June 16, 2014 Illinois Baptist

The SBC on its k nees

From 1964: The curse of ‘tolerance’ page 4

Illinois women tackle sex trafficking page 6

In Her Steps: our Annie Armstrong tour page 11

and updates

Throughout the week:

facebook com/IllinoisBaptist twitter.com/IllinoisBaptist pinterest.com/IllinoisBaptist vimeo.com/IBSA

www.IBSA.org

Luter ’s successor continues call for revival in nation and denomination

By Meredith Flynn

Baltimore | Running 45 minutes ahead of schedule on the second day, those keeping the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting on track didn’t do the usual thing – advancing the schedule to allow more time for business (or lunch)

Instead, they got down to the serious business of prayer

Clustered in small groups across the convention hall, Baptists prayed for personal and national revival, and for spiritual awakening in churches and in a denomination “that often seems

to have lost its first love,” said Frank Page, president of the SBC Executive Committee

It wasn’t the only time messengers were called to prayer and repentance during the Baltimore gathering A powerful message by Francis Chan had resulted in similar prayer moments a few days before

“We need the next great spiritual awakening,” said new Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd, who succeeds New Orleans

Continued on page 2

Sallateeska construction continues

In the SBC Special Sec tion

Luter’s enduring message: Let revival begin with me!

Call to pastors: Re-engage with Cooperative Program as main missions network

IMB’s turning point and the challenge out of Illinois

More original reporting and photos from Baltimore, star ting on page 7

Declines demand ‘renewed passion’

N a s h v i l l e , T e n n . | The number of churches affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention increased slightly in 2013, while other key measures declined, according to the Annual Church Profile (ACP) compiled by LifeWay Christian Resources in cooperation with Baptist state conventions

The number of SBC churches grew by 91 to 46,125, a 0 2% increase over 2012 SBC churches also reported 4,789 church-type missions last year, a decline of 203 from 2012. However, some state conventions no longer use the designation church-type mission, which may have impacted the total

While the number of SBC churches increased, several other numbers declined, including:

• Church membership decreased by 136,764, down 0 9% to 15 7 million members

Continued on page 2

CAPACITY DOUBLED – Volunteer construction workers helped the staff at IBSA’s Lake Sallateeksa camp expand the dining hall A late start to spring slowed the project, but the team pledged to finish before the first campers arrived Story on page 3

Arkansas pastor Ronnie Floyd wins top post page 2

Finally, we stopped talking about prayer – and we prayed

BRIEFING the

News updates every Tuesday at www ib2news org

Pastor witnesses behind bars

An American pastor imprisoned in Iran leading people to faith in Christ, his wif Baptist Press Naghmeh Abedini said a thorities have threatened to extend her husband’s sentence, but “Jesus saved him in such a radical way that he can’t deny Christ and he can’t stop sharing his faith,” she said “It’s in his DNA ”

Saeed Abedini, a former Muslim who became a leader in Iran’s house church movement and moved to the U S in 2005, was arrested two years ago during a trip to build an orphanage in Iran During the National Prayer Breakfast in February, President Barack Obama called for Iran to release Abedini, a U S citizen

List locates most persecuted

Christians face the worst persecution in North Korea and Somalia, according to the 2014 World Watch List For 12 years, North Korea has topped the list released by non-profit organization Open Doors Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran and Yemen also are in this year ’s top 10, along with the Maldives, a chain of islands off the coast of India.

Partners key in D.C. planting effort

Southern Baptist leaders in Washington, D C say partnerships with churches outside the cit are necessary to make an impact in the metr area of 5 8 million “Like William Carey’s fa mous quote, ‘I will go down, if you will hold the rope,’ new churches simply will not be planted if existing churches aren’t willing to hold the rope,” said Clint Clifton, coordinator of the Send North America: D C initiative According to the North American Mission Board, there is one Southern Baptist church for every 9,571 metro D C residents

NAMB has identified 32 Send cities nationwide, including Chicago and St Louis

Most favor same-sex adoption

A majority of Americans believe samesex couples should be allowed to adopt a child, according to Gallup research

The rate of approval – 63% – is higher than approval for same-sex marriage, which is currently at 55%, according to a Gallup poll released in May

Be fruitful, says Pope

After celebrating Mass with 15 m couples at the Vatican, Pope Fran warned against childlessness “It might be better – more comfortable – to have a dog, two cats, and the love goes to the two cats and the dog,” he said “Then, in the end this marriage comes to old age in solitude, with the bitterness of loneliness ”

The pope’s remarks came on the heels of a report that Italy’s birth rate fell to a record low in 2013 The U S birth rate hit a record low in 2012, but about 4,700 more babies were born in 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

SBC actions

Continued from page 1

pastor Fred Luter. Floyd, pastor of Cross Church in northwest Arkansas, received 51 62% of the vote in a race with Maryland pastor Dennis Kim, who leads a large, mostly Korean congregation and Jared Moore of Kentucky, who ran on a “small church” platform.

Little debate: The Baltimore meeting was relatively quiet, with less than usual debate over reports by the SBC Resolutions Committee and Committee on Order of Business Of 17 motions submitted by messengers, six were referred to convention entities for study and 10 were ruled out of order Only one – a motion to pray for the persecuted church – was acted upon on the convention floor It was adopted unanimously and Committee Chairman David Smith led prayer for the Nigerian girls kidnapped by a terrorist group

Sexual issues: The Resolutions Committee proposed nine measures to messengers Each was adopted without much discussion, including a resolution on transgender identity that affirms “gender identity is determined by biological sex and not by one’s self-perception ”

The Convention took no action on a California church whose pastor announced he is attempting to find “a third way” to deal with members who are avowed homosexuals, neither affirming nor condemning their lifestyle A motion to censure

New Heart Community Church of LaMirada was ruled out or order, since it is still technically a mission church and under the jurisdiction of its sponsoring congregation.

Amendment: Baptists approved an amendment to the SBC Constitution regarding qualifications for churches sending messengers to the annual meeting Under proposed new guidelines, cooperating churches may automatically send two messengers to the convention Article III previously allowed for one messenger per church, with additional messengers allowed for every $250 contributed to Convention causes The amount for additional messengers was adjusted for inflation to $6,000 The amended article also more clearly defines a cooperating church as one with “a faith and practice which closely identifies with the Convention’s

Baptisms dip, but offering rises

Continued from page 1

• Primary worship attendance declined 2 21% to 5 8 million Sunday worshippers.

• Baptisms declined for the second year in a row, down 1 46% to 310,368

Reported baptisms have declined seven of the last nine years However, the decline in 2013 is not as sharp as the previous year ’s decline In 2012 baptisms declined 5 5%

“I am grieved we are clearly losing our evangelistic effectiveness,” said Thom S Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources “I continue to pray for revival and a renewed passion for the Great Commission in our churches May God renew all of us, including me, with a greater heart for the lost ”

Commenting on the annual summary, SBC Executive Committee president Frank Page, cited an Old Testament prophet: “Woe to you who are at ease in Zion” (Amos 6:1)

“That warning in the book of Amos is a clear call to the people of God who have lowered

their guard, relaxed their vigilance and reduced their commitment and passion for the things of God,” Page said “That very same thing can be said of our modern-day churches as we yet again see a disappointing decline in our ability to reach our continent for Christ ”

Page is thankful for an increase in number of churches, but lamented a “lack of passion for reaching people for Christ The numbers of people in our continent are increasing dramatically while our evangelistic efforts are failing in many places and in many ways

“God help us realize the great needs that are before us and the great opportunities that are there Lord, forgive us of being at ease in Zion ”

adopted statement of faith” who has “formally approved its intention to cooperate with the Southern Baptist Convention ”

To officially amend the Constitution, messengers will have to approve the measure again at next year ’s annual meeting Young, sparse attendance:

As at recent meetings, younger Baptists were more visible again in Baltimore But they seemed to congregate at meetings hosted by equipping ministries like Baptist21 and 9Marks, rather than in the main convention hall

The Baltimore meeting had 5,294 registered messengers

Next year ’s meeting in Columbus, Ohio, – a second consecutive convention in a nonSouthern city – could mean similarly low attendance, but Floyd said he will issue a “Call to Columbus” to bring Baptists to Ohio for the purpose of praying together

Record giving to Lottie

An encouraging report came just after the release of the ACP statistics: giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering broke the record at $154-million dollars

The 2013 offering, reached $154,057,852 36 The total represents an increase of nearly $4 8 million over 2012, or 3 2% It tops the previous record, $150 4 million in 2007, by more than $3 6 million, the fourth increase since 2008

“The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering represents well over half of our budget each year,” International Mission Board President Tom Elliff said, “so those who give sacrificially and out of concern for the lost can be assured that an enormous portion of all that happens overseas can be directly tied to their support.”

