July 1, 2021 Illinois Baptist

The Illinois Baptist staff

Editor - Eric Reed

Managing Editor - Meredith Flynn

Graphic Designer - Kris Kell

Contributing Editor - Lisa Misner

Administrative Assistant - Leah Honnen

Editorial Resident - Grayce Lillpop

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

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The BIG Baptist family album

Illinoisans on the mission field

Pray for John and Tiffany Jou and 168 Community Church as they cultivate relationships in Downers Grove, lead people to leverage every hour of the week for God’s glory, and seek the flourishing of their communities.

Pray the news: ERLC acting president

Daniel Patterson is leading the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) through a time of transition following the departure of former president Russell Moore. With all the attention on the outgoing and incoming leader, Patterson tweeted recently, it can be easy to forget about the men and women who serve there right now. He asked for prayer for the staff, that they would be “undaunted in the face of challenges, faithful in their pursuit of Christ-honoring advocacy, and would see fruit in their efforts to save lives, protect religious freedom, and serve our churches well.”

Your Cooperative Program gifts at work

NATE ADAMS

Takeaways from this year’s SBC

Y

ears ago, as I was leaving the Christian publishing industry to begin serving at the North American Mission Board, my dad shared with me a rare, personal caution. “I just hope you don’t get chewed up in those national SBC politics.” And though I didn’t take his caution too seriously at the time, my understanding of what he meant has grown over the years.

The 2021 Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville featured four candidates for SBC President, some highly public disagreements between national leaders, and volatile issues ranging from racial justice to sex abuse prevention to financial transparency and accountability. Add to that the largest number of messengers in more than 25 years, and a full 32 motions from the floor (the most since 2010), and it’s not surprising that the politics of our convention were on full display this year.

There has already been plenty of reporting and analysis of the meeting itself. Let me simply list here three takeaways from this year’s SBC that I think can strengthen our work together here in Illinois.

1. We would do well to remain focused on the Bible and the Great Commission. Even here in our Midwestern culture, churches are diverse, with a variety of worship and leadership styles, ministries, and traditions. It wouldn’t take long to identify clear differences between any two or three churches! But the primary and enduring reasons that we choose to work together are our shared commitments: to the Bible as expressed in The Baptist Faith and Message, and to proclaiming the gospel here and around the world, through missionaries and multiplying churches. Whenever we see other, autonomous churches choosing different styles or traditions than ours, we should ask how much that really matters to our cooperation.

2. We would do well to remain focused on our unity and agreement on primary issues, and not the disunity and distraction that can come with secondary issues. Some of the deeper disagreements I heard at this year’s SBC were related to resolutions. Resolutions can be important (though there was a motion this year to do away with them entirely), but it is also important to remember that they are not binding on any church or any Baptist entity. A resolution is simply a statement of conviction by a majority of the messengers voting at a moment in time. For that reason, this year’s motions to rescind past resolutions – whether from 2019 or from the 1840’s – were ruled out of order. You can’t change a past opinion expressed by a different group of messengers at a moment in time. Motions for future action are far more important than moment-in-time resolutions. We should resist the temptation to pull away from one another, and from our top priorities, over secondary issues.

3. We would do well to remain focused on trusting relationships and open communication. As I listened to people in the hallways of the annual SBC meeting, I heard concerns that were simply rooted in misunderstanding or inaccurate information. Often a concern began with, “I heard…” and then continued with hearsay information from second- or third-hand sources. I found myself wondering how significant the disagreements would be if everyone were able to know each other personally and communicate more directly.

Giving by IBSA churches as of 6/18/21 $2,743,405

Budget Goal: $2,861,544

Received to date in 2020: $2,523,438

2021Goal: $6.2 Million

In our Illinois Baptist annual meetings each year, divided votes are rare. In fact, non-unanimous votes are rare. I know we don’t have to navigate the size and complexity of the national SBC, nor the tendency for debate over doctrinal, financial, or even procedural issues. But I hope our unity also comes from a commitment to know and trust one another, to have open and transparent communication, and to keep our focus on the priorities of the Bible and the Great Commission. With God’s help, we can continue to protect and preserve that unity.

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

Jacob Zailian (left) came to Christ from a life of drug addiction. Now, he’s planting Set Free Church in Sanger, Calif., to reach people with the eternal hope of the gospel. NAMB photo

IN FOCUS

Back to business

Close election, plus responses to sexual abuse and race issues highlight Baptists’ return to annual meeting

BY MEREDITH FLYNN

Nashville | In a jam-packed convention hall June 15, Southern Baptists waited in long lines at microphones to bring recommendations and debate motions. Texas pastor David Bumgardner went to three mics before he was able to say his piece.

“For the love of everything that is good and holy, please turn on the air conditioning!” Raucous laughter echoed across the hall as messengers (the Baptist term for voters) waved their ballots high in the air to second his motion.

It was a light moment in a lengthy, often tense meeting of Baptists in Nashville. More than 21,000 people were at the 2021 annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), including 15,726 registered messengers. That’s the highest messenger total since 1995. The big crowd meant more business to consider than any year in recent memory. There were motions made to add time to the sessions (so that more motions could be made).

In Nashville, Baptists made strong statements on sexual abuse prevention and care for

survivors, and on Scripture’s sufficiency to diagnose the sin of racism. They did not, as some had anticipated leading up to the meeting, rescind a resolution on Critical Race Theory adopted two years ago.

Earlier controversy around the SBC Executive Committee’s handling of sexual abuse spilled over into the Nashville meeting. Messengers voted in favor of an independent review of charges from Russell Moore, former president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), that the Executive Committee (EC) stymied the denomination’s response to abuse.

Some other issues anticipated in Nashville didn’t materialize as major debates, including the role of women in churches and possible defunding of the ERLC, due in part to perceived disconnect between it and Baptists in the pews.

SBC President J.D. Greear completed his third year leading the denomination, passing the gavel to Alabama pastor Ed Litton in the meeting’s final moments. Litton was elected president in a runoff with Georgia pastor Mike

Record crowds speak up

Messengers’ voices were heard in Nashville. Capacity attendance at the Music City Center combined with pre-convention debate over key issues caused organizers to add agenda time for more motions, resolutions, floor discussion, and (photo above) ballot votes.

Illinois Baptist Team Coverage

Reporting by Meredith Flynn in Nashville; additional reporting by Grayce Lillpop, Lisa Misner, and Eric Reed; design by Kris Kell; photography by Meredith Flynn and Baptist Press.

From the pulpit

“You should be at your heart of hearts a Kingdom independent. Because you represent another King and another Kingdom, and you and I are never to allow the politics of men to break up our together(ness), to divide the church of Jesus Christ.”

Continued from page 3

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

As Baptists leave Nashville, some divides seem bridged, for now. But the weighty issues that took center stage in Music City, and a pending investigation into how leaders have handled the sexual abuse crisis, signal Baptists have more tough conversations ahead of them.

