The Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists will honor its founding generation and reach out to a new generation of lost souls as it convenes for a 50th anniversary celebration June 6-9 in Indianapolis, immediately prior to the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. INDIANAPOLIS (BP) – The Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists will honor its founding generation and reach out to a new generation of lost souls as it convenes for a 50th anniversary celebration June 6-9 in Indianapolis, immediately prior to the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. The group will honor the first group of inductees of the COSBE Hall of Faith – recognizing vocational evangelists who have dedicated years of service to the task of soul-winning. Their meeting will conclude with a high-energy youth evangelism event called “ONE: One night ... one purpose.” The annual evangelists’ gathering, with “Running the Race” as the theme, will open June 6 with an evening banquet in the Crowne Plaza Hotel’s Illinois Street Ballroom, honoring the first class of Hall of Faith inductees, said Brian Fossett, president of the Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists. Johnny Hunt, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in … [Read more...]

Two longtime pastors will be honored during the June 8-9 meeting of the National African American Fellowship of the Southern Baptist Convention, while Mark Croston Sr. will recap his unprecedented three-year term as NAAF president. INDIANAPOLIS (BP) – Two longtime pastors will be honored during the June 8-9 meeting of the National African American Fellowship of the Southern Baptist Convention, while Mark Croston Sr. will recap his unprecedented three-year term as NAAF president. The NAAF, encompassing 4,500 African American churches in the SBC, meets each year in conjunction with the SBC’s annual meeting, slated for June 10-11 in the Indiana Convention Center. “We would hope our convention would find constructive ways to respond to all the current issues the church is confronted with,” Croston said in response to a question about political matters; he specifically cited the idea of an open dialogue on race relations. “We shouldn’t just pick some issues and be silent on others,” Croston said. “We live in such a media-driven society that the voice of Southern Baptists needs to be heard with consistency, clarity, conviction and conscience – on all issues our people are confronted with.” While the NAAF has no plans to … [Read more...]

Among several events to be held in conjunction with the SBC annual meeting: INDIANAPOLIS (BP) – Among several events to be held in conjunction with the SBC annual meeting: n Chaplain (Maj. Gen.) Douglas L. Carver will be the featured speaker at the chaplain’s luncheon on June 9. Last June, Carver became the first Southern Baptist since 1954 to lead the U.S. Army’s chaplains when he was promoted to a two-star general. The luncheon, from 11:30 a.m.–2 p.m. on Monday, will be held in the Indiana Convention Center’s Sagamore Ballroom 7 on Level 2. Carver, a native of Rome, Ga., grew up in a Christian home prior to graduating from the University of Tennessee with a bachelor’s degree and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary with an M.Div. n The North American Mission Board’s Missional Network will hold a dinner and discussion on Monday, June 9 at Buca de Beppo restaurant in Indianapolis. Participating in a panel discussion will be Kerry Shook, founding pastor of Fellowship of the Woodlands in The Woodlands, Texas; Brian Bloye, founding pastor West Ridge Church in Hiram, Ga.; and Daniel Floyd, lead pastor of Lifepoint Church in Spotsylvania, Va. “Networking has become a critical part of our culture and to this … [Read more...]

The presidents of three Southern Baptist Convention entities will speak at the Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Directors of Missions’ June 8-9 annual meeting in Indianapolis, featuring the theme “Growing the Kingdom, Church by Church.” INDIANAPOLIS (BP) – The presidents of three Southern Baptist Convention entities will speak at the Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Directors of Missions’ June 8-9 annual meeting in Indianapolis, featuring the theme “Growing the Kingdom, Church by Church.” The meeting, the organization’s 46th, will begin with a worship service at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, June 8, at the Sheraton City Centre, with Jim Futral, executive director-treasurer of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board, preaching. The service will be followed by a lunch at noon (meal ticket required) sponsored by GuideStone Financial Resources. At 1 p.m., the first of three sessions of the SBCADOM meeting will begin. Also at 1 p.m., the SBCADOM wives meeting will take place with the theme of “Joy In the Midst of It All.” The SBCADOM’s first session will focus on the theme of “Growing Simple Churches,” with Thom S. Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resourses, and Russell Cook, SBCADOM president and … [Read more...]

COMINGS AND GOINGS -Roger Stoffer, new as pastor Memorial Baptist, Monroe. -Emily Tribble Hummel, new as director of student ministries Mt. Vernon Baptist, West Monroe. -Ralph G. Parks, new as interim pastor of  Bethel Baptist Church, Franklinton coming from Idaho. NEEDED -Northeast  Association needs pastors at Fairbanks Baptist Fairbanks, First Baptist Swartz, Peniel Baptist West Monroe. Ministers of Music needed at Clark Springs Baptist Eros, Edgewood Baptist West Monroe, First Baptist Monroe, Lighthouse Baptist Monroe, Loch Arbor Baptist Monroe. Ministers of Youth needed at Bethel Baptist West Monroe, Clark Springs Baptist Eros, Emmanuel Baptist West Monroe, Lighthouse Baptist Monroe, New Light Baptist Monroe. Children’s Minister needed at Fairbanks Baptist Fairbanks, Mt. Vernon Baptist West Monroe. Pianist needed at Emmanuel Baptist Monroe, Highland Park Baptist Monroe. -Morehouse Association needs pastors at Grace Baptist Bastrop. Ministers of music needed at Cherry Ridge Baptist Bastrop, Faith Baptist Bastrop, First Baptist Bastrop, White Avenue Baptist Bastrop. ANNIVERSARIES AND CELEBRATIONS -First Baptist Longville celebration service honoring Stuart Graves, pastor. Dinner on the grounds following … [Read more...]

