Lisa Hamilton went from store to store, looking for cards depicting the Christmas story, but she couldn’t find any in the Southeast Asian country where she and her husband, Steve, serve. She did find beautifully designed 3D Christmas cards of Santa and his reindeer and decided these would have to do. She purchased enough to […]
IBSA Annual Meeting Wrap-Up: Celebrating the roots that make us strong
Think of it as a pep rally before the big game. Both the Cooperative Program and the Baptist Faith and Message will mark their 100th anniversaries in 2025. A grand celebration for these two pillars of Southern Baptist missiology and theology is planned for the SBC Annual Meeting in Dallas in June, but in Illinois, […]
Newsmakers: Scott Foshie, ERLC Board Chair
Illinois’s own Scott Foshie was elected board chair of the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission in September. He was tapped after the previous chair, Kevin Smith, resigned. Smith had tried to dismiss ERLC President and CEO Brent Leatherwood. Smith had operated without board approval, and a clarifying announcement to that effect was issued the […]
Iorg tells IBSA messengers cooperation ‘under attack’
Orland Park | Jeff Iorg returned to Illinois as a familiar teacher and friend, but this time he spoke in his new role as top staff member of the Southern Baptist Convention. “[The] spirit of cooperation is under attack these days, both from external critics and internal detractors,” Iorg told messengers at the IBSA Annual […]
Messengers approve six resolutions, including one on the office of pastor
Orland Park | Messengers took up the role of pastors and stronger marriages in a presentation from the Resolutions and Christian Life Committee Wednesday afternoon at the IBSA Annual Meeting. Recent discussions on the office of pastor and the role of women in the church have caused much controversy and vitriol extending even to the […]
Sharp honored, Munton elected at IBSA Annual Meeting
Orland Park | Venerable Chicago pastor Don Sharp was honored for serving 60 years at the church he founded in 1964 at the IBSA Annual Meeting Tuesday night. Sharp has served as mentor and guide for generations of young African American pastors in the city. He also has a long history as a groundbreaker and […]
Rousing start to IBSA Annual Meeting
Orland Park | “God needs some people who are willing to give their amen! to the gospel of Jesus Christ, to the fact that God is working everything out for his own glory in this world,” declared Mark Croston, opening preacher at the IBSA Annual Meeting. He told the crowd they can thrive in God’s […]
49 new missionaries appointed at IMB Sending Celebration
MURFREESBORO, Tenn.—An International Mission Board Sending Celebration is a time to support those who are going on the field to share the gospel with a lost world. Such an event allows participants the chance to commemorate those who mentored and discipled them. For many, their mentors are current or former IMB missionaries who have encouraged […]
News Stories
Historian Dillow remembered
Orland Park | Baptist pastor and historian Myron Dillow was honored posthumously at the IBSA Annual Meeting in November. He was the author of a definitive work on Illinois Baptist history, Harvesttime on the Prairie: 1796-1996. It recounted in detail the first 200 years of Baptist presence and missions in Illinois. “On a few occasions, […]
Former Southern Baptist pastor, chaplain selected to lead Veterans Administration
Washington D.C. | President-elect Donald Trump has nominated a former Southern Baptist pastor to be the next head of the Department of Veterans Affairs. A native of Gainesville, Ga., Doug Collins was senior pastor of Chicopee Baptist Church from November 1994 through October 2005, according to the church’s annual church profile reporting. He also served […]
Probation lifted for HLGU
Hannibal, Mo. | Cheers in a chapel service greeted the announcement that an independent agency that accredits degree-granting institutions in the United States has removed Hannibal-LaGrange University from probation. An assessment team with the Higher Learning Commission noted the efforts of the Missouri Baptist Convention-affiliated school, HGLU reported. Those steps included “diligent work toward financial health, […]
Craft stick houseboat represents joy, impact of working together
Birmingham, Ala. | The joy of working together for the glory of God was on display as a houseboat constructed of nearly 700,000 craft sticks floated on Lay Lake near Birmingham, Alabama on November 7. The boat launch was the culmination of a year-long effort as WMU engaged Southern Baptist churches in making craft stick […]