Investigation to be independent of EC

Much of the national focus on the SBC prior to the meeting was directed at the Executive Committee (EC) and charges that leaders mishandled sexual abuse. The claims came from leaked letters by Moore and from a series of leaked audio clips later released by Phillip Bethancourt, former ERLC executive vice president.

the SBC Constitution to specify that a church acting inconsistently with the SBC’s beliefs regarding abuse cannot be in cooperation with the denomination.

And in a resolution on sexual abuse and pastoral qualifications, they affirmed the belief that “any person who has committed sexual abuse is permanently disqualified from holding the office of pastor,” and recommended SBC churches apply that standard to all church leadership positions.

EC’s financial plan rejected

Questions surrounding the EC’s handling of abuse overshadowed a major prong of its report in Nashville, an amended Business and Financial Plan for the SBC. Robyn Hari, chair of the Committee on Convention Finance and Stewardship Development, presented the plan in Nashville, noting it was a response to messengers’ previous request for more transparency and accountability among SBC entities.

“Men and women, we will do more damage to the gospel if we talk the gospel and don’t walk it; if we preach it, however great preachers we may be, and then it’s discovered that we don’t live it.”

In Nashville, Baptists asked newly elected SBC President Litton to facilitate a third-party investigation of the denomination’s handling of sexual abuse and its care for abuse survivors. Tennessee pastor Grant Gaines made the motion and after debate, messengers voted overwhelmingly to approve it.

The EC had previously announced they would work with Guidepost Solutions on an investigation of the charges. Gaines’s motion sought to make the investigation independent of the EC. “Since they are the ones being investigated, they can’t be the ones in control of the investigation,” he said. The motion asks the EC to “transfer oversight of the independent thirdparty review into the handling of sexual abuse to a task force appointed by the newly elected president of the SBC.”

But critics of the plan said it gave the EC too much financial power over the entities, and that a year in which the EC is under investigation is not the right time to make such a change. Also at issue: how the new plan could impact the accreditation of the SBC’s six seminaries. Southeastern Seminary President Danny Akin spoke on behalf of the seminary presidents, stating the plan would indeed jeopardize the institutions’ standing with accrediting agencies. Messengers defeated the recommended plan.

They also rejected recommendations from the EC to move responsibility for campus ministry from Lifeway Christians Resources to the North American Mission Board.

“We should not surrender this convention to strident voices who want to play the playground bully behind (computer) keyboards, tearing others down so they can build themselves up.”

The task force should be appointed within 30 days, the motion specifies, and the investigation should include actions and decisions of staff and members of the Executive Committee from January 1, 2000 to June 14, 2021, including the Credentials Committee created in 2019 and tasked with investigating reports of churches mishandling abuse.

In a press conference after his election, Litton spoke in favor of a third-party investigation. “I think we also need to be very pastoral in how we handle victims, in how we hear them, how we empathize and sympathize with them,” he said. “We want to bring all this out and expose it to the light.”

Before messengers voted for the independent review, EC President and CEO Ronnie Floyd said from the podium, “I want all of you to know I hear you. The Executive Committee respects the messengers. We need this deliberative process. We know that this will make our convention stronger, and that is what I want.”

Floyd’s Vision 2025 plan was approved by messengers, but they voted to add a goal to the set of strategic initiatives the SBC will work toward over the next four years. Along with goals in missions, church planting, giving, and reaching young people with the gospel, messengers voted to add: “That we prayerfully endeavor, before God, to eliminate all incidents of sex abuse and racial discrimination among our churches.”

“Friends, take it from Fred, vote

Messengers took more actions on abuse, amending

Watching yellow ballots wave in Nashville was “an unexpectedly moving experience,” said Heath Tibbetts, IBSA President and pastor of First Baptist Church, Machesney Park. “My initial thought on that sixth point was that it’s important, but I wasn’t sure it was the best place. As I mulled it over, I realized there’s no reason to set any secondary initiative that takes seriously issues of racial discrimination or sexual abuse mishandling. I believe it was the right call and I was glad to see the response.”

Resolution on race prioritizes Scripture

In 2019, Baptists approved a resolution on Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Intersectionality that affirmed Scripture as the ultimate authority to redress social ills, and recommended the frameworks “should only be employed as analytical tools subordinate to Scripture—not as transcendent ideological frameworks.”

– Tony Evans, Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, Dallas, at the Send Conference

for Ed!”

– David Jeremiah, Shadow Mountain Community Church, El Cajon, Calif., at the Send Conference

– Willy Rice, Calvary Church, Clearwater, Fla., in the SBC’s annual sermon

– Fred Luter, Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, New Orleans, in his nomination speech of Ed Litton for SBC President

RAISED BALLOTS – Chicagoland pastor Adron Robinson, a member of the Executive Committee (second from left), served on the Resolutions Committee. Here, standing behind chairman James Merritt, the committee voted in support of their resolution on the Bible’s sufficiency on race and racial reconciliation. Messengers agreed

But critics of the resolution said it indicated a dangerous direction for the SBC. The presidents of the denomination’s six seminaries issued a statement late last year declaring CRT incompatible with Baptists’ statement of faith, The Baptist Faith and Message. Some leaders, including the National African American Fellowship of the SBC, felt the seminary presidents’ statement denied the existence of systemic racism.

In Nashville, Florida pastor Tom Ascol made a motion to rescind Resolution 9. His motion was later ruled out of order and SBC attorney Jaime Jordan came to the podium to explain that an opinion expressed by a previous convention cannot be nullified by a current one. The current convention can, however, express its different opinion on the same subject.

Messengers did deal with race in a new resolution presented by this year’s Committee on Resolutions. Individual members of the committee presented most of the resolutions in Nashville, but in a powerful display of unity, the whole group stood together while chairman James Merritt introduced Resolution 2: “On the Sufficiency of Scripture for Race and Racial Reconciliation.”

The resolution reaffirms “our agreement with historic, biblically-faithful Southern Baptist condemnations of racism in all forms,” and rejects “any theory or worldview that sees the primary problem of humanity as anything other than sin against God and the ultimate solution as anything other than redemption found only in Christ.” The resolution does not mention CRT by name.

“Our aim for Resolution 2 was not just to deal with CRT, but to deal with…all types of theory that have come out of academia and out of culture that are inacceptable as worldviews and insufficient for salvation,” said committee member and Illinois pastor Adron Robinson. “We wrote something that covered all of those, and then reminded the messengers that we are to place the authority of Scripture first and foremost, and then submit all theories to the authority of Scripture.”

Robinson, who pastors Hillcrest Baptist Church in Country Club Hills, noted the resolution doesn’t deny racism. “We wanted to be clear that we were not denying the presence of systemic racism in our society, or in the history of our convention. For we know that’s true, because we know that all humanity is fallen due to the result of sin.”

Messengers in Nashville debated the resolution on the convention floor until Merritt went to the podium to defend it. “If some people were as passionate about the gospel as they were Critical Race Theory, we’d win this world to Christ tomorrow,” he said.