– From Baptist Press

See SBC baptism and giving charts at www IBSA org/ibextra

FOND FAREWELL – As his wife, Elizabeth, son and daughter-in-law look on, Fred Luter accepts a plaque from Executive Committee President Frank Page for his two years of service as SBC president

Sunny days assist Crossover outreach

Baltimore | Great weather and the great outdoors provided the perfect setting for sharing Christ on the weekend before the Southern Baptist Convention met in Baltimore Over 2,300 Southern Baptists from 18 states and Canada partnered with 32 local churches; 214 people were saved

“I think the most significant thing this kind of ministry provides for us is presence,” said John Kovacs, pastor of The Light Church, at a sand volleyball event “To be out and meeting people is great I just got to connect with two guys today who didn’t know about our church ”

Jeanine Carter, a member of First Baptist Church Dallas, led a man from Spain to Christ while helping at the tourney

More than 8,000 city residents attended “Community Day” and netted 1,700 prospective families for a church plant in Patterson Park

And dozens of children attended a baseball skills clinic “This is really the first time our church has reached out to the community in this way,” said Parkville Baptist Church pastor Kurt Wesolowski, who began leading the church eight months ago

TEAMING UP – Visiting Southern Baptists assisted local churches with evangelistic outreach prior to the SBC annual meeting in June This sand volleyball tournament was hosted by Baptist Collegiate Ministries at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor

Camp renovations double dining capacity

Pinckneyville | The staff of Lake Sallateeska Baptist Camp finished a round of major improvements to the facility this month, just in time for camp season

“We really wanted our guests to be wowed when they came in,” said Camp Manager Philip Hall He and his staff have been working “around the clock” with the help of volunteers to finish several projects, including an expanded dining hall and new camp store and game room

The dining hall, nearly doubled in capacity after the renovations, got a fresh coat of paint the first week of June to complete its transformation With the exception of concrete work, which Hall contracted out, most of the

work was done by volunteer groups, including Campers on Mission, Disaster Relief and individual churches from Illinois

“Campers at Lake Sallateeska this summer will be excited about the expanded dining hall,” said IBSA’s Mark Emerson. Previously, campers had to eat in shifts at some events

“Many of us who were at Lake Sallateeska this winter already have experienced the warmth of this new room,” Emerson said “We are also excited about the new snack and game area This is a favorite activity for campers at night, and will be a highlight this year at camp ”

Lake Sallateeska has already hosted IBSA’s 2014 weekends for mothers & daughters and fathers & sons. Co-ed mission camp begins this week at Pinckneyville, and is scheduled for July 21-25 at Streator, IBSA’s camp in northern Illinois For more information, call (217) 391-3138 or go to www IBSA org/Children

“The long-term ripple effect of Crossover on our region will last for a lifetime for all of those who met Christ this week,” said executive director Bob Mackey, “and alter the missionary focus of so many of our churches to engage their neighbors ”

Christ has set us free; and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” —GALATIANS 5:1—

– info from Baptist Press, photo by Bob Carey

The SBC’s big event (It’s not what you think.)

ne big event that pulls many of us together each June is the annual Southern Baptist Convention. This year ’s gathering in Baltimore was filled with inspirational music, messages and reports But at its core, the annual SBC is a business meeting where messengers from autonomous churches gather to affirm or determine how they will cooperate Those messengers elect board and committee members They agree on how to invest shared resources in missions and ministry And they declare to one another and to many onlookers the biblical truths on which they will continue to stand.

It’s a big event with big consequences But the reality is that there are relatively few messengers at the annual meeting compared to the number of churches and church members that cooperate as the Southern Baptist Convention Most of us trust a few of us to determine which leaders, strategies, and priorities should direct the resources that we all have shared

That’s why I would argue that the real big event for Southern Baptists do place in a convention center, o gle city, or even on the same real big event that determines a financial strength of our Great sion cooperation happens in mu cations at multiple times It’s ca the local church business meet ing That is where each church determines the percentage of its budget that

will go through the Cooperative Program to support Southern Baptist missions and ministries. And that is the “big event” that really determines the degree to which we will cooperate in fulfilling our shared, Great Commission purpose

For more than 20 years now, the percentage given by all SBC churches through the Cooperative Program as a percentage of undesignated giving has ever so slowly declined It’s only been a fraction of a percent each year But over time, national CP giving as a percentage of churches’ undesignated giving has declined to 5.4%, when it used to be almost 11%.

Here in Illinois, our churches are doing a little better than the national average IBSA churches’ CP giving is about 7% of their undesignated gifts But that is still well below the level being given 20 years ago

There are some indications, however, that the trend in CP giving may be on the verge of a reversal Annual Church Profile data for 2013 was recently resed, revealing a second consecutive year of uptick her than decline in national CP giving The “One cent Challenge” that Dr Frank Page has been

championing for 2-3 years now appears to be gaining traction, and numerous churches are accepting that challenge to intentionally increase the percentage of their CP giving

Other churches are starting to give a percentage of their offerings, rather than a flat amount It’s only two years, but it’s enough to encourage optimism that churches may be recapturing their vision for the power and effectiveness of cooperative missions giving

So whether you were able to attend the big event of the Southern Baptist Convention this year or not, I hope you will consider attending the big event of your church’s business meetings, especially the one where the annual budget is discussed Challenge your church to be one that’s helping reverse the trend by increasing your commitment to SBC missions and ministries through the Cooperative Program

The Big Event of all history, of course, will be that day when Jesus returns and our Great Commission task as His church draws to a close All our churches’ big events should anticipate and point to that one And our churches’ business meetings are a good place to start, because that’s where we can choose priorities that demonstrate we believe He’s coming back soon

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

Letter from the Editors

Thank you, Illinois Baptists

A 16-page church bulletin leaves little to the imagination At Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D C , worship attenders know exactly what they’re getting into from the time they walk into the split-level, high-ceilinged sanctuary, less than a mile from the U S Capitol dome

The order of service, printed neatly on the inside cover page, lists every hymn, prayer, and Scripture reading Every song is there in entirety – not just lyrics, but actual music

Even the Nicene Creed gets its own page, with three paragraphs of explanation underneath about where it came from and why we recite it (“I said this in church for 28 years,” said one visitor, “and nobody ever explained it to me ”)

minute prayers (four of them) And a 55-minute sermon based on one chapter of Psalms

“You will be bored if you don’t

Thank you for your gracious support of our dear state paper In the recent critiques and awards by the Evangelical Press Association, the Illinois Baptist was cited for excellence in several categories:

> Overall Newspaper category: honorable mention along with two other papers Congratulations to the Alabama Baptist, which received the top honor

open your Bible and leave it open,” Pastor Mark Dever said before his message on Psalm 143 “All I’m gonna do is talk about what’s in the Bible ”

> Department: the Illinois Baptist took fourth place for writing and design Other winners included Dr Charles Stanley’s devotional magazine and Christianity Today It’s rare for a newspaper to compete favorably with magazines in this type of category, so we were especially pleased for our graphic designer who does amazing things on newsprint

The ILLINOIS BAPTIST Staff

The first impression here is that this church is good at welcoming people They remember well that not everyone has been in church before There’s an attention to detail befitting D C , and a shrewdness here, in the nicest sense of the word.

