May 1, 2023 Illinois Baptist

Amy Richards Illinois Voices

Springfield | Illinois abortion advocates continue their press to create an abortion oasis in the state by pushing passage of Senate Bill 1909, titled “Deceptive Practices of Limited Services Pregnancy Centers Act.” Meanwhile, pro-life advocates refer to the contentious bill as the “Forced Abortion Information Act.” The bill easily passed in the state Sen ate. With the bill now headed to the House for a vote as early as the first week of May, over 17,000 pro-life supporters have registered legislative witness slips in opposition.

“Abortion advocates in the Illinois legislature demand that women have ‘choice’,” Mary Kate Zander said, “but all they’re accomplishing with this bill is eliminating women’s legitimate choices.” The Illinois Right to Life (IRL) Executive Director said, “This bill is written to target pro-life pregnancy resource centers and carve out even more protections for abortion providers. It is a shameful display of politics at the expense of Illinois women.”

The bill’s proponents say it would force prolife pregnancy centers to make abortion referrals and give the State Attorney General wide authority to initiate complaints against pregnancy resource

: Nate Adams on “an important balance.” P. 2

The Illinois Baptist staff

Editor - Eric Reed

Graphic Designer - Kris Kell

Contributing Editor - Lisa Misner

Comm. Coordinator - Nic Cook

Team Leader - Ben Jones

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The BIG Baptist family album

Our Illinois mission field

Tey Mitchell and his wife, Samantha, are replanting a congregation in partnership with Gospelife Church of Carol Stream. Tey is from Toledo, Ohio. Samantha grew up as a missionary kid in Bermuda. They met at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. And today they have three children, ages four months to four years. Tey asks for prayer for efforts in evangelism and for growing the church’s leadership team.

Pray the news: Incoming leaders

The SBC Executive Committee will meet May 1 to consider the election of a nominee as EC President and CEO. Pray for the incoming leader as he tackles important issues at this time, including tracking sexual abuse accusations and EC financial challenges.

Cooperative Program at work

Illinois’ own Rusty and Jennifer Ford, serving with IMB in Spain, hosted an evangelism conference with three churches. “We trained around 50 people and then went to the streets where 40 people heard the gospel!” Rusty told prayer partners, “God also opened up the door for me to preach at one of our Baptist churches and encourage them to keep discipleship and evangelism a priority! Most of them had never shared their faith, and how they hope to continue to go out and share!”

Total giving by IBSA churches as of 3/31/23

$1,253,344

2023 Budget Goal to date: $1,434,925

2023 Goal: $6 Million

NATE ADAMS

Important balance

Apastor once told me that he didn’t feel he should serve on one of our statewide committees because he wasn’t in complete agreement with the SBC’s Baptist Faith and Message statement. He cited Article VII on “Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.” He said he felt it described what is commonly referred to as “closed communion,” meaning that only the baptized church members of a local congregation should participate in that church’s Lord’s Supper ordinance.

I assured him that, in my experience, most SBC churches today practice a more “open communion,” where any believer baptized in a church of like faith and practice is invited to participate in that church’s observance of the Lord’s Supper. Later, however, I reread that article in the BF&M and had to agree that the Lord’s Supper described there sounded more closed than open.

The pastor went on to serve on the committee, since it was his church’s cooperating status with IBSA that qualified him to serve, and not his personally held belief about how the Lord’s Supper may be observed. And to my knowledge, no motion “charging doctrinal incompatibility” (a phrase from the IBSA Constitution) has ever been brought against a church at an IBSA Annual Meeting because it practiced open communion.

Yet if recent events are any indication, motions charging churches with doctrinal incompatibility (or not “closely identifying” with the BF&M, to use SBC Constitution language) may become more common in Baptist life, certainly at the national SBC level, and perhaps at some state and local levels. I believe messengers should be alert, cautious, and wise in handling such motions, especially at this June’s Southern Baptist Convention in New Orleans. At the same time, I’m reassured because caution and wisdom have characterized our Convention across the years.

To a certain degree, the felt need for such motions is being driven nationally by reports of mishandled sex abuse cases in some churches, or racism in others. In 2019, the SBC Credentials Committee became a standing committee of the Convention, meaning that in addition to seating messengers at the annual SBC meeting, it was also given the year-round responsibility of responding to such reports.

Since that time, the issue of women serving as pastors has also come to the forefront, most visibly in the case of Saddleback Church in California. This past February the SBC Executive Committee, acting for the SBC between its annual sessions, deemed six churches “not in friendly cooperation with the SBC,” with five having women in the role of senior or teaching pastor, and one being charged with mishandling a sexual abuse case.

Sadly, in my view, the need to confront evils such as sexual abuse and racism in some churches may also create an environment in which diverse and autonomous churches are more frequently charged with doctrinal incompatibility. If we’re not careful, the Baptist Faith and Message statement which has long provided clarity, unity, and yet flexibility for our churches’ Great Commission cooperation may instead be used as a tool for tighter conformity.

Let me be clear in stating my complete support of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, both personally and as the standard for hiring staff at IBSA. I believe it is a great gift to our churches, and that it provides, in almost miraculously few words, a general summation of what most Southern Baptists believe about the key doctrines of the Bible.

I also have great confidence in the Spirit-filled, collective wisdom of the messengers who represent their churches in our national, state, and local gatherings. Together, let’s pray that we will continue to strike a healthy balance between the doctrinal integrity and accountability that a faithful fellowship of churches can help preserve, and the freedoms of individual expression best left to autonomous churches.

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

In June, SBC messengers will weigh autonomy & accountability.

IBSA partner battles abortion pills

The oral medications produce more than half of all abortions

Washington, D.C. | A federal court ruling to halt the prescription of abortion drugs, initiated by a court case filed by IBSA ministry partner Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), was temporarily paused by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 7-2 decision April 21. The case is ultimately expected to be appealed to the high Court for a final ruling.

ADF Senior Counsel Erik Baptist was undeterred and called the Court’s ruling “common practice” to “maintain the status quo” in a media release following the ruling. Baptist said, “Our case seeking to put women’s health above politics continues on an expedited basis in the lower courts.”

A federal court in Texas on April 7 halted the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the chemical abortion drugs including mifepristone and misoprostol. On April 14, Associate Justice Samuel Alito placed a temporary hold on the ruling until the entire Court could meet and act as a whole. Associate Justices Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented from the ruling.

The drugs have been in use since for abortions since 2000. “By illegally approving dangerous chemical abortion drugs, the FDA put women and girls in harm’s way, and it’s high time the agency is held accountable for its reckless actions,” said Baptist.

From the front: Pregnancy ministries targeted

Continued from page 1

centers deemed in accordance with the “public interest” with fines of up to $50,000.

IRL reports there are about 100 pregnancy resource centers in Illinois that offer alternatives to abortion for women with crisis pregnancies, 50 of those centers are within 100 miles of Chicago. Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services, one of three entities forming the Illinois Baptist State Association, operates GraceHaven Pregnancy Resource Clinic in Mt. Vernon. The center offers pregnancy tests, ultrasound imaging, testing for sexually transmitted diseases, and mentoring for women seeking alternatives to abortion.

Molly Malone, assistant legislative chair of IRL, told the Illinois Baptist, “The bill would make pregnancy resource centers liable for ‘deceptive acts or practice for any concealment, suppression, or omission of a mate-

“Pregnancy is not an illness, and chemical abortion drugs don’t provide a therapeutic benefit—they can pose serious and life-threatening complications to the mother, in addition to ending a baby’s life.” Baptist argued the case, Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

The Court appeared to agree with Baptist’s argument. “Before Plaintiffs filed this case, the FDA ignored their petitions for over sixteen years, even though the law requires an agency response within ‘180 days of receipt of the petition…,’” the Court wrote in its 67-page decision. “Plaintiffs have credibly alleged past and future harm resulting from the removal of restrictions for chemical abortion drugs.”

In its decision the Court also cited the federal Comstock Act of 1873 as another reason for halting the distribution of chemical abortion pills by mail. The Comstock Act was originally intended to prevent the mailing of “lewd” materials, mainly pornography, and the “instrument, substance, drug, medicine, or thing for the procuring, or producing of abortion.” The scope of the law was narrowed in the 1930s and since the Roe v. Wade decision, the law was largely disregarded.

rial fact.’” She noted, “This bill would also change the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act to amend it to include specifically pregnancy resource centers to keep them from using what the bill calls material facts.” There are no guidelines in the bill to say what or who determines what a deceptive act or material fact is which could lead to litigation.

