June 29, 2015 Illinois Baptist

Columbus, Ohio | Sixteen past presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention and current president Ronnie Floyd issued a statement opposing same-sex marriage, and stating they would not participate in such unions. The statement came on June 17, the second day of the SBC’s annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio. It followed a week in which two noted evangelicals announced their support of same-sex marriages, and others wondered if their move signaled a shift among all evangelicals. Apparently not.

A ruling on the legality of same-sex marriage that is likely to affect all 50 states is due by the close of the current session of the U.S. Supreme Court. Observers close to the court said the judgment will

NATE ADAMS

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM

Snapshots from the world of Illinois Baptists culture: Do labels matter?

“It’s not a negative to include the denomination (in a church’s name). But...there are problems with preconceived notions signaling where you are, theologically or historically.”

– Scott McConnell, LifeWay Research

“When I see a church named the following, I assume it is not for me.”

Deep Commitments Over Time

Iam writing this just a day after returning from the 2015 Southern Baptist Convention in Columbus, and four days before my wife, Beth, and I celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. So, as unromantic as it may sound, I find myself reflecting today on both the past three days with more than 5,000 other church messengers, and the past 30 years with the one woman God gave me for life.

They’re not entirely dissimilar. To both my wife and to the Southern Baptist Convention, I have made deep commitments that, by God’s grace, are standing the test of time. With both I share important beliefs and values. And with both I share purpose and direction that allow us to walk together joyfully.

CHURCH:

LifeWay Research

southern or not?

In 2012, an SBC task force recommended churches could identify as “Great Commission Baptists” instead of Southern Baptist. of pastors said their churches didn’t intend to use the new name.

54% 46%

said it was acceptable for use. Convention messengers also approved the recommendation. Both discussion and the alternate name quickly faded.

That’s not to say we agree a hundred percent of the time on a hundred percent of the questions or issues we face. There were times this past week in Columbus when I read or heard something and thought to myself, “Why on earth would we want to do that?” or “Don’t you see what needs to be done over here?” or “I’m not sure he’s the best person to entrust with that.”

But the truth is Beth and I have both asked those kinds of questions of one another over the past 30 years too. In fact, a few years ago when James Merritt was President of the SBC, I remember him saying that he and his wife had agreed long ago that he would make all the major decisions in their marriage, and that she could make all the minor decisions. Then he quipped, “And I’m proud to report that in 25 years of marriage we’ve never actually had a major decision.”

There’s quite a thread of truth in that silly exaggeration. When you share a deep commitment to someone over time, you simply don’t allow relatively minor disagreements to threaten either your relationship or the overall purpose you’ve embraced, whether it’s raising a healthy family or obeying the Great Commission. You defer to one another whenever possible, and you reserve strong words for truly important subjects. Then, most of the time, you move forward by consensus rather than casting ballots, or stones.

Million

The Illinois Baptist staff

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That’s why I was able to spend at least as much of my SBC time out in the hallways, or exhibit area, or in collaborative meetings, as I did in the voting sessions, most of which went forward smoothly and without dissent. And I noticed I was not alone. As important as the main sessions were to those attending, it was the hallways, restaurants, and hotels that were the settings for countless informal reunions and meetings, for prayer, for collaboration, for counseling, or simply for much needed encouragement.

There certainly are occasions during our long commitments over time when we need to gather in big meetings to confront big things. And there are times when we need to come together for celebrations and worship, or for special efforts like the Tuesday night session in Columbus when thousands of us gathered to pray for awakening and revival in our land.

But most of our long commitments over time are lived out between big anniversaries and annual sessions. We believe the Bible together, we serve our churches together, we send missionaries and support missions projects together, and we worship together. And so my deep commitment over time to the imperfect yet wonderful Southern Baptist Convention continues.

And as Beth and I continue to make the bed together, raise the kids together, pray together, serve churches together, and face the challenges of life together, my deep commitment over time to her continues as well, now for 30 years and counting. May the Lord bless you as He has me, with a life of deep commitments over time.

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

Don’t allow disagreements to threaten your relationship or purpose you’ve embraced.

probably be announced on June 29 or 30, and that the decision hangs on associate justice Anthony Kennedy.

“We will not accept, nor adhere to, any legal redefinition of marriage issued by any political or judicial body including the United States Supreme Court,” said Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, reading from the statement. “The Scriptures’ teaching on marriage is not negotiable. We stake our lives upon the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” The statement was issued by the coalition of living past SBC presidents back to 1980.

The previous week, American Baptist preacher and sociologist Tony Campolo stated his new support for same-sex couples. Campolo said June 8 that he is “finally ready to call for the full acceptance of Christian gay couples into the Church.” He was joined by former Christianity Today editor David Neff, who affirmed the announcement on Facebook, and later said an email, “I think the ethically responsible thing for gay and lesbian Christians to do is to form lasting, covenanted partnerships. I also believe that the church should help them in those partnerships in the same way the church should fortify traditional marriages.”

The magazine was quick to respond. “Breaking News: 2 Billion Christians Believe in Traditional

Marriage,” CT editor Mark Galli wrote June 9. “North American and European Christians who believe in gay marriage are a small minority in these regions, and churches that ascribe to a more liberal sexual ethic continue to wither. Meanwhile, poll Christians in Africa, Asia, and practically anywhere in the world, and you’ll hear a resounding ‘no’ to gay marriage.”

About the shift by Campolo and his former colleague Neff, Galli continued, “We’ll be sad, but we won’t panic or despair. Neither will we feel compelled to condemn the converts and distance ourselves from them.”

But in a blog post, Southern Seminary President Albert Mohler countered Galli, writing, “The forces driving this revolution in morality will not allow evasion or equivocation. Every pastor, every church, and every Christian organization will soon be forced to declare an allegiance to the Scriptures and to the Bible’s teachings on marriage and sexual morality, or to affirm loyalty to the sexual revolution.”

Leading up to the Supreme Court’s decision on marriage, more than 51,000 pastors and leaders had signed an online pledge promising civil disobedience if they’re required to accept a Court-mandated redefinition of marriage. “As people of faith we pledge obedience to our Creator when the State directly conflicts with higher law,” reads the statement at defendmarriage.org.

“We respectfully warn the Supreme Court not to cross this line.”

Protection for churches

Booklet advises marriage & employment policies

Washington | A new legal manual offers guidance for churches and ministries in advance of legal rulings on same-sex marriage that may further erode religious liberty. The SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) teamed with Alliance Defending Freedom to publish “Protecting Your Ministry.”

The 44-page booklet includes checklists to guide Christian institutions on maximizing their religious liberty protections under the law. It provides sample documents— such as a membership agreement, facility use policy and articles for a statement of faith—and urges clear wedding and employment policies

to shore up legal protection should an institution be challenged in court.

“Without soul freedom we have no other liberties,” ERLC President Russell Moore said. “The church cannot outsource our convictions to the state.”

The booklet provides examples of business owners and schools under fire, including a Washington state florist, a New Mexico photographer, and the owners of an upstate New York wedding venue, all who refused to participate in same-sex wedding ceremonies and lost in court.

The guide may be accessed online without cost at ERLC.com/store.

– Reported by Tom Strode, Baptist Press

Leaning to the left

Americans less traditional in morality poll

The country’s best-known pollster reported in May that Americans are thinking ever less conservatively about moral issues like same-sex relationships, pre-marital sex, and divorce.

Gallup’s 2015 Values and Beliefs poll shows 63% of people now say gay or lesbian relations are morally acceptable, compared to 40% in 2001. Americans’ views on the acceptability of sex between an unmarried man and woman rose 15 percentage points in the same time frame, and 12 points on the topic of divorce.