“What we have done in this resolution is say, ‘Let’s settle this issue once and for all, yesterday, today, and forever. We reject any theory that goes against the worldview that our problem is anything other than sin, and the solution is anything other than salvation.”

Messengers voted to approve Resolution 2 and nine others, including one resolution submitted from the floor exhorting Baptists to abolish abortion. The full list is available at sbc.net/ resolutions

In search of agreeable disagreement

National media coverage of the Nashville meeting focused on a possible “conservative takeover” of the SBC by leaders opposed to Critical Race Theory and social justice. When Litton won the presidency, many news outlets used the word “moderate” to describe his victory. In Southern Baptist parlance, moderate is often used to refer to those who don’t hold to the conservative theology Baptists returned to during the Conservative Resurgence of the 1970s and 80s; however, national news media used the word, not speaking theologically, to indicate a more middle-of-the-road candidate.

Joining Litton as SBC officers are Lee Brand, first vice president; Ramón Medina, second vice president; John Yeats, recording secretary; and Don Currence, registration secretary.

Baptists’ conservative theology and embrace of the inerrancy of Scripture was on full display throughout the Nashville meeting. What was more up for debate was the tone the SBC takes when they disagree.

In the SBC’s annual sermon on the final day of the convention, Florida pastor Willy Rice condemned divisive rhetoric among Christians. “You and I know there is a profound difference between honest debate and carnal controversies, between brotherly engagement and worldly strife,” he said. “You and I know the difference, and it is time we called it out and say to those whose voices seem constantly motivated to produce dissent and unrest that this will not go unchallenged or unchecked.”

Litton struck a softer tone in a press conference following his election, but still insisted on the priority of the gospel amid lesser differences.

“We exalt the gospel above all else,” Litton said in a conversation in which he addressed racial tensions, sexual abuse, politics, and gender roles in the church. “Going forward, I want to be clear that my goal is to build bridges and not walls.”

One solution, said Illinois church planter Belafae Johnson, may be to have difficult conversations more often, and in the context of the local church.

“What happens here is beautiful, but it doesn’t mean anything if it doesn’t translate into our everyday lives, and our everyday living, and how we pastor our churches, and the conversations that we have,” said Johnson, pastor of Purposed Church in Mascoutah.

“I hope that there are more conversations that take place in our churches before we get here. I think that’s where we need to see it happen.” Then, he said, the annual meeting would be a time to focus on Christ.

“What if we came here just ready to make much of Jesus?”

1. Pastor Tony Munoz of Iglesia Bautista Latina Church in Effingham served as percussionist on the worship team for the main sessions.

2. Inspiring worship was a highlight of the event.

3. Ric Worshill of Chicago (second from right) was onstage for recognition of chaplains’ ministry.

4. Cynthia Bogard of Marion knelt as messengers across the convention center prayed for the presidential election.

NEW SBC OFFICERS – Lee Brand Jr., 1st vice president; John Yeats, recording secretary; Ed Litton, president; and Don Currence, registration secretary. Not pictured: Ramón Medina, 2nd vice president.

RONNIE FLOYD

‘Great Commission Baptists’ a frequent refrain in final message

Greear identifies the ‘defining moment’ of current SBC leaders

J.D. Greear’s unexpected three-year presidency was marked by significant challenges, including reports of sexual abuse in the SBC and tensions over race within the convention. Greear spoke about those issues in his final sermon to the Convention, but he was also able to point to some accomplishments. He charged that messengers not drop the ball as he passed the gavel to incoming president Ed Litton, and he repeatedly urged the record crowd to be “Great Commission Baptists.” It was more than a theme for Greear; it was a clear declaration of identity.

Greear tapped the meeting open with a gavel made from pioneering missionary Adoniram Judson’s bedpost. Greear and others advocated retiring the Broadus gavel, used since 1872, after reports that Baptist forebear John A. Broadus was a slave holder. The change marked several memorable moves by Greear.

Messengers stood and applauded when Greear addressed racial tension within the SBC. “To our pastors of color, many of whom think we don’t care about you: We need you... (prolonged applause). I need you. We

can’t reach our nation without you. We cannot be who God has called us to be without your leadership.”

More than half of Greear’s appointments to 2020-21 committees are non-Anglo, as is 37% of the Committee on Nominations elected by messengers at the 2019 SBC Annual Meeting. Overall, the SBC averaged 12.4% ethnic diversity per trustee board for 2020-21, according to the Executive Committee. Individual boards range from a low of 3.9% ethnic diversity to a high of 21.65%.

“There has been an increase in upper-level” ethnic participation, said California pastor and EC chairman Rolland Slade, who is African American. “Doors have just been opened.”

“I made diversity a goal not because it’s cool, ‘woke,’ or trendy,” Greear said. “The largest growth we’ve seen in the SBC has been among Black, Latino, and Asian congregations.... Last year 60% of our new church plants were either ethnic churches, multiethnic churches, or non-Anglo churches.”

More than 10,000 of 48,000 SBC churches are ethnic congregations, he

Crossing Jordans

When J. D. Greear was elected SBC President in 2018, he wore Air Jordans on the platform. That prompted a short feature on leaders and their shoes in the Illinois Baptist. This year, the sneakers made their return for the final session. Farewell, Jordans. We’ll miss you.

said. “If we’re going to reach a changing society, our leadership needs to reflect that.”

Greear addressed politics in his farewell message. “Whenever the church gets in bed with politics, the church gets pregnant, and the offspring does not look like our Father in heaven,” Greear quipped. “God has not called us primarily to save America politically; he has called us to make the gospel known to all.

“We are not the party of the elephant or the donkey, we are the people of the lamb.”

Greear continued pushing the concept Great Commission Baptists.

RETIRED – Greear said he was looking forward to his new office, “immediate past president” of the SBC. The gavel he handed off replaced one retired last year (photo, left) due to John A. Broadus’s history as a slave holder. Greear closed the meeting with the Annie Armstrong gavel, made of a stair railing from her home church in Baltimore.

Referencing the SBC’s Conservative Resurgence in the 1970s and 80s, Greear said, “Our defining moment is about whether we will let the gospel that our forefathers preserved for us define the identity and determine the mission of our Convention.

“Gospel maturity means knowing which things should divide and which should not.”

– With reporting from Baptist Press

Litton strikes pastoral tone early in his presidency

At a microphone in Nashville, Southern Baptists got a first look at Ed Litton’s leadership style. It was during the report of Southern Seminary’s Al Mohler that Litton’s voice unexpectedly filled the room during a Q&A. But Litton didn’t have a question. Rather, he rose to express his respect for Mohler, one of the candidates Litton beat out in a hotly contested race for SBC President.

“You’re a statesman,” Litton told Mohler, thanking him for his service to Southern Baptists. Litton’s words inspired applause for Mohler— and likely, for an encouraging moment during a sometimes contentious meeting.

