Wednesday, January 03, 2018

• GuideStone enters centennial after an eventful 2017

  by Roy Hayhurst, posted Wednesday, January 03, 2018 (one year ago)

  

  Photo by Joe Westbury/The Christian Index

  DALLAS (BP) -- GuideStone Financial Resources is entering its 2018 centennial following a year marked by continued recognition for its retirement investment performance and record support for retired ministers and their widows facing financial struggles.

  Also during 2017, the Southern Baptist entity saw court-related advances for the sanctity of life but a new court challenge over the minister's housing allowance.

  O.S. Hawkins had declared 2017 as the "Year of Innovation" in an annual tradition ... Read More

• Nat'l CP 0.98% above last year's 1st quarter

  by BP Staff, posted Wednesday, January 03, 2018 (one year ago)

  

  SBC graphic

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- Year-to-date contributions through the Southern Baptist Convention's portion of the Cooperative Program are 0.98 percent ahead of the same time frame at the end of 2016 and 3.69 percent under the SBC Cooperative Program Allocation Budget projection for the year according to a news release from SBC Executive Committee President and CEO Frank S. Page.

  The $46,229,225.46 received by the Executive Committee from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31 for distribution through the Cooperative Program Allocation Budget represents 96.31 percent of the $48,000,000.00 year-to-date budgeted amount to support ... Read More

• FEMA: Churches now eligible for recovery funds

  by David Roach, posted Wednesday, January 03, 2018 (one year ago)

  

  BP file photo.

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- Churches whose facilities have been damaged by natural disasters now are eligible to receive relief funds from the federal government, according to a Jan. 2 announcement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

  "Private nonprofit houses of worship will not be singled out for disfavored treatment within the community centers subcategory of [public assistance] nonprofit applicants," FEMA Recovery Directorate Assistant Administrator Alex Amparo wrote in a guide outlining the change in policy. The guide defines, among other matters, ... Read More

• 2017 SBC Pastors' Conf. issues financial report

  by David Roach, posted Wednesday, January 03, 2018 (one year ago)

  

  Screen capture from sbcannualmeeting.net.

  PHOENIX (BP) -- In what may be the Southern Baptist Convention Pastors' Conference's first public financial report, 2017 conference president Dave Miller noted expenditures of just over $400,000 for the Phoenix gathering plus an additional $100,000 provided by the Cooperative Program to help pay for meeting space.

  "As pastors of average and smaller churches, the costs of the conference boggled our minds," Miller, pastor of Southern Hills Baptist Church in Sioux City, Iowa, wrote in a Jan. 2 report. "But we found that with the support of the entities of the SBC ... Read More

• Christians killed globally for faith at Christmas

  by Diana Chandler, posted Wednesday, January 03, 2018 (one year ago)

  

  Russian Television video screen capture

  RIVERS STATE, Nigeria (BP) -- The deaths of nearly 150 Christians have been reported in targeted attacks on religious minorities in Nigeria, Cairo and India during the 2017 Christmas season, according to various reports from religious liberty advocates and news agencies.

  Among the latest attacks, unidentified assailants killed between 14 and 16 Christians leaving a midnight New Year's Eve service Jan. 1 in Omuku town in Rivers State, Nigeria, the BBC and Nigerian Independent news reported Jan. 2. The gunmen fired at random and at close range, according to police who said the ... Read More

• Innovation, CP giving spur Oregon church's vitality

  by Karen L. Willoughby, posted Wednesday, January 03, 2018 (one year ago)

  

  Photo courtesy of Grant Avenue Baptist Church.

  CORVALLIS, Ore. (BP) -- Because Grant Avenue Baptist Church trusts its long-tenured pastor Don Reeves, it was willing to embrace change, Reeves told Baptist Press upon his 23rd year at the church's helm.

  The church of 190 Sunday morning worshipers in residential Corvallis, Ore., just added a second weekly service, is contemplating a third, and this school year welcomed about 80 college students, primarily Asian Americans.

  "We changed the complexion of the church overnight. It's a phenomenal change," ... Read More

• 10 resolutions for missions in the New Year

  by Chuck Lawless, posted Wednesday, January 03, 2018 (one year ago)

  

  Image: iStock/license purchase required.

  RICHMOND, Va. (BP) -- It's a new year -- a time when many of us make resolutions. If you're like I am, those resolutions are often self-focused. We plan to exercise more, eat less, save more dollars, take more time off, accomplish some long-delayed goals, and generally make this year more productive than the last one.

  These resolutions aren't wrong, but I'd like to challenge you to think more externally and globally with your resolutions this year. The new year is not only an opportunity for a new start. It's another opportunity of grace to be part of reaching the nations. Read More

• FIRST-PERSON: Hope in the New Year

  by Jeff Iorg, posted Wednesday, January 03, 2018 (one year ago)

  Amid the world's tumult, Jeff Iorg envisions hope for 2018 by sharing the Gospel, making disciples, doing good works and aiding organized efforts for even greater works. Read More