In December, the IBSA Board of Directors met and unanimously elected Scott Foshie IBSA Executive Director. He will serve as Executive Director Elect until current IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams retires on April 1. A few days following his election, IBSA Media Editor Eric Reed interviewed Foshie about his thoughts on the challenges ahead of […]
Welcome, Scott Foshie
A conversation with Scott Foshie will often lead home, to the faith of his forebears that led to his own. “Some of my earliest memories are my grandma Lois standing next to me in church with a hymnal, a shape-note hymnal,” Foshie recalled. “She sang the most beautiful low alto, and she could harmonize with […]
Top 10 most significant stories of 2025
Southern Baptists looked back 100 years to commemorate the adoption of their unified giving plan and their statement of faith. They looked back 15 years to examine the impact of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force. And they are looking forward as several entities are poised to name new leaders in 2026. These are Baptist […]
Leaders’ summit in Springfield
Laying hold of the vision and beginning to lead a church forward is challenging, but as Georgia pastor and church leadership guru Mike Linch has said, “Finishing it is the hard part.” This understanding set the theme of the 2026 Illinois Leadership Summit – The Long Climb: Doing the Hard Work to Reach the Next […]
Behold!
(Editor’s note: This column was originally published on December 20, 2023. We liked it so much, we’re sharing it again.) Jack Benny was from Waukegan. The renown comedian of the mid-twentieth century mentioned it occasionally on his radio show and later on The Jack Benny Program on television, along with his screechy violin skills and […]
IMB year in review: 2025 shows missions is for everyone
Sending people to the nations is what we do as Southern Baptists. We go to those who have yet to hear the gospel. This year has been filled with stories of how, together, we address lostness as the world’s greatest problem. Let’s look through some highlights of how God transformed lives through you and your […]
Foshie elected as next IBSA Executive Director
Springfield | Dr. Scott Foshie was elected to serve as the 12th Executive Director of the Illinois Baptist State Association by the IBSA Board of Directors meeting in Springfield December 9. Foshie will succeed Nate Adams, who will retire April 1 after 20 years’ service. Foshie will serve as Executive Director Elect until then, allowing […]
100 and counting: The vitality of Baptist pillars cited at centennial
Just as messengers at the national convention did in Dallas, Illinois Baptist messengers at the Annual Meeting in Springfield expressed support for the century-old pillars of Southern Baptist work — the Baptist Faith and Message and Cooperative Program — uniting factors in our shared ministry. Several speakers held them up as key to the effective […]
News Stories
Farewells in Rehoboth, Louisville
Rehoboth Baptist Association saw two of its top ministry leaders retire at the end of 2025, Director of Missions (DOM) Joe Lawson and Administrative Assistant Theresa Flowers. Both served over 25 years with Flowers joining the association in November 1999 and Lawson becoming DOM in May 2000. They retired on December 31. Lawson is also […]
Consultants work in 5 regions
After 14 years, IBSA’s zone strategy is receiving its first significant remodel. The move will map the state into 5 regions rather than 10 zones. Each geographic region (Northern, Central, Southern, Chicago, and Metro East) will still have a locally based consultant to serve as a nearby connection for churches and local associations. However, the […]
News stories in the new year that we’re watching for new developments
SBC: Déjà vu, all over again? This is one of those years the denomination will see a lot of change at the top. New heads are expected at Lifeway Christian Resources and Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, which are being led by interim presidents, and at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Woman’s Missionary Union, where […]
Lottie Moon walks and talks in AI video available for download
Columbia, S.C. | Alex Lyons was touring the International Mission Board’s training center in late April, lagging behind the group, when he spied the life-sized, black-and-white Lottie Moon cutout familiar to many churches. And as Lyons is prone to do, he had an idea and acted on it. Lyons took a picture of Moon and […]
BF&M 2000
BF&M Article 18: In the beginning God created… family
At the apex of God’s creative workweek, we find him crafting a man, then a woman, and directing them to “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it” (Gen. 1:28). It might surprise younger Baptists to know that Article 18 wasn’t included in the 1925 BF&M. Or the 1963 version. It was added […]
BF&M Articles 15, 16, 17: Our dual citizenship
Some nations allow dual citizenship. Citizens can enjoy all the rights and privileges of their nation while pledging allegiance to another nation as well, so long as they keep up their obligations (and pay taxes, I suppose). The United States does not prohibit dual citizenship, but if you want to enter the country, you must […]
BF&M Articles 13 & 14: What’s temporary vs. what’s lasting
Those unfamiliar with the biblical use of the word steward may find it helpful to substitute the word manager. The Bible teaches that God owns everything, and that Christians, God’s people, are temporary managers of all that he entrusts into their lives. Managers are not owners. They are caretakers, with delegated responsibility for the treasures […]
BF&M Articles 11 & 12: Let’s talk about Jesus
The first official SBC-sanctioned witnessing training I received was called “Lay Evangelism School.” A leader from the state convention came to our church and taught us how to use a “survey method” to share the gospel on a Saturday morning. Then we went out and did it. We knocked on doors in the neighborhood and […]