Aside from same-sex relationships, the issue that showed the biggest shift was having a baby outside of marriage. In 2001, 45% of Americans said it was morally acceptable, compared to 61% this year.

Only two issues—the death penalty and animal medical testing—are morally acceptable for fewer people now than 14 years ago, according to the survey.

In an online report about the research, Gallup’s Frank Newport wrote the trend toward the left will have ramifications for marriage, raising children, and the economy. “The shifts could also have a significant effect on politics,” he continued, “with candidates whose positioning is based on holding firm views on certain issues having to grapple with a voting population that, as a whole, is significantly less likely to agree with conservative positions than it might have been in the past.”

– From Gallup.com

Recovery begins

Illinois DR teams head west

BY MORGAN JACKSON

Recent flooding in Colorado, Texas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma has caused severe water damage in many communities. Some areas are still waiting for waters to recede, but others are ready for flood recovery. And they need assistance.

IBSA’s Disaster Relief is sending help. The first of several waves of ministry teams arrived in Colorado June 15.

Don Ile, from Greater Wabash Association, was supposed to lead his team to Colorado Springs. But storm-related issues and a tornado forced them to Berthoud, about 50 miles from Denver.

Another Illinois team from Williamson Association, led by Jerry Cruse, was delayed in arrival. But after staying overnight in Kansas, they were able to get to Colorado and start work.

Before arriving, Ile said they didn’t know what to expect. “We’ve been told there are major water problems; they’ve had at least a couple tornados…possibly some chainsaw work and tree situations, but more flooding than anything. People are happy we’re coming. We just hope to accomplish what some of their needs are right now.”

After a couple days on the job, Cruse said, “Our team draws closer to God all the time as we’re helping people. We just pray others grow close to him too through seeing us work and our interactions.”

While taking a break, Ile described his current view: beautiful, snowcapped mountains to the west, sunshine, perfect weather. But a booming thunderstorm the night before was a poignant reminder to the team why they were there, despite the picturesque landscape.

Their first task involved moving a large amount of a homeowner’s belongings in order to strip all carpet on the lower level. They faced a number of problems: no dumpster, stopping the spread of mold, not being able to power wash.

Ile sounded in good spirits, though. “Every house has its own challenges, but we’re doing good, we’re getting there.”

Both teams said God was certainly good to them during their travels, and that their goal was to help as many families as possible during their time in Colorado.

Planted in Chicago

Interns partner with city strategists to start new churches

Two groups of interns will work in the city this summer to assist church planters already on the ground, and to help outline the demographics of other neighborhoods in need of new churches.

Transplant, a summer initiative for students sponsored by IBSA, placed four “mobilizers” in various parts of Chicagoland in June, each paired with a church planter reaching out to people in the city or suburbs. Cassidy Winters said the mobilizers’ goal is to give their planters “more arms” to reach out in the community.

The college freshman from Edwardsville is serving alongside Dave and Kirsten Andreson, who are planting Resurrection City Church in Avondale on the city’s North Side. This is Winters’ second summer in Chicago. Last year, she admits, she didn’t know much about church planting. Shortly after her arrival, she remembers texting her mother something along the lines of, “I’m starting a church, Mom!”

This summer, Winters is helping the Andresons as they plant a church in a community of 40,000—and little evangelical presence. Growing up in her Christian home, Winters said, she “kind of got stuck in a Christian bubble…just not ever thinking about people who don’t love Jesus.” But in Chicago, there is a lot of hurt, and a lot of love is needed. Winters is helping the Andresons identify the projects they’ll tackle during ChicaGO Week, when teens from

around the state come to Chicago for a weeklong church planting practicum.

Cody Wilson is another student serving in the city this summer, along with a group a mobilizers recruited by the North American Mission Board for the Generation Send program. Instead of spending most of their time working with existing church plants, GenSend-ers will develop a prospectus for a future planter who will start something new in a specific community.

Wilson, a student at Middle Tennessee State University, is serving in the Lakeview neighborhood and looking for what he calls “third spaces.” These are the coffeeshops, gyms, and arts programs where people hang out, and where a church planter might go to build relationships.

He had met a lot of people after just over two weeks in the city. “But it’s still obvious that in one of the busiest cities in the world… people are incredibly lonely and have very high walls and don’t let people in.”

In mid-June, team members joined Wilson, Winters and their fellow mobilizers to help further develop their prospectuses and projects. Their teams bring the total number of college students serving in Chicagoland through IBSA and NAMB to around 55 for the summer.

Look for more updates from Transplant and Generation Send interns, and a full report from ChicaGO Week, in the July and August issues of the Illinois Baptist

CITY LIFE

– One of the first stops for Cassidy Winters and three other Transplant student mobilizers was an orientation session in the courtyard of a Chicago pie shop.

More churches, fewer people

Southern Baptists lost 200,000 attenders last year

Southern Baptists are adding more churches but serving fewer members who are giving fewer dollars, according to 2014 data compiled by LifeWay Christian Resources.

The number of cooperating churches within the Southern Baptist Convention rose for the 15th consecutive year, but the churches lost more than 200,000 members, the biggest one-year decline since 1881. The new numbers are from the Annual Church Profile (ACP), compiled by LifeWay in cooperation with Baptist state conventions. Average attendance, baptisms and giving also declined.

“It breaks my heart that the trend of our denomination is mostly one of decline,” said Thom S. Rainer, president of LifeWay, upon the data’s release prior to the SBC Annual Meeting.

“This new data confirms SBC President Ronnie Floyd’s call for [the Convention] to focus on prayer for a great awakening. Programs and meetings are not going to revive our people—only prayer and repentance will lead our people to revival.” (See pages 7-12 for news from the Convention in Columbus, Ohio.)

According to the ACP, the number of churches in the convention grew by 374 to 46,499, up 0.81% from the previous year. SBC churches also reported 4,595 churchtype missions last year, down 194 from 2013. However, some state conventions no longer use the designation of church-type mission, which impacted that total.

One of the biggest declines last year was Southern Baptist church membership, which fell 1.5% to 15.5 million—still the largest Protestant denomination by far, but at the lowest level since 1993. Weekly worship attendance declined 2.75% to 5.67 million Sunday worshippers.

Baptisms declined for the third year in a row, although the rate held steady with one baptism for every 51 members. Churches recorded 5,067 fewer baptisms, a decrease

of 1.63% to 305,301. Reported baptisms have fallen eight of the last 10 years, with last year’s the lowest total since 1947.

Frank S. Page, president of the SBC Executive Committee, said he is saddened to hear the recent statistics, though not surprised.

“This is the lowest baptisms that we have seen since we crossed the 300,000 mark in the late 1940s,” Page said. “While we might complain about the many churches who are not reporting their baptisms, and we can, the reality is that we are simply not sharing our faith like once we did.”

Giving and missions expenditures

Total and undesignated church receipts according to the ACP data also declined last year, 0.49% and 0.24% respectively.

Total missions expenditures decreased 4.98% to $1.2 billion, but the report shows three Baptist state conventions did not report this data—California, Georgia, and Oklahoma. While Great Commission Giving, which reports total denominational giving, increased in 2013, it was down 18% in 2014 to $637 million, with four state conventions—Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma—not asking churches for that data.

Giving through Southern Baptists’ Cooperative Program (CP) mission initiative is not included in the ACP annual report. Instead, totals are reported by the SBC Executive Committee, which facilitates the mission gifts to the SBC’s national and international missions and ministries.

CP gifts forwarded from state conventions to SBC causes in fiscal year 2014 were 0.76% below the previous year. However, year-to-date contributions for 2015 are 2.09% ahead of the same period the year before and 2.57% above the year-to-date budget projections.