BCHFS Executive Director Kevin Carrothers described the bill’s language as nebulous and lacking clarity. “I think it will ultimately end up in the court system and work its way up,” he said. “It’s something we continue to be vigilant about and we continue to watch these legislative fronts on both the federal and state level.”

Abortion proponents claim the highly partisan bill is necessary, alleging that crisis pregnancy resource centers spread false information and fail to adequately train their staff.

When the FDA announced in 2021 that it would allow chemical abortion drugs to be sent via U.S. mail, and Roe was overturned in June 2022, 20 attorneys general from pro-life states cited the Comstock Act as the reason for disallowing the mailing of chemical abortion drugs in their states. Today, chemical abortions make up at least half of all abortions in the U.S.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker called the Texas court’s decision dangerous. “Despite these attacks, reproductive rights are enshrined in Illinois law and will stay that way,” Pritzker said.

Meanwhile, IBSA and its churches continue to seek ways to minister and share Christ’s love with women and families facing unplanned pregnancies. Alternatives to abortion are provided through Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services and its ministries, GraceHaven Pregnancy Resource Clinic and Angels Cove home for pregnant women.

The March 31 Senate vote fell along party lines with 36 Democrats voting for the bill, 19 Republicans against, and four not voting.

In the House the bill is known as HB 2463 and passed out of committee April 25. Illinois Right to Life hosted a rally against the bill outside the State Capitol on April 26.

The state of California passed a

similar bill, which was overturned in 2018 by the U.S. Supreme Court in NIFLA v. Becerra for its unconstitutional targeting of pregnancy centers. Should SB 1909 pass, it would go into effect immediately, but a court appeal is expected.

The spring session of the General Assembly has a deadline to pass bills by May 31.

ANOTHER BILL, ANOTHER RALLY – With action on a controversial bill pending in the House, Illinois Right to Life called pro-life advocates to the Capitol steps April 26.

Two faces of Southern Baptists

Two men from Georgia rose to national prominence at the same time—one as a politician, the other as a pastor. In 1977 as the politician was sworn in as 39th President of the United States, the pastor took his local televised church service nationwide. And the politician and the pastor became regular viewing—one on the nightly news and the other from his pulpit to millions watching on Sunday night cable TV.

Two Georgians, contemporaries at the time, became the new faces of Southern Baptists for the rest of the nation. From their national platforms, they did it in very different ways, but between them, these men challenged assumptions about being Baptist and exemplified faithful living under that calling.

As they leave the stage, the time is right to consider the enduring contributions of Jimmy Carter and Charles Stanley

“When cable TV came to Lake City, Arkansas, Charles Stanley entered my home. When I started to collect books as a teenaged preacher, he entered my library. I saw him lead our Convention as SBC president. I heard him preach in chapel at Southwestern Seminary. Is there any part of the SBC that does not bear the mark of his influence?”

– Bart Barber, SBC President

“There are few places in the world where Charles Stanley cannot be heard and seen through In Touch ministries. He was truly the world’s pastor.”

– Jimmy Draper, former Lifeway CEO

“Dr. Stanley stepped forward as a candidate for the presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention at a most pivotal time in the life and history of our denomination. His election to that post in 1984 was a decisive turning point, moving the SBC further down the road of theological recovery.”

– Jason K. Allen, president, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

“His practice of preaching profound truths with simple clarity was a gift to the church and an example to preachers today.”

– Jeff Iorg, president, Gateway Seminary

“His fervency in prayer, alone with his Lord was profoundly experienced by all who knew him well. Who will take the place of my friend Charles on his prayer rug before God?”

– Paige Patterson, former president Southwestern Seminary

“He said, “I don’t want to talk to you very long on the phone. I just want to ask you one question. Why don’t you give Jesus another try?’”

– Matthew Broderson, 29, remembers his grandfather Charles’s frequent calls, especially the one that turned him from addiction and depression and back to his faith in Christ

The pastor to a nation

harles Stanley was a reluctant president of the SBC. He responded to the need of the hour and the requests of God’s people,” recalls Paige Patterson, one the architects of the conservative resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention. Stanley would have preferred to stay in prayer in his study and in his pulpit, but his national television ministry had made him one of the lynchpins in the movement to establish the SBC on the groundwork of biblical inerrancy.

“My election infuriated the opposition,” Stanley wrote in his autobiography, Courageous Faith, “and ultimately revealed many of the underlying problems that had existed in the Convention for a long time but had either been ignored or denied.” Even so, “I knew I was in the center of His will, so I never felt anxious or angry even when the conflicts were at their very worst.”

First elected in Kansas City in 1984, Stanley beat two candidates in a single balloting the next year and saw conservatives consolidate to win a similar victory the year after that. Stanley presided over the two largest annual meetings in SBC history—45,531 messengers in 1985 in Dallas and 40,987 in 1986 in Atlanta—when conservatives faced their most pronounced opposition.

At the time of Stanley’s death on April 18 at age 90, Southern Seminary president Al Mohler wrote Stanley’s election as SBC President “constituted a major turning point in our denomina-

tional history. His re-election at the largest SBC annual meeting of all time in 1985 was the most decisive Convention vote in more than a generation.

“He had not been particularly active in denominational affairs until that time, but his vast television platform gave him unparalleled influence with messengers,” Mohler said. “Given his life and ministry circumstances, Charles Stanley was the least conventional of the Conservative Resurgence presidents. [However] he will be remembered as one of the most recognized Christian leaders of his age.”

Born in Dry Fork, Virginia, in 1932, Stanley was raised by a prayerful Pentecostal widow and the man she married to give Charles a stepfather. He was abusive.

The trouble at home drove Stanley to church and to a relationship with a heavenly father. It “increased my prayer life exponentially because I spent a lot of time alone with God,” Stanley wrote. He made a profession of faith at age 11 when the preaching of a Mrs. Wilson during a revival service “struck me to the core” about “how far I was from the Father because of my sin…. When she gave the invitation, I was the first one down the aisle and on my knees” to have “a real, eternal relationship with my heavenly Father and Creator.”

As a teenager, Stanley had joined a Baptist church in Danville, Va., and the pastor arranged a four-year scholarship for him at the University of Richmond. He confronted disbelief in Christ’s deity and criticism of Christianity in that setting, and he asked, “What in the world is this heresy?”

Stanley would later confront the issue as chair of The Peace Committee. In 1987 the Committee produced a 6,450-word report concluding that “the great number of Southern Baptists” believe the Bible “speaks truth in all realms of reality and to all fields of knowledge. The Bible, which properly interpreted, is authoritative to all of life.”

Stanley earned degrees from Southwestern Seminary and Luther Rice Seminary. He served churches in Florida, Ohio, and North Carolina, before he was called as associate pastor of First

Baptist Church of Atlanta in 1969. Conflict there turned ugly when the senior pastor resigned and Stanley began serving as interim pastor.

The young pastor was voted in as senior pastor by a motion arising during a 1971 business meeting. At a subsequent business meeting, one of Stanley’s opponents struck him in the jaw, prompting an uproar among the members that led to the faction leaving the church. But from then, the church grew under his leadership. Stanley developed an extensive television and radio audience through his In Touch Ministries and was inducted into the National Religious Broadcasters’ Hall of Fame in 1988.

Over 50 years, Stanley’s messages were prolific and ubiquitous—translated into 50 languages and broadcast in 150 countries on 2,600 radio stations—as were the 60 books he wrote.

More than any other SBC president, Art Toalston wrote in a Baptist Press obituary, Stanley’s personal life had been on public display, beginning when his wife, Anna, filed for divorce in 1993. After a period of reconciliation, a divorce ensued in 2000 after 44 years of marriage. Anna Stanley died in 2014 of pneumonia and other health issues at age 83.

In his autobiography, Stanley wrote, “Losing Annie was the worst heartache of my life,” yet it helped him reach those who say, “I thought you couldn’t possibly comprehend what I was going through. But now I know you’ve been there, too, and really understand how I feel.”

