By Erin Roach, Baptist Press   PHOENIX (BP)--Anne Wright, president of the 2011 SBC Ministers' Wives' Luncheon, said the theme "Influential Joy" came to her out of a personal journey. "About four years ago I came home from a trip to Africa with my husband and I had a severe battle with malaria. It took a long time for me to get well, and on the heels of that, within about a month of my getting well, my brother, my only sibling, was suddenly killed in a wreck," said Wright, whose husband Bryant Wright is pastor of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, Ga. The luncheon will begin at noon Tuesday, June 14, in the North Ballroom A/B/C of the Phoenix Convention Center. The theme is based on Psalm 16:11, which says, "... you will fill me with joy in your presence." "My experience of realizing that true joy is found, as the verse says, in the presence of God in spite of our circumstances was life-changing for me because I had never been through anything that traumatic," Wright told Baptist Press. "What it says to me is that through daily personal time with our Lord we're filled with the joy of Christ in His presence." Wright said ministers' wives have a threefold platform of influence in their homes, their … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Press   PHOENIX – In addition to the annual meeting of the SBC, in Phoenix, Pastors Conference and WMU annual meeting, several fellowship groups plan to meet.   Annual meeting activities start with the 23rd annual Crossover on Saturday, June 11. That’s when Southern Baptists from across the nation will aid an oasis of local churches in ministering to the spiritual thirst in their communities.   Dozens of congregations will join volunteers – from Arizona and across the nation – at 70 ministry venues throughout the Phoenix-Tucson corridor, a 120-mile stretch encompassing 5.2 million residents. The North American Mission Board is working with the local Crossover coordinating team to provide volunteers with opportunities to share the love of Christ as they participate in block parties, prayerwalking excursions, Intentional Community Evangelism outreach projects and acts of kindness.   What makes this year’s Crossover events unique to the decades-long tradition is that it will directly impact and strengthen 10 new churches just starting in the five Baptist associations of the Phoenix-Tucson corridor – Central, Estralla, Valley Rim, Gila and Catalina Baptist … [Read more...]

By Staff, LBC Communications   ALEXANDRIA – The Cooperative Program still possesses the same potential as it did when it was started in 1925, Louisiana pastors say.   Likewise, according to multiple national surveys, the majority of Southern Baptists still believe the Cooperative Program is the most efficient and effective funding method to carry on the work of missions and ministry.   “Why then, since 1990, has the percentage of the Cooperative Program receipts from SBC churches steadily declined?”   That question, posed by Michael Stewart, Cooperative Program Strategist for the Louisiana Baptist Convention, was asked May 24 of a group of LBC pastors. Stewart brought them to the Baptist Building to discuss the current and future state of cooperative missions and ministry in Louisiana and around the world.   One of his main goals was to give these pastors a safe and friendly forum for honest discussion, Stewart said.   “I was also really blessed by our time together,” said Neil Everett, pastor of First Baptist Church of Calhoun. Michael “created an atmosphere that enabled us all to share personal struggles and ask honest questions without hesitation. I believe God … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Message   NEEDED/GIVING   Iowa First Baptist Church needs a pastor. Send resumes to email:  iowafirstbaptist@yahoo.com   First Baptist Church Doyline, Full-time Pastor needed. Send resumes to 433 Hanson Drive, Doyline LA 71023 or call 318.745.2545.   Concord Union Association churches without pastors: Rock Corner, University, Pleasant Hill Ruston, Canaan, Union Grove. DOM: Barry Joyner.   Northwest Association churches without pastors: Airline, Emmanuel Shreveport, Emmanuel Vivian, Ferry Lake, Greenwood First, Mansfield Road, Red River, Shreveport First. DOM: Wayne Dubose.   REVIVALS, ANNIVERSARIES   Central Gonzales: Revival June 6-10. Evangelists: Robby Dickerson, Murray Bankston. Pastor: Billy Burton.   Canaan Spearsville: Homecoming to start with worship at 10:45 a.m. June 12, followed by lunch. Speaker: Richard Methvin. Music: King’s Servants.   New Ouachita, Enterprise: Homecoming June 12. 10 a.m.: singing with James Kelly, Rodney Hutchins. 11 a.m.: preaching with Kent Nugent. Noon: churchwide meal. Pastor: James King.   New Beginning, Bush: Revival June 19 – 22. Speaker: Ed Jenkins, Pastor: Otho … [Read more...]

By Marilyn Stewart, Regional Reporter   NEW ORLEANS – Finding the unusual is easy on New Orleans’ Magazine Street, famous for its six miles of bohemian boutiques, fine art galleries, and antique shops. Finding a church that preaches the Gospel? That’s easy, too.   At Vintage Church New Orleans, members are committed to living out their faith “in the city, for the city.” Sixty have been baptized since the church plant began meeting two years ago in rented space above a Magazine Street gym.   Melanie Eichhorn, 25, is one whose life was changed.   [img_assist|nid=7382|title=Vintage Church|desc=Vintage Church averages 260 in worship on two campuses: Uptown and in Metairie, a suburb of New Orleans. Thirty community groups meet for Bible study throughout the city and its suburbs during the week.|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=427]“I am a completely different person,” Eichhorn said. “I’m so happy now, sometimes I have to pinch myself.”   Young urban professionals who came to New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina are drawn to the church’s three-fold mission to “live the Gospel, love the city, be the Church,” pastor Rob Wilton said.   “They bring a new … [Read more...]