Reported by Carol Pipes for LifeWay Christian Resources, on BPNews.net

Nominees needed for IBSA panels

Springfield | The two bodies that nominate members for IBSA’s governing boards and standing committees are seeking recommendations for 35 new members to begin serving next year.

IBSA’s Nominating Committee recommends pastors and laypeople to serve on the Association’s three boards: IBSA, Baptist Foundation of Illinois, and Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services. For 2016, the IBSA Board of Directors needs five new members, and BFI and BCHFS are each seeking two new trustees.

Additionally, the Committee on Committees is seeking 26 nominees to serve on IBSA’s six standing committees: Order of Business, Credentials, Constitution, Historical, Nominating, and Resolutions and Christian Life.

“IBSA is not just an organization, it is almost a thousand diverse, Illinois churches working together to advance the gospel,” said Executive Director Nate Adams. “To be effective in facilitating that cooperation, we need hard-working, engaged board and committee members who love their local church and can represent its needs well in our strategies and processes.

“We need men and women, younger and older, northern and southern, urban and small town. I would encourage every IBSA church to nominate its most trustworthy, servant leaders for IBSA board or committee service.”

For nomination forms and a complete list of vacancies, go to www.IBSA.org or call (217) 391-3107. Return completed forms to IBSA by August 7.

Luter tapped as NAMB ambassador

Former Southern Baptist Convention President Fred Luter has been appointed to help the North American Mission Board increase the number of African American churches in the SBC from 4,000 to more than 5,000 in the next five years.

“We’ve had a lot of African Americans plant churches and a lot of African American churches to join the SBC,” said Luter, NAMB’s new national African American ambassador. “But as the old saying goes, ‘We’ve come a long way, but we’ve still got a long way to go.’”

Luter will continue to pastor Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans while seeking to engage more African American churches in SBC life and church planting.

Lottie offering tops $153 million

Churches last year gave a near record amount to the annual Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, named after a Southern Baptist mission pioneer in China. The $153 million offering—the second highest ever—will supply more than half of the International Mission Board’s budget for 2015, said IMB President David Platt “Every dollar given to the Lottie Moon offering will enable a man, woman or family to stay on the field, to lift the light of Jesus Christ amidst some of the darkest, most dangerous and difficult-to-reach places, and to make disciples among unreached peoples.”

‘Purpose Driven’ movie

“Captive,” scheduled for release this September, will tell the true story of Ashley Smith, the Atlanta woman who read Rick Warren’s book “The Purpose Driven Life” to a man holding her hostage in her home. Smith’s captor, Brian Nichols, eventually surrendered to authorities.

Smith, a single mother addicted to methamphetamine at the time, had been baptized as a child by SBC Executive Committee President Frank Page. “It’s a story of redemption because she was getting her life straight, and did, praise God,” he told Baptist Press.

“Captive” stars Kate Mara as Smith and David Oyelowo, who recently portrayed Martin Luther King, Jr., in “Selma,” as Nichols.

– Baptist Press

Introducing our new look

If you’re a regular Illinois Baptist reader like Nora Warren, age 3, you’ll notice some things are different in this issue. The new design expands our news coverage and provides more space for local church stories, while still offering a mix of Baptist perspectives, commentary, and real-life ministry advice.

To all who responded to our reader survey earlier this year, thank you! We took your comments seriously throughout the redesign process. Thank you for reading. We hope you—and Nora—like the new look.

We’d like to hear from you. Send us your feedback at IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org.

reporter’s notebook

IMB & NAMB: Two shall become one?

In the era of downsizing and streamlining, some have begun to ask again, Do we need two mission boards? At the Columbus meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, the question surfaced again. But this time, it was the leaders of the mission boards themselves who were addressing it.

Everything is on the table when it comes to missions, International Mission Board President David Platt said, even moving into the North American Mission Board’s facility in Alpharetta, Georgia. When NAMB President Kevin Ezell posed the question—during an interview session with Platt at the annual Send North America luncheon—Platt said, “Blank check, on the table.” Determining where the IMB can best do its work, whether it’s Atlanta or Dallas (or West Palm Beach, Ezell joked), is “a question we’re in the process of asking,” Platt said.

As for an actual merger? If years down the road, a combined NAMB and IMB is the most efficient, productive way to do missions in Southern Baptist life, then we need to be open to that, Ezell said. Platt agreed. If it’s the best way to get the gospel to the nations, Platt said, “then it’s incumbent on us to do whatever.”

In February, at the meeting of Baptist state editors, Ezell commented that there is plenty of room to house both boards at

the NAMB headquarters. Built for 400 employees, the building houses a little over 100 staffers today given the ongoing strategy to put more workers in the field.

Ezell pointed out that flying out of Atlanta would save IMB time and money on connecting flights to their Richmond headquarters. And he even joked about showing IMB staffers around the NAMB building so they could pick out their offices. But in February, Ezell was the only one saying those things publicly, as one IMB-connected observer pointed out. Not so now.

The two boards seem to be enjoying a close relationship. Even as he started his tenure as IMB President, Platt finished a commitment to serve as an ambassador for NAMB’s SEND North America strategy, speaking frequently on behalf of church planting and drawing crowds of young church planters. Platt’s intense, energetic ability to mobilize a new generation of missionaries is serving both mission boards well right now.

And Ezell has brought NAMB’s application process into line with IMB’s system, making it easier for future missionaries to seek approval by either board, or both. In 2011, at a time when both board presidencies were vacant, there was discussion of a merger. Perhaps in this talk of office space we’re hearing it again.

– DER/MDF

The arts are simply God’s gifts of creation, for our good and his glory. They are part of life that God has uniquely given us as human beings to give expression to our humanity—our joy, our pain, our praising God.

As a pianist, I learned to love the notes and to respect the composer’s intention, to be faithful and creative in my interpretation. Performing music requires creative fidelity that has rich parallels to biblical hermeneutics and theology.

TEDS faculty members Kevin Vanhoozer and Con Campbell are gifted scholars and dedicated teachers who believe that the gospel provides for and promotes whole life flourishing. They are serious artists who bring their passions for music and drama to the classroom, to their understanding of theology, and to their mentoring relationships with students.

CONSTANTINE R. CAMPBELL | ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF NEW TESTAMENT

KEVIN J. VANHOOZER | RESEARCH PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL AND SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY

THE BIG PICTURE

IN FOCUS

Southern Baptist Convention 2015

Our national prayer meeting for ourselves and the world.

BY MEREDITH FLYNN

For one whole year leading up to the 2015 Southern Baptist Convention, the meeting’s main issue was made crystal clear. It wouldn’t be theological differences or other debates. Not even denominational decline or cultural change. Prayer.

Extraordinary, unified, visible, repentant, collective prayer.

Ronnie Floyd, elected to his first term as SBC President at last year’s meeting in Baltimore, immediately issued a “Call to Columbus,” rallying Baptists to come to the Midwest to cry out to God for the next great awakening.

On a Tuesday night in Ohio, they did. Nearly 7,000 people praying on their knees, on their faces, in small groups, and in quiet solitude. (More than 8,000 people joined them online.)

“Tonight is a moment that we pray you won’t forget for the rest of your life,” Floyd said at the beginning of the National Call to Prayer. “We hope it’s a moment in this generation.”

In Baltimore last year, an early end to a morning business session resulted in an impromptu prayer gathering. But many messengers had already left the convention hall. That wasn’t the case in Columbus, where Baptists prayed together for

two hours on topics including racial reconciliation, spiritual awakening, and the persecuted church.

