May 22, 2017 Illinois Baptist

Hats in the ring

Candidates reflect SBC’s desire for diversity

Phoenix | The slate of nominees for Southern Baptist Convention offices to be elected in Phoenix represent a push toward greater diversity in SBC leadership.

Walter Strickland, special advisor to the president for diversity at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, will be nominated for the role of first vice president (currently filled by Illinois pastor Doug Munton). Strickland also teaches theology and operates a consulting agency to assist churches and organizations with diversity-related issues.

“As our nation and our convention become more diverse, it is imperative that our leadership reflect the diversity that marks the Kingdom of God and Heaven itself,” said Georgia pastor James Merritt, who will nominate Strickland. “Beyond that we need people in leadership that reflect the best of Southern Baptists theologically, spiritually, and personally.

“Walter Strickland meets both of these needs perfectly and I am excited about nominating him for the position of first vice president at our upcoming annual meeting in Phoenix.”

Also to be nominated in Phoenix is Jose Abella, pastor of Providence

Recognized by the Baptist Communicators Association and Evangelical Press Association

CONVENTIONAL WISDOM

Snapshots from the world of Illinois Baptists

“We are not all on the same page when it comes to morality. And we haven’t reckoned with what that means.”

– Scott McConnell, LifeWay Research

shaky ground

A large majority of Americans say they are concerned about declining moral behavior in the U.S.

Agree 81% 19% Disagree

Which factors shape the moral views you think society should hold?

Mom’s B & B NATE ADAMS

Former editor Dennis Dawson used to write a column in the Illinois Baptist titled, “Is This a Great State or What?”

During those days, I remember many IBSA staff members who would return from a far corner of the state and parody that column’s title by asking, “Is this a great BIG state, or what?”

Illinois is almost 400 miles long from its northern border to its southern tip, and more than 200 miles at its widest point from east to west. Believe me, I know. On a given Sunday, it’s possible for me to drive three and a half hours to a church in southern Illinois, or four or more to a church north of Chicago, even from our central location in Springfield.

But when it comes to traveling our great state, I have two secret weapons, or perhaps I should call them secret blessings. I have a mom who lives in the Chicago suburbs, and a mother-inlaw who lives in the heart of southern Illinois.

Though both have been widowed for several years, and both are well into their 80’s, these two dear moms still maintain their own homes and are very active in their churches. And they still put a pretty good meal on the table. So when my travel takes me in their direction, my wife or I often call in advance and ask, “Is the Bed & Breakfast available this weekend?”

Of course, these are our moms, not innkeepers. I would never want to presume upon their hospitality, and I’m sensitive to the fact that I’m sometimes passing through their homes quickly, with little more time than for a bed and breakfast. Yet each time I have apologized for that, our moms have both assured me that they are always glad for whatever time we have together.

Over the years, I have learned that there is more to a bed than sleep, and more to breakfast than eating. When you’re at Mom’s house, the smells are familiar. The sounds are familiar. The pictures on the walls and the knickknacks on the shelves are familiar. It’s home.

– LifeWay Research, May 2017

the cooperative program

Giving by IBSA churches as of 5/12/17

$2,210,027

Budget Goal: $2,301,923

Received to date in 2016: $2,153,755

2017 Goal: $6.3 Million

The Illinois Baptist staff

Editor - Eric Reed

Graphic Designer - Kris Kell

Contributing Editor - Lisa Sergent

Editorial Contributor - Meredith Flynn

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

The Illinois Baptist is seeking news from IBSA churches. E-mail us at IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org to tell us about special events and new ministry staff.

POSTMASTER: The Illinois Baptist is owned and published every three weeks by the Illinois Baptist State Association, 3085 Stevenson Drive, Springfield, Illinois 62703-4440. Subscriptions are free to Illinois Baptists. Subscribe online at IBSA.org

When you sit around the kitchen table at Mom’s house, you relax and ease up a little. You help yourself from the fridge. You change a light bulb or two, so she won’t have to. You eat, but more than that, you fellowship.

In other words, the blessing that these two moms are to me and my often extensive travel goes far beyond the hours of sleep saved. It even goes beyond the dollars they save the IBSA budget, which I’m sure would be thousands and thousands over the past few years. They refresh me. They refresh my wife and allow us to travel together more. They give me home away from home.

So as Mother’s Day passes this year, and since they both read the Illinois Baptist faithfully, I want to use this brief space to say thank you to two faithful moms, Romelia Adams and Georgianna Schultz. Perhaps in doing so I am helping other pastors or church leaders say thank you to their moms too, for all the ways that they support our ministries, from nearby or afar.

I recall my dad once saying that when his mother passed, he physically felt the absence of her prayers. I don’t know how that works exactly, but I do know that there is something extremely valuable in the support of a mother. I see it in our two moms, and I see it in my wife, not just for me, but especially for our children, and their spiritual lives.

So I will keep cherishing the times when I can pick up the phone and ask, “Is the Bed & Breakfast available?” So far it has been every time.

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

Nate Adams’s Illinois Baptist column was awarded first place by the Evangelical Press Association.

A word of thanks to faithful mothers for good food and, even better, spiritual refreshment.

From the front: CANDIDATES ANNOUNCED FOR SBC OFFICES

Continued from page 1

Road Baptist Church in Miami, Florida. Abella, one of the preachers at this year’s SBC Pastors’ Conference, planted the bilingual congregation in 2010.

“Jose is a loving picture of what Southern Baptists are working to become,” said Georgia pastor Michael Lewis in a news release about the nomination, “effective in an urban context, multiplying churches, reaching different generations, ethnicities and socioeconomic groups, all while being faithful to Scripture.”

A third SBC leader, John Yeats, will be nominated for office in Phoenix. Yeats is executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention and will be nominated for his 21st term as SBC recording secretary.

First elected to the post in 1997, Yeats designed the process currently used to get information from the convention floor to the platform at the Committee on Order of Business, Baptist Press reported.

Yeats said he and his wife, Sharon, who serves beside him on the convention plat-

form “are deeply honored by Southern Baptists to serve our Lord in this role.”

Steve Gaines, pastor of the Memphis-area Bellevue Baptist Church, will be nominated for a second one-year term as SBC president by his son Grant Gaines, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Jackson, Tenn. Gaines was elected last year after North Carolina pastor J.D. Greear pulled out of the race before a second run-off election.

For more information about the Southern Baptist Convention in Phoenix, see pages 11 and 12 of this issue, or go to sbcannualmeeting.net.

– From Baptist Press reports

Charles is Pastors’ Conference nominee

Phoenix | Florida pastor H.B. Charles will be nominated to lead the 2018 SBC Pastors’ Conference in Dallas. Charles, pastor of Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla., preached at the 2016 Illinois Baptist Pastors’ Conference.

Oklahoma pastor Brad Graves had previously been announced as a candidate for Pastors’ Conference president, but he withdrew his candidacy to clear the way for Charles. Graves told Baptist Press “it’s never a loss when you can join God in his work.”

The decision to nominate Charles stemmed from an informal gathering of past Pastors’ Conference presidents May 2 at which the group expressed a desire to nominate someone representing the numerous qualified pastors from ethnic minority groups, said former Pastors’ Conference President Ken Whitten. Charles would be the first African American to serve as Pastors’ Conference president.

Graves, whose candidacy was announced April 17, told BP the decision to withdraw

Follow

from the election was “a big God moment,” adding no one pressured him to withdraw—except the Holy Spirit after a season of prayer. “I don’t want to be anything divisive” in the SBC, said Graves, pastor of First Baptist Church in Ada, Okla. “I think it’s time to show the culture that there is something that unites [Southern Baptists] more than just a Cooperative Program or a mission statement, but that we really do care for one another.”

Graves added, “Our convention is very diverse,” and Charles’ nomination “will help show how diverse we really are.”

Charles has served as pastor of Shiloh since 2008. The church, formerly a vastly African American congregation, became more racially diverse when it merged in 2015 with the predominantly white Ridgewood Baptist Church in Orange Park, Fla. While the Jacksonville campus remains predominantly African American, as much as 40% of Shiloh’s campus in Orange Park is Anglo, with a smattering of other ethnicities.

– From Baptist Press

1 day, 1,285 baptisms

Jacksonville, Fla. | Florida’s beaches, rivers, lakes, and swimming pools came alive May 7 with the gospel testimonies of 1,285 new Christian believers as 112 Florida Baptist churches partnered for “Acts 2:41 Sunday— Baptizing Coast-to-Coast.”

The Scripture verse refers to the Day of Pentecost detailed in Acts, when Peter and the apostles preached the gospel and thousands responded and were baptized. In Florida, several churches reported that following the public baptisms, those who watched from the beach and other public places listened to gospel presentations and were led to the Lord and baptized right on the spot.

