November 1, 2022 Illinois Baptist

Illinois Baptist

A new view of God

Making this list changes my perspective

Tammie Emerson P. 13

Gospel fist bumps

IllinoisBaptist.org

Connecting with international students during the Week of Prayer P. 9

Harvest

mission

IBSA Annual Meeting

Nov. 1-3

Metro Church

Edwardsville

Watch live at IBSAAnnualMeeting.org

NATE ADAMS

Pumpkin discipleship

Lessons from the patch

P. 2

SBC NEWS Abuse prevention

Baptists advocate new state laws

P. 5

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK

SBC on ‘60 Minutes’ Barber gets thumbs up

P. 6

SMALL GROUPS

Migrant workers ministry produces fruit P. 7

Matz named HLGU president

9-month turnaround called ‘a miracle’

Hannibal, Mo. | The Academic Dean who served as a senior leader in efforts to stabilize Hannibal-LaGrange University (HLGU) was elected president of the Missouri school by its Board of Trustees Oct. 14. Robert J. Matz becomes the 18th president of HLGU, succeeding Anthony Allen who resigned in January after nine years. The appointment serves as a period at the end of a troubled chapter.

“I’m excited about the future at HLGU under Dr. Matz’s leadership,” IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams said. As a member of

the Board of Trustees chairing the Business and Finance Committee, Adams served on the Presidential Search Committee.

“Dr. Matz is eminently qualified, hardworking, and brings both excellent experience and a wonderful spirit of humble confidence and optimism to the role,” Adams said. “During his short time at HLGU he has already made significant contributions to the school’s turnaround, during very difficult circumstances.”

Interim leadership was led by Transitional President Rodney Harrison, head of Baptist Homes and P. 3

Going ‘wide and deep’ Plan for effective Bible study

P. 15

What Meredith Flynn shares with Yoda

P. 16

The Illinois Baptist staff

Editor - Eric Reed

Graphic Designer - Kris Kell

Contributing Editor - Lisa Misner

Team Leader - Ben Jones

The general telephone number for IBSA is (217) 786-2600. For questions about subscriptions, articles, or upcoming events, contact the Illinois Baptist at (217) 391-3127 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 month by the Illinois Baptist State Association, 3085 Stevenson Drive, Springfield, Illinois 62703-4440. Subscriptions are free to Illinois Baptists. Subscribe online at IBSA.org.

The BIG Baptist family album

Our Illinois mission field

Jorge Rodriguez is planting Grace Family Church in Chicago. “Night Church is a ministry we have with other like-minded churches in a hot crime area of our neighborhood on Friday nights. We host worship services, food, and games,” he said. Over two years, “we’ve seen people come to Christ, disciples being made, and crime decrease dramatically according to the Police Commissioner. The Chicago Police Department has partnered with us in this venture.”

Pray the news: Respect life

With election day on Nov. 8, new lawmakers will soon take office in Springfield and in Washington. Pray for legislation to be passed that respects life and protects the vulnerable. (See pages 4-5.)

Cooperative Program at work

A deaf woman is baptized in Batangas, a province in the Philippines. The International Mission Board reports ministry among deaf people in Southeast Asia continues to grow.

Giving by IBSA churches as of 10/24/22 $4,277,946

Budget Goal: $5,007,702

Received to date in 2021: $4,527,582

2022Goal: $6.2 Million

NATE ADAMS

Pumpkin disciples

Prior to this fall, I hadn’t set foot in a pumpkin patch for many years. It’s not that doing so is inconvenient. Our neighbor Norm owns several acres adjacent to our subdivision, where he grows sweet corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, and sells them by the roadside. And in the fall, he invites everyone into a large section of his mega-garden known as Kristin’s Pumpkin Patch.

One picture perfect weekend this fall, my wife, Beth, wondered aloud if our two-year-old granddaughter, Ivy, might be old enough to enjoy the pumpkin patch. Norm’s house is near its entrance, and he even provides a fleet of little red wagons with which to shop. So we invited Ivy and her parents to come and discover pumpkins with us.

Ivy absolutely loved it. She loved choosing the wagon and helping push it from behind. She loved walking through cornstalks five times her height into a vast, open field of countless pumpkins. She loved crouching by the pumpkins and touching them. She loved choosing her own pumpkins and watching us cut them from the vine. She loved organizing her pumpkins in the wagon and taking them back to Norm to weigh them. She even loved washing the pumpkins at our house and choosing where to display them.

None of the things Ivy loved about that experience were new or particularly exciting to me. But through her eyes they became new and exciting to me again. Showing her the little I knew about navigating a pumpkin patch rekindled a childlike joy in me. I found myself wondering why we hadn’t gone to the pumpkin patch more often.

Later I thought how much that experience with Ivy resembled evangelism and discipleship, or at least what they should be like. Out of our love for Ivy and our desire for her wellbeing, we told her about something wonderful that she had never experienced. We described the patch and told her what it would be like, but she had to decide whether she would enter into it.

Once inside, we walked with her. We explained things to her. We helped with things she couldn’t yet do herself, like cutting the pumpkins and pulling the wagon. But she was right there participating, learning, choosing, obeying, enjoying. She was a pumpkin patch disciple. And at the end of the day, in her own two-year-old way, she became a pumpkin patch evangelist.

I then thought how much discipleship is like leader development. Many people in a church don’t think of themselves as leaders, or haven’t yet been given an opportunity, or don’t yet have confidence in their gifting or abilities. Many have simply never been invited into that patch. But those of us who know how to select fruit and transport it know that they could too, if someone would invite them in, and show them how.

Perhaps more than ever, our churches need inviting, disciple-makers, and also pastors and leaders who develop disciples into leaders. It takes intentionality, and time, and of course some patience. Maybe that’s why we don’t do it more often.

The pumpkin patch has encouraged me, though, and I hope it will encourage you too, as a metaphor for both making disciples and developing leaders. Even if you haven’t been there for a while, it’s really not that far away, and it’s really not that hard to invite someone who’s never experienced it to join you there, and to discover and grow. Especially if you care about them, you’ll find that experiencing their newfound wonder and joy in the Lord will renew your own. And that’s a place to which we should want to return again and again.

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

Rogers Park

From the front: new HLGU President

Continued from page 1

Healthcare Ministries in Missouri. Harrison worked with Matz as his Acting Executive Vice President to stave off a threatened closure due to declining enrollment and financial shortfall.

U.S. News and World Report said HLGU had 671 undergraduates in fall 2020, following Covid in the spring. Enrollment had dropped more 450 over the previous decade.

Together Harrison and Matz cleared a debt and projected deficit totaling $2.2 million with budget and staff cuts, reconfiguring some of the 30 degree programs, eliminating two competitive sports, sale of property, and with sizable donations from Baptist supporters, including churches.

“The people of God cried out to the Lord and he heard their cry,” Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Director John Yeats said as he welcomed Matz to the new position. “For months, people who love HLGU asked the Lord for a leader and provision to rescue the university.” Under Matz’s leadership, “HLGU has a great hope and a future.”

Trustee chair Mark Anderson said, Matz’s “unique giftedness, godly character, and inspiring vision will help lead the University in the years to come.” Anderson also hailed Harrison’s work in stabilizing the school. “We have truly witnessed a miracle at HLGU and give God all the glory.”

