdom-Martin, WMU executive director-treasurer, wrote a column prior to the meetings about the auxiliary’s importance to SBC missions over the last 135 years. She shared that it was just 32 delegates from 12 states who first “endeavored to gain a new perspective and caught a vision for how God wanted to work in their midst.”

Since then, she wrote, “the WMU offering bearing Annie Armstrong’s name has brought more than $2 billion for missions efforts in North America.” Its sister offering named after missionary Lottie Moon has raised more than $5.2 billion for international missions.

Wisdom-Martin noted in 1919 when the Southern Baptists’ $75 Million Campaign, predecessor to the Cooperative Program (CP), was founded, the WMU “committed to raise $15 million.” They were the only SBC entity that met its goal. In 1925, WMU would be a “founding force” behind the inception of CP which is still the SBC’s primary funding channel for missionaries today.

Bringing us to 2023 she wrote, “WMU further supports field personnel with water filters through our Pure Water, Pure Love ministry; scholarships for missionary kids (MKs); free missions discipleship resources; and more.”

‘Hope in Christ’

The WMU’s Annual Meeting theme was based on Romans 12:12. Hope isn’t found in “finances, degrees, abilities, or things that don’t really count,” said Connie Dixon, president of national WMU. “We must put our hope in Christ and in Christ alone.”

“Be as bold as our foremothers,” she told the attendees. “We need to study their experiences and methods…and apply Christ to the needs of the world.”

“Abiding in Christ will make you look good,” said Kay Bennett, recently retired NAMB Send Relief missionary, who shared her testimony of 35 years of ministry service to trafficked, unhoused, and addicted individuals at the Baptist Friendship House and the Brantley Center in New Orleans.

Admitting she could do nothing without God, Bennett stressed the importance of having a “sanctuary” where people can hear from God.

Those listening times have informed her entire ministry and have had ripple effects, she said,

pointing to when a church group came to Friendship House in 2021 and were trained how to recognize human trafficking.

In the WMU report to the convention (above), Wisdom-Martin and Dixon told stories of “360-degree” discipleship. Dixon spoke of Hannah who was called by God to be a missionary one night a mission camp. “Hannah said she was not very excited because she thought missionaries ate bugs and slept on the ground,” Dixon said. “Hannah has done both.”

Hannah and her family went on to serve as IMB missionaries in sub-Saharan African. Dixon said Hannah told her, “Through it all WMU has…provided for us, demonstrated their love for us, and prayed for us.”

Wisdom-Martin told the messengers from local churches, “We make disciples of Jesus who live on mission,” she said. “That’s what we do. That’s all we do. And it is our joy to do it in concert, in partnership, with you.”

Lifeway targets next-gen, non-South states with new resources

Ben Mandrell has said publicly and repeatedly that as pastor of an SBC church in metro Denver, he did not use Lifeway resources for his discipleship ministry. The teaching materials of the time were born out of deep South culture and presumed biblical literacy on the part of the student. That wasn’t the case in Colorado, or most other states outside the Bible Belt.

The Tampico, Illinois native used most of his time on the platform at the convention to urge ministry that reaches the next generation and people from more secular cultures, which is growing in all states. Now Lifeway President and CEO, Mandrell pointed out the value of investing in Vacation Bible School, Lifeway’s camps for students, and a new curriculum for kids.

Mandrell was saved through VBS. “When you reach a kid, you reach a family,” Mandrell said. “That’s my story. That’s so many people’s stories.”

The new kids’ curriculum is especially designed to reach unchurched people.

“Hyfi is designed for churches who find themselves in hard soil and want to try something different in reaching people,” Mandrell said when the curriculum was rolled out in January. “I could not be more thankful for Lifeway’s kids and students’ teams who have labored tirelessly to make this fresh and innovative resource for local churches.”

Hyfi was beta-tested in 37 churches in 21 states, including Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Idaho, Washington, California, Colorado, and Arizona.

In New Orleans, Mandrell described it as a “reaching” resource.

“We have primarily served teaching and reaching churches,” Mandrell said. He said that most churches have a pastor with a passion for one or the other, though there is overlap. “In the past, Lifeway has best served the churches with a teaching orientation,” he said, but Hyfi will be oriented toward reaching churches.