POSTMASTER:

Between 900 and 1,000 are packed in here for worship on Sunday mornings It may be surprising that the congregation skews young Capitol Hill isn’t doing what most churches do to try to reach Millenials, that generation that’s giving fits to churches everywhere The normal prescription is a relaxed dress code, coffee bar in the lobby, and maybe a violinist in the worship band But here in Washington, what’s reaching Millenials is orderliness And 5-

The service lasted more than two hours, but people still stuck around to chat afterward Some milled around the small bookstore tucked into a corner of the overflow room just off the main sanctuary Coffee and cookies and conversation were had downstairs

There are few surprises at Capitol Hill, besides the fact that this church on a quiet tree-lined street is ministering effectively in a difficult place, using methods that you never would have thought would work Combined with age-old truth

“You may have come in here as an adversary of God’s, an enemy,” Dever said at the end of his sermon “But there’s no reason you have to leave that way ”

> Editorial: “What have we learned from Newtown?” took fourth place

If this seems like a little horn-tooting, please excuse us Mostly our response is one of appreciation We are grateful to be honored along with such esteemed colleagues in journalism And we sincerely appreciate the support of our state association, Executive Director Nate Adams and IBSA staff, and especially you, our readers

God has blessed this publication for 107 years We hope to honor the legacy as we serve Him – and you

Truly, The Editors

Voices

A new era for local associations

I grew up in a traditional Southern Baptist church We “collected for” Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong, and contributed financially to our local association

My small church did those things because that’s what good churches did But times have changed Most Southern Baptists still faithfully give to the Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong Offerings, but churches may question whether the money they send to their local association would be better used in their own congregation

Still, few would argue the success of the local association The first Baptist association in the U S was formed in 1707, nearly 130 years before the founding of the Southern Baptist Convention Over the years, associations have provided avenues of ministry that local churches could not: youth rallies, WMU meetings, VBS training, seminary extension courses, and connection to missionaries all over the world

But modern churches minister in the information age, and can acquire with a click or a keystroke much of what the association once provided Consequently, the local association, if it is to remain a valued partner for churches, must provide for today’s churches in four key areas:

1 Relevant ministry resources No two churches have the same demographics, nor do they minister in the same community Today’s churches re-

quire a personalized ministry approach to be effective in sharing the Gospel The association must shift from offering training to consulting with churches and helping them minister with excellence

2. A conduit for missional living. The next generation of Christians is much more driven by missional living than missions giving The local association that provides this generation with missional opportunities now will secure a dedicated ally for years to come

3. A pastor to pastors. Pastors today are ministering in highly diverse, multigenerational churches, and each generation is strongly opinionated about what “their church” should do Leaders need someone to shed light into this reality, and the associational director of missions or missionary must be one of those people

“My preaching professor believed in real-life ministry preparation So, he arrived late to each class, complained that the room was too cold, and slept through our sermons ”

4. Benefits of partnership. Valid organizations produce visible fruit The local association must be ready to answer, “What do you do?” when churches are weighing the benefits of partnership When the core values, vision and mission of the association align with the core values, vision and mission of the churches, a partnership between the two is mutually beneficial Associations have a proven track record of facilitating missions, strengthening congregations, and providing personal support for church leaders Those things are still needed, maybe now more than ever

Mark Mohler is pastor of Second Baptist Church in Marion

Table Talk: Theology, ministry, and things that matter

A slice of life 1964 convention sermon proves prophetic

Owen Cooper was a prophet “We live in an age when it is popular to be tolerant and it is a stigma to be called intolerant,” the chemical engineer from Mississippi preached to messengers at the Southern Baptist Convention “Tolerance of a half truth soon leads to tolerance of an untruth and then to tolerance of an error,” he warned “Social and political pressures in the name of tolerance are quenching the flame of missionary zeal ”

Cooper was describing his own time, but his convention sermon delivered in Atlantic City in 1964 has proved an apt description of our time

Among Cooper ’s insights: Christianity is losing ground in the U S , world population is growing faster than the Christian faith, and Islam is on the rise; baptisms in SBC churches are declining, more ministry is directed to places where Southern Baptists are strong than to regions and nations where evangelical witness is weak And the word “witness” itself is almost lost from our vocabulary – and our activity

“Southern Baptists are losing their mission zeal because of a growing feeling among many theologians and the laity that, after all, man is not lost ” He cited articles inaugurating a new “post-Christian era ”

In 1964? Really?

The U S Supreme Court recently upheld the legality of prayers before public meetings, such as city council meetings Many Americans agreed

23%

“What is wrong?” Cooper asked “Why the diminution of spiritual momentum in the world, and in our country, and in our denomination?”

In the two decades after World War 2, the Southern Baptist Convention grew rapidly An emphasis on Sunday school and evangelism that reached the burgeoning families of returning GIs swelled the ranks The SBC eclipsed the mainline denominations that peaked in 1964 and started their downward spiral Even as the SBC rallied for growth in membership, Cooper sounded an alarm Ten million Southern Baptists

were on the church rolls, but three million of them couldn’t be accounted for Baptisms flatlined

The numbers are no better today

With 15 7 million members officially, our churches report only 5 8 million in worship on any given Sunday And baptisms are down for seven out of the last nine years, after 40-plus years mostly plateaued We peaked in 1972

Cooper called on messengers to increase Cooperative Program giving

In 1962, he said, citing the most recent statistics available, 10% of receipts by Southern Baptist churches went to the CP missions and 8% to state missions; today CP giving is down to 5% per church, on average And he called for more money, missionaries, and church planters in distant and unreached parts of the U S

But mostly he called for renewed commitment to evangelism in response to shifts in the culture Prayer had been eliminated in public schools two years earlier, and even in 1964, Cooper said personal witnessing would be considered “intolerant, bigoted, and improper” in many circles

“The Southern Baptist Convention was organized for the purpose of

‘directing the energies of the whole denomination for the propagation of the Gospel ’ Witnessing was acknowledged as our principle objective; it must continue to be such

“The challenges and problems faced by Southern Baptists, yea even in Christianity for that matter, seem overwhelming when viewed in their totality Yet broken into their component parts, it becomes much simpler As Southern Baptists, as Christians, our task is to ‘win them one by one ’

“Ask men to witness,” he urged, after declaring “it’s too easy to join a Baptist church ”

“At the time a person joins the church, he should understand that part of his responsibility is to witness, and opportunities should be provided for Christian witness

“Without the primacy of missions and witnessing, the church is without true purpose,” Cooper said, “the pulpit is without power and the pew is without potency ”

Eric Reed found Owen Cooper ’ s 1964 convention sermon while researching the SBC for the Illinois Baptist series B-101 Cooper, a businessman from Yazoo City, Mississippi, is one of only two laymen elected Convention president He served 1972 to 1974

Layman said decline and “tolerance” signal trouble

50 years ago

– Dec 2013 surveyof 883 adults by PublicMind (Fairleigh Dickinson University)