Matz holds degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Liberty University. He was an administrator and faculty member at Midwestern

Illinois aids hurricane recovery

Disaster Relief teams expect prolonged callout in Florida

Southwest Florida | Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers prepared more than 700,000 meals in the first three weeks after Hurricane Ian slammed the Florida coastline with category 4 winds and water. With no electricity or potable water around Fort Myers, the situation grew desperate for people trapped there. And Southern Baptists responded quickly.

Eleven churches immediately opened their facilities for DR teams that were deployed from 21 states.

Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief’s Glen Carty delivered an 18-wheeler with equipment for relief work, and Illinois teams were placed on stand-by for a short time while national Send Relief directors planned a coordinated response.

said North Carolina Baptist volunteer Valerie Cook who was working at a shower and laundry unit.

Ian was the deadliest storm to hit Florida since 1935, killing at least 114 people.

The multi-state response after Hurricane Michael hit Florida in 2018 was 145 days. The callout following this storm could easily last as long. “We will stay here as long

Theological Seminary for ten years. Matz and his wife, Jessica, have three children.

Matz shared their hope after receiving news of his election. “Over the last 164 years, God has shown himself to be incredibly faithful to Hannibal-LaGrange University…. We are fully committed to seeing God transform lives and communities in the days ahead.”

The Missouri school has alumni and support in Illinois. “HLGU still needs strong support from our Baptist families and churches,” Adams said, “and I believe Dr. Matz’s presidency will invite and inspire that support.”

– Eric Reed

The Illinois team set up at First Baptist Church of Venice, along with teams from Midwestern and northern states. As of Oct. 24, the combined effort by 21 states had produced 200,593 work hours, 2,539 jobs completed, and most important, 1,747 gospel presentations with 163 professions of faith.

“This is the Cooperative Program and the cooperative work of who we are in action as multiple state conventions come together to aid in this response,” said David Coggins, state director for Florida Disaster Relief.

“People won’t necessarily remember your name, but they will remember that someone cared enough even in the midst of a disaster,”

as, obviously, the need is here and the work orders and the jobs warrant us having a site here,” Coggins said.

– with info from Baptist Press and The Baptist Paper

MATZ

Mobile abortion clinic planned Greenway resigns from Southwestern

Budget cut by 10% in the interim

Ft. Worth, Texas | The interim leadership team at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary announced budget cuts of $3.6 million to address financial constraints less than a month after President Adam Greenway resigned.

Greenway’s departure came Sept. 23 after a tense meeting with trustees where “areas of concern” were raised, including “dysfunctionality amongst senior leadership, budget mismanagement, overspending resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars of deficits per month, and attempts to pass the blame for these matters onto three different chief financial officers who were each removed,” said Board chair Danny Roberts. They also addressed declining faculty morale.

Fairview Heights | Illinois is set to be the first state to have a Planned Parenthood mobile abortion clinic operating within its boundaries. The clinic will offer medication abortions at the onset, but eventually provide surgical abortions too. It is expected to be operational in southern Illinois by the end of this year. At the same time, pro-life advocates are urging use of available alternative ministries.

Yamelsie Rodriguez of Planned Par enthood in St. Louis announced the new clinic Oct. 3, exactly 100 days after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. It will operate near the Illinois borders with Kentucky, Indiana, and Missouri, states whose abortion laws are more restrictive.

Several elected officials have publicly stated it is their intent to make Illinois an abortion “haven” or “oasis” in the Midwest.

The 37-foot mobile unit will have two exam rooms, a lab, and a waiting room. It will offer medication abortions to women whose pregnancies have reached up to 11 weeks of gestation. Officials said their goal is to see 30 patients a day. The organization said it plans to offer first trimester surgical abortions in the mobile unit early next year.

On the job less than four years, Greenway first said he was taking a position with the International Mission Board, then retracted that statement a day later.

Two leaders familiar to Southern Baptists have stepped into temporary leadership. Former SWBTS professor David Dockery took over as interim president. Dockery was previously president of Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, and president of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. Recently retired Guidestone CEO O.S. Hawkins is serving with Dockery as senior advisor and ambassador-at-large.

“(Greenway) came to Southwestern Seminary during a difficult time of transition and has worked tirelessly to lead the institution to serve well the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention,” Roberts said at the time of Greenway’s resignation.

As reported by The Tennessean newspaper, “Greenway’s presidency was viewed by many as a sea change after his predecessor, Paige Patterson, was ousted for reportedly mishandling reports of sexual assault” in 2018. That included considerable changes in faculty and staff. But the Ft. Worth school also suffered other losses, Greenway said in his resignation. SWBTS had an enrollment of 2,331, but a full-time equivalency of only 1,105. Sources said the school had a $12 million deficit last year.

“What we failed to appreciate was the enormity of the reputational, legal, and financial realities,” Greenway said. His tenure as president was the shortest SWBTS history.

In the trustees meeting Oct. 17-18, Dockery outlined financial cuts that were described as “programs before personnel.” Dockery said SWBTS is “not in a crisis” but financial challenges “could quickly escalate to a crisis if we do not aggressively move to address them.” The Board requested an audit. They also implemented what Roberts called “new financial guardrails” to govern spending.

The school is holding frequent prayer meetings.

– Info from Baptist Press and The Tennessean

At least 66 clinics in 15 states have stopped providing abortions since the Supreme Court’s ruling according to the pro-choice Guttmacher Institute. As a result abortion traffic into Illinois has increased. Rodriguez said the wait times for an appointment at the Planned Parenthood facility in Fairview Heights, 15-minutes from downtown St. Louis, have increased from four days to over two weeks since the state of Missouri’s abortion ban went into effect in June.

In the meantime, Illinois Baptists continue efforts to meet the needs of women experiencing unplanned pregnancies through various church and individual ministries throughout the state. Cooperatively they support three ministries of Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services (BCHFS): GraceHaven Pregnancy Resource Clinic, Angels’ Cove Maternity Home, and Faith Adoption Services.

“We at BCHFS want women experiencing an unplanned pregnancy to know we love them and will provide support services as they make difficult decisions regarding their preborn child,” the entity said in a statement.

– Lisa Misner

Biden pledges Roe protection

Outcome depends on midterm election

Washington, D.C. | Pro-life leaders expressed their strong objection to President Biden’s promise Oct. 18 to make enshrining abortion in law his legislative priority if Democrats control Congress in January.

If voters elect more Democrats to the U.S. Senate and keep his party in the majority in the House of Representatives on Nov. 8, the “first bill” he will send to Congress will be “to codify Roe v. Wade,” Biden said. If Congress approves the legislation, the president said he will sign it into law in January, 50 years after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe ruling legalized abortion nationwide. Roe was overturned in June, returning abortion regulation to the states.

“The ability to take innocent life should not be part of anyone’s governing agenda,” said Brent Leatherwood, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). “Despite the prevailing narrative, Americans do not support the abortion regime and its abortion-on-demand vision.”