The curriculum is built around 12 simple truths that teach kids who they are because of who God is, Mandrell said. “Based on solid Lifeway research, we know this is needed in churches.”

It’s a first-of-its-kind curriculum for Lifeway, he said.

“Kids are being told by the world who they

are, what they should be. They need Scripture to inform that, and the message must make sense in their context,” Mandrell said. “We are excited about this new curriculum, and the feedback from the churches has been amazing.”

Mandrell has led the SBC’s publishing house since 2019. The entity, which does not receive Cooperative Program funds and operates only on its sales income, was in financial distress. All Lifeway Book Stores were closed just before he took the post because of multimillion dollar losses.

The sale of Lifeway’s massive publishing, warehousing, and shipping facilities in downtown Nashville and consolidation into a much smaller building under his predecessor, Thom Rainer, had not proven sufficient to right-size the entity.

When Covid forced writers, editors, and administrators to work from home, Mandrell decided to sell the new $95 million office building and create a space where staff could gather on occasion. The even smaller, much cheaper facility in the Nashville suburbs was dedicated this spring.

“The grand opening of our new space marks a new era of work,” Mandrell said at the April dedication. “The open workspaces, collaborative team rooms and state-of-the-art technology come together to support our work-from-anywhere culture and encourage collaboration.”

For more information on the new curriculum, visit myhyfi.com.

– IB staff, with additional reporting by TAB media

– Lisa Misner, with additional reporting from TAB Media and Baptist Press

Ben Mandrell

Sandy Wisdom-Martin

Family Album

SIGNATURE TREATS

1. A SOLEMN MOMENT – IBSA Evangelism Director Scott Harris and his wife, Teresa, pray during the missions report.

2. HALLWAY CONNECT – Pastors Scott Nichols from Carol Stream and Jon Kelly from Chicago meet up at the convention center.

3. ALL TOGETHER NOW – Seated at the Illinois table at the Pastors’ Wives’ lunch are (clockwise from lower left) Judy Taylor, Alyssa Caudill, Victoria Aubrey, Lindsey McDonald, Alyssa Merritt, Malia Hodges, Christy Lewis, and Nancy Firasek

4. HAPPY TO SERVE – Ryan Casey of Benton volunteers as support staff at the Pastors Conference.

5. MORE INFO – Carlton and Jenny Binkley of Decatur chat with one of the record 213 exhibit hall vendors.

6. MILES OF SMILES – David and Samella Sutton made the trek from Chicago to New Orleans, 1,852 miles round trip.

7. NEXT, PLEASE? - Marissa Heironimus (right), daughter of IBSA’s IT Director Drew Heironimus, manned one of twenty registration stations for 18,901 messengers, guests, and exhibitors.

8. BALLOTS RAISED – SBC EC member Adron Robinson from Metro Chicago casts a vote from his seat on the platform.

Beignets and Chickory coffee from Café Du Monde were on the menu at New Orleans Seminary’s reception.

This is us T

he 2023 Southern Baptist Convention was a feast for the senses. Just peruse the Facebook photos of messengers and you’ll understand.

Beignets for days. Etouffee. I overheard someone say that the Wednesday night reception at New Orleans Seminary (NOBTS) served 1,250 dozen chargrilled oysters. That’s 15,000 for the math-challenged. I ate my dozen.

And that was just the food. Streetcars rolled up and down Canal and St. Charles. Palm trees and live oaks draped in Spanish moss lined boulevards with their unique Creole architecture.

One of the beautiful things about the annual summer gathering of Southern Baptists is that it travels. Every year, we get to walk in someone else’s church context. It’s an annual reminder that the brothers and sisters in my family, my tribe, all labor in these unique places that are different than my daily experience.

Hitting the streets of the host city and talking to messengers from around the country leaves no doubt that my personal perspective is not the epicenter of what it means to be a Southern Baptist. This applies to you, too.

This was my first time in New Orleans, and some formerly local friends gave me a whirlwind tour of the city beyond my Magazine Street hotel.

They were at NOBTS through Hurricane Katrina and came back to help rebuild their adopted city. We worshiped at First Baptist New Orleans together, drove through City Park, stopped in to talk with people serving at Global Maritime Ministries, and decided the line was too long to wait for a sno-ball at Hansen’s Sno-Bliz.