“Awesome and humbling service and God’s presence was obvious!” former Illinois director of missions J. E. Hail posted on Facebook after the Call to Prayer. “May God answer our prayers for revival and awakening!” – even if we’ve never actually seen it before.

Las Vegas pastor Vance Pittman’s voice broke when he said he’d heard and read about revivals of the past. “But I have never experienced that kind of an awakening where I live,” he said from the platform.

“And I don’t know where you are tonight, but I am hungry to not just read about it, and not just hear about it, but to experience a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God on our nation like we have never witnessed before.”

Don’t wish for Mayberry

Throughout the 2015 meeting, leaders outlined one big reason to pray: our swiftly changing culture. Similar to the last few Conventions, the Columbus gathering included several between-session presentations on how churches can meet sweeping social change with love from a firm, biblical foundation.

Perhaps because churches are facing ever more specific issues related to sexuality and gender, the meetings in Columbus offered practical advice on how to deal with a same-sex couple that comes to faith in Christ, or a transgender teen in the youth group. (For more on the SBC and cultural issues, see page 9.)

Cultural change shouldn’t cause churches to panic, leaders said again and again. Instead, Christians should cling even more closely to the saving power of the gospel, which pulled them out of their own sin.

“We can’t be, as our mission field

Continued on page 8

Wall-to-wall coverage of the Annual Meeting in Columbus, Ohio Illinois Baptist Team Report Pages 7-12

PHOTO: 5,407 messengers filled the Greater Columbus Convention Center on June 16-17. The five-day event included evangelistic outreach, the pastors’ conference, convention business, missionary commissioning, and prayer.

Baptists pray for unity, reconciliation

Continued from page 7

changes around us, pining for some day in the past when everything was easier,” said Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, during his message at the Pastors’ Conference. “Mayberry leads to hell just like Gomorrah does.

“The message that we have is not, ‘Let’s get back to when everybody was better behaved.’ The message that we have is, ‘You must be born again.’”

The next challenge

SBC Executive Committee President Frank Page focused on another cause to pray in his report: fewer people coming to Christ through the ministries of SBC churches.

“We need to increase our evangelism like we never have before,” Page said. “Oh God, help us to be soul winners…”

Recent numbers from the Annual Church Profile (see page 5) paint a bleak picture: SBC churches lost more than 200,000 members last year, and baptisms fell below the level they were in 1948, Page reported.

“We’ve adopted society’s lie that people won’t talk to you about Christ anymore,” he said.

To jumpstart evangelism, Page introduced “Great Commission Advance,” a campaign to begin this year and run through 2025—the 100th anniversary of the Cooperative Program, Southern Baptists’ chief method of supporting missions. Baptist Press reported the plan includes a 1% challenge in baptisms and in stewardship, similar to the challenge Page issued to churches in 2013 to increase giving by 1% of their undesignated offerings.

One big, redeemed family

Prior to this year’s meeting, many figured Columbus to be a hard sell for Baptists in the South and other regions. Would messengers really turn out for a Convention in a Midwestern city not known for its theme parks and family attractions? The final report on registered messengers Wednesday afternoon was 5,407, slightly above last year’s total in Baltimore.

While the focus on prayer seemed integrated into every part of the meeting, the business sessions were relatively quiet:

• All five SBC officers were elected unopposed: Ronnie Floyd, pastor of Cross Church in northwest Arkansas, president; Steve Dighton, senior pastoral advisor at Lenexa Baptist Church in Lenexa,

Kansas, first vice president; Chad Keck, pastor of First Baptist Church in Kettering, Ohio; second vice president; John Yeats, executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention, recording secretary; and Jim Wells, strategic partners team leader for the Missouri Baptist Convention, registration secretary.

• Nine resolutions were affirmed, including measures on marriage, sexual purity, and religious persecution (see page 10).

• An amendment to the SBC’s Constitution regarding qualifications for churches sending messengers to the annual meeting was approved on a required second vote. Cooperating churches may now automatically send two messengers to the Convention. Article III of the Constitution, written in 1888, previously allowed for one messenger per church, with additional messengers allowed for every $250 contributed to Convention causes.

Under the new guidelines, the amount for additional messengers is adjusted for inflation to $6,000. The maximum number of messengers per church also increased from 10 to 12, Baptist Press reported.

One particular order of business related directly

to events of the past year, and a key part of the Call to Prayer Tuesday evening. Messenger Alan Cross from Alabama asked that the Executive Committee be commended for its report on racial diversity in the SBC since 1995 (the year the denomination apologized for past racism). Cross had made a motion the previous year asking for information on ethnic representation in SBC leadership. This year, the Executive Committee said much progress has been made but “more can and needs to be done.” Messengers approved Cross’ commendation.

During the National Call to Prayer, Floyd called on Baptists to repent of racism and prejudice, bringing to the stage leaders of different ethnicities to pray for racial reconciliation.

Around the convention hall, people gathered in small groups, standing shoulder-to-shoulder or hand-in-hand as they prayed for unity. The leaders then worshiped together on the stage, as the band led those in the packed auditorium to sing, “I am redeemed. You set me free.”

“Tonight in Jesus’ name, we come together as one family,” Floyd said, “and we do it because of the blood of the Lamb of God who died for the sins of the world.”

Musicians from Cross Church in northwest Arkansas lead in worship during the Annual Meeting.

SBC President Ronnie Floyd delivers his president’s address June 16.

Adron Robinson (center), pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Country Club Hills, participates in the National Call to Prayer.

CIRCLES OF PRAYER – Prayer takes center stage (and all available floor space) as Marvin Parker, pastor of Broadview Missionary Baptist Church in Metro Chicago, and his wife, Inez, join with others in Columbus to pray for racial reconciliation.

Cultures in conflict

What we believe vs. What America has become

BY LISA SERGENT

The signs up at the Greater Columbus Convention Center read, “Welcome Southern Baptist Convention,” while banners on the lampposts declared “Gay Pride Festival.” With only a day separating these gatherings, their juxtaposition—and shared subject matter—was especially noticeable.

Awaiting the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, the case that will likely determine whether same-sex marriage is legal in all 50 states, SBC leaders and messengers talked marriage and a host of other issues that threaten to isolate the gospel from the people who need it.

“Whatever happens in the culture around us,” Russell Moore, president of the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, reminded attenders at the Pastors’ Conference, “it does not take one bit more gospel to save the people protesting us than it took to save us, the people who were once protesting God.”

But there weren’t a lot of people protesting Southern Baptists in Columbus. In fact, for several years now, the controversial conversation has been inside the hall rather than parading the sidewalks outside, with messengers taking up issues— such as same-sex marriage and ministry to transgender people—that would not have been handled so candidly a decade or two ago.

“For most of this last century Southern Baptists have been comfortable in the culture in their soft cocoon,” Moore said in his convention report. “Some said that the Southern Baptist Zion was below the Mason-Dixon Line. Those days are gone, and not a moment too soon. Those days are over, thankfully.”

Southern Baptists are taking on hard issues.

Firm positions, softer hearts

“The mission of the church isn’t to un-gay people. The mission of the church is to win people to

Christ,” Houston pastor Nathan Lino said at a breakfast hosted by the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. He challenged churches, asking why they try to “run off” homosexuals and transgendered people. “Do you realize that it’s a miracle they are there? It’s because of God and it’s glorious.”