Biden has endorsed the Women’s Health Protection Act (WHPA), an abortion rights bill that supporters of the proposal have described as a codification of the Roe opinion. The WHPA, however, would eclipse the 1973 ruling by prohibiting federal and state regulations of the procedure that were permitted by the Supreme Court under Roe

Pro-life advocates have pointed out the WHPA would eliminate such pro-life pro-

tections as state bans on abortions based on the sex of the preborn baby and those after 20 weeks because of evidence the child feels pain by that point. It also would annul parental involvement laws, as well as longstanding bans on taxpayer funding of abortion and conscience protections for pro-life health care workers, they say.

Kristen Day, executive director of Democrats for Life of America, said the president’s pledge “shows desperation about the mid-terms and a grave misunderstanding of mainstream America’s views on the issue of abortion.”

The WHPA “would not protect women; it would allow providers to have unprecedented protections from government oversight, limitations, and regulations and put the power in the hands of the people who stand to make a huge profit over deregulation,” Day said. “It is undemocratic and immoral.”

In addition to urging Congress to protect abortion rights in federal law, Biden has overseen a series of policy actions seeking to negate the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe

About half of the 50 states already have laws or are expected to enact laws that prohibit abortion either throughout pregnancy or at a certain stage of pregnancy, although courts have blocked the enforcement of some.

– Tom Strode is Washington bureau chief for Baptist Press.

Baptists urge uniform abuse prevention laws

2019 Texas legislation is the model for all states

BY TOBIN PERRY, BAPTIST PRESS

Southern Baptist leaders hope a 2019 Texas law passed with bipartisan support may become a model for other states in helping churches pass information among themselves about potential perpetrators of clergy sexual abuse.

The legislation, initially written by Texas pastor and current SBC President Bart Barber, protects charitable organizations, their volunteers, and independent contractors from liability when disclosing credible allegations to prospective employers. It passed in the Texas Senate and House without opposition.

The law then became a model for a resolution adopted by messengers to the 2022 SBC Annual Meeting in Anaheim, Calif.

The resolution urges Southern Baptists to encourage the adoption of laws that “empower churches by shielding them from civil liability when they share information about alleged abuse with other organizations or institutions.”

“Sexual predators (think) creatively about how to get into our churches and prey upon vulnerable people,” said Barber, pastor of First Baptist Church of Farmersville, Texas. “We have to think creatively, and long and hard about what our vulnerabilities are, and how to close those doors. And so passing this law in your state would be great.”

How the law started

Barber began thinking about the need for the new Texas law early in 2019, as the #metoo and #churchtoo movements were helping to re-ignite conversations within SBC churches about the handling of sexual abuse claims.

“Our church was at the point where, for several years, we’re screening volunteers very carefully and going through abuse prevention training for our Trail Life USA ministry here and our American Heritage Girls ministry,” Barber said. “There’s a threat that people will come into your church who abused people elsewhere. How do you prevent that?”

Barber began focusing on ways to encourage communication between churches to prevent predators from moving from church to church to escape prosecution.

Barber knew firsthand how fear of lawsuits caused many churches to hesitate in sharing information about credible sexual abuse accusations.

A few years earlier, Barber and a few other pastors had discovered an instance of disqualifying sexual misconduct by a fellow pastor. The pastor threatened to sue Barber and the other pastors for defamation of character if they disclosed the information to the church where he served.

The threat didn’t deter the pastors, Barber said, but he recognized how a similar situation might cause churches to hesitate to share information.

“It’s real common to receive the advice to never say anything negative about a former employee,” Barber said.

“When people call for a reference check, you just confirm their dates of employment, and say whether they’d be eligible for rehire or whatever. The law doesn’t say you have to approach it that way. It’s just the advice that a lot of people get, and it’s really bad advice…where people have been accused of abuse in ministry.”

A lawyer’s job, Barber noted, is to advise the client that sharing credible information about sexual abuse can increase the legal risk. But a pastor’s

responsibility is not to let that sway his decision about how to act.

“I believed I could help churches make better decisions by helping lawyers give better advice,” Barber said.

Barber admits he is no expert in the process of making laws, but he knows how to copy and paste. He found a couple of similar Texas laws and stitched them together to create a rough draft that he could take to a legislator. That soon led to Texas House Bill 4345.

Barber connected with fellow Texas pastor Ben Wright who was also investigating solutions to the same problem. Wright had reached out to Scott Sanford, a Texas state legislator and SBC pastor. By the time the two connected, they only had a few days to submit new bills to the legislature.

“If we missed this deadline, it would be two years before we can come back and do this again,” Barber said. He reached out to the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission for help writing the bill. “You really need a lawyer who’s a specialist in this.”

Travis Wussow, who was on staff at the ERLC at the time, helped Barber edit the bill’s language and prepare it for Sanford’s submission.

“It was one of those moments, as I think back on it, that gives me joy to see how Southern Baptists can work together to do these things,” Wright said. “Without Travis’s help from the ERLC, it never would have happened. Without Bart’s engagement in all sorts of areas of Southern Baptist life, it wouldn’t happen.

“By God’s grace, the set of people knew each other, and people had the skills to get the different parts of it done,” Wright said. Three months later, HB 4345 passed the Texas legislature and Gov. Greg Abbott signed it into law.

Make it happen here

The 2022 SBC resolution, passed overwhelmingly by messengers, focused on six areas where Southern Baptists could work together related to laws about sexual abuse and clergy. Among the specifics:

Encourage lawmakers to pass laws that would “provide consistent definitions and classification of sexual abuse by pastors.” And encourage lawmakers to pass laws that would “empower churches by shielding them from civil liability when they share information about alleged abuse

with other organizations or institutions.”

No one-size-fits-all approach exists for Southern Baptists who want to help get these laws passed. Coyle Neal, an associate professor of political science at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo., noted that the lawmaking process differs from state to state, yet he had a few practical suggestions applicable across most states.

“First, because this law is passed in Texas… there’s already a document that exists as a law that can be used as a starting place,” Neal said. “Copying laws of other states is a time-honored practice, though, obviously with modifications to make it appropriate for your state.”

Next, contact a state representative. Most states require a legislator to initiate a bill. Wright encouraged churches to reach out to Southern Baptists or fellow evangelicals in the legislature who might make good partners in the process.

Catholic organizations and those involved with private schools will likely also be effective partners, Barber said.

“It’s not going to be hard for you to find people associated with nonprofits who have had this threat made against them” for passing along information about abuse claims, Barber said. “Anybody who has been on the receiving end of that…will be motivated to help you get your bill all the way through to the passage of the law.”

Because the bill will likely have bipartisan support, it may go through the law-making process quickly. But Neal cautioned that state legislative work is necessarily slow. For example, a similar law stalled in Missouri in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The bill still hasn’t passed two years later.

“Be patient and keep plugging away at it,” Neal said. “But realize that even if everyone is on board with it, it can still take time to pass.”

Ex-pastor sentenced

Pled guilty to grooming charge

Decatur | Former pastor Joseph M. Krol was sentenced to 24 months probation in Macon County Court Sept. 30 after he pled guilty to a single charge of grooming a minor. Three other charges brought at the time of his arrest were dropped. Krol, 38, was arrested Oct. 15, 2021, at his home in Dawson after the parents of a teenage girl reported Krol had made sexual advances to their daughter through social media. Krol had met the girl while he was pastor of Galilee Baptist Church north of Decatur. He had left the church for a pastorate at Rochester First Baptist Church in July 2021. The Rochester church dismissed him very soon after his arrest.