Our wanderings took us through

the still recovering Lower Ninth Ward. We talked about how high the water rose, the devastation suffered, and saw numerous blocks of houses that Southern Baptists helped clean up or build.

Like all cities, New Orleans is many things at the same time. Both beautiful and gritty, it’s a mix of cultures and ideas and fallen natures and redemption. Lots of Baptists call it home. And for a few days I got to see their city through their eyes. As I stood in conversations with passionate and resilient locals, their love for their city and their churches and the hope of the gospel was evident.

These same loves represented by the 47,000 or so SBC churches are what bring all of us together. We love the places where we live,

serve, and gather in community and worship. We see those same places through our experiences and the lens of the gospel. We want to see the love of Jesus flourish in the places we call home and spread to every tribe, nation, and tongue around the country and the world.

In our beautiful complexity, we sometimes frustrate one another, but for the vast majority of us, our core identity is the same. It’s Christ in us, the hope of glory. It’s the bride of Christ, the local church. This makes us a bit complicated. We’re many things at the same time, on display at the annual June meeting: part celebration, part business meeting, all reunion, because, despite our diversities, we are family.

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

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– Ben Jones in New Orleans (with his friends, Melissa and Jared Pryer from McLeansboro)

OYSTERS – N.O. Seminary on the half shell.

GROWING

MEET THE TEAM

Barb Troeger Executive Administrative Assistant

Hometown: Oconomowoc, Wisconsin

Family deets: Kip and I have been married 32 years. We have a grown son and two grandbabies, ages 4 and almost 2.

Higher ed: Bachelor’s in Psychology/ Early Childhood Ed. I am completing a Master of Theological Studies at Midwestern Seminary, and I plan to earn a Master of Divinity.

Before IBSA: I was in law enforcement with Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources, and I taught Headstart preschool.

I met Jesus: At a Billy Graham Crusade when I was 13.

Life verse or favorite verse: Proverbs 3:5-6. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Favorite Bible person: Mary. She was mom to a boy, and I can’t imagine how it must have torn her heart to realize what her Son’s destiny was for mankind.

Favorite Illinois discovery: Sangchris Lake State Park

Favorite snack food: Chocolate, any kind of chocolate.

Favorite author: Francine Rivers

Favorite character: I wanted to be Laura Ingalls.

Desert island disc: Praise and worship music

Reality show I’d like to appear on: Amazing Race

A quote I find myself saying: Green Bay Packers are awesome!!

table talk

We’re passing the plate again

And here’s why it’s a good thing!

It’s not a great feeling as pastor to come into your office on Monday and find your offering check safely tucked in the front of your Bible.

Like many churches, we stopped passing the plate a few years ago to limit physical contact. We had three methods for giving: mail-in, online, or dropping it in a box by the worship center entrance. To avoid online transaction fees, I continued to write a check.

Our associate pastor diligently reminded us in each service to give by one of these methods, yet I kept walking right by the offering box most weeks. Working at church made it easy for me to correct this mistake, but I wondered how many of our members were having a similar experience. Could this have something to do with our decline in giving?

Should we resume passing the offering plates, even though 70% of churches in a recent Church Answers poll said they will no longer do so?

Our story is neither a demand nor a criticism of the choices other churches have made. I’m just saying why we have restarted this practice and found it to be a good thing for our church.

We pass for worship

Passing the plates provides a moment for reflection. We have resumed a dedicated time for the offering in the middle of our service. We pray for specific ministry efforts of our church and for

God’s blessings on our financial supporting of those efforts. We pray for families and individuals to be blessed by God for their faithfulness.

Dropping an offering in a plate is not more worshipful than online giving. It’s possible to give online prayerfully or in person reluctantly. We’re not emphasizing the method, but the moment of giving as an act of worshipping God.

Even writing this article has led us to a greater diligence in affirming the online givers who may move the plate right down the line without dropping in anything. We want them to know their giving is equally valued (especially since many don’t utilize cash or checks).

Whether the gift is given at that moment, or some moment previously, we want believers to take the time to pray and thank God for the opportunity to give our gifts.

We pass for discipleship

Passing the plates is a practical reminder of discipleship. Do you recall being encouraged in certain aspects of the faith by watching other believers as they would witness, pray, or serve? Our northern region brings many unchurched or dechurched people into the worship service. As they learn what it means to be a Christian, they witness an example of generosity among Christians.

