Baptist Press Archive

Monday, June 22, 2015

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  • LifeWay reports strategic changes

    by Lisa Cannon Green, posted Monday, June 22, 2015 (9 years ago)

    By Paul W. Lee
    COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- LifeWay Christian Resources is poised to reach a million people this fall with its Christ-centered curriculum, The Gospel Project, leaders announced at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Columbus.

    During his report to SBC messengers, LifeWay President Thom S. Rainer laid out three strategic changes LifeWay is making to prepare for the future and serve churches more effectively. These strategic changes include selling its sprawling headquarters in downtown Nashville later this year and building a smaller facility nearby. Read More

  • FIRST-PERSON: Reflections on our 2015 Southern Baptist Convention
    by Ronnie Floyd, posted Monday, June 22, 2015 (9 years ago)

    President Ronnie Floyd recaps 10 highlights from last week's Southern Baptist Convention in Columbus, Ohio. "My heart is overflowing with gratitude to our great God for meeting with us in Columbus in a powerful manner," Floyd writes. "People came with great expectation and prayerfully returned to their churches resounding with great hope." Read More

  • Charleston church massacre sparks prayer & grace
    by Diana Chandler, posted Monday, June 22, 2015 (9 years ago)

    CHARLESTON, S.C. (BP) -- Southern Baptists are among those praying and uniting after a 21-year-old white supremacist slaughtered nine Christians at a historic black church in Charleston, S.C.

    Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, which traces its roots to the 1816 founding of a Charleston church affiliated with the Free Africa Society, opened its doors to an interfaith, multiracial crowd of worshippers during June 21 morning worship, just four days after one of the country's deadliest church shootings. Read More

  • Church security: need highlighted by S.C. shooting
    by David Roach, posted Monday, June 22, 2015 (9 years ago)

    CHARLESTON, S.C. (BP) -- The massacre of nine Christians during a prayer service at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C., highlights the need for all congregations to implement security measures, a security expert told Baptist Press.

    "The biggest obstacle for churches is just not believing that [a violent attack] could happen at their churches," said Jimmy Meeks, a Southern Baptist police officer in Hurst, Texas, who presents church security seminars across America. People "don't listen to what needs to be done until they believe it needs to be done." Read More

  • Court gives unanimous win to small church, others
    by Tom Strode, posted Monday, June 22, 2015 (9 years ago)

    "This was a huge win for freedom of speech."-- Russell Moore
    WASHINGTON (BP) -- For pastor Clyde Reed, a win at the highest court of the land was a significant victory not only for his small church but for many Americans.

    "I thank God that the Supreme Court affirmed our First Amendment freedoms and sent the message that the church's speech can't be targeted for restriction," Reed said after the U.S. Supreme Court's opinion issued June 18. "More importantly, I am blessed to have been a part of a victory for free speech that will certainly outlast us and that I pray will benefit others for many years." Read More

  • CP surge showcased in exhibit hall discussions
    by Karen L. Willoughby, Bonnie Pritchett and Erin Roach, posted Monday, June 22, 2015 (9 years ago)

    By Rebekah Rausch
    COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- Underfoot throughout the exhibit hall at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting were 12-inch directional decals affixed to the carpeting that proclaimed, "Fueled by the Cooperative Program."

    Those decals -- signaling ministries funded by CP gifts at the state or national level -- were in front of at least three-quarters of the exhibits, including the North American Mission Board exhibit, which offered coffee cups emblazoned with the names of Send Cities, and the International Mission Board exhibit, which distributed ... Read More

  • GuideStone reports on 'Year of Efficiency'
    by Roy Hayhurst, posted Monday, June 22, 2015 (9 years ago)

    Photo by Bill Bangham
    COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) -- Calling 2015 the "Year of Efficiency" at GuideStone Financial Resources, O.S. Hawkins, president, shared positive reports from each of the ministry areas at GuideStone.

    Hawkins praised GuideStone's staff for the various ways they have sought to make the organization more efficient for the benefit of GuideStone's 220,000 participants. Read More

  • Prayer for Abedini urged at Pastors' Wives Conf.

    by Lisa Falknor and Tammi Ledbetter, posted Monday, June 22, 2015 (9 years ago)

    Photo by Bill Bangham
    COLUMBUS, Ohio (B) -- At a time when her husband is being silenced, Naghmeh Abedini told Southern Baptist women she wants to be a voice for the Gospel.

    Since 2012, American pastor Saeed Abedini has been serving an eight-year prison sentence in Iran because of his Christian faith. It's one of the worst prisons in the world, his wife said: "In three days, they've executed 50 people." Read More

  • Angie Smith shares journey with ministers' wives
    by Shannon Baker, posted Monday, June 22, 2015 (9 years ago)

    By Adam Covington
    COLUMBUS (BP) -- Angie Smith told more than 1,000 ministers' wives how much she had dreaded to speak at this year's Ministers' Wives Luncheon, held during the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Columbus, June 16.

    To explain, she pointed to her first experience with Christians as a Ph.D. student at Vanderbilt University. Not yet a Christian, she had been invited to a Bible study -- "whatever that was!" -- by fellow students who instructed her to go to the LifeWay bookstore to buy her Bible study book. Read More

  • Seminaries convey highlights to alumni & friends
    by Staff, posted Monday, June 22, 2015 (9 years ago)

    COLUMBUS (BP) -- Alumni awards, reflections on missions and U.S. culture and reports of progress in seminary education highlighted June 17 during luncheons for alumni and friends of Southern Baptist seminaries at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio. Read More

  • Pastor & wife stabbed; Va. Baptists give support
    by Ishmael LaBiosa/SBC of Virginia, posted Monday, June 22, 2015 (9 years ago)

    GLEN ALLEN, Va. (BP) -- A Baptist couple simply wanted to help a church attendee in need. It nearly cost them their lives.

    Pastor Hugh Mayes and his wife Carol minister in Carson, Va., through Shiloh Baptist Church, an SBC of Virginia affiliated ministry. Both woke early on the morning of Monday, June 15, to find a man in their bedroom. The intruder stabbed the husband and wife multiple times in the chest and stole around $800 and their vehicle in fleeing the scene. Read More