Krol was charged on four counts, but three related to solicitation and enticement were dropped as part of his plea agreement. In addition to the two-year probation, Krol was required to register as a sex offender.

The Illinois Baptist State Association assisted both churches in their responses following the arrest as part of IBSA’s ongoing equipping for sexual abuse prevention and ministry to abuse survivors.

– with info from WICS

RESOLVED – A resolution passed by messengers at the 2022 Southern Baptist Convention calls for passage of laws in every state to protect churches when they share information about credible accusations of abuse.

SBTS trustees support male pastor definition

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) trustees passed a resolution affirming its president’s stance that only men can be pastors. The statement passed at the fall trustees’ meeting comes after messengers to the 2022 Southern Baptist Convention raised the question in response to the ordination

Barber gets good reviews after ‘60 Minutes’ interview

Even Anderson Cooper was surprised that Bart Barber agreed to be interviewed for “60 Minutes.” Ahead of a divisive midterm election, with abuse prevention and abortion still on the table, and correspondent Cooper, who is gay, certain to ask about the denomination’s position on sexual identity issues, the SBC president consented to the interview. And he got good marks from many Southern Baptists afterward.

of three women as pastors at Saddleback Church in 2021. In convention debate, SBTS president Al Mohler contended the understanding that only men were pastors was clear when he participated in writing the Baptist Faith and Message (2000). The resolution encourages SBTS to continue training both men and women theologically, “but with men alone reserved for the office and function, and thereby title of pastor.”

Minors’ transition surgery quadruples

The number chest reconstruction operations on adolescents in the U.S. increased from 100 in 2016 to 489 in 2018. About 98% were mastectomies for girls who thought they wanted to transition from female to male. The surgeries were performed with as few as three interviews about the minors’ gender dysphoria. Alabama, Arkansas, and Arizona have outlawed the surgery. Texas has classified it as child abuse. The American College of Pediatrics recently warned about the negative consequences of prescribing puberty blockers for children questioning their gender identity.

Inflation impacts church

A September poll of Protestant pastors shows 52% believe inflation is having a negative impact on their churches, while 40% said the current economy had no impact.The slim majority compares to 45% who faulted the economy in 2021 and 34% nega tive response in 2020. “The souring of pastor attitudes toward the economy is more about rising expenses than declining income,” Lifeway researcher Scott McConnell said.

Church secretary admits embezzlement

The former secretary of First Baptist Church of Foley, Alabama will be sentenced in November for embezzling $209,744 between 2007 and 2019. Sharon Collins could spend 20 years in jail. She entered guilty pleas on 12 counts of wire fraud. Collins charged items on church credit cards, including airline tickets to Las Vegas, a luxury cruise, and college tuition. She was studying criminal justice.

– Christian Post, RNS, Lifeway, WPMI

The 13-minute report featured a walk through the pasture at Barber’s ranch (although viewers were not introduced to Bully Graham and Lottie Mooooon, prized among his small herd). There were snippets of Barber praying and preaching at the 300-member church he has pastored for 23 years. And Barber was both forthright and folksy in his responses to Cooper. “Bart doesn’t have a pretentious bone in his body,” said Marshall Blalock, a South Carolina pastor who worked with Barber on the SBC Sexual Abuse Task Force.

“What makes me appreciate Bart all the more, we saw this exact same passion and commitment as he challenged our Task Force in our first meeting in a quiet room well beyond the spotlight of media coverage and television cameras,” Blalock said.

2020 election. Cooper asked if Barber believes Joe Biden is the legitimate President of the United States.

“I do. Absolutely,” Barber said. “I pray for him consistently as the President of the United States. I believe he was legitimately elected.” Barber talked about his own voting record, against President Trump in 2016, for him in 2020, but he wouldn’t make a commitment to 2024.

“I think a lot of Southern Baptists would be thrilled to have the opportunity to support someone for leadership in our country who’s strong on the values that matter to us,” he said. “Who can do that without putting the vice president’s life in danger?”

Barber said, referring to the Jan 6, 2021 invasion of the Capitol Building.

But overall, Barber advocated the historic Baptist position of separation of church and state. “Blind partisanship destroys everything—except baseball. I’m a St. Louis Cardinals fan (laugh) and I’m stickin’ with that, no matter what,” Barber said.

Response on social media came in real time.

Pressed by Cooper, Barber said emphatically that sexual abuse is horrific and covering it up must be prevented. “The reason why I’m president of the Southern Baptist Convention is because our churches do not agree with that and have taken action to correct those things,” Barber said.

Barber stuck to his positions on homosexuality and the place of homosexuals in the church. Cooper asked if gay people “should be converted out of being gay.” Barber responded, “I believe sinners should be converted out of being sinners, and that applies to all of us.”

Cooper followed up: “Can somebody be a good Christian, a member of the Southern Baptist Convention, and be gay or lesbian and married to a person of the same sex?”

“No,” Barber said.

And he stood by a full ban on abortion, even when Cooper pushed the example of a 10-year-old girl from Ohio, pregnant because of rape, who traveled to Indianapolis in June for an abortion. “I don’t want that to sound like I don’t have tremendous compassion for her and her circumstance,” Barber said. “I see it as horrible. (But) I see it as preferable to killing someone else.”

What may have surprised some people, as it appeared to Cooper, was Barber’s position on the

“Bart represented our churches articulately, clearly, helpfully, empathetically, and most important, biblically,” wrote Florida pastor Jimmy Scroggins.

Southern Seminary professor Denny Burk agreed. “Really well done. Grateful for how Dr. Barber represented Southern Baptists.”

Interim CEO of the SBC Executive Committee Willie McLaurin said Barber’s “passion, conviction and authenticity were on display for the world to see.”

“This was a tremendous opportunity for the world to hear about our convention of churches, and Bart met the moment with grace, humility and conviction…. We are fortunate to have him leading at this moment as the president of the SBC,” said Brent Leatherwood, newly elected head of the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

The unassuming Texas pastor with 20,800 Twitter followers, is still processing his appearance and the response to it. Barber posted:

“One interesting subset of the messages [I] have received since being on TV last week: An initial message comes in praising me for ‘keeping politics out of religion.’ Then they watch the REST of the interview, and the next message critiques the Christian sexual ethic,” Barber posted, next to tweets of dozing cattle and his plans to show at the Texas State Fair.

PASTOR-RANCHER – SBC President Bart Barber is on ‘60 Minutes’ and showing cattle at the Texas State Fair, all in the same week. His daughter, Sarah, studies her phone while seated on heifer she planned to show.

– Eric Reed, with quotes from Baptist Press, CBS News, and the Dallas Morning News

– Twitter

MISSION

Harvest of souls

A first-time ministry to migrant workers is very fruitful

BY BEN JONES AND ERIC REED

Centralia | One of the migrant workers lingered for a few minutes after the meal. Juan Carlos wanted to talk with a pastor.

“My hometown was attacked,” he said, holding out a cell phone. “My parents escaped,” the young man said in Spanish, “but my wife and children are trapped there, and my brothers are missing.”

The pastor was stunned by the photos. Everything was destroyed, and the man talking to him was distressed. “When did this happen?” Pastor de la O asked.