We take a moment during the passing of the plates to explain

stewardship. It’s brief and unrehearsed. As pastors, we remind our congregation that God hasn’t made us the owners of our finances, but stewards of them. We’re responsible to use money wisely for ourselves and for his kingdom. We don’t talk percentages, but potential.

Holding that plate for a moment reveals the opportunity for each person to be a giver on some level.

We pass for oneness

Passing the plates is an opportunity for us to be a church family. I see a moment of connection and smiles as people move plates down the line. I watch ushers bring their kids and grandkids along to help in this simple act of serving.

Giving in a worship service changes the nature of the gathering. There is certainly a cumulative aspect as we join our voices together in singing or our hearts in prayer. But, when we give together as a church, a tangible unity is revealed. When we set missions goals, I often tell people to be part of the giving at the start so they can be part of the celebration at the finish line.

Many of our seniors who have been unable return to worship in person are watching online and sending their gifts by mail. We take time to send a handwritten note back to these givers with a word of thanks and often a small point about some way our collective gifts are making a difference together. We let them know they are seen and appreciated.

Since we resumed passing the plates in our worship service, giving has increased. I don’t see that as an issue of compulsion, but of worship, discipleship, and oneness. If the pastor needed this moment built back into our worship service, I presume some others might appreciate it as well.

“...And somehow, every one of them will become a sermon illustration.”

Heath Tibbetts is senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Machesney Park and immediate past president of IBSA.

Six steps to protect your church from online fraud

Springfield | Several SBC churches and entities have been hit with online fraud nearing $1 million each. Their dramatic losses serve as warnings to all our churches.

The Florida Baptist Convention lost more than $700,000 in a transfer involving a fraudulent email that was intended for the North American Mission (NAMB). A similar scam involved an email sent to Elkin Valley Baptist Church in North Carolina by its contractor, including an invoice for the new worship center it was building. It was followed by a second email with payment instructions. The church paid the more than $793,000 invoice with the money it had taken over seven years to save, only to find out the second email had been fraudulent. In both cases, the money is gone, probably for good.

Online fraud is becoming more common and is something that should be on the radar for every church and local association.

I was first exposed to this while serving as a missionary with the International Mission Board (IMB). At the time I was a logistics coordinator, which meant I administered the mission work in the country where my wife and I lived. I quickly learned you cannot trust the origin or destination of an email. There were times I received emails from a vendor to later learn the email did not come from that vendor. Even now we cannot know for sure what we read came from the person we think sent it.

At IBSA, staff sometimes receive an email that appears to come from a management team member. It will say, “I do not have time to go get a gift card for someone. Please go get it for me and use your IBSA credit card, then send me the gift card number.” The name is right, but the return email address is not. Sometimes the scammers are clever, and the return address is much like the manager’s email which makes it harder to detect. Our team at IBSA knows no one here would ask for such a “favor.”

Recently IBSA was completing some building renovation and worked by email with the archi-

tect. One email supposedly from that architect requested funds to pay for a building permit. IBSA found out it was not from the architect, even though the person in the email knew many details about the project including phone conversations IBSA staff had with the architect earlier that same day.

How can a church or association prevent being defrauded online? Here are six steps to help protect your organization:

1. Update your virus software. If you already have anti-virus software installed on your internal systems, check that it’s up to date and have a system in place to automatically install updates.

2. Follow your normal procedures. If the person is asking you to deviate from how you have

with the lord NeTworkiNg

Send items to IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org

Calvary Baptist Church seeks a bi-vocational pastor who is knowledgeable about the Bible and ministry in a Southern Baptist Church. Send resumé to Pastor Search Committee, 133 Raines St., White Hall, IL 62092.

Cornelia Avenue Baptist Church seeks a bi-vocational pastor to reach Lakeview community and beyond. Send resumé to corneliabaptistchicago21@ yahoo.com or to Pastor Search Committee Chair, 1709 W. Cornelia Ave., Chicago, IL 60657.

Long Branch Baptist Church, a historic, missionminded, small country church in Southern Illinois, seeks a co-vocational pastor with good biblical knowledge and a desire for church shepherding and growth. Send resumé to Pastor Search Committee, 600 Galatia Rd., Galatia, IL 62935, or email LBBC2480@gmail.com

Search more church openings at IBSA.org/pastor-search or scan this code.