The marital distress included a ruptured relationship with his son, Andy, who was on First Baptist’s staff and felt his father should resign to let the church decide whether he should remain in the pulpit. Stanley disagreed, and his son subsequently resigned and started the non-denominational North Point Community Church, whose ministry has eight Atlanta-area locations and a worldwide influence of its own today.

Stanley and his son eventually found reconciliation. “I asked Andy to go to counseling with me and invited him to breakfast and lunch as often as I could. And I prayed for him constantly,” the elder Stanley wrote. “I am exceedingly proud of him. From the first time I heard him preach, I knew God would use him in a powerful way—and he has.”

Stanley repeated to his son how proud he was in his last days, the younger man reported. In their last meeting after months of illness, Charles prayed for his son one more time.

In the foreword to his father’s autobiography, Andy wrote of its contents: “Triumph, tragedy, love, marriage, divorce, poverty, prosperity, opportunity—all lived out under the canopy of God’s promises and faithfulness…. In my personal life and ministry, my takeaway from having Dr. Charles Stanley as my father was that everyone can trust God with every outcome.”

In addition to his son, Stanley is survived by daughter Becky Stanley Brodersen, six grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and a half-sister. He is also survived by 15 million Southern Baptists who are indebted to him for five decades years of exemplary biblical teaching and the willingness to lead from his knees.

“It was my privilege to meet Dr. Stanley…at the funeral for Billy Graham; he was warm and gracious,” evangelist Greg Laurie said after Stanley’s passing. “No doubt, he has already heard Jesus say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.’

“Charles Stanley will be greatly missed.”

– IB staff, with reporting from Baptist Press

The President who loved Sunday school J

immy Carter put a new face on Southern Baptists, one that Southern Baptists weren’t always comfortable with. Elected in 1976, he came into office as the Evangelical wave was rising. Billy Graham was the defining father of the movement. Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and Jim and Tammy Bakker were beginning their ascent, and the Moral Majority hadn’t yet been named. For America, Carter bore the promise of peace after Vietnam and trust after Watergate. He was down to earth, literally, a Georgia peanut farmer who downplayed his education as a nuclear engineer. He was an outsider to a Washington that had lowland character long before the Potomac basin was called a swamp. Most important, he was a man of faith. With Jimmy Carter, America would have opportunity to see how a born-again Christian would be governed in his leadership by his personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Carter wasn’t the first Southern Baptist in the Oval Office. Harry Truman identified as Baptist, although he had connections to two other denominations. In his later years, he

danced with his wife, Rosalyn, at the inaugural balls. There was much talk about a dancing Baptist at the time. Then he said he would allow wine to be served at state dinners, but to his credit, no hard liquor. Teetotaling Baptists were glad to hear that about whiskey, even if wine seemed a compromise.

And some of the Carter family was comical. His brother, Billy, if not a black sheep, was a speckled one, with a beer brand named for him. His mother, Miz Lillian, was the opinionated, hard-edged deep South grandmother many of us knew. There was a sitcom called Carter Country about a small-town sheriff in rural Georgia that played the Carter brand of Southernism for laughs. Even Lucille Ball returned for a TV special as Lucy Carter, who learned she was related to the president.

But Jimmy Carter was serious. He was genial, affable, and pleasant, often seen smiling, but he was serious about peace in the Middle East and the implications of his faith on his work. He also wrestled unsuccessfully with the economy. And when he was unable to free the U.S. hostages in Iran, America wanted a new direction. Southern Baptists, in the main, were with them.

It is Carter’s work after his presidency that is best remembered and celebrated today, as Carter has returned home and, at 98, to hospice care. Carter cast the model for former presidents, advocating for peace and combatting homelessness. How many videos have we seen across 40 years of Jimmy and Rosalyn on worksites for Habitat for Humanity, encouraging others to help build houses and opportunity for poor people. Carter put feet to his faith. And hands and nails.

supported First Baptist Church of Grandview, Missouri, attending their building dedication in 1960. Truman lamented that he couldn’t attend worship more often, but felt he was a bit of a spectacle and a distraction when he showed up in the congregation.

And, of course, Bill Clinton identified as Southern Baptist. He attended a couple of the large National Baptist churches in D.C. on occasion, and he went with his wife to Foundry United Methodist sometimes. But some of his political positions and moral choices put him at odds with many Southern Baptists. So Carter, in my mind, stands as the Southern Baptist President. Until he wasn’t.

After President Carter took the oath, he

After returning to Plains, he taught Sunday School every weekend he was in town, often filling the sanctuary at Maranatha Baptist Church with tourists. It should be noted that Maranatha, built in 1978, supports both the Southern Baptist Convention and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. The church declares its adherence to 1963 version of the Baptist Faith and Message, rather than BF&M (2000). As Carter has moved in one direction while the Convention moved in another, some have asked how Southern Baptist this president was.

But today, how much does that matter? We can hope Southern Baptists will honor their brother-president as a man led by faith, in office and out, who set a high and Christlike standard for us all.

– Eric Reed

Pastors march for youth

Chicago pastor Charlie Dates called on fellow pastors to march in support of teens on April 22 and more than 400 people, mostly black men, joined him in the Loop. The call came in response to a mass demonstration by young people the previous weekend that was accompanied by violence and 15 arrests. “We cannot allow a generation to be lost,” one leader declared to the clergy group, who sought to offer encouragement and hope. Dates said, “Chicago refuses to develop its greatest natural resources—our children.”

Lorenzo Beach, 28, told the Sun-Times he felt it was important “to show the youth that people do care about them, but also that some of the things they’ve been doing as of late, we don’t stand for that…. If they were to see this (support) en masse, maybe they’ll change.”

– info from Sun-Times, WBBM-TV

Wheaton students win case

The City of Chicago settled a case with four Wheaton College students it had forbidden to evangelize near the famous “Bean” sculpture in 2018. The case dragged on for five years, delayed by the pandemic and by the students’ refusal to accept an earlier offer that would have prevented public witnessing. Each of the four students received $5,000 and the remainder of the $205,000 settlement went to religious liberty attorneys Mauck and Baker of Chicago for legal fees.

The City had argued that the Grant Park sculpture was part of a series of artistic rooms, and not subject to First Amendment rights. The students witnessed there and at other sites on Friday afternoons. The judged ruled “if a ‘curated design’ were enough to transform the nature of the forum, any park with a statue could lose its First Amendment protections…. The law precludes this absurd result.” The students have graduated, three are now in seminary.

Interim leaders David Dockery and O.S. Hawkins have been given permanent status at Southwestern Seminary. Dockery becomes the 10th president in the school’s 115-year history, while Hawkins becomes chancellor. The two men were appointed after the resignation of president Adam Greenway, and charged with calming the academic waters and steadying the financial ship. Greenway’s tenure of three years was the shortest in SWBTS history. Their election to the posts was unanimous at what the board chair called “a critical juncture.” The Board of Trustees bypassed the usual search committee process and make the nomination directly.

Thursday, June 1, 2023 /

Formerly a Southwestern professor, Dockery (right) was also president of Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. Hawkins (left) led the SBC’s Guidestone Financial Services for 25 years and was previously pastor of First Baptist of Dallas.

– info from Baptist Press

DR. ADAM C. WRIGHT president of Dallas Baptist University, Commencement Speaker, December 2022

HAROLD BOOZE Judson Trustee and Member, Woodland Baptist Church in Peoria, Ill.

REV. DR. JEFF REYNOLDS First Baptist Church, Bowling Green, Ky. and Judson Chapel Speaker

Now a two-man race

Former candidate for SBC President Mike Stone will run again according to a statement April 26. As is the custom, the candidate himself didn’t say that, but a friend, former FBC Dallas pastor Mac Brunson made the announcement. Stone’s candidacy, coming later in the cycle than most runs in recent years, pits him against incumbent Bart Barber.

Stone is campaigning on two main points: a biblical approach to sexual abuse that would include caring well for victims while “embracing scriptural principles of due process and of handling and publishing accusations,” and a commitment to a national evangelism initiative that he would call Crossover America.

The Blackshear, Georgia pastor has been critical of SBC’s use of Guidepost Solutions to investigate how denominational leaders had handled sexual abuse allegations in the past. “When abuse occurs, it happens in local churches, so our convention needs to resource local, autonomous congregations to deal with these matters biblically, legally, and compassionately,” he said.