Former lesbian, now pastor’s wife Rosaria Butterfield agreed that salvation comes first. “I was not converted out of homosexuality, I was converted out of unbelief and then God went to work.” She spoke as part of a panel called “The Supreme Court and Same-Sex Marriage: Preparing Our Churches for the Future.” The panel was the first of its kind staged during a convention business meeting. Some panelists reinforced a fortress mentality for churches. Others introduced a new kind of missionary to the culture. Moore observed that Butterfield is probably the “Lottie Moon of the 21st century mission field, a Presbyterian ex-lesbian sitting right here.”

SBC President Ronnie Floyd framed the field this way: “The Southern Baptist Convention has not moved, the culture has moved. We stand on the Word of God that abides forever, always has been, and will forever be.”

‘Bonhoeffer moment’

On the final day of the convention, Floyd and eight past SBC presidents held a press conference stating their commitment to biblical marriage. The statement, endorsed by Floyd and 16 living past convention presi dents, served notice to the nation and to the Supreme Court that they “will not recognize same-sex ‘marriages,’ our churches will not host same-sex ceremonies, and we will not perform such ceremonies.”

The presidents also stressed the need for churches to be prepared by having clear bylaws and constitutions that say what it means to be married in their churches.

Continued on page 10

“We do not dare count on tomorrow. We must reach the world now.... The stakes are high. And we find ourselves wondering what to have for lunch today.””

– David Platt, president, IMB

“I am hungry to not just read about it, and not just hear about it, but to experience a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God on our nation like we have never witnessed before.”

– Vance Pittman, pastor, Hope Church, Las Vegas

“You can face a changing culture when you have a changeless Christ.”

– H.B. Charles, Jr, pastor, Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Florida

“Brothers and sisters, we started on the wrong side of history. The right side of history was the Roman Empire. The wrong side of the history was a Roman cross. And the Roman Empire is dead, and Jesus is feeling fine.”

– Russell Moore, president, ERLC

SUFFERING FOR THE GOSPEL – Naghmeh Abedini (left) is interviewed by SBC Pastors’ Conference President Willy Rice. Abedini’s pastor husband, Saeed, is imprisoned in Iran. Meeting attenders extended their hands toward the stage as they prayed for the family and his release.

“While we affirm our love for all people, we cannot deviate from God’s Word.”

– Ronnie Floyd

Be It Resolved

As 17 SBC presidents made the unusual move of issuing a statement outside official convention action, the traditional means of expressing the collective view of Southern Baptists on cultural issues back-up the presidents’ stance on marriage. A resolutions affirming traditional marriage was one of nine statements passed by the messengers.

Pastors on front line of culture conflict

Continued from page 9

Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, urged Christian colleges, universities, and seminaries to do the same. He said he could see a time when accreditation would be withheld from Christian educational institutions that do not approve of samesex marriage or transgenderism.

Patterson said what concerns him most are the churches “that have never thought through their bylaws and constitutions. Challenges will probably come to those small churches that are ill-prepared.”

At the same press conference, Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, concurred: “We want to challenge pastors and church members. This is coming and it’s coming now. The trajectory is on breakneck speed… We encourage Christian leaders everywhere to make some noise and to be a voice.”

The Call to Public Witness on Marriage

The resolution beseeches the U.S. Supreme Court to “uphold the right of the people to define marriage as exclusively the union of one man and one woman.” It further states, “Southern Baptists recognize that no governing institution has the authority to negate or usurp God’s definition of marriage.” The resolution also expresses concern for the religious liberty of individuals and institutions.

Racial Reconciliation

This resolution celebrates the growing racial and ethnic diversity in Southern Baptist entities and churches, but states that further progress is needed and urges further leadership appointments that reflect such diversity. It also expresses grief over the “continued presence of racism and the recent escalation of racial tension in our nation.”

The resolution calls on Southern Baptists to “be faithful ambassadors of reconciliation in their personal relationships and local communities as they demonstrate the power of the Gospel to reconcile all persons in Christ.”

Revival and Spiritual Awakening

This resolution echoes the cries expressed in the National Call to Prayer. It urges Southern Baptists to “engage in faithful and fervent prayer of the spiritual healing of our churches, our Convention, and our nation.”

Finally, it pleads with God to, “open the windows of heaven and come down among His people with a fresh filling of His Spirit that His Name will be glorified throughout the our nation and the nations…”

Messengers also adopted resolutions on appreciation of the hospitality of the city of Columbus and the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio, the 90th anniversary of the Cooperative Program, sanctity of human life, pornography and sexual purity, religious persecution and human rights violations in North Korea, and on the persecuted church worldwide.

To read the complete text of all nine resolutions, go to www.BPnews.net.

Other threats to religious liberty were also highlighted at the convention:

Former Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran spoke at the Pastors’ Conference. Cochran was fired from his position for stating on one page of his 160-page book, “Who Told You That You Were Naked?” that homosexuality is sinful. “There are selfinflicted sufferings and the ones God allows,” Cochran said. “What I’m experiencing is a Godallowed suffering that has nothing to do with me, but that God is using in and through me.”

And Barronelle Stutzman, the Washington

SIGNS OF THE TIMES – These signs in Columbus demonstrate the conflicting worldviews of visitors to the city during the week of the Southern Baptist Convention.

ON THE PANEL – Ronnie Floyd, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, leads a discussion on same-sex marriage. Participants included (left to right): Rosario Butterfield, author and pastor’s wife; Ryan Blackwell, senior pastor, First Baptist Church of San Francisco; Matt Carter, senior pastor, Austin Stone Community Church, Austin, Texas; Al Mohler, president of Southern Seminary; and Russell Moore, president of ERLC. Photo by Paul W. Lee.

state florist who was sued for not providing flowers for a same-sex wedding, made an appearance during the ERLC report. She lost her case and is in danger of losing her home and business. After Moore shared her story, she came to the stage for prayer.

“This is a Bonhoeffer moment for every pastor in the United States,” Floyd warned in a sermon citing the example of pastor and Nazi-fighter Dietrich Bonhoeffer. “We will not bow down nor will we be silent. We will hold up and lift up God’s authoritative truth on marriage. While we affirm our love for all people, we cannot deviate from God’s Word.”

crossover Illinois teams touch Columbus

On Saturday before the Convention, 3,385 SBC volunteers took to the streets in Columbus, working in partnership with local churches to knock on more than 10,000 doors and have 4,950 gospel conversations.

At least 345 people prayed to receive Christ as their Savior that day, reported Joel Southerland, the North American Mission Board’s executive director for evangelism strategies.

Illinois volunteer teams were among those who served during Crossover, traveling Friday and early Saturday to get to Columbus in time to garden, knock on doors, and share the gospel one-on-one:

IBSA’s Van Kicklighter and Charles Campbell and their families worked with Neil Avenue Baptist Church in Columbus and another visiting team from North Carolina to make improvements at a local apartment complex for physically handicapped people.

“We’ve kind of been on a witnessing spree since Crossover,” said Pastor Michael Kanai of Orchard Valley Baptist Church in Aurora. He and Scott Blank, a Sunday school teacher from his church, came to Ohio with William Canady, a friend of Kanai’s who pastors in Kansas.

On Crossover Saturday, they went out two-by-two to invite people to a community festival hosted by Faithway Baptist Church, a West African congregation in Columbus. Kanai preached there on Sunday, two weeks after Faithway’s pastor, Edward Kwakye, came to Aurora to preach at Orchard Valley.

Kwakye came to the Tuesday evening Call to Prayer and sat with Kanai, Canady, and Blank, and said he’d be calling. When it comes to future partnership, Kanai said, “Who knows what God will do?”

Uptown Baptist Church member Robin Glover kept the Illinois Baptist up-to-date on her team’s Crossover project even before the group’s arrival in Columbus. “Tonight our host church will greet Uptown Baptist Church’s mission team during a special dinner at their church,” she e-mailed as they made their way to the capital city.