Tommy Green, executive director of the Florida Baptist Convention, said the goal of the Acts 2:41 Sunday “was to celebrate the gospel of Jesus Christ in a unified manner across our state.” With nearly 1,300 baptisms reported, he said, “The results of the day demonstrate the power of the gospel and the evangelistic passion of our churches. It is thrilling to witness the incredible reports of our Florida Baptist churches celebrating baptisms throughout our state.”

While a handful of Florida Baptist churches baptized large numbers of new believers, the majority of churches baptized less than 20 and some in single digits. The day was filled with amazing stories of new believers coming to know Christ and following in believer’s baptism.

First Baptist Church in Dowling Park began Sunday morning singing “Shall We Gather at the River” as pastor Shawn Johnson shared with the congregation the significance of the ordinance of baptism. Six salvations resulted that day.

Then seven new believers—from age 9 to 64— gathered on the banks of the Suwannee Riverand were baptized while church members and onlookers watched. “It was powerful,” Johnson said.

Acts 2:41 Sunday was “an incredible charge for our church and our state,” the pastor said. “The waters of baptism were stirred all across this state. The kingdom is seriously impacted on this day.”

– From Baptist Press

facebook.com/illinoisBaptist

COAST TO COAST – Barbara Ringer is baptized during a Florida-wide emphasis May 7. Florida Baptist Convention photo

STRICKLAND ABELLA YEATS

CHARLES

Faculty approves pro-LGBT group

A recommendation by Samford University’s faculty to approve a pro-homosexual student group could have “serious implications ... for the relationship” between the Birmingham university and the Alabama Baptist convention.

The full faculty voted April 27 to recommend approval of “Samford Together,” “a forum for SU students who want to discuss topics relating to sexual orientation and gender identity” in “an open-minded and accepting environment.” But state convention leaders are concerned the group’s intent is for advocacy.

Convention President John Thweatt and executive director Rick Lance responded they were saddened by the faculty’s vote, “which provides recognition of an agenda that we believe to be contrary to Scripture.”

Samford will receive some $3.6 million in Cooperative Program funds in 2017, according to the Alabama convention budget.

‘Pride’ at Wheaton

After outcry from a concerned parent, Wheaton College in Illinois released a statement admitting someone posted a gay pride flag without permission in the cafeteria, but it has since been taken down.

“The flag, which had been placed among a display of international flags that hang throughout the dining hall, was immediately removed from the display,” the statement read.

Trump at Lynchburg

Teams aid flood victims

Volunteers offer physical help, spiritual hope

President Donald Trump urged Liberty University graduates to follow their Christian convictions, even if meant feeling like an outsider or taking a stand against the establishment.

“In America, we do not worship government, we worship God. We do not need a lecture from Washington on how to lead our lives,” he said at the May 13 commencement. “As long as I am your president, no one is ever going to stop you from practicing your faith or from preaching what is in your heart.”

– The Alabama Baptist, ToddStarnes.com, Christianity Today

Get breaking news in The Briefing online, posted every Tuesday at www.ib2news.org.

Van Buren, Mo. | A “once-in-a-millennium” rainfall caused severe flooding in Missouri in late April and early May, washing out roads, pushing residents from their homes, and leaving First Baptist Church in Van Buren (photo above) with water up to its roofline.

But the church, which sits near the Current River, planned to meet in the shell of its new building still under construction on the Sunday following the flood, according to a report by Missouri’s Pathway newspaper.

“This is our chance for the church to be the church,” said Pastor Ron Robinson. “This building is just a building, but we need to be God’s hands and feet for the people who lost 150 homes in the community.”

Although not as severely, heavy spring rains also affected communities in Illinois. IBSA Disaster Relief teams responded to needs in Franklin and Williamson Counties in the southern part of the state, assisting more than 40 families and working into midMay, said Dwayne Doyle, IBSA’s director of men’s ministry and missions.

The flood recovery projects all focused on “mud-out,” or the process of cleaning up homes to prevent further damage and to help families get back on their feet.

Sonny McKenzie, a Disaster Relief chaplain from Third Baptist Church in Marion, worked with volunteers in southern Illinois at the home of a 17-year-old young man. As the team removed damaged drywall, carpet-

ing, and tile, fellow chaplain Marilyn Thompson led the young man to the Lord. Another man accepted Christ when two Disaster Relief assessors, Emil and Lois Nattier, visited his Johnson City home to see how the volunteers could help.

“We’re blessed that most of our teams have at least two or three chaplains,” McKenzie said. The chaplains are able to go door-todoor, explaining what the volunteers are doing, visiting with homeowners, and offering support in what is often a very difficult time.

Doyle expected the volunteers’ work in Illinois to be completed by May 17, but “Missouri is a much different story,” he said. Volunteers there expect to work through Memorial Day weekend at six locations across the state. Teams from East St. Louis, the Heartland Baptist Network, and First Baptist Church of Sullivan served in Eureka, Mo., following the flooding, and Doyle said more volunteers are needed.

“The need is still great in Missouri and we need volunteers who can serve to connect with a team that is going.” A schedule of teams planning to travel to the area are available at IBSA.org/DR.

The next IBSA Disaster Relief training is October 13-14 at Lake Sallateeska Baptist Camp in Pinckneyville. For more information about the training or Illinois Disaster Relief, go to IBSA.org/DR or call (217) 3913126.

SPRING FLOODS – First Baptist Church in Van Buren, Mo. sits just a couple hundred yards from the banks of the Current River, where record flooding reached beyond 40 feet.

AFTERMATH – Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief teams cleaned out 35 flooded homes in the Marion area. Their story was told on WSIL-TV.

Order to enforce ‘robust protections’

Southern Baptists on hand for signing ceremony

Taking on Chicago

Ruling nears on lawsuit; church buy blocked by parking dispute

Chicago | In a May 16 hearing, a federal judge gave attorneys for an IBSA church 14 days to respond to Chicago city attorneys’ arguments that their suit against the city should be dropped.

Immanuel Baptist Church in the city’s University District contends that the city is requiring the church to provide more parking than is required of other property owners, as they seek to purchase the building where the church has met since 2011.

First the city approved the deal, then the city blocked the purchase in July 2016. The church then filed suit under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), which forbids governments from setting higher legal standards for churches than for other organizations.

Pastor Nathan Carter said the church didn’t want to file a federal suit, but the action was the only way to protect the church’s right to appeal.

After Immanuel’s legal team, religious liberty experts Mauck and Baker, responds to the current arguments, the city will have 10 days for its own reply. The judge’s ruling should come shortly after that, Carter said, perhaps by the end of June.

He continues to urge prayer.

Washington, D.C. | Religious liberty advocates commended President Donald Trump’s new executive order to protect faith beliefs and practice, but some said it fell short of what is needed.

Trump’s order, issued May 4 in a ceremony at the White House Rose Garden, says:

• The administration’s policy will be to enforce vigorously the “robust protections for religious freedom” in federal law.

• The Department of Treasury, which includes the Internal Revenue Service, will not penalize a person, house of worship or other religious organization for speaking “about moral or political issues from a religious perspective,” thereby providing relief from a six-decade-old law known as the Johnson Amendment.

• The secretaries of three federal departments will consider revising rules to protect the freedom of conscience of religious objectors to the abortion/contraception mandate imposed by the Obama administration.

The order does not include protections for faith-based and other federal contractors who have established their employment practices on a biblical sexual ethic. Nor does it protect individuals and institutions from being penalized by the federal government for acting in support of their belief that marriage is only between a man and a woman.

Russell Moore, president of the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said, “After years of open hostility toward religious institutions and conscience from the previous administration, this executive order is a welcome change in direction toward people of faith from the White House. Not only that, but many federal agencies are working already to ensure that the executive and ad-

ministrative violations of religious freedom from the Obama administration are being rolled back.”

SBC Executive Committee CEO Frank Page said he was deeply grateful to Trump. “He promised me that there would be a strong push for religious freedom protection. It is important for people to be able to express themselves according to their faith. It’s also extremely heartening to see that he wants to honor the conscience of believers who have serious moral concerns about participating in non-Christian activities.”

Michael Farris, president of Alliance Defending Freedom, said Trump’s executive order “provides hope ... that he will move fully toward fulfilling his promise to protect religious freedom for countless Americans. Regrettably, this executive order leaves that promise as yet unfulfilled.’

“[T]hough we appreciate the spirit of today’s gesture, vague instructions to federal agencies simply [leave] them wiggle room to ignore that gesture, regardless of the spirit in which it was intended,” Farris said in a written statement. “We strongly encourage the president to see his campaign promise through to completion and to ensure that all Americans — no matter where they live or what their occupation is—enjoy the freedom to peacefully live and work consistent with their convictions without fear of government punishment.”