A majority of Southern Baptist Convention pastors believe the media has overstated the threat of global warming and that SBC resolutions have not been “too timid” when they addressed global warming, according to a recent study on global issues by LifeWay Research. NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A majority of Southern Baptist Convention pastors believe the media has overstated the threat of global warming and that SBC resolutions have not been “too timid” when they addressed global warming, according to a recent study on global issues by LifeWay Research.  The study also found that there is a contrast between the opinions of SBC pastors and average Americans on several national issues including global warming, physician-assisted suicide and embryonic stem cell research.  Regarding SBC resolutions on global warming, the study revealed only 17 percent of the denomination’s pastors agree that the convention has been too timid in its stances on climate change. Sixty-five percent of pastors either somewhat disagreed or strongly disagreed that the convention has been too timid in its resolutions on climate change.  “The majority of Southern Baptists are comfortable with the stand of the convention from past resolutions,” said Ed Stetzer, … [Read more...]

Israel leans back against a cast-iron gate on the streets of Mexico City’s Tepito barrio. With arms crossed in front of his chest and head bowed in prayer, he shifts his weight, then wipes a tear from his eye.  MEXICO CITY (BP) – Israel leans back against a cast-iron gate on the streets of Mexico City’s Tepito barrio. With arms crossed in front of his chest and head bowed in prayer, he shifts his weight, then wipes a tear from his eye. Mauricio Rojas knows the feeling. He was once in Israel’s shoes. The drug addictions that enslave Israel once trapped Mauricio. Standing at Israel’s side, Mauricio gives the young man his address and tells him to stop by whenever he wants. “Christ can do anything,” Mauricio says. “He got me out of the trash, and He can do the same for you.” In Mexico City, a city of 28 million, Israel is one of countless young people battling drugs in a barrio with rampant drug trafficking, prostitution and a thriving black market. The presence of evil-spirit worship and animistic cults makes the darkness of barrios such as Tepito seem oppressive. While other missionaries concentrate on areas outside the city proper, William and Orpha Ortega are the only International Mission Board missionaries … [Read more...]

“Knowing God” will be the theme for the annual Pastors’ Wives Conference of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Pastors’ Conference, with several noted pastors’ wives to share ways God has strengthened them in their life experiences. INDIANAPOLIS (BP) – “Knowing God” will be the theme for the annual Pastors’ Wives Conference of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Pastors’ Conference, with several noted pastors’ wives to share ways God has strengthened them in their life experiences. The 8:30 a.m.-noon session on Monday, June 9, in the Indiana Convention Center’s Sagamore Ballrooms 1-3 is free of charge and no registration is necessary. Doors open at 8 a.m. Donna Gaines, wife of Steve Gaines, pastor of the Memphis-area Bellevue Baptist Church, will be the main speaker, with praise and worship to be led by Kim and Suzanne Noblitt of First Baptist Church in Springdale, Ark. The session is designed to support women married to men in ministry, to provide a forum for sharing challenges unique to women in such roles and to allow women with many years of experience to share what they have learned with younger women. Susie Hawkins, wife of O.S. Hawkins, president of GuideStone Financial Resources in Dallas, will lead a discussion on … [Read more...]

The police were standing around a grimy box on a street in Mexico City. MEXICO CITY (BP) – The police were standing around a grimy box on a street in Mexico City. Southern Baptist missionary Pam Wong and a group of church volunteers spotted them while distributing Gospels in the inner-city neighborhood. When they asked a woman standing nearby what was going on, they were told a homeless man had died on the street the night before. “He was in a cardboard box. His body was there -– and nobody cared,” Pam recalls. Of the 9 million people jammed into the centro area of Mexico’s vast capital city, about 80 percent are poor. At least 50,000, according to estimates, live on the streets –- because of drug or alcohol abuse, or joblessness, or both. “Some have checked out on society,” missionary David Wong, Pam’s husband, explains. “Others, though, truly want work. I met one man who had lost his business, home and everything else in the Cancun area because of a hurricane and could not get back on his feet. Economically in Mexico, it’s hard for the working class to get off the low rung.” About 300 street people line up weekly for a free meal at a ministry center for the homeless at a church in Mexico City. Southern Baptist … [Read more...]

The boy stands in Constitution Square with outstretched arms and open palms as a man dressed in native attire circles him, wafting smoke through the boy’s clothing and hair. Like many tourists and locals, the boy dropped a few pesos in a basket to receive this tribal blessing. MEXICO CITY (BP)--The boy stands in Constitution Square with outstretched arms and open palms as a man dressed in native attire circles him, wafting smoke through the boy’s clothing and hair. Like many tourists and locals, the boy dropped a few pesos in a basket to receive this tribal blessing. Less than 100 yards from this scene, worshippers bow before religious icons inside Mexico City’s famed Metropolitan Cathedral. In spite of the city’s reputation as a historical hub of religious activity, it remains less than 2 percent evangelical. International Mission Board missionary K.C. Crino describes Mexico City and most of the urban centers in Mexico as historic “headquarters of pagan worship.” “That’s why people flocked there,” Crino says. “That’s why they’re the cities that they are -– because something spiritual was taking place.” On the periphery of the city in a district called Xochimilco, Crino and his wife, Gail -– former Illinois … [Read more...]