Amory’s life changed forever when she saw those two blue lines on the pregnancy test. Thinking it was a false positive, she took it again, and again, three more times. She had just finished graduate school, accepted her first job as a speech-language pathologist, moved into her own apartment and finally found a guy who […]
Church hits the ‘Mother Road;’ Red Hill’s outreach aims for a better city through gospel presence
Edwardsville | In a town proud of its Route 66 heritage, thousands gather every year to celebrate what John Steinbeck called “the Mother Road.” For more than 20 years, Edwardsville’s annual Route 66 festival at City Park has offered visitors fun, food, and classic cars. What was missing, realized church planter Rayden Hollis, was a […]
Leaders
Too tired to quit
And if you don’t like it, there’s the door!” Those words spoken from the pulpit by a ministry colleague introduced me to pastoral burnout. After delivering that doozy of a sermon, he broke down sobbing. After a month away from ministry and a year rebuilding spiritual, emotional, and physical strength, he had decades of effective […]
Churches start ‘ReFocus’ journey toward revitalization
Seven IBSA churches gathered in November for a three-day meeting focused on revitalization. The churches are the first to engage in a ReFocus process designed to help churches rediscover their purpose and take new steps of obedience. IBSA has made church revitalization a key priority for 2020. The Association is partnering with Rob Peters and […]
Growing church breathes new life into historic building
Grace Fellowship is a new church with a lot of history. Their building was constructed in 1858 and launched as a Baptist church. Billy Graham even preached there in the 1950s. But to its current congregation, it’s brand new. At a building dedication in October, the Grace Fellowship congregation was bubbling with excitement. “God opened […]
At AWSOM, young women urged to serve others amid ‘selfie’ culture
A capacity crowd gathered at the IBSA Building in November for the largest-ever AWSOM event for young women. The annual meeting (which stands for Amazing Women Serving Our Maker) includes training in evangelism and discipleship, focused Bible study, and a missions emphasis. “Our theme was how to live selflessly in a selfie world,” said Carmen […]
Youth Encounter tells students, ‘You are not alone’
Students across Illinois are seeking to live for Jesus each day, said John Howard, pastor of Second Baptist Church in Marion. Youth Encounter, IBSA’s annual one-day student event, is a reminder that they’re not taking the journey alone. Howard organized the last of three Youth Encounter sites for 2019 at First Baptist Church in O’Fallon […]