Mark Mohler

Owen Cooper

PEOPLE & CHURCHES

Graduates

David Huffstutler of Rockford received his Ph D from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N C , during the seminary’s spring commencement May 16 Lindsay Lewis of Troy also graduated from Southeastern with a Master of Divinity degree

Matthew Steele of Lake Villa graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary May 9 with a Master ’s in Theological Studies

Milestones

Marshall Missionary Baptist Church will celebrate its 70th anniversary July 13 The congregation, pastored by Paul Cooper, will mark the day with morning and afternoon services, and a meal at noon

The day also will include tours of the church’s future facility – a former WalMart building currently under renovation Past leaders and church members are invited to attend the celebration; RSVP to (217) 8265073 or mmbc2@frontier com

Ministry Positions

Eternity Baptist Church, Centralia, seeks a part-time minister of music At least two years experience preferred; education level and salary are negotiable Contact Pastor Gary Allen at (618) 532-9596, ext 202

First Baptist Church, Le Roy, seeks a bivocational pastor who supports the Cooperative Program and embraces The Baptist Faith & Message Send resumes to: First Baptist Church, P O Box 21, Le Roy, IL 61752

Simpson Missionary Baptist Church seeks a bivocational pastor; parsonage is available Send resumes to: Simpson Missionary Baptist Church, P.O. Box 102, Simpson, IL 62985

First Baptist Church, Machesney Park, seeks a part-time youth minister. Send resumes to Pastor Heath Tibbetts at pastor@fbcmp net

Free Resources

Available: 14 padded pews, 14 5’ long, blue; offering plates, communion furniture and accessories Contact Franklin Baptist Association at (618) 439-3742

Needed: Materials for new construction including kitchen equipment, stainless tables or counter tops, wire shelving, accordion doors for class rooms, padded locking chairs New Beginnings Christian Fellowship, Ashland IL, Darin Peterson, Pastor. darinmp23@gmail com

This circle is unbroken

Church dedicates weekends to renewal

Wood River, Ill | Members of Whitelaw Avenue Baptist Church gathered recently for what has become an annual tradition: a whole weekend focused on spiritual renewal

Six years ago, the church held their first lay renewal weekend “Each year we’ll say, ‘Do you feel like we want to do this again?’” Pastor Richard Newcom said “And it’s always a resounding, ‘Yes!’”

The weekends are the foundation of Church Renewal Journey (CRJ), a process developed by the North American Mission Board It’s designed to happen over five weekends, each focused on a different topic like prayer, marketplace ministry and missions

The teachers are usually members of another church also on the renewal journey, who come and share how God is working in their lives

“The biggest benefit is CRJ awakens the church to the movement of God,” said Sylvan Knobloch, IBSA’s director of church health “The congregation is reminded through the faith stories of the team, that God is actively shaping and leading in their lives as well ”

Whitelaw Avenue completed the five weekends outlined in the process, so they added a sixth Building on last year’s study of Acts 1:8, they turned it upside down and studied Acts 8:1, when the persecuted early church scattered throughout Judea and Samaria

For more information on the Church Renewal Journey, e-mail SylvanKnobloch@IBSA org

Volunteers aid rescue efforts

Birmingham, Ala | Almost 21 million people worldwide and hundreds of thousands in the U S are trapped in some form of sex trafficking or exploitation A team of eight Illinois women traveled south in May to help fight the global epidemic

They worked with The WellHouse, a ministry started by trafficking survivor Tajuan McCarty. In “Special Ops” ministry, they went with WellHouse volunteers into areas of Birmingham known for trafficking activity and met and prayed for women They put together gift bags for people in the community And they prepared a meal for women seeking shelter at WellHouse

McCarty came to Illinois last fall to speak to women and teens at the AWSOM conference about the problem, and what they can do to help IBSA’s Missions Mobilization director, Carmen Halsey facilitated an Illinois task force to explore partnership opportunities, and help resource Illinois churches to raise awareness and prevention here

Amy and Amanda Neibel and Niece Edwards are heading up the ministry, which eventually will include special events and resource toolkit for Illinois churches

For more information contact CarmenHalsey@IBSA org or (217) 391-3143

Churches exceed Annie Armstrong Offering goals

SANCTUARY – Illinois volunteers stand with WellHouse founder Tajuan McCarty (fifth from left), which provides shelter and resources for victims of sex trafficking

Pray through the news

– Pray Offer a prayer of repentance for our nation's role in human trafficking

– Ask for wisdom to address the issue within the Church and to speak prophetically to the culture

ALL IN – Pastor Richard Newcom (left) and Whitelaw Avenue Baptist held a church renewal weekend with the help of leaders Jill McNicol (center) and Jeannine Myers (right)

Photo by Mark Emerson

Southern Baptist Convention

GALLERY

Restore us, O God

Baptists seek broken hearts for lost people, and courage in the culture

By Meredith Flynn

At a time when many churches are struggling to reach people with the Gospel and Christianity is increasingly strange to the culture, Baptists meeting in Baltimore were called to repent earnestly, pray fervently, and long deeply for the power and presence of God

They discussed denominational decline, religious liberty and sexual brokenness, but the 2014 Annual Meeting likely will be remembered for the rumblings of revival that seemed to ripple under every message and conversation

It was theme of this year ’s meeting

revival that starts with prayer And it’s our greatest need, said new SBC President Ronnie Floyd.

Start with us

“Brothers and sisters, we are losing a generation,” Fred Luter warned Baptists during the Tuesday evening revival service He referenced recently released numbers from the Annual Church Profile report, showing several areas of decline

“For another year, our baptism numbers are down For another year,

our attendance is down For another year, our youth numbers are down ” We can’t ignore the reports any longer, he said, calling Southern Baptists to repentance and remorse that the Bible promises will lead to revival

(see story below for more on Luter ’s message)

Some say the reason churches baptize fewer people is because we don’t have effective evangelism strategies, said Gary Frost, North American Mission Board Vice President for the Midwest But, “The problem of declining baptisms is not a failure of strategy, it’s a failure of quality,” he said “There’s a lack of quality in the lives of the people of God ”

Frost was one of three speakers to present theme interpretations on prayer, restoration and revival

If we’re going to see a transformational movement of God’s Spirit, he said, God’s people must hunger and

thirst for God’s holiness Frost used a sports analogy: If you want to win a basketball championship, for example, you need great players

“I believe there’s a failure of spiritual athleticism in the body of Christ There are those who have failed to be disciplined through whom God can move and do the work that he has called the church to do ”

Or, most of us are caught up in ritual and expectations, rather than expecting and praying for God’s powerful presence Francis Chan emotionally addressed the SBC Pastors’ Conference just prior to the convention The author of “Crazy Love” told Baptists he sees a lot of ritual and faithfulness over the years, “but I’m concerned that there’s not this desperate cry for God ”

While Chan urged the convention toward a passion for God’s presence, SBC Executive Committee Frank Page asked them to pray their hearts would be broken for lost people.

I’m not asking you to manufacture tears, he said during a 45-minute prayer meeting in the middle of the business session But pray that some time in the next year “our hearts will be so sensitized as a people to lostness, that we will feel it so deeply, there will be tears ” There were, even as Southern Baptists prayed in small groups around the convention hall “O God, help us as a convention to be spiritually renewed,” Page prayed, “and in that spiritual renewal, to have a renewed passion for the lost ”

Continued on page 8

Luter ends historic term with rousing charge

By Lisa Sergent

Baltimore | Southern Baptist Convention President Fred Luter brought messengers to their feet preaching Tuesday night from Psalm 80:18-19, calling on Southern Baptists to repent and pray to God for revival

“It’s a challenging time in the life of America, because just like Israel in Psalm 80, America has sinned against God,” shared Luter “America is rapidly turning into a pagan nation We’ve lowered our morals. We’ve lowered our standards ”

Luter said evidence of America’s depravity is seen in how the nation regards openly homosexual athletes as heroes rather than celebrating truly

heroic people – like soldiers, EMTs, policemen and IMB missionaries He boldly declared the celebration of homosexuality is just one of many manifestations of sin in America.