“Yesterday. I don’t know what to do.”

With his family 2,000 miles away, Juan Carlos was stuck in Illinois, harvesting pumpkins. The pastor searched for a few comforting words and offered to pray. When the team planned a weeklong outreach to migrant workers in Southern Illinois, the pastor from Chicago didn’t expect to see such obvious spiritual need. Nor did he see in the moment that this was the machinery turning for an unexpected harvest of souls.

BAND OF BROTHERS – Pastors Tony Muñoz, Jonathan de la O, Ricky Alcala, and Rene Corona teamed up with leaders from Ten Mile Baptist Church in McLeansboro to share the gospel with about 100 workers in Southern Illinois for the pumpkin harvest.

At a family lunch one a year earlier, Hunter DeJournett mentioned that he wanted to learn Spanish. The teenager from McLeansboro had recently started working at a pumpkin farm. “I want to talk to the migrant workers about Jesus,” he said.

Migrant workers from Mexico and Central America come to Illinois every fall to harvest pumpkins. Illinois is the nation’s leading pumpkin producing state. The workers begin in Florida picking tomatoes and strawberries in early Spring, move eventually to Indiana for watermelon season, and come to Illinois in late September. Some of them are away from home for six months or more.

Hunter’s comment to his family might seem incidental to this story, if it weren’t followed by several other events that clearly are not coincidence.

IBSA church planting catalyst Ken Wilson had arranged for delivery of extra produce from a Southern Illinois farm to Starting Point Community Church, a Latino congregation serving the Belmont Cragin neighborhood in Chicago. Pastor Jonathan de la O was glad for the outreach opportunity offered by free produce in a city marked by food deserts.

Jared Pryer, a member of Ten Mile Baptist Church in downstate McLeansboro, served in the delivery. Talking with Pastor de la O, he remembered the comment made by his nephew, Hunter.

“Does your church do any mission work outside the city?” Pryer asked. The pastor responded no. “Would you consider bringing people to Southern Illinois to work with migrant workers?” His response was an enthusiastic yes.

A short time later, Pryer was talking to a local farmer who had recently begun attending Ten Mile church. Fairly new to pumpkin farming, Leon Adams and his wife were praying about how they could minister to migrant workers who harvested their crop.

“As a farmer, it’s hard for me to go to the nations, but they’ve been coming to me,” he said. Adams joined Pryer on his next trip to Chicago to deliver vegetables to de la O’s church. The farmer and the pastor quickly connected over their concern for lost people. The Chicago pastor shared how his father-in-law in El Salvador worked as a migrant, traveling to California to follow the harvests and to feed his family back home.

“We didn’t know how this was going to come together,” he said. “At some points, it looked like it might not.” But when de la O contacted two Latino pastors in Chicagoland, he found eager partners. Rene Corona of Iglesia Bautista Alfa y Omega and Ricardo Alcala of Iglesia Camino Al Cielo brought unique teaching and evangelism gifts to the mix. And Tony Muñoz of Iglesia Bautista Latina in Effingham would plan worship.

Hunter, youth from Ten Mile Church, and others volunteered to cook, deliver, and serve the food. Immanuel Church in Benton provided toiletries and work gloves. Sugar Camp Church in Mt. Vernon would host the traveling pastors. First Baptist Church of Centralia (a non-IBSA partner) graciously offered use of their fellowship hall. The church is located adjacent to the hotel where the workers were staying. IBSA supported the work with an evangelism event grant.

What developed over the course of a week was daily visits by the pastors to the fields. At lunch or during a short break, the pastors shared briefly and prayed for safety, in anticipation of three evening events that might provide times for sharing the gospel.

“The first night everyone was kind of quiet,” de la O said, “mostly wondering what this was and why we were doing this.”

“We didn’t know ‘anglos’ actually cared for us,” one man said. “That’s not how we are usually treated.” But hot home cooked meals, worship and testimony, and gifts were well received, and even more so on the second night. Two men stayed afterward to talk with one of the pastors. Both prayed to receive Christ.

That’s the night Juan Carlos told de la O about his missing family. The next night, Juan Carlos found the pastor again. “My family is ok,” he said in Spanish. “My wife and children escaped, and my brothers are all alive. Thank you for praying!”

De la O gave God the credit. After dinner on that third night, Juan Carlos prayed for salvation.

“I saw him standing over by the table with the gloves,” de la O said. “We asked the men who were interested in praying to stay a few minutes. I thought they all wanted work gloves, but they wanted to know Jesus.”

All 14 of them that night.

In all, 18 men prayed to receive Christ during the week. Before they left for the next harvest, Pastor Muñoz baptized two of them. “Pastor Tony kept telling us, ‘We have to disciple these men,’” de la O said. His excitement for God’s movement spills out as he tells the story. The team is making plans for next season.

And Hunter? After the dinner, he was collecting leftover gospel literature in Spanish to take to migrants on the farm where he works.

Their dedication to sharing the gospel—that’s no coincidence.

de la O and DeJournett

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering

Reaching the diaspora from home

If it happened in Arkansas, it can happen here

(Editor’s note: The 2022 Week of Prayer for International Missions features stories from the Philippines, Ghana, Uganda, Moldova, and Arkansas. Arkansas? Yes, that’s where a church met a few college students from a nearby campus and took them—and their distant countrymen—to heart. The world has come to Arkansas, just as it has to Illinois.)

Magnolia, Ark | Bibles lay open amid food wrappers on the fast-food restaurant table. The two men sat quietly discussing a key concept in Christianity—Jesus rising from the dead.

“WHAT? NO WAY!” the college student from Uzbekistan exclaimed and grabbed one of the Bibles. “Did he fly or something?”

Ben Coulter, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Magnolia, Arkansas, stifled a chuckle and explained Jesus’ resurrection. The excitement on Alex Pokusaev’s face showed he understood. The next Sunday, the Southern Arkansas University international student chose to follow Jesus.

The decision was not made on a whim. Alex spent months asking Ben and anyone else at the church question after question. He explained that as an international student 7,000 miles away from home, he was curious about everything. It was all new.

“I didn’t grow up with any beliefs,” Alex said, noting that he was baptized in the Russian Orthodox church by his father while his mother was a nominal Muslim.

Most at the Arkansas church had never heard of Uzbekistan. As the college student shared about his homeland, church members

began to love Uzbeks. Fewer than 1% in his home country claim Jesus as their Savior. Their hearts broke as Alex asked, “What happens to those who have never heard of Jesus?”

That question spurred the church to action. They committed to working with Uzbeks in Arkansas. The Arkansas Baptist State Convention works in conjunction with the International Mission Board and the North American Mission Board to reach diaspora people groups within the United States. Diaspora means the movement, migration, settlement or scattering of people away from their indigenous homeland. Immanuel Baptist Church strategically engaged diaspora groups by reaching out to internationals in their area.

But, they wanted more. They sent a team to New York, home to over 100,000 Uzbeks.

“God gave us a heart for Uzbekistan. Alex had been in the United States for multiple years. No one ever sat down and explained the gospel to him before coming here,” Coulter said. “Our church realized God was bringing unreached people groups to us...not just Arkansas but the United States.”