Page said he will continue “to urge pastors to speak to issues that are clear scripturally. I will continue to do so as I preach God’s Word, but I will not endorse any political candidate from the pulpit of any church.”

– Baptist Press

– Staff report

Veto hoped on HB40

Senate approved abortion bill

Springfield | A bill that would expand state funding of some abortions services is on the governor’s desk. May 10 the Illinois Senate approved House Bill 40, which provides tax-payer funding for abortions, by a vote of 33-22. The House approved the bill on a vote of 6255 on April 25. The Illinois Fam ily Institute and other groups are urging Governor Bruce Rauner to veto the bill.

Gov. Rauner has said he would veto HB40 should it land on his desk. The Chicago Sun-Times reported April 14, “Gov. Rauner is committed to protecting women’s reproductive rights under current Illinois law. However, recognizing the sharp divisions of opinion of taxpayer funding of abortion, he does not support HB40,” Rauner spokeswoman Eleni Demertzis said in a statement.

The bill removes the provision from the State Employees Group Insurance Act of 1971 which banned taxpayer funds paying for abortions through state employees’ group insurance policies.

It also amends the Illinois Public Aid Code providing abortions to Medicaid recipients. In addition, it amends the Illinois Abortion Law of 1975 which regulated state abortion law in conformance with the legal standards with decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. It also removes language declaring an unborn child is a human being from the time of conception.

The legislation can remain on the governor’s desk for 60 days. If it remains unsigned, the bill will automatically become law.

For information about contacting Gov. Rauner’s office visit, www.votervoice.net

– Staff report

PRAYER DAY PROCLAMATION – Former SBC President Jack Graham (standing to the left of Vice President Mike Pence) was among the leaders present for President Trump’s signing of an executive order on religious liberty May 4 in the White House Rose Garden. Screen capture from WhiteHouse.gov

RAUNER

MOORE

The envelope please…

This is awards season. Along with Oscars, Grammys, and Tonys, there are the EPA awards and the BCA awards.

Never heard of them? That’s OK. The Evangelical Press Association and the Baptist Communicators Association are professional organizations, whose member publications gather each spring to study trends, sharpen skills, and celebrate the accomplishments of their peers.

Again this year, IBSA media were recognized.

• Last year the Illinois Baptist received top honors for newspapers from both organizations. This year BCA recognized the Illinois Baptist with a second place award for overall publication, and several honors for news writing and design. And campaigns for the Mission Illinois Offering and the IBSA Annual Meeting “Cross Culture” were also cited. Our graphic artist, Kris Kell, was honored for his illustration of Illinois.

• The Illinois Baptist also received an Award of Merit from EPA for over all newspaper publication.

Three individual EPA awards deserve mention: Lisa Sergent received third place for her article series from London on “modern missionaries.” We received a firstplace award for biblical exposition for our article “The lost value of humility.”

And in a category that included awards for Christianity Today, Charles Stanley and In Touch magazine, first-place for standing column went to IBSA’s own Nate Adams.

And thank you, Illinois Baptists, for making it possible.

The long, hard journey toward peace

Here’s something I never thought I would do—discuss Middle East policy with Gordon Robertson, son of “700 Club” and Christian Broadcasting Network founder Pat Robertson.

I met the younger Robertson, now the CEO of his father’s network, at the recent Evangelical Press Association Conference in Chicagoland. He was there to screen his docudrama, “In Our Hands: The Battle for Jerusalem,” which follows Israel’s 55th Paratrooper Brigade during the Six Day War as they battled their way into the old city, eventually unifying it under Israeli control.

The film, which is being released prior to the 50th anniversary of the war in June, includes interviews with the soldiers who fought and re-enactments showing how armies from Egypt, Jordan, and Syria joined together to attempt to banish the state of Israel. It highlights the determination of the Israeli people, the tension between them and Arab leaders, how God keeps his promises, and how some of those who fought felt they didn’t really win because they didn’t keep the Temple Mount for Israel.

Robertson was incredibly knowledgeable about the subject, having made several trips to the Middle East and met many of its leaders. My conversation with him, and my

HB 40 removes all prohibitions on taxpayer-funding of abortions accessed through Medicaid throughout all nine months of pregnancy and removes the ban that prohibits Illinois state employees’ insurance policies from paying for abortions. We fear that these changes will result in a surge in abortions that could exceed more than 15,000 abortions each year. A disproportionate number of these new abortions will be in minority communities.

Illinois has serious fiscal problems and must make deep cuts to social services and programs for needy families and children. Why would state lawmakers propose spending an additional $5-10 million tax dollars annually to bankroll the abortion industry?

Please contact Governor Bruce Rauner and urge him to veto HB 40, as he promised he would: 312-814-2121 and 217-782-0244.

Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; don’t stand back and let them die. Don’t try to disclaim responsibility by saying you didn’t know about it. For God, who knows all hearts, knows yours, and he knows you knew! And he will reward everyone according to his deeds.

—Proverbs 24:11-12 (Living Bible)

708-781-9328

For more information and updates, please visit illinoisfamily.org.

viewing of the documentary, felt especially timely in light of current global events—and throws into sharp relief the severe divisions still present in the region.

President Trump met with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas earlier this month and is expected to visit Israel at the end of May. The president hopes to broker peace between Israel and Palestine, but many who are knowledgeable about the long-standing conflict between the two have noted the leaders of both sides appear much less willing to meet in the middle.

In a column for Denver Post, writer Greg Dobbs pointed out that the eight U.S. presidents preceding Trump have all worked in some capacity toward peace between Israel and Palestine—ultimately to no avail. “Some expended more energy and intellect than others. Some came closer than others,” Dobbs wrote. “But ultimately, all failed.”

Taken in the current context, Gordon Robertson’s documentary is an important picture of the complicated struggle that embroils the Middle East, and of the often arduous journey toward any lasting peace. The film will be shown in theaters for one night on May 23; I highly recommend it.

– Lisa Sergent

– Eric Reed, Editor

Courageous Leaders

Some 600 women gathered at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Decatur for the Priority Women’s Conference April 28-29. The annual gathering focuses on discipleship and missions. National Woman’s Missionary Union executive director Sandy WisdomMartin returned to her native Illinois to address the conference, seven months after she was elected to the national post.

“The natural tendency of our lives, of our organizations, of our churches is to preserve the status quo, fueled by fear,” she said. “We cannot let that happen. We have to have the courage to go where God leads. The future demands that we be courageous leaders, all of us.” (Photos 1, 2)

See Q & A on page 9.

In other highlights

Dan Darling, Vice President of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, addressed marriage, gender, and the changing culture. Darling said, “We need to intentionally tell kids what marriage is and what the Bible says it is to be a man and a woman…We have to teach them how to love people, how to be missional. They’re going to go into a culture where they have to be counter-cultural.”

(Photo 9)

Elizabeth Luter, wife of former SBC President Fred Luter, shared from John 10, “If you’re feeling low and you’re feeling down, just remember the spirit of the living God will give you the power to lie down and get up again.” (Photo 11)

The WMU Legacy Award was given to 97-year-old Evelyn White of Eastview Baptist Church in Springfield. White joked it was better than being named “Miss Illinois.” A second Legacy Award was given to Sandy Wisdom-Martin.

Jill McNicol’s term as Illinois WMU President was extended to a fifth year. McNicol served on the National WMU executive director search committee where she built strategic relationships for Illinois WMU.

MISSION

Baptist women confront the culture

Priority Conference looks at godly womanhood

BY LISA SERGENT

Decatur | “There’s a lot going on in the culture,” Carmen Halsey said. “If Christian women are not going to talk about it, who is?”

Halsey challenged the nearly 600 attenders at the Priority Women’s Conference in Decatur April 28-29, and brought before them speakers who would address tough issues women face today. “Some of the topics (at the conference) sound a bit risky,” she said, “but the culture is talking about it; the culture is who we’re going to have to reach. We are going to have to be brave if we’re going to do it.”

Halsey serves as IBSA Women’s Missions and Ministry director. The two-day conference addressed what it means to be godly women in today’s culture.

The conference took place against a backdrop of women’s marches with pink hats and cat ears, and a resurgence of debate on feminism and abortion. An April march on the state capitol in Springfield came the day of passage of a bill expanding taxpayerfunded abortions in the name of “women’s health care,” and now there is a renewed push for Illinois to become the thirty-seventh state pass the Equal Rights Amendment. Thirty eight are required for the ERA to become part of the U.S. Constitution, although the ten-year period for adoption expired 20 years ago.