As Baptists left Nashville, some of the decisions they made had been resounding, like the call to make an investigation into sexual abuse independent of the SBC Executive Committee. But more votes were much closer, including the margin between Litton and Mike Stone, the candidate endorsed by the Conservative Baptist Network (CBN) that formed last year.

On Twitter, some pastors disappointed with the meeting’s decisions questioned the SBC’s future and their own churches’ future in it. The CBN committed to continue its fight on social

justice issues they consider indicative of theological drift in the SBC.

Peacemaker?

Litton has spent several years working toward racial reconciliation in his city of Mobile. He teamed with Pastor Fred Luter of New Orleans in actions last year to bring new understanding about race in the denomination. Litton quickly reached out to Mohler after his election. Newly elected first vice president Lee Brand ran under the CBN banner, so Litton’s officers will include a range of Baptist perspectives. His first big assignment will be to appoint a committee to oversee the investigation into Executive Committee actions related to the denomination’s response to sexual abuse.

What should help is Litton’s apparent commitment to focus on Jesus and taking the Good News to all who will hear it. Shortly after his election, Litton spoke with reporters from a wide variety of religious and secular media outlets. He spoke to them more like a pastor than a president, sharing his own family’s story from dysfunction to radical

FIRST COUPLE – Kathy and Ed Litton, photographed at news conference following his election as SBC President. Ed pastors Redemption Church in Saraland, Alabama. Kathy serves as Director of Planter Spouse Development for the North American Mission Board.

transformation after a Baptist pastor shared the gospel with his dad.

He talked about the tragedies he and his wife, Kathy, faced when they both lost their first spouses. He spoke with admiration and affection for past SBC presidents including Luter, who gave Litton’s nomination speech in Nashville.

Litton acknowledged the difficult issues Baptists now face, and he signaled the tone with which he will attempt to lead amid differences of opinion.

“I’m not Superman. I have no magic. But I know this person and his name is Jesus, and they know him too,” he said of people on the other side of the issues. “I think we can find that common ground.”

– Meredith Flynn

Pandemic does not stop mission advance

Messengers hear reports of increase in gospel witness in 2020

Despite the worldwide damage the pandemic has caused, God has moved powerfully during the year of Covid, said International Mission Board (IMB) President Paul Chitwood. His report to messengers at the Nashville convention was one highlight in news shared also shared by leaders of the North American Mission Board (NAMB) and Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU).

“To the contrary, God’s kingdom has expanded during the pandemic and, because of Southern Baptists’ commitment to cooperation, your missionaries have remained on mission,” he said, noting the IMB sent more than 500 missionaries to the nations since the start of the pandemic.

In 2020, 247 new people groups and places were engaged, 144,322 became new believers, and 86,587 were baptized. Plus, more people heard a gospel witness in 2020 than in 2019—769,494 compared to just over 500,000.

Chitwood emphasized unity around shared vision and missions to messengers. “When the Great Commission is not the lead topic of our conversation, brothers and sisters, the other topics divide us,” he said. “We have other things to talk about, other things we must talk about, but if the Great Commission is not our chief concern, our cooperative mission enterprise will fail.”

Last year in North America, Southern Baptists planted 588 churches, 143 churches affiliated, and 126 church campuses were started, adding a total of 857 new SBC congregations, reported NAMB President Kevin Ezell. Since 2010, more than 8,200 churches have been planted.

Send Relief President Bryant Wright reported through the partnership between IMB and NAMB, 2.8 billion people were served in its first year. Nearly 1,000 churches in the U.S. and hundreds of IMB missionaries distributed “hope and help,” recording

more than 23,000 professions of faith.

Send Relief partnered with Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief in its new food distribution ministry during the pandemic, lending IBDR trucks to deliver goods to food banks and churches statewide from its warehouse in Mt. Vernon.

WMU launches new studies

Closing out the meeting, National WMU Executive Director Sandy Wisdom-Martin, an Illinois native and former IBSA staff member, introduced a new missions discipleship curriculum for children–“Missions Journey: Kids.” It includes a monthly leader’s guide, full-color poster kit, and magazine. A free sample download is available at wmu.com.

“We heard you,” she said describing the curriculum. Listening to children’s mission leaders’ requests, it is “written for Southern Baptists by Southern Baptists” and takes less prep time.

Prior to the start of the SBC, WMU hosted a Missions Celebration and Annual Meeting where hundreds gathered June 13 at Nashville First Baptist Church under the theme “Relentless Journey.” Connie Dixon of New Mexico was elected president of the national Woman’s Missionary Union, replacing Linda Cooper whose term ended after six years of service, having been extended by one year due to the pandemic.

Lifeway’s Mandrell optimistic after hard year

“Despite what you have heard, Lifeway is not in a fire sale,” president and CEO Ben Mandrell reported to messengers in Nashville. “Lifeway is getting focused.”

The Tampico, Illinois native described harrowing choices following a $45 million budget shortfall in 2020. The decision to close all Lifeway Christian Resources stores had already been announced before Mandrell was elected to lead the Southern Baptist publishing house. What Mandrell confronted in the pandemic year was tanking curriculum sales, high costs of its new but increasingly unused office space in downtown Nashville, an underfunded pension system, and expensive infrastructure needs at Ridgecrest Conference Center. Covid meant there were no camps last summer.

When the pandemic began, Mandrell said Lifeway leaders and the board of trustees “had to press the gas and make strong changes.” The organization sold Ridgecrest to “like-minded individuals that would carry the ministry forward” and has now settled all but two store leases, exiting those at 50 cents on the dollar, which Mandrell called “miraculous.”

The headquarters building has been sold, and most employees work remotely, except for team meetings. Mandrell is looking for modest “teaming” facilities.

The organization’s president also highlighted the recent rebranding effort, including a new logo. “We want to be by your side in ministry,” Mandrell said. “We care about church leaders and want to build personal relationships with you.

“We experienced the good favor of God in that some of the things that we do soared during the season of quarantine.” He pointed to strong sales of books, Bibles, and Bible studies. In 2020 Lifeway sold more than 2.4 million Bibles, and more than 100,000 women joined a Lifeway Women online Bible study. A complete revision of the website is underway to make shopping easier. Mandrell admitted the old site was unwieldy and drove customers away.

“Scripture says every good and perfect gift comes from the Father above,” Mandrell said, “so we want to recognize in the history of this organization that God has preserved us and pulled us through.”

– With reporting from Baptist Press

From the press

Over two days, SBC church delegates offered one rebuke after the next of the faith’s hard-line old guard, leaders of which have been at the center of myriad scandals that had already pushed out wellknown officials and numerous Black churches, including one of Houston’s largest congregations.

– Robert Downen, Houston Chronicle (Robert Downen first broke the SBC abuse story in 2019.)

“Everybody I’ve talked to has said we are going to have to have serious, hard conversations within our churches,” said Tom Buck, the pastor of First Baptist Church in Lindale, Texas, which held an online fund-raiser to send likeminded staunch conservatives to vote at this week’s meeting.