As the Arkansans came out of the New York subway and surfaced on the streets of Brighton Beach for the first time, they didn’t hear much English. The smells from food stalls and restaurants were unfamiliar. It was international missions without leaving the U.S.

“What started out as reaching an Uzbek student in our backyard, turned into a burden for an entire nation,” Coulter said. “How many Uzbeks don’t know Jesus rose from the dead? We need to do something about it.”

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and Week of Prayer for International Missions

December 4-11, 2022

Resources available at IMB.org

Chicago church hosts Lottie meeting

Wheeling | The Chicago Golden Light Chinese Baptist Church honored the pioneering work of Southern Baptist missionary Lottie Moon with a online conference reaching more than 1,000 churches and homes worldwide. The conference in late September recognized Moon’s contribution in catalyzing missions to China.

Evan Liu, pastor of Chicago Golden Light and Asian Studies professor at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, called the conference a “missional feast for the global Chinese Christian community.”

The multi-day conference featured plenary sessions from Todd Lafferty and Hal Cunningham of the International Mission Board, Andrew Brunson, former missionary to Turkey and religious prisoner, and many Chinese Christian leaders.

Workshop sessions brought the experiences and witnesses of frontier missionaries in East Asia, Central Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas to Mandarin speaking Christians in-person in Chicago and Montville, New Jersey, as well as around the world through live streaming.

Liu also leads the Chicago China Servant Leadership Center. He has written on the need for missionaries to model Lottie Moon’s strategies on the mission field. Liu emphasized Moon’s importance to Chinese Christians, noting the stone monument built in her honor in Shandong province that reads, “For the unending love of missionary Lottie Moon from Great America.” Moon served in China from 1873 to 1912. She died from malnutrition in Kobe, Japan, while travelling back to the United States. The SBC’s annual Christmas offering for international missions is named in her honor.

– IMB Photos

1. The college Sunday school class is where the love of internationals began for this church in Magnolia, Arkansas. Every Sunday, students pray for the nations marked on the map where current and former students call home.

2. Pastor Ben Coulter prays over college students at a graduation party they hosted for international students.

3. Alex Pokusaev fills his plate at a church potluck dinner in Arkansas. There, 7,000 miles from his home in Uzbekistan, the student accepted Jesus as his Savior. The church took Uzbeki people as their mission.

MISS MOON

THE cooperative program • 3 rd quarter report jan. 1 - Sept. 30

Budget season is CP season

This report includes contributions received by the Illinois Baptist State Association through the third quarter of 2022. For questions about this report, contact the IBSA Church Operations Team at (217) 391-3106, e-mail JeffDeasy@IBSA.org, or write to 3085 Stevenson Drive, Springfield, IL 62703. Now is the time to think about 2023 missions.

Planning while your church drafts next year’s budget means missions won’t be an afterthought.

Cooperative Program giving to missions provides a steady revenue stream for missionaries on the field. It eliminates multiple appeals and frequent visits home to ask for funding.

When 900+ IBSA churches and almost 50,000 SBC churches give together, our gifts are multiplied. CP made SBC missions the most effective witnessing force on the field—ever.

Top 100 Illinois churches in Cooperative Program support through the third quarter of 2022

Steeleville, Steeleville 17,322.44

Delta, Springfield 16,879.64

Wayne City, Wayne City 16,666.95

Lakeland, Carbondale 16,488.98

West Frankfort First, West Frankfort 16,225.44

Pleasant Hill First, Pleasant Hill 15,866.63

Together on North Grand, Springfield 15,594.10

Pinckneyville First, Pinckneyville 15,414.62

Litchfield First, Litchfield 15,242.56

Liberty, Harrisburg 14,895.35

Ullin First, Ullin 14,656.00

McKinley Avenue, Harrisburg 14,458.88

Northside Missionary, Grayville 13,904.09

Living Faith, Sherman 13,903.12

Nashville First, Nashville 13,500.00

Brainard Avenue, Countryside 12,841.22

Greenup First Southern, Greenup 12,482.17

Eastview, Springfield 12,406.00

Machesney Park First, Machesney Park 12,166.95

Mt Carmel First, Mount Carmel 12,081.40

Meadowridge, Zion 12,003.66

Samaria Missionary, Albion 11,864.00

Cornerstone, Savoy 11,736.00

Calvary, Pittsfield 11,673.00

Mascoutah First, Mascoutah 11,478.17

Avenue, Wood River

Bethel, Bourbonnais

Gospelife North Wheaton, Carol Stream 11,250.00

Plan now for missions

Remember these words:

• regular

• systematic

• percentage giving.

When the church budget is approved, the giving plan is in place for the full year.

Regular giving means the decision is made one time. The missions offering is built into the budget just like salaries or utilities. Missions becomes the first objective rather than last option.

Top 100 Illinois churches in per capita CP support through the third quarter of 2022

Church of the Cross, Mahomet 97.80 Bethlehem, Shipman 95.79

O’Fallon First, O Fallon 95.78

Calvary, Elgin 95.62

Golf Road, Des Plaines 94.91

Systematic giving means the CP check is sent to IBSA usually on a monthly basis.

IBSA uses

56.5% for missions in Illinois, and sends

Ramsey 86.79

Peace Community, Chicago 86.67

Grace Fellowship Amboy-Sublette 86.59

Clarksville, Marshall 86.42

New Beginnings Christian, Ashland 86.11

43.5% to the SBC for worldwide gospel advance.

Pray about increased giving

Percentage giving

means most churches choose to send a percentage of their undesignated offerings to missions through CP. Percentage giving keeps missions funding in balance

The average percentage given by Illinois churches is 6.2%. The original plan for CP giving in 1925 was 10% of undesignated offerings. Many churches still give that amount or more today.

1% more in CP giving would make a difference for missionaries. Now is the time to prayerfully consider encouraging the church to raise its CP commitment for 2023.

Please plan for 1% more.

GROWING

Learning curve recommendaTions

Advent Alphabet

Ray Pritchard

This devotional is excellent for children and adults. It provides 26 days of brief studies on the journey to Christmas, from A to Z. It’s available in book form or as a PDF. Videos with Pastor Pritchard are also available at keepbelieving.com.

table talk

Journaling God’s goodness

This spiritual discipline changed my faith walk—and me.

Many years ago, I was in a Bible study where an author discussed the spiritual practice of rehearsing our trust in God’s faithfulness. There haven’t been many learning moments in my life that were as completely transformational as learning to incorporate this single spiritual discipline into my daily walk with Christ.

Too Good to Be False: How Jesus’ Incomparable Character Reveals His Reality

Tom Gilson

This book takes a fresh look at the character of Jesus and how that testifies to his divine person and mission. I was especially struck by the things Jesus didn’t do or say, such as using his power for his own benefit, and by his confidence in his own authority. A renewed awe at the person of Jesus was just what I needed as I started a new study in Luke.

– Tina Logsdon Pastor’s wife, teacher Island City Church, Wilmington

Gospel-Driven Ministry

Jared C. Wilson

Wilson looks at the basics of pastoring through the lens of the gospel. Where two or three are gathered in Jesus’ name, I sometimes say, there will be conflict. In the midst of crisis, what a pastor needs is to return to the gospel roots that drive shepherding.