Stone lost to Ed Litton in a runoff in 2021, although as the Christian Index from Stone’s home state pointed out, he had the most votes on the first ballot. Litton chose not to run for the customary second term, setting up a four-man contest in 2022, which Barber won.

SBC Preview

Barber is a Farmersville, Texas pastor, a rancher with a Ph.D. in church history and a folksy demeanor. Barber has maintained a lower profile than some recent SBC presidents, apart from his CBS 60 Minutes interview with Anderson Cooper. He has focused on operational issues and mostly out of the limelight.

In a sermon to the February Executive Committee meeting, Barber acknowledged “challenges that defy not only my understanding, but my courage and my boldness.” But he said Southern Baptists know the solution: relying on God. They’ve seen it, he said, “over and over and over again.”

– with info from Christian Index and Baptist Press

New direction

Messengers could plot a different course for the SBC

BY ERIC REED

Planners for the 2023 Southern Baptist Convention expected this would be among the better attended annual meetings in the past decade. With 15,726 messengers registered in Nashville in 2021 and 8,133 messengers in Anaheim in 2022, organizers chose to move the convention from Greenville, South Carolina to New Orleans which offered more meeting space and hotel rooms.

So far, more than 6,000 messengers have registered. The Baptist Press announcement pointed out “Giant Calf, which is our preschool childcare provider, is now full, and so is Youth on Mission…. The only childcare with openings right now is Giant Cow for kids ages 5-12. Those openings are limited and will likely close soon.”

So many reservations for childcare are another sign that attendance at the annual meeting, once a sea of gray hair, is trending younger. After the Covid pandemic break, interest in the SBC’s handling of sexual abuse allegations drove attendance. The question now is whether implementation of reforms and

debate over reasons for disfellowshipping churches will sustain interest. The 2023 SBC Annual Meeting will likely handle several key issues:

Leaders and elections

The SBC presidency was a four-man race last year, with the Conservative Baptist Network and its slate in all races driving much of the discussion. CBN’s presence was felt, but most of their candidates lost. Bart Barber, pastor of a relatively small church when compared to the recent megachurch pastor-

The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center sits under the Crescent City Connection, a massive bridge across the mighty Mississippi River. As many as 10,000 messengers and guests are expected to fill its halls June 11-14 for the SBC Pastors Conference and Annual Meeting.

Shadow of the ’mighty

BART BARBER

MIKE STONE

convention schedule

Continued from P. 7

presidents, won the election. This year he faces one opponent, as of press time. And tracking abuse claims going forward with respect to local churches and their autonomy appears to be an issue, after the second candidate, Mike Stone, entered the race.

Leadership as an SBC issue will be made obvious by the absence of empty chairs on the platform in New Orleans. For the first time since 2018, all the vacancies at the tops of SBC entities will be filled (short of an unexpected resignation in the next five weeks). Just this year, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) has a new president in Brent Leatherwood. Southwestern Seminary has a new president in David Dockery. And it is expected that the SBC Executive Committee will have a new president and CEO after its May 1 special-called meeting.

In the past five years, there has been significant change at the denominational summit: Paul Chitwood at International Mission Board (2018), Ben Mandrell at Lifeway (2019), Jamie Dew at New Orleans Seminary (2019), and Hance Dilbeck at Guidestone (2022). With a new leader assuming the helm of the Executive Committee, the issue now is how they will all work together.

Since Ronnie Floyd resigned in 2021, interim EC President Willie McLaurin has worked to rebuild relationships with church leaders and less in a megachurch pastor style. But with Texas pastor Jared Wellman as chair, the EC has taken decisive action on disfellowshipping churches.

within SBC churches. How the database will work, who can add to it, and who will operate it are all questions being handled by the Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force, successor to the Sexual Abuse Task Force (SATF) which recommended reforms that were adopted by SBC messengers last year.

A report that Guidepost Solutions, the company hired by the SATF to conduct an independent investigation into the EC’s handling of abuse claims in SBC churches and entities, would create an organization to operate the database drew questions. At the time the Guidepost Solutions’ 288-page report was released last year, some leaders objected because Guidepost had expressed support for LGBTQ issues. That objection was raised again in February. Messengers may hear more on that subject.

And there’s the question of the EC audit which will be released in time for the annual meeting. At the EC’s February trustees meeting, it was reported that $6 million of the EC’s $12.2 million in assets had been spent in the preceding year. “It doesn’t look good,” Missouri trustee Monte Shinkle said of the 50% loss. Discussion about cost-cutting measures and the possible sale of properties followed.

The EC acted on behalf of the Convention in the period between its two-days-a-year existence and ousted six churches, including the SBC’s second largest, Saddleback Church. Five of the six were removed from the rolls because they had women as pastors. One church was removed for inadequate response to a claim of sexual abuse, a charge the congregation later denied.

When Saddleback’s “friendly cooperation” was called into question in 2022 because the church had ordained three women with the title pastor, the Credentials Committee brought a motion to study the use of the word “pastor” as described in the Baptist Faith and Message (2000). After extended floor debate and a surprise appearance by Saddleback founding pastor Rick Warren, who would retire soon after, the motion was withdrawn. President Ed Litton said the issue of a word study would reside with the Credentials Committee until they chose to report it to the floor.

Saddleback may not object to their dismissal, but leaders of at least one of the churches said they will appeal their ouster. In that case, messengers will vote whether to sustain the action by the EC.

Important audit

The EC is expected to bring a recommendation for a company to operate a new Ministry Check database to track “credible accusations” of abuse

The incoming president will likely be charged with giving a report to the messengers, and the audit will answer whether the expenditures were related to the sexual abuse investigation.

In February, the EC did not report on the ongoing investigation by the federal Department of Justice into the sexual abuse claims, beyond their original statement that the EC was cooperating with DOJ subpoenas for records. DOJ does not comment on its probes, unless indictments are returned. No action has been reported.

Watch for resolutions

The SBC’s most newsworthy actions sometimes come in the passage of resolutions. EC vice-chair David Sons is chairing the Resolutions Committee. The content of possible resolutions has not been released yet.

While the SBC generally does not speak on the issue of gun control, it is worth noting that ERLC President Brent Leatherwood and 12 other Baptist pastors and leaders are supporting an “Order of Protection” law in Tennessee which would make it harder for mentally unstable people to purchase firearms. Leatherwood’s three children attend Covenant Christian School in Nashville where a shooter killed three children and three adults in March.

A Baptist’s Guide to

s pastor of the church nearest New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, I welcomed new students each fall with a free tour of the city. I really came to love the city where I lived for a decade. And in the years since, when friends asked the sites they should see and the foods they must sample, I gave them this list.

– Eric Reed

Garden district

Ride the streetcar line. It’s 45-minutes from Canal Street up St. Charles Avenue, the line follows the curve of the River.

Walking tour. Great old homes line the blocks on both sides of St. Charles including the famous Wedding Cake House. Commander’s Palace is a wonderful old restaurant in a mansion.

Magazine Street. An interesting ramble past new shops that opened after Hurricane Katrina, joining antique dealers and local art.

Audubon Zoo boasts NOLA’s highest point on Monkey Hill and elephants fountain photo op.

New Orleans

Riverfront

french quarter

Stick to the main streets and the area around Jackson Square and do it in the daytime. Frankly, the Quarter changes at 4 p.m.

Sit at the Moon Walk (steps) across from the Cathedral, sample a muffuletta sandwich from Central Grocery

At Café Du Monde, eat hot beignets (square donuts covered in powered sugar) and coffee with chickory. And walk through the French Market.

Take in The Fudge Show at Jax Brewery. They sing while making fudge. Free samples!

Preservation Hall is the heart of jazz, but you’ll find horn players and tap dancers on the street too! Or make reservations for the Jazz Brunch at The Court of Two Sisters restaurant.

PoBoys

The famous French loaf sandwich was invented for striking streetcar workers in the 1920s. Piled high with seafood, shaved meats, or French fries, ask for it “dressed.” That means all the way!

Mmm! Shrimp!

baptist sites

Relocated from the Garden District to the Gentilly neighborhood starting in 1950, NOBTS was renovated extensively after Hurricane Katrina.