– Ruth Graham, New York Times

Some are concerned there is a leftward drift within the evangelical network of churches. This group — some of whom are rallying around pirate imagery and a ‘take the ship’ slogan — is calling for a course correction...

– Holly Meyer, The (Nashville) Tennesseean

Tez Andrews, the pastor of a predominantly Black SBC church in Georgia, said he was disheartened by how close the presidential vote was. “It reflects that politics has infected the Southern Baptists,” he said. “If we are Republican Christians, we’re not Christians. If we’re Democrat Christians, we’re not Christians.”

– Ian Lovett, Wall St. Journal

In a news conference after his election, Litton praised the racial diversity of the convention, a predominantly White denomination that has grown in its predominantly Black, Hispanic, and Asian churches in recent decades.

– Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Washington Post

SANDY WISDOM-MARTIN

– Compiled from Baptist Press reports

BEN MANDRELL

PAUL CHITWOOD

From the people

“Pastor J.D.’s President’s Message was incredible on Tuesday morning. He set the example of talking specifically without naming names. He displayed what it looks like to be a president to one large body containing pockets of division.”

Illinois on stage and behind the scenes

Adams advocates state partnerships

IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams (second from left) joined Baptist state executives from Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas, and Florida in a panel discussion on the Vision Stage in the SBC exhibit hall. Adams shared the benefits of churches’ partnership with state conventions and specific ways conventions serve local churches.

On the platform in the business sessions: Pastor Adron Robinson served on the Resolutions Committee (see page 4). Pastor Tony Munoz served double duty, on the Committee on the Order of Business, and on drums (see page 5).

Smooth operations at registration counter

“I think we really needed someone who was going to help set a trajectory that made it clear that we’re not interested in becoming independent, fundamental Baptists. That’s not who we are, that’s not what we’re about. We’re conservatives, we believe in the inerrancy and sufficiency of Scripture….I think Pastor Litton will do a fantastic job of leading us in that direction.”

It’s not every day that you’re the person who stands between thousands of people and their ability to enter a globally recognized event. But for a few days out of the year, Drew Heironimus is that guy. Heironimus was recruited in 2015 to help at the Southern Baptist Convention in Columbus, Ohio, along with his counterparts from other state conventions. As IBSA’s Information and Technology Services Director, his IT experience has proven valuable to the SBC across six years. With record crowds predicted to attend the Nashville convention, the job grew as the numbers grew. This was an especially challenging year.

Q: A lot of your work comes before the convention, but what happens when you arrive at the site?

people because they want to register and go. But the lines went very smoothly, only about a 15-minute wait, even though we had record numbers for the first time in a long time.

Q: How did you prepare for “game day”?

A: The big thing was knowing that we could have a lot of frustrated people because of everything going on this year. We were prepared for people to be angry, but they were very kind. We received a lot of compliments. We had a good group of guys working together trying to get people in and out as quickly as possible. They were long days—12-to-14 hour days that we worked—but it was worth it.

“Dr. Kevin Smith warned, admonished, and encouraged us (the SBC Pastors’ Conference) today from Eph. 4:1-6. May God help us work out that blood bought unity we have in Christ.”

“This year’s SBC gathering showed the heart of a denomination that wants to reclaim its place in the world of organized religion as a group of people who want Jesus in the forefront and the gospel as its foundation…. Yes, sin will always create division, conflict, turmoil, and pain, especially in groups as large as church denominations. But what I saw from the SBC gives me immense hope and joy.”

A: We’re usually the IT guys, but people call us the registration coordinators. My team and I, all seven of us, came in and set up the entire registration. After that, we had a bunch of college kids come in from BCMs (Baptist Collegiate Ministries). They ran all the computers and checked everyone in, while we were behind the scenes. If they had any kind of hiccup, we were there to help.

Q: The registration area looked like the lines at airport security. Was this year different from others?

A: The major difference this year was the turnout. Over 21,000 people preregistered and that includes messengers and visitors. We had over 15,000 messengers and over 4,000 visitors so overall, we had almost 20,000 people there. Compare that to Birmingham in 2019, where we had about 8,000 total. So, if you think of the numbers, it was really chaotic.

Q: Did it go as you expected?

A: To me it was overall a very positive experience. Registration is usually a frustrating point for a lot of

Baptists and babies

Jan Kragness and Thurman Stewart were among the Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief workers who served in nine child care areas at the Music City Center. Jan’s husband, Don, signed up for his favorite job, “rocking babies.”

DREW HEIRONIMUS

– Heath Tibbetts, pastor, First Baptist Church, Machesney Park and president of IBSA

– Michael Allen, Uptown Baptist Church, Chicago, on Facebook

– Chris Gregg, worship and media pastor, Tabernacle Baptist Church, Decatur, on Facebook

– Jeremy Byrd, pastor, Lincoln Avenue Baptist Church, Jacksonville

CANDID MOMENT – Litton and Greear after the gavel was passed.

From Lincoln Land to Volunteer Country

293 messengers from 114 Illinois churches journeyed to Nashville (the one in Tennessee). We caught up with a bunch of them at the IBSA Dessert Reception that featured three Southern-style cobblers and two kinds of brownies.

1. IBSA’s Carmen Halsey with Jenny Binkley and Alyssa Merritt of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Decatur

2. Belafae and Tamika Johnson, Purposed Church in Mascoutah

3. Michael Allen (left), with Nick Kim and his wife Ji Yoon, Uptown Church in Chicago, talk with Doug Munton, FBC in O’Fallon

4. Cliff Woodman, Emmanuel Church in Carlinville, with Nikki and Heath Tibbetts, FBC in Machesney Park

5. IBSA’s Fran Trascritti (right) and his wife, Teresa

6. Illinois WMU President Lindsay Wineinger, Woodland Church in Peoria, and John Danner, Logan Street Church in Mt. Vernon

7. Judy and Dewayne Taylor, Dorrisville Baptist Church, Harrisburg, in the SBC exhibit hall

Tracker Convention Edition

People: Boomer Town

Hashtag lauds home church

Shifts focus from debate to ‘the real SBC’

of Southern Baptists were born before 1965.

54% Numbers: Convention Attendance

15,726 messengers (plus guests) in Nashville. Compare:

45,519

Highest in Dallas, 1985

20,654

Most recent high attendance in Atlanta, 1995

Faith: 73%

Percentage of weekly attending Southern Baptists who identify both as conservative and Republican. The ideology identification is as high as in 2008; party identification in 2020 is the highest ever.

– Center for Election Science

4,852

Lowest in Phoenix, 2011

Global: $20 billion

Projected missions giving through Cooperative Program by September 2021, since its founding in 1925.

500 - Net gain of missionaries need to fulfill SBC’s Vision 2025. With attrition of 300 missionaries each year, 425 new missionaries will be required annually.

Survey: Denominational Value

“I consider it vital to be part of a denomination.”