How women can hold godly views and live Christ-like lives in such an environment may have been a subtext for the conference,

but the admonitions were clear: “God calls us not to just be hearers of the Word, but also to be doers of the Word,” Halsey said.

“How do we create a safe place that we can come ask questions and learn from each other?” Halsey said. She emphasized the need for women to minister to women who don’t know Christ. And she brought to the platform teachers and leaders whose experiences serve as solid examples.

The missionary Rebecca Epley served as an International Mission Board missionary to Bangladesh until taking voluntary retirement. Epley said its people are 96% Muslim, the rest are Hindu and Buddhist, with less than 1% Christian. “Many have never heard the name of Jesus, and do not know who Jesus is.”

Working with other missionaries, they started the Light of Hope Center to reach poor families. Muslims began threatening Christians who would go to the Christian center for help.

Epley shared, “One mother was told, if your daughter continues to go to this center, we’ll burn your house down.” The strong mother of six replied that the Christians had done much more for her daughter than the Muslims ever had. “She will not stop going to the center,” Epley quoted the woman as saying. “And no, they did not burn her house down.”

Continued on page 8

Continued from page 7

Epley also told about girl who visited the center who had gotten pregnant outside marriage. The girl had brought shame on her family, her mother pushed for an abortion. “In Bangladesh, they think until a baby is born it’s just a ball of blood,” said Epley.

“We found a Christian family to adopt that baby. That girl accepted the Lord, but later she was forced to marry a Muslim man. We can’t fix that situation, but we know that Jesus is in her heart.”

Epley encouraged the Illinois women to stand strong in their faith and to follow God’s leadership. “One of the verses God has given me is ‘Be still.’ Stop trying to figure it out. I will be exalted. Keep your eyes on me. He is going to be exalted through those girls in Bangladesh.”

Church members

What should women do in the church? That’s a question with many answers, especially at a Southern Baptist women’s conference. Nora Allison and Carrie Campbell were the leaders of a breakout discussion on that topic. Allison is Director of Women at Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, Ky., and teaches at Southern Seminary. Campbell is a member of Sojourn, a student at Southern, and central Illinois native.

In the Bible we first see men and women in Genesis 1:26-28 when God created male and female in his image. In Ephesians 4:14-16 men and women are to work together as part of the church body.

“Peter says men and women alike are co-heirs,” Allison shared. “God gave women specific respon-

sibility to lead and train other women in who they are supposed to be. Men and women are not alike in how they are created, or in how they live out their faith.

“Typically our churches are 60-65% women. We need women to identify their giftedness and then use their gifts in appropriate ways in their church.” Allison suggested doing this by having women teach other women and shepherd women in small groups.

Campbell said it’s important to “know what your church believes regarding women’s roles in the church.” It’s also good to find out if your church studied the biblical text to determine what the roles of women are. “What do you believe about the roles? Have you studied what the Bible says?” she asked.

Most important, Campbell said, “Examine your motives. Where is your heart ? It’s OK and right to

push back if things are not biblical. Are you doing this for yourself and your own glory, or for God’s glory and his will to be done?”

Doers

“Feminism is alive and well in our culture and in the church,” or so said the breakout topic assigned to Jeanette Cloyd. A member of the Illinois Baptist Women’s State Advisory Team, Cloyd shared how after the Industrial Revolution, women started to be more involved in churches because they were looking for something worthwhile to do. But some women took it too far and acted as if they were more spiritual than men.

Cloyd said in the last twenty years, many women in evangelical churches have moved toward a more traditional biblical model of womanhood. Women are “having this constant struggle—a lot are quitting their jobs and staying home and raising their children.”

Women have begun looking for mentoring relationships. “We need someone to mentor, and not just younger women,” Cloyd said. “The Bible should be our guide,” she said, pointing to Titus 2. “We’re supposed to be humble and helpful to one another.” And mentoring is really discipleship. “We can’t do if we don’t know. We can’t look different to the world if we’re not doers of the word. That’s where discipleship comes in.”

And that’s the challenge for Baptist women: serving in the way of Christ, as godly women in a declining culture, so the world can see the difference.

MEALS ON WHEELS (4, 7) – Food trucks pulled up next to the church portico to serve lunch and dinner Friday.

ALL IN THE FAMILY (5) – Attenders enjoyed food and fellowship in the church’s Family Life Center.

HANDS AND VOICES RAISED (6) – In five general sessions, conference attenders had opportunities to worship.

TRADE FAIR (3) – After the Friday evening session, conference attenders traveled across the street to the Decatur Hotel and Conference Center to shop at a Fair Trade Market, where proceeds benefitted victims of human trafficking.

‘Trying times’ call for more missions boldness

It’s been over six months since Illinois’ own Sandy Wisdom-Martin was officially installed as Executive Director-Treasurer of National Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU). Wisdom-Martin directed women’s missions and ministries for IBSA and served as WMU executive director from 2001 until 2010, before assuming a similar post in Texas. She was back in her home state to speak at last month’s Priority Women’s Conference. The Illinois Baptist interviewed her to find out how she is settling into her new role.

Illinois Baptist: These are trying times in terms of international relations. How does that affect how we pray for and support missions and missionaries?

Sandy Wisdom-Martin: These are indeed trying times. We should not use that fact as an excuse for shrinking back. I think it means we are even more fervent in how we pray for missions. It means we are even more bold in how we find support for missionaries all over the world. We are challenged to be rich in faith and go to places that others don’t want to go. Those places could be in our own communities or they could be halfway around the world. Peter assures us that we will be persecuted for our faith. That should not keep us from taking the gospel to all people of all nations.

IB: Published reports project a shortfall in Lottie Moon giving this year, coming after a record high last year in response to IMB staff cuts and budget problems. How do you interpret that? What does it mean if people

in the pews dug deep once, but only once?

SWM: We don’t have a resource problem. We have an obedience problem. It is a matter of stewardship.

IB: Now that you’ve been on the job awhile, what strikes you as a challenge WMU faces that you didn’t expect?

SWM: The great challenge that WMU and ministries face is reaching the next generation with the gospel and teaching them to live a missional lifestyle. Research shows Millennials are less committed to organizations than any other generation. They are not engaged in religious views of any persuasion. While the challenge is great, I know our God is even greater. I am confident that WMU can meet Millennials where they are with authenticity and a desire to embrace, engage, and empower that generation to live on mission.

IB: Give us your reaction to speaking to the women in Illinois. How did it feel?

SWM: Everyone is familiar with the book series “Chicken Soup for the Soul.” That’s how it felt to come home—chicken soup for my soul. It was a day of warm embraces where I felt loved and accepted. Every familiar face brought back fond remembrances.

IB: Is there anything especially unique about women and missions in the Midwest?

SWM: Do you know what I love about the Mid-

west? Every church that is planted and every church that survives is hard-fought. Everyone takes responsibility for the work of the Kingdom. We don’t wait for paid staff to show up and do the work. Everyone pitches in to move chairs, tote boxes, set up tables, make hospital visits, take food to the sick, etc. I’m not sure that’s unique to the Midwest, but it is something that I am very thankful was instilled in me at an early age.

IB: During your presentation at Priority you said, “We have to have the courage to go where God leads. The future demands that we be courageous leaders, all of us.” How do we do this in missons education and mobilization?

SWM: It’s critical to stay faithful to what God has called us to do in missions education. Yet, current reality demands that we take risks in how we deliver missions education, how we recruit missions education leaders, and how we work together as a missions community to mobilize leaders within new audiences that we’ve never reached before.

LIGHT-HEARTED (8) – Kenyatta Smith, Pastor of Another Change Church of Chicago, emceed the Friday evening session.

FAMILY MATTERS (9) – Denny Hydrick of BCHFS interviewed Daniel Darling of ERLC on contemporary parenting issues.

WORDS AND MUSIC – (10) Singer-songwriters Jonathan and Emily Martin led worship at Priority.

UPLIFTING (11) – Elizabeth Luter of New Orleans urged women to muster their strength in service to God.

We will be persecuted for our faith. That shouldn’t keep us from taking the gospel to all people of all nations.

–Sandy Wisdom-Martin

Running their race

Bible study group aims for physical and spiritual growth

BY MEREDITH FLYNN

Decatur | Deana Moore didn’t mind the less than stellar running conditions that greeted her early on Saturday morning, April 28. Instead of derailing her from participating in a planned 5K race, the rain and unseasonably cool temperatures helped her enjoy nature and the people she ran with in the event, which is held along with IBSA’s Priority Women’s Conference.