“I’m convinced if things are going to change in our nation there must be a spiritual revival in our nation there must be a spiritual awakening in America There must be a spiritual revival that starts in the church It must start with the people of God, it must start with prayer,” he said

There is still hope “We have a great and glorious opportunity to turn around America if we accept the challenge of the Great Commission,” he declared

For God to send renewal and revival

Scenes from the floor page 9

MISSIONS

IMB’s achievements, challenges exhibited page 10

BUS TOUR

Savor the flavors of Annie’s hometown

page 11

to our churches in America we must do three things, said Luter:

1. There must be repentance. We must ask God’s forgiveness for not making evangelism a priority.

“We have the answer,” Luter said “We must share the Gospel of our savior Jesus Christ Only the Gospel can transform lives We’ve forgotten how much power there is in the Gospel to transform lives ”

“You and I were changed when we heard the Gospel of the Good News of Jesus Christ That same Gospel can change the lives of the men, women, boys and girls in our cities ”

He urged Southern Baptists to “stand flat-footed and preach the Word

Continued

OUTGOING PRESIDENT: Dr Fred Luter, seen here delivering his final sermon convention sermon in Baltimore, was called “our most beloved SBC president” in recent memory by incoming leader Ronnie Floyd

‘Pushing hard for churches to re-engage in Cooperative Program’ page 9

Local specialty: Crab Cakes

Restore: Broken people, broken culture

Continued from page 7

Convention debate or controversy generally arises from resolutions and motions presented during the business session. But messengers in Baltimore adopted all nine resolutions brought by the committee with very little conversation, and the motions process was similarly quiet Baptists did, however, talk about the issues at other meetings between sessions

At the 9Marks gathering Tuesday night, moderator Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church and 9Marks founder, asked Southern Seminary president Al Mohler to explain why the SBC didn’t take action on a motion to discipline a California congregation that recently voted to become a “third way” church that neither affirms nor condemns same-sex lifestyles

“ You can’t dis-fellowship someone who’s not in fellowship with you,” Mohler told the meeting of mostly younger Baptists Although New Heart Community Church in La Mirada refers to itself as a Southern Baptist church, Mohler said, they haven’t sent messengers to the convention and, to his knowledge, there’s no financial connection between the church and the

SBC (In a Religion News Service report, California Southern Baptist Convention Executive Director Fermin Whittaker said the church has given $80 per month to the Cooperative Program )

It’s also unclear whether New Heart is a congregation or a mission church They are listed as a member of the Los Angeles Southern Baptist Association, which Mohler said does have responsibility to take action, even if the SBC does not

Liberty versus libertine

Baptists discussed another issue related to sexuality in the form of an adopted resolution on transgender identity The measure resolves that the SBC affirms “gender identity is determined by biological sex and not by one’s self-perception ” It prescribes extending “love and compassion to those whose sexual self-understanding is shaped by a distressing conflict between their biological sex and their gender identity,” while opposing “cultural efforts to validate claims to transgender identity ”

The resolution was well-timed and

needed, Russell Moore told media at a press conference in Baltimore “The cultural mindset is that gender is something that is constructed by the individual,” said the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission “So it’s disconnected from how the person is created

“And that’s one of the reasons why I think this resolution was so wise, because it spoke to what the Bible teaches about what gender means in the first place, about how God’s design is good, and then talked about the fact that we’re living in a world that is fallen, in which there is a great deal of confusion in what it means to address that ”

Moore’s report to the Convention focused on religious liberty and included two groups of special guests. Members of the Green family, who own Hobby Lobby, accepted the John Leland Award for Religious Liberty The Supreme Court currently is considering whether Hobby Lobby has to provide abortion-inducing drugs in its employee health care plans

Naghmeh Abedini, wife of imprisoned pastor Saeed Abedini, accepted the Richard Land Award for Distin-

In their own words

We are living in a time of outright moral revolution

What a generation ago was condemned is now celebrated What is now condemned is the refusal to celebrate it

There needs to be a desperation in the people of God There has to be a hunger and thirst for the holiness of God if we’re going to see a transformational movement of the spirit of God in our land

guished Service on her husband’s behalf Messengers knelt at their seats to pray for a release for Abedini, held captive in Iran since 2012 Adedini was arrested for sharing his Christian faith, and has refused to stop witnessing, even inside the Iranian prison

“The Gospel came to us in letters being written out by apostles from jail cells,” Moore said during his report “The Gospel came to us through the centuries from people who were constantly under threat to their liberty to preach ”

And it is powerful to transcend and transform the culture, and revive a denomination

“We serve at the pleasure of a Messiah who has appointed us, everyone in this room, to be born and then to be born again in a time and in a place when sometimes even the most basic principles of Christianity are going to sound increasingly strange and freakish and sometimes even subversive to the culture around us,” Moore said

“That should not drive us to fists clenched in anger That should not drive us to hands wringing in fear That should drive us to hands

in prayer ”

Francis Chan, pastor

Please, Father, our churches are just in a desperate situation We have replaced you, God, with other things that work and get us by It’s so stupid, God; I’ve done it God help us to truly repent and desire You or nothing at all

lifted

INCOMING OFFICERS – Newly elected 2014 officers of the Southern Baptist Convention are: (left to right) Jim Wells, registration secretary; John L Yeats, recording secretary; Ronnie Floyd, president; Clint Pressley, pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, N C , first vice president; and Hance Dilbeck, pastor of Quail Springs Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, Okla , second vice president

PRAY-ERS: Christopher and Annette Robinson (right) pray alongside Linda Woods-Smith and Inez Parker at the Southern Baptist Convention in Baltimore All four are members of Broadview Missionary Baptist Church in metro Chicago

Gary Frost, NAMB Midwest Vice President

David Platt, pastor

I want to be a part of a people who love the glory of God more than we love our own lives Who want to see more, and who ask and pray to see more, and who live to see more; who are not content with a casual, cultural approach to Almighty God

Al Mohler, Southern Seminary President

Our old missions strategy is still the best

Re-engage with Cooperative Program, leaders urge

Frank Page sent out a clarion call in Baltimore for churches to renew their commitment to the Cooperative Program, the SBC’s nearly 90-year-old plan for unified giving and missions support

The president of the SBC Executive Committee recounted a conversation he had recently with Southern Baptist entity leaders

“I’m going to spend the rest of my ministry pushing hard for our churches to re-engage in Cooperative Program strategy,” Page told them, “so that they might have the financial resources to do that which God has called them to do, and that which we as a convention have charged them to do ”

Many have already responded to the call Since Page launched the CP 1% Challenge, the average percentage given by churches through the Cooperative Program has increased for two consecutive years After falling to a low point of 5 4%, the average gift was back up to 5 5% in 2013

“We thank God for that,” Page told messengers during the Executive Committee’s report

“We are on an advance, not a retreat ” He said that concept – Great Commission Advance – will be unveiled over the next months as a new Cooperative Program strategy State of the states

Cooperative giving is closely linked with Baptist state conventions, which send a percentage of churches’ gifts to the national SBC to help support missionaries and train young leaders at six seminaries The two can appear to be pitted against each other, Page said in his report, “state missions” vs “national ministries ”

“That is a differentiation we do not like to make, because we believe our state convention partners are our partners,” he said

Luter

The partnership includes sharing the responsibility to educate churches and church members about the Cooperative Program, even as younger Baptists are less and less familiar with it

“I think one of the greatest needs we’re facing is education for a new generation,” IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams said during a panel discussion in Baltimore “Mission education channels that were there 20 or 30 years ago are not as prevalent as they once were, and so the places where young people and young pastors learned about the Cooperative Program, how it works, and how effective it is, are different today “ We’re trying to step up and educate people in our state about how Cooperative Program works specifically in Illinois, as well as some broad strokes about how it works everywhere ”

on revival: Let it begin with me

Continued from page 7

of God Not any gimmicks, not any games just give them the Gospel of Jesus Christ ”

2 There must be remorse We must tell everyone, it doesn’t matter who they are or what they look like, Luter said

“If they are not coming to us we must go to them,” he challenged “That’s what Jesus meant when He gave us the Great Commission If you are born again If you are cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, then you are qualified ”

His voice growing louder, he cried, “Please forgive us for not sharing the Great Commission O God, we repent! O God, we are remorseful!”