Jacksonville | An aerial photo of Lincoln Avenue Baptist Church inspired Baptists across the country to post photos of their home churches with the hashtag #This istheSBC. The campaign started amid growing controversy ahead of the 2021 SBC annual meeting in Nashville.

Southern Seminary professor Andrew Walker started the trend by posting the Lincoln Avenue photo with the caption, “I heard the gospel here. Baptized here. Discipled here. Met my wife and got married here. This is the ‘SBC’—not Twitter, not denominational intrigue.”

More SBC leaders joined in by posting their own photos, includ-

ing International Mission Board

President Paul Chitwood, who tweeted about First Baptist Church in Jellico, Tenn. Chitwood said the hashtag resonated with him.

“Our tribe isn’t perfect— never has been—but they genuinely aspire to be the missional embodiment of Jesus on earth and be used in God’s plan to rescue humanity for eternity. Social media, denominational celebrities, and real and manufactured scandals can obscure all of that if (we) aren’t careful to stay in touch with the real SBC.”

– From Baptist Press

New roles for longtime leaders

Saddleback Church

Rick Warren will step down as Saddleback Church’s lead pastor and transition to the role of founding pastor once a replacement is found to lead the Southern California megachurch he founded in 1980.

“This is not the end of my ministry,” Warren told his church June 6, adding “this next transition in my life is something I am anticipating with zero regrets, zero fears, zero worries.” Warren said Saddleback will look inside and outside the church for its next pastor.

Ministry: 18,000

handwritten letters sent by WMU to churches that had not given to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering in recent years.

The 2020 offering was $175 million marking the 175th anniversary of SBC missions. That’s the same number of letters Annie Armstrong wrote in 1893 seeking churches’ support for Lottie Moon’s ministry in China.

GuideStone

Annie’s actual typewriter

Hance Dilbeck will lead GuideStone Financial Resources as president-elect beginning July 1 and as president and CEO next year, when current president O.S. Hawkins will become president emeritus. Dilbeck has served as executive director-treasurer of

Oklahoma Baptists since 2018 and in Oklahoma for more than 30 years. Hawkins, who has led GuideStone since 1997, previously served as pastor of First Baptist Ft. Lauderdale and First Baptist Dallas.

Ohio Convention

Jeremy Westbrook will start Aug. 1 as executive director-treasurer of the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio. Currently pastoring in Florida, Westbrook planted Living Hope Church in Marysville, Ohio in 2008. During his leadership, the church implemented a pastoral pipeline, launching Living Hope Columbus in the spring of 2017. “Every church, no matter the size,” he said, “can develop and implement a pipeline to raise up and release leaders for the next generation of gospel impact.”

– From Baptist Press

RICK WARREN

HANCE DILBECK

JEREMY WESTBROOK

O.S. HAWKINS

– Reported at the Nashville Convention

– Lifeway Research (October 2020)

MISSION

Camps kick off summer

Lake Sallateeska and Streator Baptist Camps launched their summer ministries by welcoming visitors for Opening Day celebrations in May and June. At Lake Sallateeska in Pinckneyville, an open house featured food, games, and live music, plus IBSA’s Brad Lovin met with church leaders for a Missions Boot Camp. At Streator in northern Illinois, visitors went on a hayride, fished and paddle-boated in the pond, and practiced their archery skills. Go to IBSA.org/camps for more information about IBSA’s camp facilities.

Cleanup honors vets

Grayville | When Pastor David Smith found a way to express his respect for veterans of the U.S. military, he invited members of his church and community to join the effort. Smith, who leads First Baptist Church in Grayville, recently launched an initiative to clean the headstones of veterans buried in his town.

Smith got the mayor’s approval and researched what cleaning products are safe to use on the headstones. For six weeks, he and his family worked with a group of volunteers to scrub around 1,000 grave markers for veterans of several wars, including the War of 1812, Civil War, both World Wars, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. When the group finished cleaning the headstones, they moved on to the flat markers.

“The longer we worked, the more appreciation and respect we had,” Smith said. As they worked, looking at before-and-after pictures of the projects gave the group energy to move on to the next. The volunteers’ goal was to finish their work in Grayville’s cemetery by Memorial Day, and they succeeded.

“What an honor it has been to clean our veterans’ markers and show them the respect we have for them,” Smith said, “and thereby our appreciation for the freedoms we have.”

SHOW OF RESPECT – Pastor David Smith (left) and his family clean the headstone of a veteran of the Mexican American War.

WELCOME WAGON – Streator Baptist Camp manager Jacob Kimbrough (above) invited the Streator community to join friends of the camp at a June 5 Opening Day celebration, which included a hay ride. Lake Sallateeska Baptist Camp in Pinckneyville also launched its summer season with an Opening Day open house May 22 (large seated group, above left).

Churches relaunch outreach with VBS

Summer ministry signals additional return to normalcy after Covid limitations

BY GRAYCE LILLPOP

Illinois | It all feels so familiar. The spontaneous giggles and chatter of snack time, the sound of tiny footsteps tapping their way down the hallway, the wave of smiling faces making their big debut in recreation time.

The sights and sounds of Vacation Bible School were dramatically different or totally absent in 2020. But after a year of cancellations and adjustments, VBS is back and is kickstarting the return to normalcy for churches across Illinois. Some picked up right where they left off, while others used the “new normal” to launch new ministry.

“We are so thankful to be on the other side of the pandemic with our lives slowly returning to normal,” said Robb Rockwell, children’s pastor at Lincoln Avenue Baptist Church. The Jacksonville church is one IBSA congregation making the bounce back this summer by pressing resume on their activities for kids and families.

In 2020, Lincoln Avenue made the difficult decision to close their doors temporarily, like most churches, which left summer activities out

of the question. “We did have some alternate dates later in the summer…but it quickly became evident that it would not be safe or in the best interest of our VBS staff or the children that attend to hold VBS,” Rockwell said. It was a challenge to adapt so quickly, but the church chose to use online resources to keep kids engaged.

“Not holding VBS had a huge impact on outreach,” Rockwell said.

“We used weekly Facebook posts to engage our children and families along with our online worship time.” Losing an entire summer of what would typically consist of more than 200 children flooding the church halls, called for a celebration like none other once it was safe to do so—albeit with some new safety precautions. “During the week we have a designated cleaning crew that will be spraying and wiping down surfaces, doors, etc. throughout the day,” Rockwell said. “We want to add as many layers of protection for our staff and kids as possible.”

A whole new strategy

Instead of using last year’s long months of sheltering at home to pick up a new hobby or binge-watch TV, Nicole Griswold from Elm Street Baptist Church in Murphysboro decided to reimagine her church’s VBS strategy altogether.

“We needed something that would help unchurched families and those that were still practicing caution feel comfortable attending,” she said. Her church is hoping to reach families this summer in an entirely new way. “We decided to hold a series of four outdoor events that would appeal to families in the community, get our own members re-engaged in ministry, and give us the oppor-

tunity to meet and talk with those people.”

