Rachel Sims Baptist Mission in New Orleans, which began as a backyard Bible club in 1910, has grown into an unparalleled mission center that hosts a plethora of ministries ranging from teen Bible clubs and Vacation Bible Schools to sports programs and prayer walks. NEW ORLEANS – Rachel Sims Baptist Mission in New Orleans, which began as a backyard Bible club in 1910, has grown into an unparalleled mission center that hosts a plethora of ministries ranging from teen Bible clubs and Vacation Bible Schools to sports programs and prayer walks. Rachel Sims Baptist Mission began with the purchase of a house across from Clay Square Park. The North American Mission Board, Southern Baptist Convention, and Missionary Rachel Sims worked together to create the center after recognizing the community’s increasing needs. The current director of Rachel Sims Baptist Mission, Larry Miguez, began working there in 1980 as the assistant director. Miguez became the director in 2005.  “My ministry is with the people and I view people as relationships,” Miguez said. “So I feel that each group I work with merits their own relationships for the purpose of sharing the gospel.” Linda Middlebrooks, assistant director of Rachel Sims Baptist … [Read more...]

In a development that one theologian is calling “Frankensteinian,” scientists in England said Tuesday they had made sperm from embryonic stem cells – creating the possibility that a baby could be created someday without a male being involved at any point. LONDON (BP) – In a development that one theologian is calling “Frankensteinian,” scientists in England said Tuesday they had made sperm from embryonic stem cells – creating the possibility that a baby could be created someday without a male being involved at any point. The announcement from researchers at Newcastle University was described in the journal Stem Cells and Development, although it nearly immediately had its doubters among the science community, some of whom said the English researchers had not made functional sperm but instead only cells with some of the qualities of sperm. In fact, the online journal Nature called the cells “sperm-like.” Karim Nayernia, a stem cell biologist at the school, acknowledged that the sperm aren’t a mirror image of a normal sperm, but he stood by his work. “They have heads, they have tails and they move,” he was quoted as saying in the Telegraph newspaper. “The shape is not quite normal nor the movement, but they contain the … [Read more...]

Thirteen years after the Defense of Marriage Act breezed through Congress with bipartisan support, a series of new federal lawsuits threatens to overturn the 1996 law and force the federal government – and perhaps every state – to recognize “gay marriage.” WASHINGTON (BP)–Thirteen years after the Defense of Marriage Act breezed through Congress with bipartisan support, a series of new federal lawsuits threatens to overturn the 1996 law and force the federal government – and perhaps every state – to recognize “gay marriage.” The law may be obscure to many Americans but it’s at the heart of an ongoing cultural and legal battle over the future of “gay marriage” in America. And, while homosexual groups for years shied away from going to court over the matter out of fear of a negative Supreme Court ruling, they now believe they have momentum, and three lawsuits have been filed against the law in the past seven months – two of which have the full backing of the leading “gay marriage” groups. Massachusetts filed one of them. Complicating matters for the law’s supporters is the fact that the Obama administration – which opposes the Defense of Marriage Act – is in charge of defending it in federal court. If any of the suits are … [Read more...]

Baptist Press articles dating to 1948 now are available online in a searchable PDF format following a two-year digitization project by the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) – Baptist Press articles dating to 1948 now are available online in a searchable PDF format following a two-year digitization project by the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives. About 8,000 articles on 66,000 pages were scanned and then indexed by Google Search to serve as a valuable source of information on Baptist history. To access the old files, go to  www.sbhla.org and click on Collections to find Baptist Press Releases 1948-1995 at the bottom of the list. The archives can be searched by year and issue date or by specific terms, and stories also can be obtained through a general Google search. Articles starting in 1996 are accessible in the archives at bpnews.net. “The partnership in this project between Baptist Press and the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives has been a home run for Baptist Press readers and for historical researchers,” Will Hall, executive editor of Baptist Press, said. “Until now, the material that was digitized was available only in hard copy, and searching … [Read more...]

Nansemond River Baptist Church “birthed” Harvest Fellowship eight years ago. SUFFOLK, Va. (BP) – Nansemond River Baptist Church “birthed” Harvest Fellowship eight years ago. “I had this bright idea of what I called ‘a church in the womb’ – start a church in a church and birth it,” said Tim Piland, pastor for the last 19 years at Nansemond River Baptist. “We called a mission pastor who became part of our church. Every invitation, he stood up there with me and a part of the invitation was to people who felt a call to be part of the mission. When they responded, their tithes went to the mission.” When Harvest Fellowship started six months later with Randy Green as pastor and about 80 people from Nansemond River Baptist, both congregations were strong. “You lose 75 to 80 core people – that’s going to have an effect,” Piland said. “But God replaced them. It’s so natural to start churches this way. Randy came in and he never stopped. He has built a great church.” Nansemond River Baptist Church in Suffolk and Harvest Fellowship in Smithfield are affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia. At least 160 of the state convention’s 500 churches commit at least 10 percent of their offerings to missions … [Read more...]