– Jonathan Hyashi Pastor, Northern Hills Church, Holt, Missouri

What does it mean to rehearse trust in God’s faithfulness? It is quite simple. It means that as we speak to God about the areas in life where we need to see his hand or see him move, we gratefully speak to him aloud about all the times he has shown up and moved before.

This makes perfect sense considering Philippians 4:6-7: “Do not be anxious for anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

I recited that verse for years and missed the most important part. If we are to find peace in Christ, we must offer our requests with thanksgiving in our hearts.

To get to a place of genuine thanksgiving, I learned to speak out loud to God of all the ways he has been faithful in the past,

knowing that my God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Therefore, if he was faithful yesterday, he will be faithful again today.

Implementing this discipline ignited a passion and trust in me that I had never experienced before. Then the world shut down in 2020, and I found myself in a dark place spiritually.

I can honestly say that the fear which held me in darkness was not a fear of Covid-19. It was anxiety over end times that kept me awake at night. For the first time, I began to see how prophecy could possibly unfold in my lifetime.

I love to speak of the return of Christ where he will gather us all and take us home. I do not enjoy discussing the scary things that must take place before all is said and done. My concern, however, was not for myself. I believed, even in those dark days, that my faith in God’s ability to sustain me was unwavering. My concern was for my children and my grandchildren. Would their faith in God be strong enough to sustain them through trials that could come?

These 3 a.m. thoughts over things I could not control were unbearable, and I was finding it impossible to find things to rehearse as my trust.

I realized that simply rehearsing

my trust was no longer enough. I had to write it down in anticipation of days when I would be unable to think past my current situation to see my God. I began a daily journal that simply records where I saw God’s faithfulness yesterday. Even in dark days, I knew I could always rehearse the things he had done in Scripture for the heroes of our faith, but I needed reminders that the God of the Bible is the God of my days as well.

Nothing I write in the journal is long or eloquent. Much of it may seem very common, but James tells us that every good and perfect gift is from above, so I take note even in the common. Here are some random samples as I flip through the pages:

April 15, 2021: “Yesterday, I was falsely accused in a meeting. God gave me the words to be able to speak healing into the situation instead of entering my default defense mode. He is so faithful to show up when I allow him to!”

September 13, 2021: “I saw God’s faithfulness yesterday in my granddaughter who comes to church looking for me and jumps into my arms to tell me how glad she is to see me. Thank you, Lord! You are so good.”

February 5, 2022: “The snow is such a beautiful reminder to me that there is beauty in every season because God is faithful.”

Then there are entries such as this one when God clearly reminds me of why I began journaling his faithfulness and my gratitude in the first place: “I’m trusting God’s faithfulness today even when I can’t see it because I am reading my own testimony to his faithfulness over and over in this journal.”

As I begin each new day, I never know what lies in store, but I always have yesterday, and all my yesterdays are filled with the faithfulness of my God. I build my life on the assurance that the God who was faithful yesterday is the same God who woke me up this morning, and he will be faithful again today.

– Carol Doom Living Faith, Sherman

Tammie Emerson is a wife, mother, grandmother, teacher, and worship leader living in Sherman.

“The pastor challenged us to re-establish genuine human connection. Step one: update my call list.”

Anniversary celebration

Chinese church marks 42 years

neTworking

Send NetworkiNg items to IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org

Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services is looking for Christ-centered people to come on mission with us in the following positions. Visit bchfs.com/employment for more information.

• House Parents or Single House Mother, Residential Care, Carmi

• House Mother, Angels’ Cove, Mt. Vernon

• Development Officer

• Multimedia Marketing Specialist

• Baptist Children’s Home Campus Program Manager

• Licensed Counselor, Metro East Outpatient Location

Charity Baptist Church in Carlinville seeks full-time pastor. Set in a rural community, Charity has a growing church family. Please send resumé to charitybcpastorsearch@gmail. com or 21964 Charity Church Road, Carlinville, IL 62626.

with the lord

C. Ernest Essary, 95, died Oct. 18 in Lewisville, Texas. The Illinois pastor was a native of Dale, Illinois and called Norris City home. He pastored New Prospect and Ditney Ridge churches. In 1993 he was named IBSA bivocational pastor of the year. Essary is survived by his wife of 61 years, Nellie, and daughter, LaNelle.

Chinese Baptist Church of Northwest Suburbs (Chicago) celebrated its 42nd anniversary Sept. 25. The event also honored the 32nd anniversary of Pastor Benjamin Tam and his wife, Linda (above right). IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams and his wife, Beth, were on hand. The church offers services in Cantonese and combined Mandarin and English. Adams observed that the church has developed a strong ministry with young professionals. The church is located in Rolling Meadows.

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. Help grow our church and have a desire to serve God. Send resume to 341 East Elm, Waverly, IL 62692.

June Johnson Harrison, 91, of Clay City, died Sept. 13. A native of Thompson, she married her husband, Russell, at FBC Thompson in 1948. More recently, Harrison was a member of Community Southern Baptist Church of Clay City. “She had perfect Sunday School attendance for 85 years,” her obituary said. Harrison was featured in the Illinois Baptist, and IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams presented a plaque on the 80th anniversary of her record achievement. “June had a strong faith in her Lord and a commitment to her church. She faithfully attended church as long as she could,” the announcement said.

Churches face legal issues all the time, so they need to be prepared. And when an issue arises, churches need trusted counsel.

With over 24 years of service, at all court levels, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has seen the cultural and legal trends clearly shift against the Church.

We can help your church prepare itself for these changes.

Enter code IBSA20 to receive a reduced annual membership of $200, which is 20% off the regular price.

Going wide and deep

IBSA team leader tries proven groups strategy at his own church

Jesus gave his church one mission: to go and make disciples. This means that we are to reach, teach, and baptize people. This is why a solid, gospel-focused groups ministry is so vital to a church. A thriving groups ministry introduces people to studying the Word and invites them to a deeper dive into the Scriptures. In other words, when church leaders dedicate themselves to going both wide and deep in their groups ministry strategy, people are changed by the power of God’s Word.

At Together Church, formerly called Springfield Southern, we had experienced a revival of sorts. The neighborhood around the church had been in deep decline as drug addiction, homelessness, crime, and hopelessness were all around. The church itself was also in a decline.

Thankfully, the members, led

Flake’s formula still works

1. Know your possibilities. Both in ministry and among the people in the community.

2. Enlarge the organization. Create new groups for new people.

3. Enlist and train workers. New group leaders will draw and keep new members.

4. Provide space and equipment. Study room assignments and best use of facilities.

5. Go after the people. Make a four-week or fourmonth plan for personal contacts.

by Pastor Doug Morrow, began to face the challenges head on. They renamed their church Together Church. They renovated the building and initiated new ministries to the community. As the community was engaged, people began to show up, and worship attendance had grown significantly.

Anytime a guest comes to a worship service, there needs to be a next step, a process to connect them with the rest of the church. Thom Rainer, in his book High Expectations, stated that 84% of all new members in a church will disappear if they are not connected to a Bible study group. In other words, if there is not a thriving groups ministry and a process for getting people into this ministry, they will leave.

Groups are key to a resurgence in the church. Statistics show that people in groups stick more, serve more, give more, share their faith more, and are more welcoming to guests. Groups produce people who are more discipled and more likely to disciple. Groups matter.