They plan to host events such as a petting zoo, carnival game night, outdoor movie, and a water game night. Also in the plans is engaging Elm Street’s Sunday school and Bible study classes in the open-air activities and allowing them to operate their own games for different events.

Getting students to actively participate online during the pandemic was very difficult, she said, but still emphasized the importance of being intentional with student and family relationships. “Personal interaction still trumps electronics. Families

seemed to really appreciate being checked on and receiving mail.”

The summer is an opportunity for something new and refreshing, Griswold said, and a chance to think differently and gain a new perspective on reaching others. Whether churches are using this season to start new ministries or relaunch trusted outreaches, the goal is to grow in community and in evangelistic potential. And to remember what it’s like to be together.

“I just want to see kids enjoying themselves and not having to worry about what may happen next,” Rockwell said. “Just a few hours a day of fun, learning, and laughter.”

DISCOVERING FUN – This summer, children are digging into God’s word at Lincoln Avenue Baptist Church in Jacksonville as Vacation Bible School makes a comeback after Covid. Since the return to normal activities is in full effect, churches across Illinois are utilizing VBS to witness to their communities once again.

GROWING

Building the cheerful giver

You know God’s in the middle of something when your church experiences both its lowest year of attendance and highest year of giving at the same time. This was our experience in 2020, and the realization caused me to take stock of how he brought us here. Truly, I believe God is the great provider for the church, doing that work most often through the obedience of his people. Not an obedience of emergency, but of discipleship and partnership revealed in an unexpected moment.

In my home church, tithing was taught as a rigid requirement for all believers. While I believed giving was important, parting with 10% of my income as a college student seemed like an impossible standard. When I did manage to tithe, I rarely felt any joy or worship in the effort. Even as I later settled into a place of consistent tithing, it usually felt like a “have to” instead of a “get to” moment for God.

Fast forward to my early days as a pastor when I began to wrestle with a fuller understanding of giving from Paul’s letters to the churches. I’d previously been moved by statements that God wanted the law written on our hearts (Romans 2:15) and that physical circumcision never compared to heart circumcision (Romans 2:29). Then a fresh reading of 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 revealed to me the heart aspect of giving I had been missing.

“…whoever sows sparingly will reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

For years I had given with cheerless compulsion, and I resolved to avoid that mistake in the congregation God would give me. Giving cannot be about instant demands. When we demand a percentage based on Old Testament law, we lead people by judgment instead of joy in their giving.

I realized that just as we patiently grow disciples in their

reading of God’s word and prayer, so must generosity be treated as a spiritual discipline for people to grow into. Isn’t 1% with the heart better than 10% without it?

When I arrived at First Baptist Church Machesney Park, giving had been significantly below budget for years. Convinced that a balanced budget was necessary, we entered a season of salary freezes and budget cuts until we finally accomplished it. We also began to see new attenders during this time, many of whom were unchurched or had been out of church for years.

Some long-term members wondered why this influx of new people didn’t translate into higher giving. I responded that instant demands were not going to be more effective than steady discipleship. One mentor challenged me that if I wanted to see rapid progress in my church, I had to teach the tithe as a membership standard. I politely declined the advice, again

stressing the need for discipleship.

As our budget came into balance, God also provided me with vital insight through the Auxano church consultants on the discipleship and partnership of giving. Their four-step path to disciple members as investors and not just attenders was the language I had been seeking.

1. Potential Giver: Teach that everyone can and should give something to support their church.

2. Priority Giver: Lead the giver to commit that no financial distraction will interrupt their giving potential.

3. Proportional Giver: Help them move from random generosity to strategic giving, perhaps even a tithe.

4. Partnering Giver: Guide givers to be ready to additionally respond to unexpected kingdom investments.

It would have been easy for our membership to divest through this season of Covid. Instead, they showed a tremendous care for the staff and ministry of their church. A time of great testing has produced a great testimony of people who decided in their hearts to live as disciples and partners for the sake of the church.

Heath Tibbetts pastors First Baptist Church, Machesney Park.

Embraced

Lysa TerKeurst

This is one of the resources I use every day in my prayer closet. Whenever I finish it, I start over. I also just read Lysa TerKeurst’s 2014 book “The Best Yes.” All of her books are excellent, especially if you’re using them in mentoring relationships.

The Preaching Event

John Claypool

In lectures at Yale University in 1979, Claypool argued that in the process of preaching, the preacher assumes the roles of a reconciler, gift-giver, witness, and nurturer. Each category provides clear direction and purpose, from sermon prep to delivery.

Women of the Word

Jen Wilkin

While many Bible studies do most of the comprehension and interpretation for the reader, this book focuses on helping women learn to study the Bible on their own. Another helpful resource on that topic is “Living by the Book” by Howard Hendricks.

– Debbie Eddington, ministry leader, Three Rivers Baptist Association

– Bryan Price, pastor, Love Fellowship Baptist Church, Romeoville

– Traci Jahnke, ministry leader, Faith Baptist Church, Breese

Everyone knew Maude had been vaccinated.

God’s Courtroom

Aug. 8 • 10 a.m.

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Aug. 8 • 6:30 p.m.

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More Pastors’ Date Nights planned

SIU BSU reunion

Sept. 23-24

Makanda | Friends and classmates from the Baptist Student Union at Southern Illinois University will gather Sept. 23-24 for their annual reunion. Canceled last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the reunion is an opportunity to celebrate the lasting impact of campus ministry.

The gathering started informally 35 years ago when some of the former classmates got together for dinner, recounted BSU alumnus Carol Smith. Fellow alum Helen Galloway organized more formal gatherings after that. Friends of the BSU live in 22 states and are active in their churches—teaching, preaching, and leading in music and missions, Smith said.

Makanda | IBSA hosted more than 70 pastors and their wives from Southern Illinois for a special night out at Giant City Lodge June 4. The ministry couples were treated to a buffet dinner and ladies received a gift basket. Joey Krol, pastor of Rochester First Baptist Church, shared a testimony.

“What a joy it was to spend the evening alongside our associational leaders as together we ministered to the ones who ministered so

faithfully through the Covid crisis,” said Associate Executive Director Mark Emerson

“It is common for couples in ministry to focus so much attention on ministering to others that, regretfully, they struggle with self-care. The Date Night was a great opportunity for pastors and wives to get away and focus on each other.” he said.

Several regional Pastors’ Date Nights are planned across the state.

This year’s event is their 28th annual reunion. IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams will speak during the Thursday evening session at Giant City State Park Lodge in Makanda, south of Carbondale. Registration is $45, and checks can be made by Aug. 26 to Oleta Barrow, 1543 Applingwood Cove N., Cordova, TN 38016. All BSU/Baptist Campus Ministries friends are welcome.

with the lord PEOPLE

Myron William Taylor, 82, died June 8 in Carbondale due to several conditions. The son of the late IBSA Executive Director Noel Taylor and wife, Inez, Myron was active in Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief serving on multiple callouts over the last 20 years. Before retiring he worked as an accountant and over-the-road truck driver. A member of Carterville First Baptist Church, Taylor is survived by his wife, Cora. Donations may be made to the Williamson Baptist Disaster Relief Fund.