By Alan James, Baptist Press   ROCKVILLE, Va. (BP) – Tom Elliff, in his first trustee meeting as president of International Mission Board, rolled out the beginning of the vision he believes “God painted on my heart.”   Trustees elected a new vice president during their May 20 meeting at the International Learning Center in Rockville, Va., and were asked to pray for the final results of the 2010 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions.   Trustees also approved 48 new missionaries.   [img_assist|nid=7384|title=Special gift|desc=Jerry Johnson, president of Criswell College in Dallas (left), presents IMB President Tom Elliff with the first full-tuition scholarship to be given to a student with IMB missionary parents. Johnson announced the new scholarship -- exclusively for all incoming students with IMB missionary parents -- will take effect in the fall of 2011.|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=427]On May 22 at Mandarin Baptist Church in Los Angeles, 26 of those missionaries were appointed; the other 22 will be appointed during the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting June 15 in Phoenix.   EMBRACING THE NATIONS   Elliff, in a brief preview … [Read more...]

By Quinn Lavespere, Message Staff Writer   HODGE – Hodge Baptist Church pastor Norris Curry doesn’t want his fellow citizens to forget the phrase that our country was built upon.   [img_assist|nid=7386|title=Norris Curry|desc=Pastor Norris Curry Hodge Baptist Church|link=none|align=left|width=92|height=100]Curry and the congregation of Hodge Baptist plan to host a “God and Country” celebration on Independence Day weekend commemorating America’s religious foundations and honoring its heroes and the freedoms it provides its citizens.   “We want this to be a patriotic celebration of a great country,” Curry said.  “At the same time, we want people to recognize that God is ultimately what is most important for this country.”   Curry, who is going on his fifth year as pastor of Hodge Baptist, said the “God and Country” celebration will be the first one held at the church since evangelist Oda “Tuck” Roberts oversaw the celebration in the 1980s.   “Pastor Tuck will be speaking at the services we’ll be having on Sunday morning and Sunday night,” Curry said.  “He has been the one who’s been directing us for this occasion.  As one of our goals for this celebration is to preach the … [Read more...]

By Joni B. Hannigan, Baptist Press   PHOENIX (BP) – Sensitive to the need for greater diversity in leadership and increased participation of ethnics, the Southern Baptist Convention voted overwhelmingly June 14 to ask for greater accountability regarding their involvement in SBC life.   During a news conference after the vote, Paul Kim, pastor emeritus of Antioch Baptist Church in Cambridge, Mass., leaders to also have the opportunity to express their love for Southern Baptists in Christ. We have to work together.”[img_assist|nid=7388|title=Ethnic Panel|desc=The ethnic study workgroup, members of the SBC Executive Committee, answer questions during a press conference.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=411]   It was Kim who asked messengers at the 2009 SBC annual meeting to study how ethnic churches and leaders could better partner with others to serve the SBC.   After a two-year workgroup study of the motion, the SBC Executive Committee approved a 10-part recommendation for the Phoenix meeting, citing the “need to be proactive and intentional in the inclusion of individuals from all ethnical and racial identities within Southern Baptist life.”   For the first time in … [Read more...]

By Staff, Baptist Press PHOENIX (BP) – Even as scorching temperatures bumped 102 degrees in Arizona’s Urban Corridor, Southern Baptists mobilized in Crossover 2011 to bring the Living Water to people throughout the region’s parched deserts. [img_assist|nid=7390|title=Crossover 2011|desc=Intentional Community Evangelism volunteers Victor Benavides , left, and 82-year-old Hiram Acree, center, a member of North Peachtree Baptist Church in Doraville, Ga., share the gospel with a young man headed down a street in north central Phoenix during Crossover 2011.|link=none|align=left|width=640|height=429]Some 5.2 million people live and work in the corridor, which stretches from the Phoenix metro area down to Case Grande and Tucson. Several hun dred of those people are new believers in Christ, following a week of community evangelism and Crossover’s Saturday events. Phoenix was the 23rd year for Crossover, an evangelism event coordinated by the North American Mission Board, local associations and churches, which precedes the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting. This marks the second time the annual meeting has converged in Phoenix, the first time in 2003. “This past week, Arizona Baptists have truly shown their neighbors the … [Read more...]

By Frank M. McCormack, Special to the Message   [img_assist|nid=7392|title=Chautauqua sketches|desc=Joe McKeever, speaker, writer, artist and former director of the New Orleans Baptist Association, sketches a cartoon of Margaret Hardin at First Baptist Ponchatoula’s first-ever Chautauqua, which took place May 31 through June 2.|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=67]PONCHATOULA – For three days this summer – May 31 through June 2 – Ponchatoula’s First Baptist Church held its first-ever Chautauqua, an adult education and arts event with roots stretching back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries.   “Chautauqua” may not be a common term today, but around 1900 in rural America, the events were quite well known. They originated in 1874 in Chautauqua, New York, when a Methodist minister organized the first such assembly, which featured Bible instruction, arts and educational lectures, musicians, preachers and other speakers.   Soon thereafter, the original Chautauqua inspired dozens of spinoff events across the country.   At First Baptist Ponchatoula, the Louisiana-style Chautauqua was specifically designed for senior adults and was the brainchild of Johnny Presley, the church’s … [Read more...]