William T. “Bill” Williams, 85, died May 5, 2023, at his home in Peoria surrounded by his family. He pastored churches in Illinois, Indiana, and Missouri beginning in 1960.

In his early ministry he often served small churches as a bi-vocational pastor. Williams retired from Laramie Street Baptist Church, Peoria, in 2009 after 31 years of ministry there.

In retirement he helped plant Park Avenue Church, now Galena Park Baptist Church in Peoria Heights. He was actively involved in Metro Peoria Association and IBSA until his health no longer permitted him to serve.

He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Beverly, daughter Julie and son Joshua, three granddaughters, and one great-grandson. His funeral was May 10 at The Redeemer Special Church.

been paying an invoice, check it out before sending money. Maybe you are being asked to send the money by ACH (Automated Clearing House). Look for a different number than the last time you sent the vendor money.

3. If you have doubts, call your usual contact. If the scammer has done their homework, they will know how to answer your questions and may even have inside knowledge such as copies of your previous invoices. Verify until you feel confident.

4. Notice the grammar in the email. Pay attention to things like a lower case “I” instead of capital “I.” Scammers may be based outside the U.S. and English is not their first language. 5. Confirm and reconfirm. When doing business online always be cautious. Double check to be certain the return address matches that of the previous email. The best option is to pick up the phone and call the person to confirm what you are being asked to send before doing an ACH transaction.

6. Check your organization’s insurance policy. See if the policy covers online theft by coercion or consider obtaining a policy that protects against online phishing should an incident occur. In the case involving the Florida theft, federal and state investigations continue, and authorities say no one at the state convention is suspected. Two committees have been formed to provide oversight and recommend steps based on their audit. And in North Carolina, the church hired a cyber analyst to investigate the crime and an attorney to help it try to recover the funds. The church downsized its construction plans and Baptists and others there have made donations.

The safest action of all is to make every effort to prevent responding to fraudulent emails in the first place.

Thomas E. “Tom” Miller died June 3. He was 92 years of age, and was preceded in death by his wife, Pauline, in November 2022. Miller served as Director of Mission for the Central Baptist Association from 1979 to 1994. He pastored several churches in the Decatur area, including Hammond Missionary Baptist Church, Macon First Baptist, and Hayworth First Baptist. Miller graduated from Bethel Bible Institute, a school formerly operated by Tabernacle Baptist Church in Decatur. His ministry began in East Peoria, where he planted Richland Southern Baptist Church.

Miller was succeeded as DOM by Lanny Faulkner, a colleague and friend who remembered him as an effective soul winner and church builder. “He was also hilarious, though he didn’t always intend to be,” Faulkner said.

Miller had two sons and three stepchildren. His son Mike retired as pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Galva in 2021.

Jeff Deasy is IBSA Operations Team Leader.

Even smart people and organizations are falling for today’s sophisticated scams.

EVENTS

June 30-July 1

Level Up Guys’ Camp

Where: Lake Sallateeska Baptist Camp, Pinckneyville

What: Father/Son Weekend with hayrides, fishing, boating

Cost: $75 for dads, grandpas, or mentors; boys 18 and under free, meals included

Contact: 217-391-3124, TammyButler@IBSA.org

July 7-8

Disaster Relief: Chaplaincy Training

Where: Hillcrest Baptist, Country Club Hills

Cost: $15 annual training fee, includes lunch

Info: 217-391-3126, LisaHarbaugh@IBSA.org

Register: IBSA.org/disaster-relief/training

July 8

Disaster Relief: Feeding/ Shower/Laundry Training

Where: Hillcrest Baptist, Country Club Hills

Cost: $15 annual training fee, includes lunch

Info: 217-391-3126, LisaHarbaugh@IBSA.org

Register: IBSA.org/disaster-relief/training

July 21-22

Level Up Guys’ Camp

Where: Streator Baptist Camp

Info: Same as Sallateeska event above

July 24-30

Go Chicago

Where: Elmwood Park Community Church

What: One-week mission experience for youth groups to serve with church planters

Cost: $250 per person

Contact: 217-391-3123, KevinJones@IBSA.org

July 31-August 1

Associational Roundtable

Where: IBSA Building, Springfield

Who: Associational Mission Strategists and Moderators

Contact: 217-391-3138 or AubreyShelby@ IBSA.org

July 10-14

Week 6 SUMMER Camp

Where: Streator Baptist Camp

Who: Students in grades 3-6

Cost: $125

Register: IBSA.org/2023Camps

July 17-21

Week 3 STUDENT Camp

Where: Sallateeska Baptist Camp

Who: Students in grades 7-12 (completed)