Donald Ray Ile, 78, an Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief Blue Cap, died June 10 after a brief battle with cancer. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Ruth. Ile was a retired state police officer, a Gideon, and a member of First Baptist Church of Albion. Remembrances may be made to the Greater Wabash Association Disaster Relief or the Gideons.

Brenda Pavloff Calvert, 70, a former member of the IBSA Board of Directors, died June 5. A member of Carterville First Baptist Church, Calvert retired after teaching more than 30 years at schools in Herrin. She then earned a Ph.D. and taught at SIU-Carbondale until retiring again in 2016. She was preceded in death by her husband, John “Tex” Calvert. Memorials may be sent to the Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services in Carmi.

Robert “Bud” Sefried, 93, pastor of Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in McLeansboro, died June 10. Sefried served 44 years as Hopewell’s pastor where he continued ministry by visiting hospitals, care centers, homes, and prisons to help those in need. He was married to Lavona for 71 years before her death in 2019. Sefried was a U.S. Army veteran.

Dr. Joey Krol is the new pastor of Rochester First Baptist Church. He has served since 2016 as pastor of Galilee Baptist Church in Decatur, and is also the network on-air host for WLUJ, Springfield. Krol is a graduate of Colorado Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Aubrey, have two children. Aubrey is employed by IBSA.

Crossroads Community Church in Carol Stream welcomed Tey Mitchell as pastor of students and church planting resident through the North American Mission Board. After working part-time as a student ministry director at Crossroads for two years, Mitchell left the banking industry to lead ministry to students and their families full-time, and to prepare to launch Crossroads’s next church plant in the fall of 2022. He and his wife, Samantha, have two children.

1. Friends gather for dinner and conversation

2. Aaron and Shauna Trotter, New Hope, Mt. Vernon

3. Bennie and Sheila Tomberlin, FBC Fairfield Page 1: Nathaniel and Brianna Trowbridge, Samaria Missionary, Albion, with a gift basket

Illinois

EVENTS

July 5-10, July 24-31

Illinois Changers

What: Challenging, hands-on mission projects for students who have completed grades 6-12

Where: July 5-10: Ten Mile Baptist Church, McLeansboro; July 24-31: Woodland Baptist Church, Peoria

July 12-16

Bounce Kids Camp

What: For kids and students in grades 3-12

Where: Streator Baptist Camp Register: IBSA.org/kids

July 15

IBSA Online Tech Conference

Decatur • Sept. 26-27

What: Get church technology training you won’t find anywhere else. Help staff create an attitude of worship, from the bulletin to the preaching.

Info: BenJones@IBSA.org

July 17

DiscipleLab

What: Training for the pastor and one discipleshiporiented church leader to learn, discuss, and develop a workable, practical plan for disciple-making.

Where: IBSA Building, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (registration begins at 8 a.m.)

Info: FranTrascritti@IBSA.org

• Carlton Binkley

• Rob Gallion

• Scott Harris

• Jorge Rodriguez

• Derrick Taylor

• Woody White

Registration opens soon at

IBSA.org

July 19-23

Rebound Student Camp

What: A week designed for students in grades 7-12

Where: Lake Sallateeska Baptist Camp Register: IBSA.org/students

August 17, 19

Regional Worship Training

What: Encouragement and equipping for worship leaders, vocalists, musicians, and technology volunteers. Where: Aug. 17: Second Baptist, Marion; Aug. 19: IBSA Building, Springfield Info: BenJones@IBSA.org

networking

Find more information on ministry positions at IBSA.org/connect Send NetworkiNg items to IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org

First Baptist Church, Dupo, seeks a part-time worship leader. The primary responsibility is leading the Sunday morning worship service. Salary negotiable. Send resumés to FBC Dupo, P.O. Box 219, Dupo, IL 62239, or email resumés to fbcdupo@htc.net, Attention: Pastor.

First Baptist Church, Gibson City, seeks a God-loving, Bible-preaching bivocational pastor to help this small (but mighty for the Lord) church grow. Email resumés to hd4Christ@att.net.

Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Buncombe is a small, rural, mission-minded church in search of a bivocational pastor. Send resumés to Robert Prater at praterbob6@gmail.com or call (618) 521-8052 for more information.

Summit Avenue Baptist Church, Decatur, is seeking a bivocational pastor. Salary, benefits, and parsonage provided. Send resumés to Chris Granda, 343 W. Andrews St., Macon, IL 62544 or email to office@ cbadecatur.com.

Harbor Church, Lake of Egypt, seeks a lead pastor Both full-time and bivocational applicants may be considered for this position. Email resumés to bradshawnee@ gmail.com. Please include a couple of sermons or teaching videos that highlight your teaching style.

First Baptist Church, Karnak in southern Illinois seeks a bivocational pastor. Please send resumés to Tamra Peck at tpeck@joppa38.com or 458 Old Karnak Rd., Karnak, IL 62956.

BRIGHTER DAY

Dolly’s ‘side hustle’

For a few months recently, our 4-yearold’s favorite song was Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5.” I played it during a cranky car ride one morning and it was an instant game changer. We were excited, then, to hear Dolly’s remake of the song for a Super Bowl commercial. The spot for a DIY website company features her singing “5 to 9” and celebrating the side hustle. According to the ad, it’s the thing you do after your regular 9 to 5. It’s the work that truly inspires you.

Great, I heard one radio commentator opine. Another way to make us feel stretched thinner than we already are.

I understood what he meant. It’s easy to view time as an enemy. There’s never enough of it, and we’re beset with guilt about making the most with the time we do have. The pandemic year was one in which we were constantly reminded how precious time is with our loved ones. But most days remind us there aren’t enough hours to do it all well. And as restrictions loosen and things inch closer to normal, demands on our time are likely to increase. As a friend noted recently, “We’ll have to relearn how to say no.”

Enter Dolly and her enthusiastic urging to tack on four more hours.

In the struggle to manage time well, I’ve often thought of Psalm 90:12 as a verse for the overscheduled. “Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts,” Moses wrote. My interpretation: Help me know the right things to do and when to do them, so that I’ll feel at peace with how I’m managing my time.

But Moses’ psalm paints a picture of a man struggling with more than an overstuffed to-do list. Time is scarce, ebbing away even now. He is well aware of man’s sin and God’s wrath. “We end our years like a sigh,” he wrote. My interpretation: It’s true, we don’t have enough time. We are more aware of that fact more than ever after a weighty year.

Thankfully, he ends the psalm on a note that, while not exactly hope-filled, is resolute about who’s really in charge of the time we do have. “Establish the work of our hands,” he asks God. Twice.

After a heavy year, it’s a vital prayer for the 5 to 9, the 9 to 5, and the hours in between.

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

Baptist Evangelism Conference

Featuring Fred Luter of New Orleans

And Illinois pastors