Stroll along the Mississippi River between the French Quarter and the River Walk mall, toward the Convention Center. Book a riverboat ride on the Natchez or the Cotton Blossom. And visit the Chalmette BattleField, where the War of 1812 ended two weeks after the treaty was signed.

Snowballs

In June, you’ll need one. Shaved ice and colorful syrups are a cooling treat in Nawlins’ heat. Look for specialties with soft serve ice cream or sweetened condensed milk poured in the center. Pandora’s Mid-City and Original New Orleans Snowball on Elysian Fields are local faves.

Kay Bennett has led this ministry to children and families for 30 years. Illinois Baptist Women partnered for ministry there on multiple occasions. Look for a tour.

Vieux Carre Baptist Church Let the good times roll

One block off Bourbon Street in the French Quarter, this church reaches a diverse and needy neighborhood.

New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Baptist Friendship House

Church stirred to service

Feeds local relief workers after tornado shakes building

Sherman | Living Faith Baptist Church met in nearby Williamsville High School temporarily. They were waiting for permission from a building inspector to return to their facility which was shaken by a March 31 tornado.

“Our building suffered damage to the roof, soffits, and siding,” said Jack Lucas, IBSA Church Leadership Director who is serving as interim pastor. “The exterior walls in the fellowship hall and sanctuary have been pushed out and separated along the roof line. We were to have held our largest outreach event of the year. Instead, the congregation transitioned to preparing meals for first responders and work crews.”

The tornado hit the community of Sherman just after 6 p.m. while 35 people were in the church fellowship hall having dinner prior to the start of

their Celebrate Recovery meetings. That’s when tornado sirens began to sound, and as they moved into the church’s storm shelters the power went out.

“We could hear the debris blowing around and hitting the building for a few minutes,” church member John Bryant said. As the sound began to die down, he said the church building made a loud “oof” sound, stretching his arms out wide as if expanding.

They waited about five minutes and then came out to survey the damage. It wasn’t until the next morning, in daylight, church members would

find the tornado had pushed the fellowship hall and sanctuary walls on the building’s east side outward.

Just across the road from the church, about 40 homes in the Brittin Place neighborhood sustained serious damage. Many main roads were still blocked the next morning with police only allowing first responders and local residents to enter.

The church had planned to host its annual Easter Palooza outreach event on April 1. Thousands of plastic Easter eggs had been filled with candy, cakes were baked for the cake walk, and church members had packed hundreds of grab-and-go sack lunches for the 300-500 kids who were expected to attend. But church members quickly shifted gears—slicing cakes and repurposing goodie bags for community recovery efforts.

The husband-and-wife team of Steve and Carol Miller are the church’s meal coordinators. “We

already had all this food.” said Carol. “What we’re doing is a better fit for the circumstances.”

The local County Market grocery store provided free fried chicken dinners for the church to plate and distribute. A couple hundred meals were served to village workers, power company crews, and first responders.

“I have heard more than one member state that God has allowed us a greater opportunity to serve our community this Easter season,” Lucas said. “I was very blessed to look around and see so many of our people serving and focusing on our community rather than our own issues.”

“God worked today,” said Steve who took delivered food to the damaged neighborhood. “People were in tears but encouraged to see the church coming to them. I just did what I could and let God do the rest.”

– Lisa Misner

IBDR ministers to Crawford Co. tornado victims

Robinson | Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief (IBDR) volunteers were called out to serve in Crawford County after a system of strong storms and tornadoes tore through the Midwest and South on March 31, killing at least 32 people. Four of those who died were in Illinois—one in Belvidere where the roof collapsed on a theater full of concert goers and three in Robinson. Thirty IBDR volunteers ministered in the hard-hit towns of Robinson and Salem.

IBDR State Director Arnold Ramage, who lead the relief efforts, said they saw everything “from minor house damage to complete destruction. Some houses no longer exist.”

The teams included damage assessors, chainsaw crews, a feeding unit, laundry/shower trailer, and chaplains. According to the National Weather Service, the tornado that struck Crawford Country was an EF-3 with top wind speeds of 155 miles per hour.

One of the tornado victims was an elderly

woman in Robinson. Ramage said IBDR was able to speak with her son-in-law who lived across the street from the deceased woman. He shared that he was a Christian, as his mother-in-law had been, and a colonel in the Army Reserve. Having served in Desert Storm and other actions, the man had

seen and experienced many things but, “when it’s family it’s much worse.”

Ramage explained the woman’s home “had been picked up and thrown approximately 500 feet, and that’s where they found her. We were able to go to the homeplace and move trees that were damaged.”

Glen Carty, IBDR Logistics Director, spoke with the woman’s daughter who told him “Every time she looked out her window, she would think about what had happened to her mother.” By removing the trees, she told Carty that the IBDR volunteers “brought her some comfort.”

“Things like that affect us,” Carty said. “The team came in that night, and they were still kind of emotional themselves.”

Highland Avenue Baptist Church in Robinson served as homebase for the feeding team which fed the volunteers. The teams completed 28 jobs over four days, wrapping up work just in time for Easter weekend.

MISSION

Faith during crisis

Volunteers celebrate 40 years of service

BY LISA MISNER

Carlinville | It began 40 years ago with a handful of volunteers and a used Allied Moving Van tractor trailer outfitted as a kitchen unit, affectionally dubbed “the van.” Now Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief Ministries (IBDR) has over 400 trained volunteers who minister when called following disasters around the United States. They serve through chainsaw units, shower/laundry trailers, mobile kitchens, child care teams, mud out work, as chaplains, and other means.

In that time IBDR volunteers have arrived on the scene to minister at some of the nation’s worst disasters. They’ve ministered to the survivors of Hurricanes Hugo, Andrew, Katrina, Harvey, and many others; following 9/11 near Ground Zero and at Fishkill Island in New York City; the Great Mississippi River

flood of 1993 and numerous other floods, tornadoes, and wildfires.

A sea of yellow shirts filled the fellowship hall of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Carlinville on April 15 to celebrate IBDR’s 40th anniversary. They honored the late Thurman Stewart, who along with John Whitman, Bob Stuckey, and many other men and women, launched the ministry in 1983. Emmanuel Baptist was the site of the van’s dedication in February of that year, and it was officially used for the first time that May after a tornado struck the Illinois town of Greenfield. Stewart, who died in December 2022, was represented by his widow and partner in ministry, Carol. She shared how the ministry was two years in the making. Carol read from one of Thurman’s journals where he had

From its launch to today, trained DR volunteers have lived their lives on alert. The first DR unit (1985) was formerly a moving truck. Kitchen crews demonstrated their services at an IBSA evangelism conference at FBC O’Fallon (1995, top) and took the kitchen unit to serve in Blaine, Minn. Chainsaw crews (2006 in Caruthersville, Mo.) and flood recovery teams are often first on scene.

written on Labor Day 1981, “If I can help one life from a disaster, then I will be well repaid.” She noted it was Thurman who coined the popular saying in the disaster relief world, “Disaster relief is evangelism through love, using the hands to reach the heart.”

Rick Stayton, an early IBDR volunteer, spoke about how primitive the ministry’s early years were. Following Hurricane Andrew in 1992, volunteers “took parts of an old chain link fence and made a teepee shower with tarp and an old garden house. Now we a have a shower unit.” Today the unit has a large trailer with both showers and washer/dryers used by IBDR volunteers and disaster survivors.

IBDR added chaplains to their ministry in 1992 and childcare in 1994. The Stewarts were an active part of child care ministry. Thurman served in that capacity just a month prior to his death at the November 2022 IBSA Annual Meeting in Edwardsville. “Thurman was always on call as the player of the harmonica” to soothe the children, Carol said.

At the anniversary celebration, IBDR volunteers surprised Carol with the newly refurbished childcare unit trailer that now reads “In Memory of Thurman Stewart.”

“It can be a challenge emotionally, but it can be rewarding helping someone,” said Deb Robertson, a 15-year veteran. She has ministered to children and their parents following floods and even mass shooting events. “It’s been a blessing to watch their kids while parents have gotten counseling to begin to heal.”

Arnold Ramage, the current IBDR State Director, said of the volunteers, “When we come in, the job becomes a mission. We must be the hands and feet of Christ in all instances.”