“It was quite an accomplishment for me too, because I was able to run the whole thing without walking or stopping,” said Moore, a member of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Decatur. Running alongside her were several other women who participated in a spring “Run for God” Bible study that met on Wednesday evenings at Tabernacle.

The 5K in Decatur was a “graduation race” for the class led by Leigh Johnson, a veteran runner and the wife of Tabernacle Pastor Randy Johnson. Run for God is a curriculum created in 2010 by Georgia runner Mitchell Hollis that combines the physical and the spiritual in a 12-week study that also includes group runs.

At Tabernacle, Johnson’s group ran outside on Wednesday evenings when they could, and inside when the weather didn’t permit it. The building’s upstairs loop was their track, she said, as the group carefully dodged around children from the church’s Awana program.

“They were very gracious to kind of bob and weave with us,” Johnson said. The run also took the class through the balcony around the sanctuary, where they heard the worship band practicing for Sunday’s worship service.

The music could well have served as a reminder for the group’s ultimate purpose—to grow closer to God while doing something he has equipped them to do.

“Being able to physically do those things—[to] build up to running like we did—I know that wasn’t me,” Moore said after her recent 5K. “I know that it was all God helping me to do that.”

One class for all levels

Leigh Johnson first heard about Run for God during last year’s Priority conference. IBSA’s Carmen Halsey, director of women’s missions and ministry, introduced the curriculum at the annual 5K race and offered to partner with churches who wanted to use it as an evangelistic outreach.

Johnson went home and looked up the program. “I was all over it,” she said.

Each week of the study focuses on a devotional piece and correlating Scripture passages, along with an educational component about running.

One week, the lesson focused on Jesus feeding the 5,000. He recognized the physical hunger in front of him, but also an even deeper need—the spiritual hunger of the people. Johnson’s group talked about how the things people do—going to church, reading books, listening to sermons in the car—are good and valuable. But they’re snack-like compared to the sustaining nourishment of a re-

lationship with Jesus that includes personal quiet time, reading, praying, and searching.

Before their Wednesday evening runs together, the women discussed the Scripture passages provided with each week’s lesson. Johnson brought in local experts—including a physical trainer and a representative from a running shoe store— to help teach the group about the proper way to run.

Johnson said the study was beneficial to people at all stages of physical fitness, and spiritual development.

“I think it’s beautiful in that sense, that it could be for anyone,” she said. “For the runner, the non-runner, the person that’s been a Christian for years, a non-Christian, or a baby Christian that’s just accepted the Lord.”

One woman in the class was brought back into the hope of a relationship with Christ, after feeling like her connection with him had been broken. Another rediscovered the joy of personal devotional times with God.

Deana Moore said the week the class was challenged to share their own stories was particularly effective for her. “It made me think about my own testimony: if I’m called to give it, am I prepared for that?”

Since the 12-week class ended, Moore has also already signed up for two more 5K races, and is involving her teenage daughters in running with her. Johnson, a self-described uncomfortable public speaker, discovered the encouragement of her group—and strength from God—could help her do something she didn’t previously think was possible. After she made a Facebook promotional video for the class and flyers were printed about the upcoming study, she realized, “I’m really going to have to do this,” Johnson said.

But with “deep breath after deep breath and prayer and prayer,” she moved forward, leaning on Scripture verses like Philippians 4:13 and Joshua 1:9, whick is a key verse for Run for God. Johnson

said she’s “blown away” that God would use something she’s comfortable doing—running—to help her with something she’s less comfortable with— leading in a public setting.

At the Priority 5K in Decatur, she had to take on a completely different role after injuring her foot just before the race. Rather than running with her group, she had to take a step back and cheer them on at the finish line. Johnson stood in the rain under a large umbrella, greeting her friends as they completed the run and handing out finisher’s medals.

Had she run herself, she said, she might have forgotten what the day was supposed to be about. Instead, she ran a different race that Saturday, one that, judging by the hugs she gave and received, was every bit as vital.

For more information about women’s ministry and missions opportunities across Illinois, go to IBSA.org/women or contact Carmen Halsey at (217) 391-3143 or CarmenHalsey@IBSA.org.

JOHNSON

UNHINDERED – Rainy weather didn’t keep runners from participating in the Priority Women’s Conference 5K race April 28 in Decatur. Members of Leigh Johnson’s Run for God Bible study group were among the runners, and she greeted them at the finish line (photo below, right).

IN FOCUS SBC :

phoenix 2017

Pastors receive travel aid

Sixty pastors will receive scholarships to attend this year’s SBC Pastors’ Conference in Phoenix, the event’s president announced in May. Dave Miller, an Iowa pastor and blogger, is leading this year’s conference focused on small to mediumsized Southern Baptist churches.

“From the beginning,” Miller said, “our goal was to do two things: to bless the pastors that come and to get as many pastors there as possible…. People have said there wasn’t going to be good attendance in Phoenix” because of its distance from many Bible Belt churches. “So we thought, let’s help some guys get there.”

South to Southwest

A desert vacation kindles this family’s call to Arizona

Sedona, Ariz. | The two-hour drive to Sedona was an uncomfortable one for Josh Jennings, balking at his wife’s vacation plans in the middle of the desert after the 2011 Southern Baptist Convention in Phoenix.

But when Jennings and his wife, Shannon, arrived in Sedona—2,000-plus miles removed from their South Carolina home— something happened that they did not expect. There, in the midst of the red rock pillars and majestic mountain cliffs, they were drawn to this unique culture.

Sedona, one of the biggest New Age destinations in the country, is a unique enclave of tourists, artists, psychics, locals, jeep riders, gurus, hikers, Buddhists, and nature lovers. After Jennings, a pastor in South Carolina, became acquainted with the region, he made the offhand comment, “Somebody ought to plant a church out here.”

Over the next few years, God led the couple and their three children to do just that. “I never considered planting a church,”

Jennings said. “I was happy being the pastor of an established church.” Yet, from 2011 to 2013, God began to impress upon their hearts that he was calling them to Arizona, sometimes in unusual ways.

Once, the Jennings family was hiking in South Carolina’s Table Rock State Park where they had a “God moment” when a man walked by wearing a Sedona shirt and a Clemson hat (Shannon is passionate about Clemson). Later, they met a young man at the 2013 Passion Conference who reminded them about the big challenges in Sedona. Jennings soon found out more about the opportunities in Sedona. His director of missions in Spartanburg, S.C., contacted Rik Danielsen, director of missions in Arizona’s Yavapai Baptist Association and learned there was a definite need for a new plant.

Danielsen told them a church in Cottonwood, 20 miles to the southwest, was praying about starting a church in Sedona.

Continued on page 12

The $1,000 scholarships are for pastors who lead churches with an average worship attendance of fewer than 200 people. Miller and the conference team announced the opportunity earlier this spring, asking individuals, churches, and organizations to donate to the scholarship fund. Two Illinois pastors are among those receiving scholarships, which were given in the order of applications received by qualifying pastors.

The 2017 Pastors’ Conference is June 11-12 at the Phoenix Convention Center.

Illinois reps on SBC boards

Five Illinois Baptists will be nominated in Phoenix to serve on SBC boards and committees:

• Sharon Carty, a member of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Carlinville, and Adron Robinson, pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Country Club Hills, are nominated to serve on the SBC Executive Committee.

• Sheila K. Satterthwaite of FBC Maryville, is nominated to serve a second term with the International Mission Board.

• Kevin Carrothers, director of missions for Bay Creek Association, is nominated to serve on the board of Gateway Seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention.

• Tony Munoz, pastor of Iglesia Bautista Latina in Effingham, is nominated to serve on the SBC’s Committee on Order of Business.

Preaching events

Evangelism rally set for June 11

Evangelist Greg Laurie is prepping for what he calls “the Super Bowl of evangelism,” a June 11 rally at the University of Phoenix Stadium which will also be available to viewers in churches and homes across the country.

“On Super Bowl Sunday, everyone watches the game, at least most do. You might have a little party at your house either before or after. The idea is that we can all participate in this event simultaneously and across the country,” Laurie told the Oklahoma Baptist Messenger. The pastor and author has traveled the country facilitating Harvest America events since 1990.

The Phoenix event will be held in conjunction with Crossover, an annual outreach initiative preceding the Southern Baptist Convention. Prior to the rally, volunteers will be trained in one-on-one evangelism and given opportunities to share the gospel.

The Harvest America event will be broadcast on the Trinity Broadcasting Network. Churches and individuals also can sign up to host a free simulcast of the event for friends and neighbors. For more information, go to harvestamerica.com.

Chicago’s Choi to preach in Phoenix

Chicago pastor David Choi is the first of 12 preachers who will be featured at the 2017 SBC Pastors’ Conference in Phoenix next month. The conference, which traditionally includes pastors of larger Southern Baptist churches, is this year focused on a diversity of voices from small to medium-sized congregations.

