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The next generation’s big question: Does ‘the Way’ mean the only way?

Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised, but it hurts to read the numbers. A faith foundation built on the exclusivity of Christ in salvation is shifting under the feet of teens and young adults. A new poll by the Barna Group shows a growing number of young people say there’s more than one way to get […]

Now is as good a time as any. Maybe better.

When will life return to normal?” is the common cry today, with health experts pushing the date farther and farther away. Christmas 2021, maybe, one prominent doctor predicted in February for having some semblance of normalcy after COVID. For those in quarantine, or awaiting a vaccination, or simply exhausted by the pandemic, Christmas seems a […]

The year of the asterisk

One of the more memorable aspects of the film 61* is the asterisk. The movie with a number for a name depicts Roger Maris’s quest to top Babe Ruth’s single season home run record. Ruth hit 60 homers in 154 games in 1927. But by 1961, the season was expanded to 162 games. That year […]

Abuse in the SBC

Former Illinois pastor accused; two relationships occurred in youth ministry in 2002

Illinois Baptist Staff

Former Illinois pastor Wes Feltner is accused by two women of abusive relationships, one of them sexual, when he was their youth minister in Indiana 17 years ago. The charges came to light as Feltner is lead candidate for the pastorate of First Baptist Church of Clarksville, Tennessee. The story was reported by the Clarksville […]

Longtime Chicago pastor resigns; sexual abuse prior to ministry among reasons

Illinois Baptist Staff

Charles Lyons resigned as pastor of Armitage Baptist Church in Chicago following what church leaders called a “corrective leave of absence” that began in October 2018. Read…

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News Stories

Candidates weigh in on SBC’s top issues

Baptist Press

Baptist Press will publish interviews with each of the four announced candidates for SBC president. The Illinois Baptist newspaper will excerpt the interviews as they are released and will also publish the excerpts here. Messengers will elect the next president of the SBC at the denomination’s annual meeting June 15-16 in Nashville. Ed Litton   […]

Illinois Baptist

Equality Act threatens religious freedoms

Lisa Misner

Christian leaders are concerned about the loss of religious freedom, expansion of federal abortion funding, diminished protection for women, and the impact on hiring practices by Christian organizations under HR5, the Equality Act, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives Feb. 25. The vote was 224-206, almost totally along party lines. The bill goes to […]

Floyd urges unity and vision, decries ‘sound of war’

Illinois Baptist Staff

The SBC Executive Committee gathered Feb. 22-23 for the first time since COVID-19 shut down virtually all in-person meetings. The Nashville meeting was marked by leaders’ calls for cooperation amid several public fractures in Baptist life: racial tensions, a dispute between six state conventions and the North American Mission Board, and a recently released report […]

Empty school desks

Controversial new teaching standards approved

Lisa Misner

The General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) voted Feb. 17 to approve the controversial new teaching standards some say would require teachers to abandon their religious beliefs. Meeting the standards will now be required to receive teaching certification in Illinois. The Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards (CRTLS) touch on issues such as […]

2(1)st century Church of the future

Virtual meeting focused on leading toward racial unity

More News Stories

Encouraging Words

Encouraging Words

Are you weary? Run on.

We set up a makeshift pulpit in our dining room. With the camera balanced on cardboard boxes and books, my husband preached while I served as executive producer—a role I gained overnight. Immediately after his sermon, I taught children’s church via video conference from a desk in our bedroom. I also held an open invitation […]

Encouraging Words

God with us

I love people and deeply miss the connectedness that’s hard to have in the middle of a pandemic. I recently had a senior adult lady who I haven’t seen in months come by the church I pastor. My first comment to her was, “Ida, I’ve missed being WITH you so much I would almost hug […]

Hope in the waiting

Ben Jones

Loss comes with permission

Chuck Kelley

More Posts from this Category

Leaders

Illinois Leadership Summit goes online

Illinois Baptist Staff

Challenges presented by the pandemic are proving to be growth opportunities for IBSA conferences and leadership events. Because of limitations on attendance in a single location, the 2021 Illinois Leadership Summit will be available online for the first time. Future Focus: Leading Your Church Beyond COVID-19 will be the theme of the event on Jan. […]

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Briefing

The Equality Act’s far-reaching consequences

Featured Columns

Redefine a winning season

Paul Cooper

My senior year of football, we stunk. Our preseason goal to win every week shifted to a goal to just win once. Which we did—the final game of the season. As church leaders, it can be easy to watch all the loss from this pandemic and think we need to lower the bar of what […]

What’s really important

Nate Adams

Crisis can bring clarity. When I first heard that simple observation from a friend, its truth immediately resonated with me. A crisis has a way of demanding our attention and diminishing the less important things in our lives. The result can be a clearer vision of what truly is important to us. In other words, […]

Start at home: Building a framework for discipleship

Sarah Bordewick

Being a part of a church family is part of growing as a follower of Jesus. But kids spend far more time in their homes. That’s why we want our families to go deeper together. Discipleship at home is a critical endeavor. God made us for relationship, and those first relationships are in the home. […]

More Columns

The next generation’s big question: Does ‘the Way’ mean the only way?

Eric Reed

Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised, but it hurts to read the numbers. A faith foundation built on the exclusivity of Christ in salvation is shifting under the feet of teens and young adults. A new poll by the Barna Group shows a growing number of young people say there’s more than one way to get […]

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