The survivors the volunteers meet and get to share Christ with—“that’s why we go,” said Ramage. “The tornadoes, the floods just give us an excuse to show up.”

The original van caught fire while volunteers were serving following Hurricane Hugo in 1989. Texas Baptists donated a fully equipped kitchen to replace it.

The first disaster relief ministry effort was started by Southern Baptists in Texas after Hurricane Beulah in 1968. In the ensuing years, more churches, local associations, and state

CARING CARAVAN – Thurman and Carol Stewart with the new IBDR Child Care Unit, added to the fleet in 1994. In 2021, Thurman was still a fixture, tending a baby with Jan Kragness Carol (below) stands with the current Child Care trailer, named for her husband in 2023. Child care is part of many incident command centers, such as Granite City in 2019, where Sharon Carty helps flood victims with assistance applications.

conventions formed their own disaster relief teams, uniting to make Southern Baptist Disaster Relief the third largest disaster relief organization in the country, behind the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

IBDR has a goal of training 100 new volunteers in 2023. To learn more, visit IBSA.org/disaster-relief.

CELEBRATING THE LEGACY – (Left) Dozens of volunteers gather at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Carlinville to celebrate the 40th anniversary of IBDR Ministries.

(Above) IBSA Mission Director Shannon Ford presents IBDR State Director Arnold Ramage with a hard hat at the dinner. Ramage was named state director in January.

GROWING

MEET THE TEAM

illinois voices

My unlikely Ebenezer

This piece of junk became a monument to God’s faithfulness

My husband’s cheerful voice on the other end of the line said, “I found a cool piece of wood.”

Scott Harris

Hometown: Roanoke Rapids, N.C.

Family deets: Teresa and I have been married 31 years. We have a daughter, 26, and a son, 22.

Higher Ed: Doctor of Ministry from New Orleans Seminary

Ministry Experience: Senior Pastor

Life Verse: Acts 26:16-18. “But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness of what you have seen and will see of me...”

Favorite Bible Person: Peter. He was so real. He was a passionate man, but he had glaring weaknesses like we all do. Yet, God radically changed him and used Peter to preach at Pentecost and see 3,000 saved!

What I discovered about Illinois: It is a very diverse state from region to region, and yet, there are a multitude of believers across the state who desire to see the gospel go forward and redeem the tremendous number of lost in Illinois.

Quote I say often: “Asking God to ignite a Holy Spirit-directed gospel movement to sweep across Illinois.”

Movie and character: Lord of the Rings trilogy. Samwise Gamgee is a great picture of a real friend who will help you on your spiritual journey.

Go-to snack: Fifth Avenue candy bar

Favorite book: Evangelism as Exiles by Elliott Clark

Desert Island disc: Christmas songs

If I were a superhero: Superman. I would love to fly!

I answered with an indifferent “OK,” but he continued, untouched by my disinterest. I listened, but my mind circled with questions. What in the world am I going to do with junk wood he found in the recesses of the warehouse?

When Steve got home, however, I was caught speechless. Six long planks, soiled and stained, held together by tongue-andgroove joints, scarred by work but flat like the surface of a table. The seven-foot giant held a commanding presence. This was a super cool piece of wood.

I helped him heave it from the truck bed up against a wall in our garage. We stood together marveling that this beauty had been under our noses for twenty years, in a warehouse filled with machinery and dirt where my husband was growing a business. We remained in silent reflection, until my emotions and ideas bubbled up. With one hand on my hip and the other gesturing enthusiastically, I declared this piece of wood was our Ebenezer. Steve listened patiently as I began teaching a Bible lesson.

In 1 Samuel 7, the Israelites again find themselves up against the Philistine army. The people, frozen in terror, wait as Samuel offers a sacrifice. As the Philistines draw near to attack, God thunders with a mighty sound and confuses them. Israel defeats the Philistines.

Ahh, sweet victory.

But it’s what Samuel does next that I love. He takes a stone and names it “Ebenezer,” which means “the stone of help.” “Till now the Lord has helped us,” he tells the people. God had begun to help them, and it was an enduring help.

After my sermonette, Steve and I looked at the reflections of God’s help through the windows of our past and agreed—this junk piece of wood was our Ebenezer. It was still there in the garage, untouched, when two months later a stranger arrived with

devastating news. Steve had been killed in a car accident. Coming home from work, my husband lost control of his truck when a tire blew out. I was a widow at 48. My heart, shattered, felt like the embers of a fire begging to go out.

Then in perfect timing, God’s Word came to my rescue and flamed the flickering coals. “My soul clings to the dust, give me life according to your word,” I read in Psalm 119.

God was giving words to my grief. My soul was clinging to the dust and I was unable to rise above it, and in black and white print, God’s Word was narrating it. The Bible wasn’t underestimating the significance of my loss, but rather the Word was perfectly describing it. God saw my condition and was giving me language for my anguish. I remember thinking, what a loving act it was for God to give me the words to pray.

With my hands folded, I broke out of grief’s silence and prayed Psalm 119 for eleven months. When God’s Word resonates with our condition, it is the living God speaking to us. It is evidence that the Most High God sees us, observes us, and contemplates us. When a finite creature is seen by

an infinite God, that creature will bow in a dependence that allows him to see God in his glory.

As I meditated on Psalm 119, the promises of God became more pronounced. God’s insight into my condition was imprinting promises on my heart. A divine exchange began to occur. My sorrow was being exchanged for his promises. It is the promises of God and our faith in them that allow us to experience God despite our circumstances. God was and is my enduring help.

I took that junk wood and made a memorial of God’s help into a kitchen table. It serves as an ever-present reminder that God is my personal abiding help. I am sitting at it now writing this essay. This wood that was wrecked through the passage of time has been pampered and polished into artwork the family will gather around for generations— our Ebenezer.

Amy Richards is a freelance writer and staff member at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Decatur.

IBSA Mission Team Leader and Evangelism Director

Preaching after suicide

What do you say after an inexplicable death?

The call about Bill’s death came as a surprise. A year or so after his wife died, Bill seemed to be doing well, publicly, at least. He talked a little about how quiet his house was and how much he missed his wife of more than 50 years, even though their last decade was mostly about his care for her through a series of illnesses that left her blind and nearly deaf. A model of faith and faithfulness, Bill was the Christian man we all wanted to become.

I first met him while I was a seminary student. Bill scheduled the preacher-boys to speak at the nearby nursing home. He was there every Sunday afternoon with his wife who handed out small treats she made while her eyesight lasted. He held aged hands and listened to familiar stories and always pointed people to Jesus. And he coached the seminarians through the experience of chapel in the dining room, a clattering mass of silverware and table setting and coughing and light snoring, as the brief service usually preceded supper. “If you can get their attention here, you can preach anywhere,” he would say each week.

Once you made it on Bill’s preacher list, you were on it until you graduated and moved away.

By the time of his wife’s death, I had returned to town and was Bill’s pastor. He was a gem, a beloved and supportive deacon, but he was sad. Bill’s daughter encouraged him to see a counselor. He seemed to be making progress.

Until he wasn’t.

“We found Dad in the bathroom,” she said on the phone. “Gunshot.” It was gruesome, and it was without explanation.

About two years earlier I’d had a similar phone call from someone who had found my mother dead in

Williamson

her apartment. “Pills,” the caller said. It was neater, but still gruesome. Hard to explain for a Christian and faithful ministry servant, her death came after a decades-long decline due to illness. As with Bill’s growing sense of isolation and medication that didn’t do what it was supposed to, she gave up.

In both cases, I found myself standing at their funerals, two years apart, struggling to respond. If they had just trusted, God would have seen them through, right?

I’m thinking of this now because a friend recently faced the similar funeral of a believing relative. I wondered how the preacher would handle it. Would he address the cause of death directly? Would he talk about mental illness? Would he reference a lifetime of faith that preceded a final, fatal choice?

Suicide is on the rise, up 30% in the U.S. between 2000 and 2020, so more pastors will have to bring a biblical word to such a time as this. For every 100,000 people, 13 commit suicide every year. Men outnumber women 3.5 to 1, with people in middle age most susceptible.

“You’ll preach a lot more funerals than weddings,” an experienced professor said, “so spend your time in my class working on funeral sermons; the mother of the bride will take care of the weddings.” But he didn’t tell us how to preach after suicide.