Choi, pastor of Church of the Beloved, was recently interviewed by Wheaton College’s Ed Stetzer on his blog “The Exchange” about his church’s ministry in the city.

“In our downtown location we have anywhere from 30-45 nations represented in our church on a given Sunday,” Choi said. His congregation presents unique opportunities to him as a pastor, Choi told Stetzer.

“You have to be cross-cultural in your language. You have to be sensitive to a kind of political climate, the social climate of the city. You have to be aware of the fact that there are certain cultural realities in Chicago that need to be addressed.

“You can’t not talk about race in Chicago. You can’t not talk about some of the violence that’s going on in our cities. There are certain things that you have to talk about if you want to be validated as a speaker in Chicago.”

Choi takes the stage in Phoenix during the opening session on Sunday, June 11, at 6 p.m. Fellow Chicago pastor Michael Allen will preach during the Monday evening session. Additional information is available at sbcpc.net.

– Baptist Press, ChristianityToday.com

Heading west: What we can learn

People everywhere need the Lord, says IBSA’s Dennis Conner

In its first two years of production, “The Beverly Hillbillies,” topped the TV ratings in the U.S. It was so popular in those early years that nearly 40% of households that were watching television were watching the Clampetts. That’s a larger percentage of viewers than Game 7 of the Cub’s World Series Championship victory.

The basis for all the humor on the show was the fact that the principal characters were out of place. The family from deep in the hills of the Ozark Mountains discovers oil on their land and moves into a posh mansion in Beverly Hills. Hilarous hijinks ensue.

While not quite that extreme, a move from a small town in northeastern North Carolina to the western suburbs of Phoenix 11 years ago was a similar learning experience for my wife and me. Here are just a few of the things we learned:

People are open to the gospel. True, church attendance has declined substantially in the little more than half century of my lifetime. Yet, while people may not be going to a church gathering to hear the gospel, they are willing to hear it, discuss it, consider it, embrace it, or reject it in a park, a coffee shop, a work place, a restaurant, a classroom, a condo building, and a myriad of other places.

When we were planting Crosspointe, the Church at Tartesso, Arizona, most of the gospel conversations I had with those who became believers (and those who didn’t) were in one of the parks in our community.

In the three years I’ve lived in Chicago, I’ve learned people are open to the gospel here as well. And while I haven’t lived in the other cities, towns, villages, or farm communities that make up the varied mission field of Illinois, I’m confident that every place in our state has people who are open to the gospel, even if they might reject an initial invitation to church.

The fruit of the Spirit is effective in opening doors of opportunity for evangelism. When our lives are characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, we will never lack opportunities to talk about what produces those qualities in us. Unbelieving people recognize the difference in us. They are drawn to the fruit of the Spirit. They will ask questions. Often, their desire to learn will

SEDONA: Continued from page 11

Jennings moved to the Verde Valley in January 2014 and his family arrived that summer. They officially launched Aletheia Church on Jan. 18, 2015. “Aletheia” is the word for “truth” in Greek.

“I love the people of Sedona,” he said. “We have a real presence in the community. Our [church members] see this as an opportunity to serve our town.”

The Jennings family has worked hard to make inroads into Sedona by hiking the trails with people, serving in the schools and parks, and loving the community as Jesus would. “When people first hear what we

be expressed in invitations to family or social events that welcome us into their lives and networks of relationships.

Effective evangelism often starts with open ears, eyes, and minds. Taking time to get to know someone is an expression of the value we place on them. Asking questions about a person’s education, family, work, or interests demonstrates a desire to know them. If that desire is genuine, it will communicate our value of others as human beings. Simply demonstrating care and concern for others earns us relational credibility and opportunities for relational influence. As Jesus-followers, our influence will lead others to go with us as we follow after him.

New people bring new opportunities for the gospel. Moving to a new place will often open people up to new relationships and new experiences. While planting a church in a brand-new planned community in Arizona, we hosted numerous community events that were intended to serve the community and gather new neighbors together.

Bringing people together at the common ground of a park or a school gave them an opportunity to get to know each other. Being a part of those networks of relationships gave the people of Crosspointe an opportunity to share the gospel with new friends.

People who are new to Chicago will often be ready to meet new people. A monthly weekend brunch for newcomers could be an effective tool in a condo building. While small towns in rural Illinois may not see as many new people as Chicago, the new people who do arrive are often even more open to new relationships because the established social networks can be hard to penetrate.

In just a few weeks, Illinois Baptists will have an opportunity to spend several days in Phoenix for the Southern Baptist Convention. Take some time to step away from the familiar crowd from Illinois. Engage some locals in conversation. If you encounter someone who is not a Phoenix native, ask them about how different it is for them. Their answer may just make you more aware of the people in your own town who need to hear and respond to the gospel.

Dennis Conner is IBSA’s director of church planting in northeast Illinois.

do, the walls go up,” Josh said. “But when we show interest in them and care more for them than ourselves, the walls come down”—and people come to Christ.

Josh’s leadership and Shannon’s energy have been big reasons for the church’s progress. They now have dreams of multiplying and starting new churches as they influence the Sedona area and beyond.

“My biggest dream,” Josh said, “is that one day people will flock to Sedona not because it’s wildly spiritual but because God is working in people’s lives.”

CONNER

LAURIE

CHOI

How the Reformation shapes our preaching

The notion that Martin Luther was a reformer of preaching is one that receives little attention. Yet the changes to preaching brought about by his influence were instrumental not only in helping people grasp the fundamental truths of the faith, but also in transforming the very nature of Christian worship.

As we mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, Luther’s contributions to church’s thinking about the content, priority, and simplification of preaching still challenge us as modern-day pastors and worshipers.

Luther was a product of the preaching tradition of the medieval period, which, according to scholar Dennis Ngien, placed a significant burden upon the listener to do good works in hopes of earning favor with God. Grace was contingent upon performance, and Christ was emphasized as a judge who demanded righteous living.

But Reformation theology presented just the opposite view, emphasizing justification by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Consequently, as the Reformation challenged the theology behind the sermon, it also brought about a shift in the content of the sermon. In Luther’s preaching, good works were no longer a means to acquire grace, but were the result of having received grace.

Along with transforming preaching content, the Reformation also led to a renewed emphasis on its priority. Writer Hughes Old explains that where worship was previously centered around the sacraments, with very little emphasis on the proclamation of Scripture, Luther was adamant that when the church gathered, clear exposition of the Word was to be first in order. He believed since true biblical worship was always in response to the preached Word, worship in the form of the sacraments and singing should come after hearing the Word proclaimed, and not before. In fact, Luther saw the preached Word as sacramental in and of itself. In his view, it was through the preached Word that the worshiper encountered the living Word.

In my own experience as a church planter, during the early years when our choir was young and inexperienced, the running joke was that whoever attended Love Fellowship came just for the preaching, because the choir was certainly not on the level of many of the established churches in the area. We would laugh about it, but there was a part of me that wished we had the luxury of a glorious choir that could help set the atmosphere of worship.

Since then, and having read Luther, I now see how blessed we were. Having to do without the ideal choir allowed us to establish a church where the preaching was and continues to be the central part of our worship. In a day where choirs and worship bands are employed for their ability to draw crowds and keep people on their feet, I think a re-reading of Luther would be a tremendous benefit to the body of Christ who, perhaps in this area, has lost her way.

Lastly, the Reformation led to the simplification of preaching. Though he was undoubtedly one of the greatest theological minds in Christian history, Luther was compelled to make deep spiritual truths accessible to the common layman.

In my survey of contemporary sermons by popular preachers, I am beginning to think those who preach may feel they have not done an adequate job unless they have parsed not less than two Greek words and have offered the opinion of at least ten noted scholars. I am sure their people leave on Sunday proud to have a pastor with such a high level of academic training, but whether they understood what was said is up for debate.

I can recall an instance where I used the word “eschatological” during the sermon. Afterwards, a brother asked me what “eschatological” meant. I told him, it refers to the end times. He then replied, “Why didn’t you just say that?” I think Luther would offer the same critique.

The Reformation forever altered the theological landscape of the Christian faith, but it also changed how that faith was proclaimed, for the glory of God and for the edification of the people of God. For this reason, we celebrate Luther. May we who preach continuously re-evaluate our work in light of his, so that the people to whom we preach will grow in God’s grace and become increasingly confident in the righteousness of Christ as the basis for their justification before God.

Bryan Price pastors Love Fellowship Baptist Church in Romeoville.