“Please pray for great weather tomorrow as Pastor Michael Allen (from Uptown) and we join with Pastor Reginald Hayes and the United Faith International during our Crossover outreach events—classes, prayerwalking, and community canvassing!”

During the outreach, Robin’s husband, Steven (an IBSA zone consultant in Chicagoland) got to share the gospel with a young man from Somalia.

Next year’s Crossover Saturday in St. Louis is June 12.

missions

Commissioning service acknowledges uphill climb

The global missions effort is facing an uphill climb. In the northeastern United States, 82% of people don’t know Christ. In the West, it’s 87%. And in Canada, 90%.

Those numbers are small compared to India, where 1 billion people are spiritually lost, International Mission Board President David Platt reported in Columbus. It’s a daunting picture, made even direr by the limitations of the Southern Baptist missionary force to get to people who need the gospel.

But that’s where local churches come in, missions leaders said at a Sending Celebration co-hosted by IMB and the North American Mission Board.

“Churches almost unknowingly begin to farm out missions to missions organizations. But this is not how God designed it,” Platt said. You won’t see IMB or NAMB in the New Testament, he continued. Instead, you see churches like the one at Antioch.

“We want to see 46,000-plus Antiochs,” Platt said at the beginning of the celebration, which highlighted missionaries and the churches sending them across North America and the world.

The celebration was one way Platt and North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell worked together in Columbus to demonstrate the sense of cooperation between their agencies. Earlier, the two interviewed each other during the annual Send North America luncheon about the state of Southern Baptist missions. (See Reporter’s Notebook, page 6.)

When he first got to NAMB, Ezell said, he called a church planter in the Northeast to see how things were going. The man broke down; it was the first time in two years someone had called him.

“Less than half our church plants have a sending church,” Ezell said during the celebration. And ministry can be a discouraging, three-stepsforward, two-steps-back situation. “So many of you have experiences that you need to share. We have to have a passion to invest in the next generation of young ministers.”

Instead of the flags and triumphant hymns of past commissioning services, the celebration in Columbus was low-key. As worship leaders Shane & Shane played softly, slides describing each missionary or family, their home states, and their sending churches, showed on large screens throughout the hall.

Many of the missionaries were in the room, but they never walked across the platform. Instead, they stood after their slides played, illuminated in the dark room by bookshaped lamps fanned out in front of them.

At the end of the service, the missionaries stood again together, and people sitting around them stood and prayed over them as Platt and Ezell led from the stage. Attenders also had the opportunity to commit to engage in some way in missions.

“Not one of us is guaranteed today, much less tomorrow,” Platt said during his final charge to those in the audience. “So, brothers and sisters, let’s make it count. Let’s make our lives and our churches and churches in this convention count.”

‘Whatever it takes’

PHOTO: Kevin Ezell, left, president of the North American Mission Board, and David Platt, president of the International Mission Board, end a joint Church and Mission Sending Celebration by recognizing missionaries with a standing ovation at the June 17 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. Photo by John Swain

Fun in the Buckeye State

There were 138 messengers from Illinois officially registered at the Columbus convention, but our crew on the floor said it seemed like more than that. Here are a few of the many snapshots of our friends. Look for more at our Facebook page and our blog, IB2news.org.

Ministry leaders are facing challenges previous generations could not imagine. Our nationally-ranked degree programs are innovative, affordable, and available fully online. Apply today at mbts.edu/apply

IB Team Coverage by Meredith Flynn and Lisa Sergent in Columbus; Kris Kell, Morgan Jackson, and Eric Reed in Springfield. Convention photos in this section by the IB team. Additional photos supplied by Beth Adams, Charles Campbell, Van Kicklighter, and Steven Glover.

Cliff Woodman, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist in Carlinville, visits the SBC exhibit hall with his wife, Lisa, and their son, Daniel, a summer intern with Baptist Press.

IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams interviews former Atlanta Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran on the Cooperative Program stage in the exhibit hall. Cochran was fired for stating in his 2013 book that homosexuality is sinful.

Chicago Connection – (Top) Pastors Rick Dorsey and Q Mahmud talk with Jon and Lindsay McDonald of FBC Casey at the IBSA ice cream social.

(Bottom) Members of Uptown and Broadview churches meet up after the two-hour prayer meeting.

Is there any hope for denominations?

BY DAVID DOCKERY

In 1955, when Will Herbert wrote his classic volume “Protestant, Catholic, Jew,” one in 25 church-going Americans tended to change denominations over a lifetime. In 1985, one in three Americans changed denominations over a lifetime. In this current decade, it’s more than one in two, or about 60%, which means many Christians will change denominations in this century.

Not only have we seen a decline in denominational loyalty in recent years, but an increase in the number of people who identify with a network, special purpose group, or parachurch group, rather than a particular denomination.

These accelerated shifts have changed the way many perceive the importance of denominations, resulting in additional changes to the denominational diversity that has developed in North America over the past 200 years. While there are significant changes to observe, we dare not miss the importance of geography as we address this topic.

As the country has migrated westward over the past hundred years, new movements and denominational offshoots have developed. Certainly geography has shifted, but the generalizations about geographical presence and denominational influence still hold. Roman Catholics continue to have great sway in New England, Lutherans are most prevalent in the upper Midwest, Baptists are a majority in the South, and Dutch Reformed are sprinkled across the heartland. Perhaps even more important than geographical regions is the kind of city or town or place where one resides. Great differences in the understanding of denominational importance exist in metropolitan areas compared with rural towns. Suburban areas are where the majority of generic megachurches are located. Surprisingly, more than 50% of all churchgoing Americans attend less than 12% of all churches. Denominational labels mean less and less for the majority of these megachurches.

Sociologists at Boston University have tracked these changes, highlighting the differences on the east and west coasts when contrasted with areas in the middle of this country. About 30%

of the people on the two coasts respond positively to the importance of denominational identity, compared with about 70% in the Midwest and the deep South. Such comparisons are even more exaggerated from rural to urban areas: 84% of people who live in rural areas persist in thinking that denominational identity is important, compared to less than half of that number in suburban and urban areas.

One more important point regarding place: The majority of churches are still found in rural areas, while most people now live in urban and suburban areas, pointing to another reason for decline in the importance of denominations for people in this century.

Futhermore, most of the mainline denominations have sadly lost their way. Some have become disconnected from their heritage,

and even more so from Scripture and the great Christian tradition. Some today are not only postdenominational, but also on their way toward becoming post-Christian as their conversations focus on issues of inclusiveness and universalism, sexuality and interreligious spirituality. Postmodern influences, shifts in population and perceptions regarding denominations, and the decline of mainline denominations have combined to bring about changes that frankly are hard to calculate. So, what does this say about the future of denominationalism? I want to say that while denominationalism is in measurable decline, denominations still matter. Certainly the kind of structure that denominations provide for churches is important. The Christian faith needs both “structure and Spirit,” to borrow words from historian Jaroslav Pelikan, in order to carry forward the Christian message. If, however, we focus too much on structure, we wind up with unwanted bureaucracy. Should we focus too much on the Spirit, we unwittingly move toward an amorphous form of Christianity. Let us pray for balance even as we hold out hope for the future of healthy denominations to serve the cause of Christ and cooperatively advance the good news of the gospel message.

David S. Dockery, president of Trinity International University, is the editor of “Southern Baptist Identity: An Evangelical Denomination Faces the Future.”

fresh ideas

Cultivating hospitality

Do you live in a tiny apartment? A 20room mansion? Are you a super chef or a hamburger-helper diva? Are you busy with work or family or church? No matter your circumstances, God’s command to practice hospitality applies to every Christian.