Cost: $125

Register: IBSA.org/2023Camps

August 4-5

Serve Tour Chicago

Where: Multiple locations

What: Make a lasting impact on Illinois

Cost: Personal expenses

Info: sendrelief.org/serve-tour/Chicago

Tracker

Trends from nearby and around the world

BRIGHTER DAY

Are the kids alright?

Liam Morrison, a 12-year-old middle schooler in Middleborough, Mass., was pulled out of class and told his T-shirt was offensive. It read “There are only two genders.”

“I have been told that my shirt was targeting a protected class,” the boy told the school board in a video that has been viewed more than four million times. “Are their feelings more important than my rights? I don’t complain when I see pride flags and diversity posters hung throughout the school…because others have a right to their beliefs just as I do.”

IBSA ministry partner Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is representing Morrison in a federal lawsuit. “This isn’t about a T-shirt; this is about a public school telling a seventh grader that he isn’t allowed to hold a view that differs from the school’s preferred orthodoxy,” ADF said. They called the school’s action “a gross violation of the First Amendment.”

Culture: How many genders? Faith

How do you attend worship services?

Pew Research asked self-identified Evangelical adults about attendance. 70% participate monthly:

Ispent every Wednesday night of my childhood at church. From children’s choir to Girls in Action, where I learned about missionaries, it was a night focused on education and learning to live out my faith. And for a few weeks in my teen years, Wednesday night was when I learned to talk about that faith through an evangelism training program.

In 2021, Barna Research reported more than two-thirds of Christian teens say they haven’t received training to do evangelism. It’s not a surprising statistic for those who have watched most churches become less programmed and more focused on discipleship at the family level. But if you, like me, lean toward wistful when you remember the trainings and classes once so prevalent, there are signs of hope for the next generation of Christians learning to live out their faith.

First, the lack of “evangelism training” might be partially explained by a difference in terminology. While only 19% of teens said they’d been trained in evangelism, 47% said their church “definitely” does a good job equipping them to have conversations about their faith with someone who is not a Christian. Churches are still promoting evangelism among young believers, albeit with different resources and in less official formats.

It’s also possible our new day offers more opportunities for natural conversations about faith. Another Barna study released earlier this year found 74% of American adults say they would like to grow spiritually, and 44% are more open to God now than before the pandemic. In fact, Barna has labeled Gen Z “the open generation” for their willingness to engage on matters of faith.

One week last summer, our 7-year-old went to Vacation Bible School in the morning and art camp in the afternoon. During a break one day, she had a conversation with a fellow camper about what she’d learned at VBS. He professed a different faith than she did. When they realized they were at an impasse, she resolved to pray for him and, in her words, “went on with my day.”

George Barna says young Americans are endangered by growing syncretism, the fusion of religions.

“With only one out of every 50 millennials embracing a biblical worldview, America’s children are especially vulnerable to the inward-looking approach to life that their parents and most other adults practice….

“Biblical churches must see this as a time for an urgent response to the direction society is taking.

While the Left pursues the Great Reset, it is time for the Church to pursue the Great Renewal—leading people’s hearts, minds, and souls back to God and his life principles.”

The on-the-go nature of that encounter reminded me of the apostle Peter’s mandate to always be ready to give a reason for the hope we have. Yes, my Gen Z-ers are growing up with fewer of the beloved programs of my own childhood. But there are reasons to trust the kids really will be alright, even with less to do on Wednesday nights.

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

MEREDITH FLYNN

IBSA camps give students a distraction-free week where they hear the gospel, study God’s word, have fun outdoors, and make new friends from other churches.

SUMMER CAMP

Hundreds of students and children will attend one of 8 different camps at IBSA’s Lake Sallateeska or Streator Baptist Camps. In the first week alone, 25% of students made first-time decisions or recommitments.

Campers receive more focused Bible teaching in a day than the average church attender receives all month.