Groups were how Jesus often operated. He connected to the three,

January Bible Study

Whether your winter landscape looks like a day at the beach or you’re up to your elbows in snow, it’s a great time for a personal growth. The January Bible Study is a Southern Baptist tradition, focusing on Ephesians this year. Plan for 8 sessions, as a week-long or month-long study.

Visit Lifeway.com for teacher and student resources.

Peter, James, and John, as well as the twelve. He went deeper with the three, taught more frequently with the twelve, and was able to multiply his twelve into what we see today. Basically, Jesus spent time with the few to affect the many.

At Together Church, there was a need to connect people to groups. This meant that everyone needed to connect consistently through the Sunday School, but also a deeper, more engaging discipleship study in an even smaller setting. There needed to be “a wide and a deep” strategy to help everyone grow in their faith. So, what did we do?

We cast a wide net. Almost 100 years ago, Arthur Flake of the Baptist Sunday School Board (now Lifeway) formulated key principles for growing and multiplying the Sunday School. (Ken Braddy of Lifeway wrote about Flake’s Formula on his blog, kenbraddy.com.)

Following these principles, we started thinking about the possibilities of our groups ministry. We knew that we needed to start more classes through the Sunday School as a good first step toward Bible study. Our first

class was to be aimed at younger and middle adults who attended worship but were not currently in an existing class. Now that we decided a group to target, we prepared a good space for the class that was both inviting and conducive for Bible study. Last, we reached out by text, email, and phone calls to our target group. The response was exciting: that first Sunday, we had 11 people, with several new to Sunday School!

We dove deeper. While Sunday School (or any small group) is vital for the church, we also had a need for deeper discipleship that didn’t necessarily take place in this setting. As a result, we went with D-Groups as a companion strategy to Sunday School to help people dive deeper.

D-Groups are micro groups of three people of the same gender who study Scripture in a safe atmosphere that encourages spiritual growth. Utilizing mature, godly men and women in the church as leaders, we started D-Groups on Wednesday nights and let them invite people into their D-groups. They connected with each other each week by praying and studying a section of Scripture. As a result, we have seen a greater spiritual growth, closer relationships, and better accountability in the church as these D-Groups have met together.

As Jesus spent time with the few to affect the many, so should we. When we focus on a groups strategy to engage more people and yet give opportunities for deeper discipleship, people grow. The two-stage principle of going “wide and deep” worked at our church, but this strategy can work anywhere.

For girls grades 6-12 • Nov. 4-5

AWSOM weekend gathers a community of student girls for a time of worship, solid Bible teaching, and practical training. These opportunities will equip them to become more grounded in their walk with Jesus.

Fran Trascritti is Team Leader for the IBSA Growth Team.

Guest speaker Courtney Veasey

The force is with us BRIGHTER DAY

Our family’s recent Covid quarantine finally provided my husband an opportunity to introduce our daughters to Star Wars. Over several days, they dug into the space saga until we were all well-steeped in the story of good versus evil.

A few days later, we were rushing around the house scrambling to leave for a muchneeded outing. As I called out instructions about shoes and sunscreen, my youngest daughter, Molly, sat on the arm of the couch, unhurried. “What are you doing?” I asked, wondering why she hadn’t jumped in to help speed our progress.

“I’m using the force,” she said, shifting her gaze from me to a point on the horizon, a small smile on her face. (For the uninitiated, the force is the unseen power used by Star Wars’ Jedi warriors; basically, it’s how they get things done.) Molly and I both knew the force wasn’t going to find her shoes, but the moment reminded me how appealing it is to know we have a partner, a source of strength ready and willing to help.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that around the same time, I started reading the Book of Acts with my discipleship group. Its main character—the Holy Spirit—is unseen but

EVENTS

Nov. 1-2

IBSA Pastors Conference

Nov. 2-3

IBSA Annual Meeting

Where: Metro Community Church, Edwardsville Info: IBSAAnnualMeeting.org

November 4-5

AWSOM Conference for teen girls

Where: Tabernacle Church, Decatur

Info: IBSA.org/awsom-conference/

November 7-9

IBSA 2022 Streator Experience

(Men’s Winter Bible Study)

Where: Streator Baptist Camp

Cost: $100 per person (includes lodging and meals)

Contact: Ric Worshill at chaplain@shomreem.org or Don Evans at pastordon63@gmail.com

Info: Facebook.com/StreatorExperience

very obviously at work fueling the early church. After he arrived on the scene, people came to faith in Jesus every day (Acts 2:47), even many of the priests who had recently opposed him (Acts 6:7).

Even with that evidence, how easy it is for me to forget about the Holy Spirit or file him away in a box marked “unknowable.” And maybe this is a common predicament for a lot of Christians. Even Bible teacher Anne Graham Lotz, speaking during IBSA’s Priority conference a few years ago, confessed she’d been scared of the Spirit as a child because he was called the “Holy Ghost” in her church.

Thankfully, the Spirit’s character is clear in Scripture. He’s not like the force in Star Wars, neutrally wielded by good guys and bad guys like. He’s a gift given to all those who turn to Jesus for forgiveness of sin (Acts 2:38), a helper sent by God himself (John 14:26).

I didn’t expect Star Wars or quarantine to remind me to be thankful for the Holy Spirit. But I’m glad God in his kindness, and by his Spirit, saw fit to do so.

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

November 12

Conferencia de Plantación de Iglesias

Where: 15401 Wolf Rd Orland Park, IL 60467

Cost: Evento Gratis

Info: https://www.paperlesspost.com/ go/9359LjzFPmQVnkiMLaANK

December 4-11

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and Week of Prayer for International Missions

Contact: LisaHarbaugh@IBSA.org

Info: LottieMoon.com

January 12

Tax Seminar

Where: IBSA Building, Springfield

Contact: FranTrascritti@IBSA.org

January 17-18

Illinois Leadership Summit

Where: IBSA Building, Springfield

Contact: FranTrascritti@IBSA.org

Trends from nearby and around the world

– Singer Willie Nelson who lost almost everything in 1993 when convicted for $32 million in unpaid taxes.

Culture: Healthy conversations

Abundant jokes are made about arguments at the Thanksgiving table, but what about the whole nation? One-third of American adults have confidence in no one to lead vital national discussions.

At 32%, Evangelicals are more likely than others to esteem the pastor’s role. But nobody scored especially well, including the president.

Our elected president

Pastors of local churches

Elected members of Congress

University professors

Business leaders

Members of the media

Musicians

Professional athletes

None of these

18%

14%

– Lifeway Research, reported July 2022

People: Growing hunger

5 KERNELS OF CORN

In winter 1620-21, Pilgrims severely rationed food as supplies dwindled. Half the Mayflower passengers died by spring.

4,000+

CALORIES

Most Americans eat twice their usual daily intake at Thanksgiving dinner.

323 calories

42 million people in America experience food insecurity, including 13 million children. That’s 1-in-6. In Illinois, four counties have rates over 40% higher than the national average: Franklin, Gallatin, Saline, and Alexander. – Feeding America and Stacked.com – Consumer Reports

Most popular turkey side dishes by state:

IOWA ILLINOIS INDIANA

MEREDITH FLYNN

When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.