“Pursue hospitality” (Rom. 12:13). Chase it down! Prioritize it. Look for opportunities. “Don’t neglect to show hospitality…” (Heb. 13:2).

Christians must share hospitality with one another.

“Be hospitable to one another, without complaining” (1 Peter 4:9). And also to strangers (Matt. 25:35). View them through God’s eyes of love. Ask Him to prompt your response. Need fresh ideas to get started on a relaxed lifestyle of selfless, joyful hospitality?

• Stay prepared. Stock up on cold sodas for teens. Freeze a casserole. Keep ingredients for a quick meal. Make a party box for balloons and crepe paper. If you have a guest room, keep it ready for use.

• Don’t hide Jesus. Walk through your own front door and observe. Are there clues that the person who lives here worships God? Add Scripture art, Christian symbols, a Bible on the coffee table.

• Hospitality needn’t be formal. Coffee with friends is often as meaningful as a fancy dinner. The goal is to show God’s love and get to know others through joyful hospitality.

• Find opportunities in celebrations. A baptism. Holiday. Birthday, anniversary, graduation, promotion, moving day. Look for excuses to show hospitality.

• Teach hospitality to your children. Help them enjoy welcoming friends to their home.

• Be purposeful. Chat about how God’s at work in your lives. Listen for opportunities to show God’s love. Pray for your guests.

Begin right now. Find a free hour this week and call someone God’s put on your heart to invite them for a cup of tea. That was easy, wasn’t it? When you practice intentional hospitality, God is honored. Pursue it. Enjoy it.

Truthfully, it doesn’t take a lot of extra effort to add a plate to the dinner table. Go the extra inch. Or go the extra mile! Practice hospitality.

“Let your graciousness be known to everyone” (Phil. 4:5).

© 2015 Diana Davis is an author, columnist and minister’s wife.

“Thanks to Lester, Howard, and Doris, our congregation follows the ancient rhythms of the church every Sunday.”

DIANA DAVIS

Healthy networks depend on balance between structure and Spirit.

Meet: Stephen Williams

Zone Consultant

Zone: 10 (Antioch, Big Saline, Clear Creek, Saline, Union and Williamson Associations)

One ‘Spectacular’ Saturday

Mission projects fuel community outreach

Mt. Zion | A woman left a Central Illinois gas station crying on Sat urday, June 6. But it was a good thing, she told a member of First Baptist Church in Mt. Zion.

“One of the guys from FBC came over to pay for $5 of gas, and then I left a blubbering mess….Today would have been my brother’s 39th birthday. I knew I’d be crying at some point, but I didn’t think it’d be when I got gas!”

Other current roles: Pastor, Simpson Missionary Baptist Church

Birthplace: Brownsville, Tenn.

Family: Stephen and his wife, Janine, have been married 39 years. They met as members of a student revival team out of Union University in Jackson, Tenn. They have a son, Nathan, and daughter, Joanna, three grandchil dren, and a new grandson due this fall.

Years in Illinois: 2

Places you’ve served here: Simpson (30 miles north of Metropolis)

What makes your zone unique?

Southern Illinois is beautiful with hills and forests. The people are friendly and accommodating, but while the population has declined here over the last few decades, the majority remains unchurched.

I am noticing among churches and associations a hunger for revitalization of the work for Christ, and a sincere searching for God to move throughout these communities.

IBSA zone consultants work with directors of missions and churches across the state. www.IBSA.org/zone

NeTworkiNg

Paying for gas and praying for patrons at the pump was just one ministry Pastor Tracy Smith’s church chose for its Missions Spectacular outreach. Across the state, more than 400 volunteers working in and around six host cities engaged in the annual oneday mission project.

In Mt. Zion, a few miles southeast of Decatur, more than 50 people from Smith’s church showed up on Saturday morning to distribute door hangers, wash cars and pump gas.

bers of FBC holding hands with strangers at the gas pump of Huck’s and praying with them,” Smith reported to IBSA’s Mark Emerson, who told the pastor a while ago that the purpose behind missions emphases like Missions Spectacular and Children’s Ministry Day (held every spring) was to help churches get a vision for missions in their community—effectively putting people like Emerson out of a job. His church took a step in that direction June 6, Smith said. “Thank you for the inspiration of Missions Spectacular!”

Comings & Goings

IBSA Collegiate Evangelism Strategist Chase Abner has accepted a new role as assistant director of a collegiate ministry in Ames, Iowa. Abner, whose first role with IBSA was as a campus minister at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, will help lead The Salt Company, a ministry of Cornerstone Church that serves more than 1,000 students every week.

Abner came to Christ as a graduate student at SIU after befriending leaders of the school’s Baptist Collegiate Ministry. “I know his love for the local church and for college students will find great expression in this new opportunity,” said IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams.

Abner and his wife, Alisha, and their three children will relocate to Ames this summer.

Congratulations

IBSA Church Planting Strategist Eddie Pullen graduated from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary this spring with a Doctor of Ministry degree.

Six students with Illinois ties also were honored at the spring graduation ceremonies for The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Boyce College:

Cody Gardner, FBC Herrin, Master of Theology

Matthew Kountz, Redeemer, Waterloo, M.A. in Missiology

John Newby, Calvary, Montgomery, Master of Divinity

Joseph Pike, FBC Goreville, Master of Divinity

Aaron Oneal, O’Fallon, B.S. in Missions

Rachel Wilkerson, Rochester FBC, B.A. in Biblical and Theological Studies

Greater Wabash Baptist Association, headquartered in Fairfield, seeks a full-time director of missions to begin immediately. Duties include keeping regular office hours, visiting and assisting the association’s 28 churches, and recording messages for the local radio station. Contact Chad Hershey at gwbasc@ gmail.com or (618) 384-9819.

Illinois Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services seeks an executive director to begin work upon the retirement of Doug Devore in January 2017. Go to bchfs. com/employment.html for a job description; to apply, send letter of interest and resume to BCHFS Executive Director Search Committee, 949 County Rd. 1300 N., Carmi, IL 62821.

BCHFS also seeks a husband/wife houseparent couple to begin work immediately. Position is full-time with salary and benefits package; send resumes to Melinda Bratcher, 949 County Rd. 1300 N., Carmi, IL 62821, or call (618) 382-4164, ext. 111.

Calvary Baptist Church, Hillsboro, seeks a full- or part-time youth minister to work with grades 6-12. Send resume and references to Calvary Baptist Church Personnel Committee, 1001 Rountree St., Hillsboro, IL 62049.

HANDS-ON MISSIONS – Paving project at Streator Baptist Camp

Painting playground equipment in Elkville Cleaning up in Granite City

EVENTS

Where: IBSA Building, Springfield

July 6-10, 20-24

IBSA Children’s Camps

What: Missions-focused, co-ed camp for kids in grades 3-6

Where: July 6-10, Lake Sallateeska; July 20-24, Streator Baptist Camp

Cost: $135 per person Web: www.IBSA.org/kids

July 11

Church Planting

Rendezvous

What: Effective ways to assist your church in praying, partnering or planting new churches in Illinois

Where: Woodland Baptist, Peoria

When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Contact: RachelCarter@IBSA.org

July 13-17

Summer Worship University

What: Music and worship training for students in grades 6-12

Where: Hannibal-LaGrange University, Hannibal, Mo.