The enduring ‘TULIP’

If Martin Luther started the Reformation with his 95 theses nailed to the church door at Wittenberg, John Calvin shaped the then-radical theological views in ways that still echo today. His story started out as the opposite of Luther’s. Calvin’s father desired the priesthood for him, but changed his mind and pushed law school instead (whereas Luther started as a law student before a dramatic, thunderstorm-fueled turnaround). Somewhere in the midst of his studies, Calvin encountered Luther’s teachings, and everything changed, according to a Christianity Today profile on the theologian.

“He [God] tamed to teachableness a mind too stubborn for its years—for I was strongly devoted to the superstitions of the papacy that nothing less could draw me from such depths of mire,” Calvin wrote.

He is perhaps most closely connected with the acronym T.U.L.I.P., which has come to represent the five tenets of Reformed theology, or Calvinism:

T: Total depravity

U: Unconditional election

L: Limited atonement

I: Irresistible grace

P: Perseverance of the saint

Reformed pastor and author John Piper points out that these English titles for the five points of Calvinism are often disputed and debated, and that the points themselves were created by Reformed thinkers more as a response to opposing Arminian doctrine than as a summary of Calvin’s views.

Still, Piper writes, the five points are part of the confessions of two Reformed denominations. They also are adhered to with varying degrees by a new generation of Calvinists.

In 2009, Beeson Divinity School President Timothy George wrote about Calvin’s “comeback” among younger Christians, citing the reformer’s history of fleeing one place or another after his controversial views drew the ire of the establishment. Calvin’s physical itinerancy resonates in our ever-changing culture.

George wrote that “postmodernity has placed us all…on the border between the fading certainties of modernism and new ways of understanding the world and its promises and perils. Calvin, a displaced refugee, speaks directly to the homeless mind of many contemporaries looking for a place to stand.”

– Meredith Flynn, with information from Christianity Today, DesiringGod.org, Samford.edu

Luther was adamant: clear exposition of the Bible was to be the first priority.

“For once in your life, John... try not to be so verbose!”

JOHN CALVIN

Grants aid church plants

Chicago | Glenfield Baptist Church in Glen Ellyn closed their doors three years ago, but the church’s legacy of missions and church planting lives on through a fund created to help start and support new congregations.

The church sold its building to an IBSA church plant, Peoples Community Church, and used the proceeds to start the Glenfield Heritage Fund through the Baptist Foundation of Illinois. This year marks the first grant distributions given through the fund to three Chicagoland churches:

SOW

Chicago in Independence Park is a new church led by Bryan Coble. He and his wife, Marci, are working to establish the church in an area on the north side that has few evangelical congregations.

Crossroads

Baptist Church

led by Pastor Scott Nichols is working to restart a church in DeKalb at the former location of Victory Baptist Church. Home to Northern Illinois University, DeKalb has tens of thousands of people who need to hear the gospel.

Jesus is the Life Church in Park Forest is working to reach teens and young adults in their community, with a special focus on a nearby school, Rich Easy High School. Pastor Paul Cartwright, a graduate of Wheaton College, and his leadership team have deep roots in the area.

For more information about how the Baptist Foundation of Illinois helps churches support missions and ministry, go to baptistfoundationil.org.

– From “Kingdom Giving,” the newsletter of the Baptist Foundation of Illinois

BFI awards scholarships

Congratulations to the 37 students who received college and seminary scholarships for the 2017-18 academic year through the Baptist Foundation of Illinois! For more information about the scholarship program, visit baptistfoundationil.org.

Austin Adams | Crossroads Community Church, Carol Stream • Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield

Anna Bertels | First Baptist Church, Maryville Missouri Baptist University, St. Louis

Carrie Campbell | Delta Church, Springfield The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky.

Ashtyn Cowling | Ditney Ridge Baptist Church, Norris City • University of Southern Indiana, Evansville, Ind.

Timothy Drury | First Baptist Church, Bethalto • The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky.

Emily Ebert | Temple Baptist Church, Canton Union University, Jackson, Tenn.

Lynzie Emerson | Western Oaks Baptist Church, Springfield • Hannibal-LaGrange University, Hannibal, Mo.

Scott Foshie | Steeleville Baptist Church Liberty University, Lynchburg, Va.

Mark Fromme | First Baptist Church, Bethalto Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Mo.

Ryne Fullerton | First Baptist Church, Woodlawn • Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, N.C.

Mark Goldman | First Baptist Church, Herrin Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Mo.

Allison Grace | Second Baptist Church, Marion • Murray State University, Murray, Ky.

Matthew Grove | First Baptist Church, Fairview Heights • Union University, Jackson, Tenn.

Michael Henderson | First Baptist Church, Springfield • Temple Baptist Seminary, Chattanooga, Tenn.

Faith Hudgens | Second Baptist Church, Marion • Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, Tenn.

Caleb Jenkins | The Church at DuPage, Glen Ellyn • Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield

Jonathan Kaushal | Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, Roodhouse • Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Mo.

Michael Kramer | Immanuel Baptist Church, Benton • The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky.

NeTworkiNg

Find more information on ministry positions at IBSA.org/connect

Send NetworkiNg items to IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org

Tyler Lamb | Ditney Ridge Baptist Church, Norris City • Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, Mo.

Colton Masters | Bethel Baptist Church, Troy Southwest Baptist University, Bolivar, Mo.

Kiyana Mitchell | Vale Church, Bloomington Illinois State University, Normal

Mark Mohler | Second Baptist Church, Marion • Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Mo.

Evan Morris | First Baptist Church, O’Fallon Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Mo.

Kenneth O’Dell | First Baptist Church, Carlyle The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky.

Darin Peterson | New Beginnings Christian Fellowship, Ashland • Hannibal-LaGrange University, Hannibal, Mo.

Brittany Seidel | Connexion, Mt. Vernon Southern Illinois University, Carbondale

Danielle Seidel | Connexion, Mt. Vernon Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Theodore Siu | Immanuel Baptist Church, Chicago • Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield

Dennis Southerd | Park Avenue Baptist Church, Mt. Vernon • Liberty University, Lynchburg, Va.

Janek Squibb | Chatham Baptist Church Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

Jordan Troeger | Living Faith Baptist Church, Sherman • Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Mo.

Tess Tyler | Pasfield Baptist Church, Springfield • Western Illinois University, Macomb

Sara Van Bebber | Meadowbrook Baptist Church, Auburn • Southwest Baptist University, Bolivar, Mo.

Christyanne Wheeler | New Hope Baptist Church, Tower Hill • Judson University, Elgin

Matthew Williams | Ozark Baptist Church Missouri Baptist University, St. Louis

Jonah Wright | The Church at DuPage, Glen Ellyn • Moody Bible Institute, Chicago

Hyunwoo Yoon | Baptist Church of Schaumburg • Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Mo.

Welcome

people

Edward Applegate is the new pastor of Richview Baptist Church. Prior to his new role, he and his wife, Tammy, were members of Eternity Baptist Church in Centralia, where he served two years as outreach director. He also has worked as a street minister. The Kaskaskia Baptist Association newsletter reports that in his spare time, Applegate likes to read his Bible and go fishing—two pastimes he has found he can do simultaneously.

Karl Barnfield is the new pastor of Eternity Baptist Church in Centralia. A native of West Frankfort, he has pastored several churches in Illinois, including congregations in Benton, Coulterville, Marion, and Sesser. Most recently, he led a restart of East Benton Baptist Church, now renamed Resurrection. Barnfield is married to Christie, and they have two married sons and three grandchildren, with a fourth expected this fall.

With the Lord Dorothy R. Searcy Lane died May 7 at the age of 86. Lane, a member of First Baptist Church in Carterville, worked as a secretary and stenographer for the Illinois Baptist State Association when IBSA’s offices were located in Carbondale. She also became the first female postal worker at the Carbondale Post Office in 1966. She was preceded in death by her husband, Gene, and is survived by two daughters, one stepson, four grandchildren, and three greatgrandchildren.

Prior Grove Baptist Church, a church south of Oblong with an average attendance of 75, is seeking a bivocational pastor. Send resumes to Jack Vaughn, 5625 N. 275th Street, Oblong, IL 62449, email vajvaughn@ yahoo.com, or call (618) 592-3710.

Tabernacle Baptist Church in Decatur seeks a full-time minister of music and worship. Cover letter and resume should be sent to: Music Minister Search, Tabernacle Baptist Church, 650 N. Wyckles Rd., Decatur, IL 62526, or personnelteam@tbc.church.

