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Baptist Message

"Helping Louisiana Baptists Impact the World For Christ"

National WMU introduces Missions Journey: Kids

By WMU Communications BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WMU) – March 23, 2021 – Beginning this fall, children’s leaders will have a new curriculum option for children’s discipleship that is flexible enough to fit just about any setting. “Focusing on missions work both here in the U.S. and throughout the world, Missions Journey: Kids will captivate your children’s minds and hearts as they immerse themselves in a new culture each month and learn about the different avenues missionaries use to share the Gospel with the nations,” said Robin McCall, content and marketing manager, national WMU. Missions Journey: Kids is for any children’s group in grades 1–6, including Girls in Action, Royal Ambassadors or Children in Action missions discipleship groups. With a balanced blend of missions discipleship and Bible study, it can also be used in discipleship classes, children’s church, or by Christian schools who wish to add missions discipleship to their existing programming. “Missions Journey: Kids is a bold step into the future of missions discipleship,” said Zachariah Seanor, children’s ministry consultant and editor, national WMU. “We are so excited to see how God will use this material to foster a love of missions in the hearts and minds of … [Read more...]

Executive committee releases task force report on ERLC

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor NASHVILLE, Tenn. (LBM) — The Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention released its task force report about the impact of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission on the funding of cooperative missions and ministries of Southern Baptists. The yearlong investigation found that ERLC actions had caused a $1.5 million loss to the International Mission Board, $700,000 loss to the North American Mission Board, $700,000 loss to theological education at the six seminaries and $100,000 loss to the Executive Committee, according to Mike Stone, chairman of the seven-member task force, immediate past SBC Executive Committee chairman and pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Blackshear, Georgia. But there was a loss of $4 million to state conventions, too, he said. Stone formally presented the report to the SBC Executive Committee during its Feb. 22-23 meeting in Nashville, Tennessee. The published report set the framework for Stone’s comments by sharing that 15 of the 41 state Baptist conventions had responded to a survey from the task force. “These 15 conventions serve 28,379 congregations, or 60 percent of the churches in friendly cooperation with the SBC,” the report … [Read more...]

SBC EC ousts four churches, hears trustee matters at LW, SWBTS

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor NASHVILLE, Tenn. (LBM) —During executive session, Feb. 23, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee voted to remove four churches reported by the Credentials Committee to be “no longer in friendly cooperation” with the SBC. Meanwhile, the Executive Committee took no action against LifeWay regarding violation of SBC Bylaw 15.F. by a trustee but set up a task force in response to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s suspension of trustees elected by SBC messengers. OUT OF FELLOWSHIP Towne View Baptist Church, Kennesaw, Georgia, and St. Matthews Baptist Church, Louisville, Kentucky, were removed from fellowship with the SBC for affirming homosexuality. TVBC voted to admit a male homosexual couple as members and SMBC was disfellowshipped by the Kentucky Baptist Convention in 2018 because the congregation supported the homosexual-affirming Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Meanwhile, Antioch Baptist Church, Sevierville, Tennessee, and West Side Baptist Church, Sharpsville, Pennsylvania, were ousted for charges of indifference to addressing sexual abuse. The Credentials Committee said ABC employs a pastor who confessed to two counts of statutory rape and … [Read more...]