3 There will be revival “If we repent, if we show remorse, there will be revival,” Luter said, just as God promised in Psalm 80

“Brother and sisters of the SBC, we can longer ignore these reports [of declining baptisms] Brothers and sisters, we are losing a generation We can no longer be at ease while people around us are dying and going to hell!”

Luter shared his “heart’s desire these last two years [as SBC President] has been that God will bring revival and renew us ”

Messengers stood and shouted choruses of “Amen” as Luter proclaimed, “I’m going to tell it all around: Jesus saves! Jesus saves!

State conventions and national agencies may promote cooperative giving, but the real responsibility rests with local churches, Page said “Regardless of what happens at the national level or even the state level, what really matters is whether or not local churches understand what Cooperative Program is, and re-engage in those ministries

“You see, whether or not they step up to the plate, that is what really matters ”

Page ended his report with a video from Southern Baptist pastors proclaiming their support for the Cooperative Program, and why

“We can send and we can go, but if we’re going to reach the world, it’s going to take a lot more than that It’s going to take all of us working together, collaborating, dreaming, giving and going,” said Jordan Easley, pastor of Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson, Tenn

“We’re way better together than we are separately That’s why when you’re talking about giving to the Cooperative Program, Dr Page, you can count me in ”

“In the name of Jesus we have the victory In the name of Jesus – Satan you have to flee! Southern Baptists who can stand before us when we call on that great Name? That Name is Jesus!”

He asked messengers to cry out, “Lord, send the revival! Lord, send the revival! Lord, send the revival!” Then, he told them, “Now, point to yourself and say, ‘Let it begin with me! Let it begin with me! Let it begin with me!’”

The messengers responded standing and shouting, “Let it begin with me,” as Luter finished his last message as President of the Southern Baptist Convention

“We’re going to have church tonight,” worship leader Charles Billingsley said before the Tuesday night revival service in Baltimore

Marvin Parker, pastor of Broadview Missionary Baptist Church, offered a benediction after Fred Luter’s revival sermon brought the crowd to its feet

Matt Redman told Pastors’ Conference attenders the story behind “The Heart of Worship” before leading them in the song

The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission presented an award to Saeed Abedini, a pastor imprisoned in Iran His wife, Naghmeh, accepted it on his behalf

MISSION ED – IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams (center) talked about how to communicate the Cooperative Program with newer or younger Baptists during a panel discussion in the SBC exhibit hall in Baltimore Besides revival, CP was a common theme in 2014

Jack and Wilma Booth from Calvary Baptist Church in Elgin were among those who prayed in the convention hall for Pastor Abedini

SBC Special Section reporting and photos by Meredith Flynn in Baltimore; produced by Kris Kell, Lisa Sergent, and Eric Reed.

New IMB leader will face financial challenges

Remember what works, Illinois pastor advises

In Baltimore, International Mission Board President Tom Elliff gave what is likely his final report to the Southern Baptist Convention Elliff, 70, asked trustees in February to begin seeking a replacement for him

“There comes a time when leaders need to be cheerleaders – isn’t that the truth?” he told messengers at the SBC “Thank you very much for giving us the greatest possible blessing, and that’s the blessing of serving you while serving the Lord ”

It’s clear he’ll be missed

Messengers gave Elliff a lengthy standing ovation after he gave the IMB’s report They were probably cheering both his service and the encouraging numbers he presented: 6,000 churches planted by IMB missionaries and their international partners; 1,918 Southern Baptist churches that have committed to embrace unenegaged, unreached people groups; and, over the past three years, 919 of those people groups are now engaged with the Gospel through the work of IMB personnel and other evangelical partners

Elliff also announced that Southern Baptists gave $154 million to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering last year – its largest ever total

That’s good news for the next president of the IMB But he also will inherit challenges Elliff told his trustees in May that even if Cooperative Program giving stays steady and Lottie Moon gifts are $150-160 million, “we will be hard-pressed to continue supporting a mission force of our current number, much less see a greatly needed increase in the number of fully supported career missionaries on the field ”

At this critical juncture, an Illinois pastor said choosing Elliff ’s successor is “perhaps the most important decision that will be made in the Southern Baptist Convention for years to come ” Doug Munton, pastor of First Baptist Church in O’Fallon, authored two blog posts earlier this year with what he calls “unsolicited advice” for the IMB and those searching for its next president.

“It really is to me the most important decision because the IMB in so many ways holds our denomination together,” Munton told the Illinois Baptist in Baltimore “And that glue, if it loses its stickiness, there are some serious ramifications for that ”

Munton’s interest in the IMB is personal – his daughter and her family serve as career missionaries in Africa

He also sees its future tied to the future of the Southern Baptist Convention and the cooperative missions giving plan established in 1925

“We’re at this critical point where the Southern Baptist Convention is either going to stick with cooperative missions or become a societal missions agency like so many are,”

Munton said “I’d like to see us be a cooperative missions society – use the best of all the other ideas that come around, but don’t lose the greatness of cooperative missions ”

He likened it to football: The success of a trick play starts with blocking and tackling “If you can’t block and tackle, the trick plays don’t matter And if you’ll do the blocking and tackling well, then you can do some trick plays But don’t forget the basics ”

In other words, don’t forget the Cooperative Program, the SBC’s decades-old plan to support missionaries But do consider innovations, Munton advised in his blog He assigned one new project to the IMB’s next president: Start a $20 billion endowment

“Encourage every Southern Baptist to leave the IMB in their will Thousands would respond to that plea Thousands and thousands,” he wrote “It can be done Harvard has an endowment of over $30 billion With all due respect to Harvard, our job is bigger and greater ”

With additional reporting by Baptist Press

TEARFUL MOMENT – Retiring IMB President Tom Elliff is touched by a standing ovation from messengers at the SBC annual meeting “We love you with all of our hearts,” he said in his report to the Convention

Munton

On the road with Annie Armstrong

600 women tour sites of WMU’s famous founder

Today the Woman’s Missionary Union is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, but from the time of its founding in 1888 until 1906, Annie Armstrong operated the mission auxiliary from her hometown of Baltimore On the day before the SBC opened this year, 12 busloads of visitors took in the city as Annie saw it

Armstrong may be best known as the taller of Southern Baptists’ two mission heroes “She was seven-two,” said one woman on the tour She corrected herself, “Maybe six-two ”

“Miss Annie” casts a long shadow on Southern Baptist life

The first leader of WMU was an indomitable and formidable advocate for hands-on missions, urging help for the poor and disenfranchised in her city and around the world She wrote thousands of letters to garner support for missionaries serving overseas

As another Annie tourist put it, sometimes it takes a “pushy broad” to move things forward

All In

Armstrong lived in a small apartment in the building behind Eutaw Place Church She died in 1938 and is buried with her family in a private cemeter y in Baltimore Her grave stone reads: “She hath done what she could The Lord knoweth them that are His ”