June 3

EVENTS dave says

BCHFS Central Illinois Golf Tournament

What: Annual fundraiser for Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services

Where: Edgewood Country Club, Auburn Contact: BCHFS@BCHFS.com

June 9-10, 16-17

Father/Son Camp

What: Overnight camp for fathers and sons, grandfathers and grandsons, and adult mentors and young men of all ages

Where: June 9-10: Streator Baptist Camp; June 16-17: Lake Sallateeska

Cost: $40 per person Register: IBSA.org/kids

IBSA Summer Camps

• Week 1: June 12-16

(Streator, grades 3-6)

• Week 2: June 18-22

(Lake Sallateeska, grades 3-6)

• Week 3: June 26-30

(Lake Sallateeska, grades 3-6)

• Week 4: July 10-14 (Streator, grades 3-12)

• Week 5: July 17-21

(Streator, grades 3-12)

Cost: $160 per person, includes food, lodging, and T-shirt Register: IBSA.org/kids

June 12-14

SBC Annual Meeting & Pastors’ Conference

Where: Phoenix Convention Center

Info: See pages 7-9, or go to SBCPC.net

June 26-30

Illuminate

IBSA Student Camp

What: Camp experience for students in grades 7-12

Where: Lake Sallateeska

Cost: $160 per person, includes food, lodging, and T-shirt Register: IBSA.org/students

June 27-July 1

Super Summer

What: Discipleship-focused week for students who have committed their lives to Christ

Where: Greenville College

Cost: $225 per person Register: IBSA.org/students

July 16-21

Fused Teen Camp

What: A week of dynamic preaching, worship, recreations, and small group discipleship for all students in grades 6-12

Where: Lake Sallateeska

Cost: $265 per person

Register: IBSA.org/students

July 23-28

ChicaGO Week

What: Students in junior high through college serve alongside Chicagoland church planters

Where: Judson University

Cost: $265 per person (IBSA churches); $290 per person (non-IBSA churches) Register: IBSA.org/churchplanting

July 28-29

Mission Trip to Cairo, IL

What: Engage the southern Illinois community with a back-to-school fair and mobile medical ministry

Cost: $50 per person; team members responsible for travel to and from site Info: Debbie Muller@IBSA.org

July 10-14

Summer Worship University

What: IBSA’s premier worship, music, and arts event for students in grades 6-12

Where: Hannibal-LaGrange University

Cost: $225 per person Register: IBSA.org/students

July 31-August 4

Illinois Changers

What: Missions experience for college students and adults with skills in carpentry, general contracting, building, or willingness to volunteer on a construction project

Where: Metro Peoria

Cost: $125 per person

Register: IBSA.org/missions (click on “Judea” under “Choose your mission field”)

Invest the right way

QI’d like to get involved in real estate investing, but I don’t have a lot of cash at present. What do you think of the idea of crowdfunding as a way to invest in real estate?

AI’ve got a bunch of real estate, and I love it. But I wouldn’t go the crowdfunding route as a way to get started in real estate investing. I wouldn’t give someone money to buy real estate in a crowdfunding scenario, either. The late Beverly Sills had a great saying: “There are no shortcuts to anyplace worth going.”

Investing in real estate is wonderful when you do it right. Get out of debt first, pay cash, and find great bargains. When you get in a hurry, and do dumb stuff like go into debt or get mixed up with partnerships in the process, real estate’s a horrible investment. I admire your ambition. But I would advise you to follow my lead on this one. You’ll be glad you did!

It’s too late?

QHow late is too late to get life insurance?

AIt’s pretty easy to get term life insurance—the only kind of life insurance I recommend—up until around age 70. Depending on your health situation, there are a few affordable policies available past that point. But once you get into your 70s and beyond it can be difficult to find reasonably priced coverage.

I recommend that most people have 10 to 12 times their annual income wrapped up in a good, level term life insurance policy. But honestly, you shouldn’t need life insurance at 70 or older. If you’ve been wise with your money, and saved and invested, you should be self-insured by that point. This means having cash in the bank to cover burial expenses and enough for a spouse to live on after you’re gone.

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

DAVE RAMSEY

Church needed here...

Location: Chicago’s north side and northern suburbs

Focus: Mongolian population

Characteristics: With approximately 10,000 documented Mongolians (people from East Asia), Chicagoland is home to the largest concentration of the people group in the U.S. But only a handful of existing evangelical churches serve approximately 150-200 Mongolians on any given Sunday.

Prayer needs: Pray for Jaranbayar Jack Has, who is preparing for a church plant in Mt. Prospect. Pray that God would give Jack favor among the Mongolian diaspora, which is largely composed of Shamanists and Tibetan Buddhists who are generally suspicious of Christianity.

inspirations

pinterest.com/illinoisBaptist

Welcome or not?

Most people think their church is friendly. But an exit survey of guests would reveal to many congregations that guests didn’t feel very welcome. Maybe it’s time to teach “friendliness.” Seriously, so many people are staring at screens that they rarely look a stranger in the eye.

LifeWay’s Thom Rainer offers these 7 comments church goers can say to guests. Consider using them to train greeters, leaders, and regular attenders.

1. Thank you for being here.

2. Let me help you with that.

3. Please take my seat.

4. Here’s my e-mail address. Please let me know if I can help in any way.

5. Can I show you where you need to go?

6. Let me introduce you to ________.

7. Would you like to join us for lunch?

– Excerpted from ThomRainer.com. See the full article and more like it in IBSA’s weekly newsletter for church leaders, e-Connection. Sign up at Communications@IBSA.org.

devotional

A committed life

Read: Ruth 1:1-18

Financial crisis: a parable

Imagine with me that Pastor Rick is talking with Ernie, the financial team’s chairman, about the church’s budget:

“This has been a difficult year financially,” Ernie says. “Since the glass company closed, giving and attendance has decreased. The financial team is recommending we reduce our percentage of missions giving, and that you pay a greater portion of your health insurance.”

Pastor Rick responds, “Ernie, I realize how difficult this information is for you to share with me. Can the financial team meet next Monday?”

Pastor Rick opens the gathering with prayer and reads Acts 20:28. He reminds the team that their guiding principle is to be faithful to the church’s mission to glorify God. He challenges the team to answer these questions:

1. What are current giving and attendance patterns by age group? What is the per capita giving of each age group for the last two years?

2. In which months is the greatest cash flow necessary?

3. How can we eliminate debt?

4. Can we establish a maintenance schedule for replacing major items over the next three years?

5. What have churches done that have faced a similar financial situation?

6. Who will contact IBSA and request a financial consultation?

KEVIN CARROTHERS

The story of Ruth was one filled with hardship, grief and difficult choices. She was widowed at a relatively young age. Her motherin-law, also a widow, was grief stricken and bitter over the loss of her husband and sons. When Naomi decided to return to Bethlehem, both daughters-in-law set out with her. In midst of the journey, Naomi emphatically urged these young women to return to their homes and find new husbands. Orpah returned but Ruth did not.

Ruth demonstrated a life of faithfulness. When presented with an opportunity to walk away from the relationship, she chose to remain. Her love for Naomi indicated a high level of commitment that would eventually permeate her life as a wife and mother.

However, Ruth’s decision to stay with Naomi meant a great deal of personal sacrifice. She assumed the responsibility of caring for Naomi. She rejected her family, religion, and life in Moab. She had to embrace a new people who may not have accepted her. Most important, she sought to follow the one true God. As she accepted this commitment, Ruth made a vow before God and Naomi to care for Naomi until death separated them.

When God calls us, He expects us to live a life fully devoted to Him, which often means leaving behind all that is familiar and comfortable. We know that God remains faithful, but the challenge is for us to do so in return.

PRAYER PROMPT: O Lord, help us remain steadfast. Please forgive us when we stray. Amen.

Kevin Carrothers serves as director of missions for Salem South Baptist Association and is concluding his second one-year term as IBSA President.

At the next meeting, the financial team gives their reports and writes their recommendations, which include: Electronic giving will be made available to encourage weekly stewardship. Based on per capita offerings, weekly giving could increase by $349.

Group health insurance for both staff members will reduce the annual premium, maintain comparable coverage, and provide coverage for the parttime worship pastor.

A major equipment replacement schedule will be in the church’s budget.

The church will prepare for emergencies with a contingency fund three times the church’s monthly giving.

The church will transfer its current savings to the Baptist Foundation of Illinois. The higher interest earned will continue the church’s current level of mission’s support.

Doug Morrow, BFI Executive Director, will help church members desiring to establish estate plans, creating a future revenue stream for the church.

The lesson of this parable: Solutions to stressful situations are possible when all parties take responsibility for finding solutions that glorify God.

Sylvan Knobloch is IBSA’s director of church leadership.

KNOBLOCH

– IBSA Church Planting Team

illinois religious landscape

Moral absolutes

of adults in Illinois say there are clear standards for right and wrong say it depends on the situation were unsure.

30% 68% 2%