Stories tagged with: churches

• Puerto Rico Baptists celebrate growth, increased giving

  by Staff, posted Tuesday, November 19, 2019 (4 years ago)

  

  Photo from Facebook

  CAGUAS, Puerto Rico (BP) -- Under the slogan "Until all Puerto Rico hears from Him!" a renewed and restructured Convention of Southern Baptist Churches of Puerto Rico (CIBSPR) met Friday and Saturday (Nov. 15-16).

  The event, whose name changed from "Assembly" to "Annual Meeting" began Friday evening, when more than 265 Puerto Rican Baptists gathered for a celebration service in honor of what God has done during the year. After a time of praise, Johnny Hunt, senior vice president of evangelism and leadership at the North American Mission Board, shared a message about the effect of "Jesus being in the house" and the implications of making Him known in Puerto Rico and to the ends of the earth. The service was followed by a time of fellowship. Read More

• New Hispanic churches often do more with less

  by Aaron Earls, posted Wednesday, July 24, 2019 (5 years ago)

  

  iStock

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- New Hispanic church works in the U.S. are reportedly seeing similar patterns of attendance growth and conversions as other church plants despite having a fraction of the financial support and training. This, in addition to facing complications from the immigration status of members and leaders, according to a new study released Wednesday (July 24).

  "Evangelical groups who are starting new churches are starting Hispanic churches," said Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research. Read More

• FIRST-PERSON: Making a connection

  by Doug Munton, posted Tuesday, June 25, 2019 (5 years ago)

  Doug Munton relays suggestions for helping church members connect with first-time guests to make "a real and lasting difference." Read More

• No tax relief yet from Congress for churches

  by Tom Strode, posted Thursday, March 28, 2019 (5 years ago)

  

  WASHINGTON (BP) -- Congress has failed, to this point, to heed the latest urgent request from a coalition led by the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission to rescind a provision in federal law requiring churches to file tax returns for the first time in American history.

  In a March 1 letter, ERLC President Russell Moore and 11 other organizational leaders called on House of Representatives committee leadership to act quickly in this tax season to correct the controversial measure. Read More

• FIRST-PERSON: Your imperfect local church

  by Doug Munton, posted Friday, March 15, 2019 (5 years ago)

  Finding a perfect church is impossible, Doug Munton writes. But if you're willing "to let a perfect Savior use you and others in an imperfect local church, God will impact the world through you." Read More

• UPDATED: Felix Cabrera new Puerto Rico executive director

  by Diana Chandler, posted Thursday, December 06, 2018 (5 years ago)

  

  ARECIBO, Puerto Rico (BP) -- Felix Cabrera is the new executive director of the Convention of Southern Baptist Churches in Puerto Rico, he confirmed to Baptist Press Thursday (Dec. 6). This story was revised earlier today to reflect that the new position is a volunteer, nonpaid, interim post.

  The executive board of the Convención de Iglesias Bautistas del Sur de Puerto Rico (CIBSPR) asked Cabrera to fill the executive post after the group met this week.

  "I think that the Lord is doing something special here, and I'm glad, honored, to be part of what the Lord wants to do here in the island," Cabrera told BP. "I think we are in a special moment. We have a special momentum." Read More

• Puerto Rico Baptists expanding Kingdom post-Maria

  by Staff, posted Thursday, November 29, 2018 (5 years ago)

  

  CIBSPR photo

  ARECIBO, Puerto Rico (BP) -- Southern Baptists of Puerto Rico gained nine new congregations at the group's 2018 annual meeting, held just over a year after Hurricane Maria cut church attendance by as much as a third in the U.S. territory.

  "To the expansion of the Kingdom of God" was the theme as the Convención de Iglesias Bautistas del Sur de Puerto Rico (CIBSPR), the Convention of Southern Baptist Churches in Puerto Rico, held its first annual meeting since 2016.

  Newly elected president David Colón, pastor of Iglesia Bautista Logos in Santa Isabel, called the Nov. 17 meeting historic because of the newly added churches and participation that allowed the election of a full slate of officers. Read More

• Small church, bivocational group offers free education

  by Diana Chandler, posted Monday, August 27, 2018 (6 years ago)

  

  Submitted photo.

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- As Joe Wright Jr. and his wife Pennie worshiped with a Southern Baptist congregation of 12 members in the Tennessee Delta just a few weeks ago, the pastor's participation was noticeable.

  "We sat there and watched the pastor open his hymnbook and without a piano, he led those 12 people in about three songs," said Wright, in his fourth month as executive director of the Bivocational & Small Church Leadership Network (BSCLN). '"When he was done, he shut the hymnbook, and he said let's pray. And he prayed, and he said, 'It's time for the preaching.' And he opened the Bible, ... Read More

• '100 percent world-aware': goal of Korean church

  by Karen Willoughby, posted Friday, July 06, 2018 (6 years ago)

  

  Photo courtesy of Semihan Church.

  CARROLLTON, Texas (BP) -- The world is the common denominator -- and the focus of prayer -- for an array of ministries of Semihan Church in Carrollton, Texas, site of the 2018 annual meeting of the Southern Baptist fellowship known informally as the "Korean Council."

  Even Semihan's name reflects the link: "Se" is part of a Korean word for world; "mi" is part of a word for the United States, and "Han" is found in a word for Korea.

  Semihan's ministries include special needs, refugee, American Indian, Bangladeshi and Korean people groups. New this fall is an outreach to English-speaking Americans who are friends, neighbors and coworkers of the 1,600 adult Koreans who worship each week at the church. Read More

• FIRST-PERSON: A normal Baptist church

  by Randy C. Davis, posted Wednesday, April 25, 2018 (6 years ago)

  Randy Davis tells of visiting a "normal" Baptist church in a "normal" rural community led by a "normal" bivocational pastor. But churches like First Baptist Howell are "pretty exceptional in my book," Davis writes. Read More