Honor Seat

When you take a chair in the fellowship hall at Jesus Our Redeemer Church in the Federal Hill neighborhood, you may be sitting where Annie herself once sat She came to women’s missions meetings here (Becky Arnett, Janet Craynon, and Evelyn Tully of Illinois find the chairs just right )

Annie In-Person

After being baptized at Seventh Baptist Church in Baltimore, Armstrong was a char ter member at Eutaw Place Church. The church (now called Woodbrook) has a room dedicated to her During the tour, an Annie re -enactor greeted guests

Miss Annie’s antique secretar y desk held a half-written letter and a few ginger snaps. (Her ginger snap recipe isn’t as famous as Lottie Moon’s teacakes, but tastier, some might argue No offense to Lottie )

Camera Shy

In Woodbrook’s Annie room, there is a framed sketch taken from her familiar photograph The picture is the only known photo of Annie, said pastor emeritus and historian John Rober ts According to legend, the man who took the photo liked Annie When he showed the photo without her permission, she decided she would never sit for another She also didn’t love her teeth, Rober ts said. We’ve all been there, Annie.

Sea Change

In Federal Hill Park, the Annie tourists looked over the city and prayed for ver y different requests than Armstrong likely did “ What used to be Annie’s ‘pover ty area’ is now one of the most affluent areas of the city,” said the tour host

A selfie -guided tour of the Charm City

Ahoy, matey: IBSA’s Nate and Beth Adams snap a photo in front of the USS Constellation

Uptown goes downtown: Chicago pastor Michael Allen, his family, and a group from Uptown Baptist Church visit the Inner Harbor

Can I get a witness: IBSA Evangelism Director Tim Sadler and son Elijah meet with Pastor Q Mahmud at the convention center

Hardshell Baptists: Chris and Meredith Flynn model the seaside city’s most popular headgear

ILLINOIS BAPTIST

WINNERS

BFI awards scholarships

The Baptist Foundation of Illinois has named 38 recipients of this year’s scholarships for college and seminary students The awards totaled $76,250 for the 2014-15 school year, and are given according to the degree students are pursuing: $1,000 for associate’s degrees, $2,000 for bachelor’s, and $2,500 for seminary students

Austin Adams

Crossroads Community Church, Carol Stream

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Scholarship: Grammer

Ethan Adams

Calvary Baptist Church, Elgin

Judson University

Scholarship: Bowren & Gibson

Anna Bertels

First Baptist Church, Maryville

Missouri Baptist University

Scholarship: Hall, Drury-Vernon

Hilary Bodiford

First Baptist Church, Mascoutah

Southwest Baptist University

Scholarships: Swinford, BFI Educational

Tyler Bradley

Logan Street Baptist Church, Mt Vernon

Missouri Baptist University

Scholarship: Waud

Connor Brown

Dow Southern Baptist Church

Lewis & Clark Community College

Scholarship: Jameson

Soungho Chun

Champaign Campus Church

Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Scholarship: Grammer

Bryan Coble

Pasfield Southern Baptist Church, Springfield

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Scholarship: Grammer

David Crisp

Immanuel Baptist Church, Benton

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Scholarships: Grammer, FBC Mt Olive Ministerial Scholarship

Alexis Emerson

Living Faith Baptist Church, Sherman

Maryville University

Scholarships: Matthews Memorial, BFI Educational

Catherine Gilmore

Chatham Baptist Church

Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville

Scholarship: Drury-Vernon

Marie Gipson

Second Baptist Church, Marion Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville

Scholarship: Drury-Vernon

Sarah Holliday

First Baptist Church, Petersburg

Greenville College

Scholarships: FBC Dammon, BFI Educational

Scholarship

Trenton Holloway

Dorrisville Baptist Church, Harrisburg

Union University

Scholarship: Waud

Abigail Jacobs

First Baptist Church, Fairview Heights

St Louis College of Pharmacy

Scholarships: Taylor, Bradley Trustee, BFI Educational

Jaeuk Jeong

Broadview Missionary Baptist Church

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Scholarship: Grammer

Samantha Jordan

Bethel Baptist Church, Troy

Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville

Scholarships: Smith, BFI Educational

Michael Kramer

Immanuel Baptist Church, Benton

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Scholarship: Grammer

Tyler Lamb

Ditney Ridge Baptist Church, Norris City University of Illinois

Scholarships: Peterson Family, Thurman, Atteberry-Heironimus Family

Brooke Lydick

First Baptist Church, Fairfield Boyce College

Scholarships: Drury-Vernon, Steffy Family Memorial, Swinford

Miriam Mann

First Baptist Church, Bethalto

Union University

Scholarships: Jameson, BFI Educational

Luke Marsh

Ditney Ridge Baptist Church, Norris City

Southeastern Illinois College

Scholarships: Waud, Bowren, Gingrich

Benjamin McFarland

Anna Heights Baptist Church

Union University

Scholarships: Cameron, Gibson

Amanda Monke

Western Oaks Baptist Church, Springfield

Lincoln Land Community College

Scholarship: Drury-Vernon

Nathan Parikh

Transformation Church, Lake Villa

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Scholarship: Drury-Vernon

Ryan Quinley

Winstanley Baptist Church, Fairview Heights

Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Scholarship: Drury-Vernon

Bethany Richards

First Baptist Church, Bethalto

Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Scholarship: Voight-Fossieck Memorial

Nedra Robinson

Hillcrest Baptist Church, Country Club Hills

Northern Seminary Scholarships: Grammer, Drury-Vernon

Mark Rogers

First Baptist Church, Patoka Kaskaskia Community College

Scholarships: Brown-Baldwin, Doom-Wager

Taylor Rae Smith

First Baptist Church, Mt Zion

Illinois State University

Scholarships: Atteberry-Heironimus Family, Taylor

Jordan Troeger

Living Faith Baptist Church, Sherman

Hannibal-LaGrange University

Scholarship: Drury-Vernon

Joshua Van Bevern

First Baptist Church, Fairview Heights

Southeast Missouri State University

Scholarships: Voight-Fossieck Memorial, BFI Educational

Jessica Vinyard

First Baptist Church, Eldorado

Union University Scholarships: Mathias, BFI Educational

Daniel Waters

Living Faith Baptist Church, Sherman

Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary

Scholarship: Jones-Russell

Amanda Welte

Charity Baptist Church, Greenfield

Greenville College

Scholarship: Drury-Vernon

Aubrie Wheeler

New Hope Baptist Church, Tower Hill

Cedarville University

Scholarships: Rehoboth Baptist Association, BFI Educational

John Windings

First Baptist Church, Metropolis

Middle Tennessee State University

Scholarships: Millick, BFI Educational

Hyunwoo Yoon

Schaumburg Baptist Church

Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Scholarship: Grammer

LIFE AND LEADERSHIP

ILLINOIS BAPTIST

Walk with her

Q: One of our deacons’ daughters is pregnant She is not married Now her family is hinting we should have a baby shower for her Should I give in to the pressure? Have t i m e s c h a n g e d s o m u c h t h a t p r e g n a n t teenagers get congratulated just like everyone else?

A: What makes this situation so difficult is that while we believe in the sanctity of life, we don’t want to give the impression that the church celebrates unwed teen pregnancies At the same time, a church that embraces and loves a young girl and her family through this difficult time is demonstrating grace, mercy and forgiveness at its very best

Rather than make it a church event, I’d suggest that one of the ladies in the church with the gift of hospitality open her home and put together a list of needs (diapers, baby clothes, a changing table, crib, blankets, sleepers, etc )

I would also suggest you let the deacon’s family know that other teen girls will not be invited, because it’s not a “party ” Rather, by private invitation (not through the church newsletter or

bulletin), the church can invite women to attend with the understanding that they will be assisting this young girl and her family in a non-condemning way

Be sure in this setting to have three or four ladies pray for the family, the young lady, the health of the child, that they will stay connected to the church, and that she will embrace the responsibility of raising her child in a Christian environment

Welcome! (Really?)