Cost: $199 per person Web: www.IBSA.org/worship

August 14-15

Coach Approach to Leadership

What: Basic training in coaching skills and how to use them in ministry leadership

Cost: $99 per person for IBSAaffiliated churches Web: Register at IBSA.org/ womens

August 15

Men’s Softball Tournament

Where: Rotary Park, Decatur

Contact: David Kahler, (217) 875-6862

August 18

iConnect: IBSA/ Pastors Meet-Up

What: Introduction to IBSA staff, ministries, training and opportunities for pastors and church staff members

Where: IBSA Building, Springfield

When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Contact: BarbTroeger@IBSA.org

August 28-29

Groups Matter: Sunday School Resource Conference

What: Training for pastors and leaders in Sunday school and small groups

Where: IBSA Building, Springfield, and Logan Street Baptist, Mt. Vernon

Contact: CathyWaters@IBSA.org

Taylorville Southern Baptist Church seeks a bivocational or part-time pastor. Send resumes or questions to Linda Brewer at (217) 827-0193, or 802 E. Franklin, Taylorville, IL 62568.

Resources

IBSA is selling 19-inch, flat panel computer monitors for $50 each. Contact Drew Heironimus at (217) 391-3112.

Metro East Association seeks a church or association to take over the $196.56/month lease for a tabber and a tabletop folder. Contact MEBA at (618) 624-4444 or info@meba.org.

dave says

Big debt on an old car

QMy wife cosigned a loan on a 2007 car for her sister. Now, it’s being repossessed, and $23,000 is still owed on it at 20%. What can we do in this situation?

ATell the bank or dealer where the car is, and tell them to come pick it up. There’s no way to get out of the rest, my friend. You and your wife are going to be liable for whatever the car doesn’t bring in afterward. Let’s say it sells for $4,000. That would be subtracted from what is owed, and it will still be up to you guys to pay the rest. You could always try to negotiate to settle it for pennies on the dollar. Based on what you’ve told me, that’s a best-case scenario. The other thing I would do is demand a full audit on the account from day one to present, because a 20% interest rate doesn’t explain why a car didn’t pay off—espe-

cially a $23,000 car. If this was a $5,000 car from a tote-the-note car lot, and they were ripping her off charging only interest— and that’s all anyone was paying, and she gave up and punted— that’s fine. You’re just looking for a little understanding of the situation. But $23,000 cars don’t generally have 20% interest. I’d want to know where the money went.

From a bank’s perspective, I don’t see how anyone would think something like this would work out. The car was going down in value the entire time, so it just doesn’t make sense to me. Of course, if you have the cash lying around and it wouldn’t damage your finances, you could just take care of things and call it Stupid Tax.

Cosigning on a loan, especially with family, is never a good idea.

Financial advisor Dave Ramsey is a prolific author and radio host.

—Galatians 5:1—

September 18, 2015 | 7:00 PM

The Stonegate | Hoffman Estates, IL Proceeds Benefit Illinois Family Institute For Tickets & Information (708) 781-9328 | www.illinoisfamily.org

DAVE RAMSEY

“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

Wilson is a Senior Fellow of Theology at New Saint Andrew College, has debated Christopher Hutchens, is a prolific author and an editor of the homeschooling Omnibus series.

i lead

Keep it going

God is moving, and his Spirit is stirring people in Illinois to pray. Since the Concert of Prayer at the IBSA Annual Meeting last November, we have heard reports from many places about prayer events. To all these reports I say, keep it going.

Chicago Metro, Gateway and Lake County Associations all held prayer concerts this spring. Three Rivers Association held three concerts in a single month. And many churches have reported giving whole worship services over to prayer.

“The concert of prayer during the IBSA meeting was an inspirational, powerful worship experience and served as a catalyst to do something similar in our local church context,” said Kevin Carrothers, pastor of Rochester FBC.

PHIL MIGLIORATTI

Church needed here...

Location: Wrigleyville (also called Lakeview), on Chicago’s North Side

Focus: Single adults

Characteristics: Nearly 120,000 people live in this densely populated neighborhood, and the majority are unmarried and without children. Wrigleyville also has a large homosexual population.

Prayer needs: Pray for a church planter who would be uniquely gifted to love the residents here without condoning sin or condemning people. Pray for those who may be hungering for the gospel and life transformation.

Start something new

The best time to start a new Sunday school class or small group is the Sunday after Labor Day. Leaders have about two months to get it rolling.

“The need to see people actively engaged in the worship and prayer experience rather than being a spectator was also a compelling factor in the concert of prayer,” he said.

Some churches have used the cycle of prayer IBSA developed from Isaiah 6: lament, repent, intercede, and commit. It is a mix of Scripture, prayer, and songs in equal measure.

It’s easy to adapt an existing format or to select some Scripture and let the passage guide the movements in prayer. My approach is to develop a service that is

• Spirit-led: It’s not a performance.

• Worship-bred: Every aspect of the experience is born out of worship, especially the songs and hymns

• Scripture-fed: Even without a sermon, Scripture is foundational.

• Corporate-said: Attenders are participants, not an audience.

• Global-spread: Our prayers are for God’s kingdom to come and his will to be done rather than the usual prayer list items.

After I led a prayer concert at First Baptist Church of Winthrop Harbor, deacon Kenneth Anthony commented that, of the four phases in prayer, it was the time of confession that most affected him.

“We seldom stop and actually think about our own sin,” he said. “Our church, our community, our nation needs real revival and the only way to begin it is for the people of God to admit where we are at fault. If we don’t confess our sins and return to God, the nation never will.”

Phil Miglioratti is IBSA’s prayer coordinator. phil@nppn.org

In July: Determine where the new group will meet and what equipment they’ll need. (Sofas? Beanbag chairs?) Identify and train teachers or facilitators who will lead the groups.

In August: Gather potential group members. Who in your church isn’t part of a small group? Who in your community needs the group(s) you’re starting? Issue personal invitations. Conduct a social media campaign.

In September: Launch!

For more ideas on how to start new groups, see the Summer 2015 issue of Resource magazine at http://resource.IBSA.org. Make plans to attend IBSA’s Groups Matter: Sunday School Resource Conference August 28-29. And share your church’s “start something new” story with IBSA’s Church Resources team, (217) 391-3124.

inspirations

pinterest.com/illinoisBaptist

Celebrate Sundae, July 19!

The third Sunday of July is National Ice Cream Day. (Thanks, President Reagan.)

Check Pinterest for creative treats and plan a fun after-church event.

Go old school with an Ice Cream Social. Or try something new, like a Toppings Contest: try Cracker Jacks and bacon. Seriously, bacon goes with everything.

Knock, Knock.

“Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31).

Have you noticed how much easier it is to interact with your neighbors this time of year? After hibernating for the winter, now is the time to enjoy the colors of new life and growth outdoors, and for my wife and me to meet new people as we walk around our subdivision.

On one occasion when Jesus was debating with some Sadducees, a scribe overheard the conversation and was impressed by the response of Jesus. He asked Jesus the question that often surfaced when the religious leaders assembled: Of all the commandments, which one is the greatest?

Jesus answered with two commandments, with the second one focused squarely on others: Love your neighbor as yourself. In the book “Life on Mission,” the authors cite a 2010 study that revealed 28% of Americans do not know a single one of their neighbors, and 29% know only some. That effectively means that more than half of Americans don’t really know their neighbors at all.

Perhaps it’s time to make cookies, invite some ladies over for coffee, or have a cookout and get to know our neighbors. After all, if we are going to love our neighbors as ourselves, we must know them.

PRAYER PROMPT: Father, help me be intentional in getting to know and love my neighbors as you do.

Odis Weaver is pastor of Friendship Baptist Church in Plainfield and is currently serving as president of IBSA. Pastors are invited to join the online “IBSA Pastors’ Prayer Room” by e-mailing oweaver7307@gmail.com.