I’ve done it several times. I decided to treat it as I would any other challenging funeral—the death of a child, a horrible accident, a violent crime, or a debilitating illness. After watching the dear pastor who led my mother’s service bypass it completely, I decided I would always speak to the overwhelming issue on everyone’s mind, even if I couldn’t

Williamson Baptist Association has called two pastors to serve as co-Associational Mission Strategists. In January, Mark Goldman, pastor of Herrin First Baptist Church, started as the Church Strengthening Strategist, focusing on building relationships with pastors. Goldman has served the Herrin church since 2017. He grew up in Southern Illinois, graduated from Pinckneyville High School and Rend Lake College, and Boyce College at Southern Seminary. He and his wife, Valerie, have four children.

Ashby Tillery, discipleship and missions pastor of Second Baptist Marion, started as the Missions Together Strategist in April, supporting and

answer their questions.

“I don’t know why he felt so alone or made such a painful decision,” I’ve said several times, “but God can still be trusted with our lives and our souls. And God can be trusted with the confusion and the emotions we as mourners feel today.” I try to help those in attendance know it’s not their fault; anger at the deceased or blaming themselves for someone’s suicide will not help their own healing.

I don’t consign the deceased to hell: While some faith-groups may do so, ours still believes the one unpardonable sin is blasphemy of

cradle ‘til after the grave. For the emotionally vulnerable, some verses about the value of living and letting God be in charge are bolstering, even if in that darkest moment their loved one did not value his or her own life. At the funeral, someone in the room has counted the pills or handled the gun. Someone in the room should be pulled back from the edge.

I point them to Jesus, obviously. More than once I’ve taken the grieving to Lazarus’s tomb. Though Jesus allowed his friend’s death to happen, he still wept. In the worst of situations, Jesus understands the loss; he

the Holy Spirit. But I don’t promise them heaven either: While we hope a life lived in faith before this fateful choice was evidence of their salvation, blithe murmurings about “a better place” and “seeing them again” aren’t especially helpful at this point. It hurts too much to hear that.

I preach about the sanctity of human life. “Sanctity” is not only for the pre-born, it’s for all of us all along the way, from before the

encouraging mission efforts in the association and serving as a cheerleader for Great Commission work. Tillery will also host mission opportunities through mission trips and student and children’s missions events. Tillery served with IBSA as zone consultant in the region until accepting the new position, and has served Second Baptist since 2009. He is married to Mandy and they have two daughters.

Williamson Association worked with ReFocus and IBSA on revitalization and decided that two part-time mission strategists would better serve their local association.

feels just as we do.

And I end with hope. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.” Even when we don’t especially feel it, he is with us.

Eric Reed is editor of Illinois Baptist

media.

with the lord

Gladys J. Miner, 88, died March 27. Miner was active throughout her life in student ministries and English as a second language serving through churches in Murphysboro, Carbondale, Downers Grove, and Rochester First Baptist Church.

Miner was preceded in death by her husband Melvin Miner, and her first husband LeRoy Swindell. She is survived by her brother, pastor Delbert Penrod of Rochester, sisters Virginia Cook of Cadiz, Kent. and Jama LeGrand of Gallatin, Tenn.

Men are 3.5 times more likely than women to take their lives.

Association calls two leaders

GOLDMAN TILLERY

NeTworkiNg

Send items to IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org

Fellowship Baptist Church in Shelbyville is searching for a co-vocational pastor to manage pastoral duties and fulfill a clear and definite calling to bring the gospel to the workplace. Call 217273-3403, email marklash2324@gmail. com or send resumé to 411 West North Fifth Street, Shelbyville, IL 62562

New Life Baptist Church of Waverly seeks highly motivated bi-vocational preacher. Must have knowledge of the Bible and be willing to share it with others. Send resumé to 341 East Elm, Waverly, IL 62692.

McLeansboro First Baptist Church is a small, historic, mission-minded SBC church in Southern Illinois that is seeking a bi-vocational pastor with good biblical knowledge and desire for church growth. Send resumé to Pastor Search Committee, 302 East Market St., McLeansboro, IL 62859

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

Taylor installed at Broadview

CLASSIFIED AD

First Baptist Church of Lake St. Louis, Missouri (fbclsl.org) is a growing, motivated, and multi-generational church in a highly residential area, which is in the top 25 fastest growing areas in the country. We are seeking:

Full-Time Senior Pastor to lead our church. Send resumé, cover letter & sermon links to: pastorsearchfbclsl@gmail.com

Full-Time Associate Pastor of Families. Experience with youth and families required. Send resumé & cover letter to: personnelfbclsl@gmail.com.

Faith, Family & Freedom Fall Banquet

Back by Popular Demand!

Eric Metaxas

Author, Radio Host & Cultural Commentator

Friday, November 3, 2023

Bolingbrook Golf Club / 2001 Rodeo Drive, Bolingbrook, IL Reservations before Sept. 4th / $100

Eric Metaxas is the bestselling author of fourteen books, including his most recent Letter to the American Church; Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy; Amazing Grace: William Wilberforce and the Heroic Campaign to End Slavery; and If You Can Keep It: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty. His books have been translated into twenty-five languages. The host of nationally syndicated radio and television shows and the acclaimed conversation series Socrates in the City, Metaxas is a prominent cultural commentator whose work has appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, The Atlantic, The New Republic, and the Wall Street Journal.

Proceeds Benefit Illinois Family Institute For Reservations & Information (708) 781-9328 / illinoisfamily.org

Jasper Taylor was installed in March as the new pastor of Broadview Missionary Baptist Church in the Chicago suburb. Taylor was chosen to succeed Marvin Parker after his retirement. Among a large group of local dignitaries present at the ceremony were Clarence and Lennis Hobson (seated, above). Pastor Hobson led Broadview during a prolonged period of growth that included building a large facility that serves as a landmark in the community. He also

encouraged the church to be active in Southern Baptist life, including the local Chicagoland Association and IBSA.

Taylor, pictured with his wife, Valerie, previously served St. Paul and Greater Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church as executive pastor. He has led local choral organizations in Chicago.

IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams and his wife, Beth, were in attendance at the installation service.

“We’re getting requests for the Jesus Revolution soundtrack.”

BRIGHTER DAY

still learning from my Mom

If I am a helicopter parent (and I am), I didn’t get it from my own mom.

Chalk it up to raising kids in a simpler time, but my mom doesn’t suffer from my tendency to hover. Instead, she chose her moments carefully. In fact, she’s the one who taught me that principle after a contentious church business meeting. Referring to someone who had spoken up that night in a rare moment of boldness, my mom said people are more likely to listen to those who don’t talk all the time. Because she didn’t, I have lessons from her I’ll never forget.

One Sunday after church, she asked why one of the friends I sat with seemed to have been left out of the group that night. I wheedled out an answer about how it hadn’t really been me doing the excluding. Some sins are acts of commission, my mom said, and some are acts of omission. I knew immediately which one I was guilty of and spent the rest of ride home silently squirming, until she gently helped me think about how I could apologize the next time I saw my friend.

A few years later, we had moved to a new state and I was desperately trying to make friends to see me through my last years of high school. My younger sister and I went on a youth group trip, and sometime that week I called my mom to give her an update. She asked if I was looking out for my sister and, after I hemmed and hawed, she reminded me that friends would come and go, but my sister and I would always have each other. Chastened, I knew what to do when we got off the phone.

As a young adult, I watched my peers move from one life stage to the next when, at times, my own felt like it was at a standstill. On this point, my mom’s counsel was more direct: “It’s not a race!” she would say. My sister and I still yell that to one another, and my mom smiles and rolls her eyes if she’s in the room. “Well, it’s not,” she mutters.

Now that I’m a mom, I know Mom must have had great self-control because the temptation to over-think and over-talk is so strong. Her faith allowed her to parent with a loose grip—consistent and present, knowing much was out of her control but nothing is out of God’s control. I’m so thankful for her example.

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

Tracker

Trends from nearby and around the world

Bible

Interest drops

18%

of American adults call themselves “Scripture engaged” in a 2023 study. That’s 47 million people, down from 71 million in 2020.

Pandemic byproducts?