Q: W e ’ v e h a d s e v e r a l p e o p l e v i s i t o u r c h u r c h r e c e n t l y , b u t t h e y d o n ’ t s e e m t o come back How can I find out what’s turning people off?

A: Is it possible that your church has become so inward focused that it’s become like an exclusive club? Do a quick check-up with these questions:

• Do you designate guest parking and station greeters to welcome new arrivals?

• Do Sunday school classes sit around tables with exactly the right number of seats, so if a guest shows up, someone has to go find a couple of

DAVE Says Financial advice from Dave Ramsey

Time for baby birds?

Q: My wife and I are debt-free except for o u r h o u s e , a n d s h e w o u l d l i k e f o r u s t o start a family I make good money, but I’d still like to wait a little longer and add some extra to our emergency fund before taking that step Who do you think is right in this situation?

A: Assuming, of course, you’re talking about a reasonable number of children, the old adage is true: If you wait until you think you can afford them, you’ll never have them You guys have been responsible and are in pretty good financial shape right now So my thought is have babies if you want babies Even if your wife told you tomorrow that she’s pregnant you’d still have nine months to add on to your emergency fund

Having

Your financial situation tells me you’re both responsible people You’ll be a good provider, and it sound like you’d both make great parents And the fact is babies are not that expensive Having kids won’t break your back like lots of people say You’ve got extra expenses like diapers and

baby stuff the first few years, but it’s not going to drive you to the poor house

Now, if you go to the extreme and have 16 kids, that many baby birds could become quite a financial problem But for a normal-sized family with a normal-sized income, children do not create a big financial issue God bless you guys!

AAA or self-insure

Q : W h a t d o y o u t h i n k a b o u t a u t o c l u b memberships like AAA?

A: I’ve got nothing against AAA But honestly, I tend to self-insure through savings for these kinds of things I’ve probably used, or had need of, a tow truck twice in the last 20 years. When it comes to this kind of product, I always look at it from the perspective of, “Where does it leave me if I don’t sign up for their service?”

Again, I don’t think AAA is a big rip-off or anything like that It’s just a type of insurance, if you will, for which I have no need I guess it could be a handy thing to have if you were in a situation where you were using their services a lot But if their average customer were like that, they’d probably end up losing money on you

For more financial advice from Dave Ramsey, go to www IBSA org

chairs? The unexpected guest is taking up somebody’s space at the table

• Do you ever make announcements like, “Don’t forget to meet at Bob and Dottie’s for the hay ride this weekend?” (How would a guest know what day, what time, what address, what age group, what to bring, or who Bob and Dottie are?)

• Does your church give guests a small welcome gift, like a coffee mug, devotional book, or DVD introduction to the church?

• Do you visit prospects?

All of those things (and more) are the glue that helps people stick to your church Since you work hard to get ‘em, work just as hard to keep ‘em!

Pat Pajak has pastored churches of all sizes across Illinois He presently leads IBSA’s Church Strengthening team Send your coaching questions for Pat to IllinoisBaptist@IBSA org

Training Oppor tunities Training Oppor tunities

June 28: Missions Spectacular

30 hands-on mission projects

Locations: Cobden, Cairo

Cost: $25 adults; $7 50 kids under 12

Web: www IBSA org/Missions

July 7-11: Summer Worship University

Train your teen worship leaders

Location: Hannibal-LaGrange University

For: Grades 6-12

Cost: $185 in-state, $200 out-of-state

Web: www IBSA org/Worship

July 13-18: GO Week

Teens assist Chicago church planters

Location: Judson University

For: Grades 7-12

Cost: $150 per stude

Web: www IBSA org

Student

July 21-25: Co-Ed Missions Camp

Location: Streator Baptist Camp

For: Grades 3-12

Cost: $110 per camper

Web: www IBSA org/Children

July 31-August 2: Baptist Women’s

Mission Trip

Location: Christian Activity Center, East St Louis

For: Women

Cost: $30 plus meals, lodging, transportation

Web: www IBSA org/womensmissions

BY FAITH

kids won’t necessarily break your financial back

Trending

What Christians+ are watching

NCIS 25%

Big Bang Theory 23%

CSI 20%

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Duck Dynasty 15%

What Millennials* are watching

Big Bang Theory 33%

Walking Dead 26%

American Horror Story 17%

NCIS 16%

Game of Thrones 13%

The eyes are the window to the soul, and every sense is a passage through which sin may enter Now these senses are to be guarded

– The Baptist Magazine 1815

LEAVING A LEGACY

“Since my youth, O God, you have taught me and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds to the next generation ”

Psalm 71:17-18

Some of my earliest memories of church are about Vacation Bible School We met for two weeks in the church basement with rooms divided by white bed sheets God used those weeks to help me better understand the Gospel At nine, I gave my life to Christ At 16, I responded to God’s call to preach VBS was a part of the legacy that God was producing in my life

For many Illinois churches, the next three months are VBS time It’s a great opportunity to plant the Gospel seed in the hearts of children and their families We do so with the prayer that God will bring a harvest of faith in Him and continue to produce a Gospel legacy in the lives of those who will be saved!

There are lots of ways to conduct a VBS, but whatever the specific details of your church’s week, do ALL you can, the BEST you can, WHENEVER you can!

PRAYER PROMPT: Let us pray for the powerful work of God as He prepares, creates and nurtures a Gospel legacy in the lives of children and families all across Illinois

Odis Weaver is pastor of Friendship Baptist Church in Plainfield and is currently serving as president of IBSA

Unglued, Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions, Lysa TerKeurst

The Insanity of Obedience, Walking with Jesus in Tough Places, Nik Ripken

Our Iceberg is Melting, Changing and Succeeding Under Any Conditions

John Kotter

The Man in the Middle, An Inside Account of Faith and Politics in the George W Bush Era

Timothy S Goeglein

The Moses Quilt, Kathi Macias

– From Gail Miller, past president of Illinois WMU

Great Weekends

Make the most of the weather this summer

1. Taste of the town. Invite neighbors to a block party featuring food from your city, or go international with cuisine from different countries

2 Play ball! Contact the director of the local Little League and offer to provide snacks after practice

3 Farmers market Contact local growers and vendors to see what items might be donated or purchased at a discount Invite families from a nearby apartment complex to “shop” fresh, local produce for free

Get 17 more ideas in the Summer 2014 issue of Resource, online at http://resource IBSA org

Waterme Smo

Ingredients

3 c seedless w

1 c crushed ice

1 c each water and lime sherbe

4 tsp lime juice

Optional: 2 tsp chocolate chips

Potluck Blogger 3

To prepare: In a blender, combine watermelon, ice, sherbet and lime juice Process for 30 seconds or until smooth Pour into chilled glasses and sprinkle with chocolate chips

This recipe from Helen David was published in “Heavenly Delights,” a cookbook marking the 50th anniversary of Forsyth Baptist Church Send your favorite recipes to MeredithFlynn@IBSA org

DS FROM THE EDGE

Clip

Missionaries:

Kevin & Ruth Cannon

(with Lemuel and Ezra)

Church Plant: Perfecting Faith Ministry, Fairview Heights

Focusing On: People who feel disinherited or disenfranchised from the church

Pray: For mission teams coming to do Backyard Bible Clubs this summer, and that more people will join Perfecting Faith in sharing the Gospel with their community