138 million are “Bible disengaged,” up from a low of 100 million in 2021 (following Covid lockdown). The “movable middle” of somewhat curious people increased by 10 million to 76 million

What frustrates you about Bible reading?

26% 17% 16% 15% 9% 8%

not enough time

don’t know where to start not excited about it difficult language navigating difficult layout stories are confusing

47%

of Bible readers do so “to be closer to God.”

Prayer meeting Strengthens faith

Hearing others pray can inspire us and bolster our trust in God’s promises. In his book Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes, “God has willed that we should seek and find His living Word in the witness of a brother, in the mouth of a man….The Christ in his own heart is weaker than the Christ in the word of his brother; his own heart is uncertain, his brother’s is sure.”

We got a new scan coming in now as we speak, argh man, north side of Amory, this is coming in. Argh man, dear Jesus, please help them, Amen.

EVENTS

Multiply Church Planting Hubs

May 3–Central, Journey Church, Normal May 10–Southern, Redemption, Johnston City

May 17–Metro East, Heights Comm., Collinsville

When: 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Info: IBSA.org/multiply-hubs-register

June 11-12

SBC Pastors Conference

Theme: Character Matters in Ministry

Where: Convention Center, New Orleans

Info: www.SBCPC.net

June 13-14

SBC Annual Meeting

Theme: Serving the Lord, Serving Others

Where: Convention Center, New Orleans

Info: www.SBC.net

June 27

BCHFS Golf Scramble

Where: Kokopelli Golf Course, Marion

When: 9 a.m.

Cost: $400 per team, hole sponsorship $100, lunch $12 (checks to Herrin Second Baptist)

Info: Josh Wehrmeier at (618) 319-3731

June 27-July 1

Super Summer for teens

Theme: Elements of the Faith

Where: HLGU, Hannibal, Mo.

When: Tuesday 2 p.m. to Saturday 11 a.m.

Cost: $235 for IBSA students

Info: IBSA.org/supersummer

Sign up for summer camp!

June 5–9 – Week 1 STUDENT Camp

Lake Sallateeska • Grades 6-12

June 12-16 – Week 1 SUMMER Camp Streator • Grades 3-12

June 18-22 – Week 2 KIDS Camp

Lake Sallateeska • Grades 3-6

June 19-23 – Week 3 SUMMER Camp Streator • Grades 3-12

June 25-29 – Week 2 STUDENT Camp Streator • Grades 6-12

June 26-30 – Week 4 KIDS Camp

Lake Sallateeska • Grades 3-6

July 10-14 – Week 6 SUMMER Camp Streator • Grades 3-12

July 17-21 – Week 3 STUDENT Camp

Lake Sallateeska • *Grades 7-12

(*Completed grades 7-12)

Cost: $175

Register at IBSA.org/2023camps

MEREDITH FLYNN

I’m

– American Bible Society survey by the University of Illinois Chicago Opinion Center

– March 25, WTVA meteorologist Matt Laubhan interrupts his report on a deadly Mississippi tornado with prayer.

– Michigan pastor Jonathan Landry Cruse at The Gospel Coalition, “5 Reasons to go to Prayer Meeting”

This report includes contributions received by the Illinois Baptist State Association through the first quarter of 2023. For questions about this report, contact the IBSA Operations Team at (217) 391-3106, email JeffDeasy@IBSA.org, or write to P.O. Box 19247, Springfield, IL 62794-9247.

Where your CP giving goes to work

Illinois Baptists gave $5,513,999 to missions through the Cooperative Program in 2022. CP gifts are shared between IBSA for missions and ministry in the state and national SBC partners who engage in missions worldwide, including preparation of the next generation through education at six SBC seminaries.

For every dollar your church gives, here is the percentage that goes to fund SBC missions.

Top 100 Illinois churches in per capita CP support through first quarter 2023

Open windows for the gospel

How this couple from Bloomington is sharing Christ in Madrid

Madrid, Spain | A message from a stranger popped into Carina Beaty’s Instagram DMs. That direct message would open not just chat windows but doors to discipleship Carina couldn’t have imagined when she and her husband decided to open their apartment windows three years ago.

On Easter Sunday in 2020, Caleb and Carina Beaty stood by their windows and began playing worship music that echoed through the central courtyard of their Madrid apartment complex. Heads leaned out of the windows of apartments surrounding the International Mission Board (IMB) missionaries. The Illinois couple was sent out from Charis Community Church in Bloomington in 2019. They were just starting their ministry in Spain when the pandemic shut most everything down. But not their outreach.

While their concert led to conversations with neighbors, new friends, invitations to neighbors’ houses and times of fellowship, the Beatys say the most substantial result happened because of a story written about the event and video of their singing posted on the IMB website.

Not long after the initial story was posted, a woman messaged Carina on Instagram to say she watched the video. She had a Spanish exchange student living with her in Arkansas. The high school student needed to return to Spain because of Covid lockdowns in the U.S. A month before her return date, the student committed her life to Christ. Her host in Arkansas learned that the Beatys lived in Madrid and wanted to know if she could connect them so the student, Maria, could be discipled.

Upon Maria’s return, Carina connected with the young teenager. She learned Maria had attended a Christian school in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Despite the town’s small population, the school welcomes many international students. Students at the school take Bible classes, and international students take a class that gives an overarching story of the Bible.

Her host family faithfully shared the gospel with her. “They shared the gospel with me so many times, and I remember just thinking, ‘Can this possibly be true?’” Maria told Carina when they met together in Madrid.

“She told me the Lord appeared to her one night in a vision and said, ‘Everything that they’re telling you is true,’” Carina said. That’s when Maria knew she needed to put her faith in him.

Carina and Maria’s friendship deepened. Three years later, they continue to meet for discipleship. Maria joined a small group Bible study the Beatys started in their home, and she was introduced to

churches in Madrid.

She’s invited her family to their small group as well. At Thanksgiving, Maria’s dad met the people investing in his teenage daughter every week. Maria’s mom, sister, and grandmother attended church with Maria, too.

Carina led Maria and her friends through a seeker Bible study, and rich conversations resulted. Maria didn’t stop at invitations to Bible studies. She’s brought a friend to church and frequently shares with her neighbors, classmates, teachers, aunts, grandparents, and cousins.

Carina is amazed at the conversations Maria is able to have with people around her. Maria is 17 now, and like Timothy in the New Testament, she doesn’t let anyone look down on her because of her age. She has the courage and obedience to make Christ’s name known.

The Holy Spirit uses Maria to spiritually encourage Carina during their times of discipleship. “The Spirit is working in her heart and growing her faith, and it’s been so encouraging to see that fruit,” Carina said.

Carina said this connection was “not because of anything that we’ve done. It’s the Lord working, and it just happened that her host mom saw our video and got in touch with me.”

Maria kickstarted the Beatys’ ministry. Caleb and Carina had arrived in Madrid just ahead of the pandemic lockdowns, so the early days of their missions career looked quite different from what they envisioned.

“So much of our evangelism and discipleship and our small group has come out of the relationship with Maria,” Caleb said. “Nobody really asked us about our faith directly because of [our Easter 2020 concert], but the Lord has used it to deepen relationships and to meet Maria all the way via Arkansas.”

Caleb and Carina share news and prayer requests about their ministry with churches in Illinois and worldwide through a newsletter. “Pray we have eyes to see the opportunities to share with people in our neighborhood and boldness to speak the words we ought to, and for the Lord to keep working,” Caleb said. “He’s working in ways we hadn’t expected.”

Pray for continued boldness for Maria and that the Lord would strengthen her faith daily. Pray the people Maria is sharing with will have open hearts.

Mission gifts through the Cooperative Program support the Beatys and 3,500 other IMB missionaries.

*Some names may be changed for security reasons.

– International Mission Board

RAISED UP – Caleb played the guitar and Carina the viola when they sang “O Praise the Name” in Spanish for their neighbors at Easter 2020. The song is subtitled “Anastasis” which means resurrection.

REASON FOR THANKS – Friends and relatives of Maria, the believing teenager discipled by the Beatys, joined the IMB missionaries for a Thanksgiving celebration.

MISSIONARY KIDS – The Illinois couple is raising their children on the mission field in Madrid. In Spain, only 3% of the 47 million people identify as Protestant Christians of any kind.