A lot has happened in a year. The Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services’ Board of Trustees brought a candidate for Executive Director in November 2022, and he was elected unanimously. After a lengthy search, the new leader proved to be a familiar face to Baptists in Illinois. The Associational Mission Strategist for Salem South Baptist Association had served as pastor of Rochester First Baptist Church. He was known for his work in the state convention, serving on committees, as vice president, and two terms as president of the Illinois Baptist State Association. And before all that, he was an attorney. His experience in law would be helpful.
The challenges of the pandemic meant there were open positions and a decline in residents at the Carmi campus. Yet the need for counseling services was growing, as was the opportunity for GraceHaven Pregnancy Resource Clinic, BCHFS’ newest ministry, since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. Many states were limiting or ending abortion—except Illinois.
For Kevin Carrothers, now one year on the job, it has been a busy and productive season, but the challenge in this cultural and economic environment grows. As does his hope. He talked with Illinois Baptist editor Eric Reed.
Illinois Baptist: I know it’s been a learning year. You talked about having people in new positions and clarifying the goals of BCHFS. What is your perception of it all?
Carrothers: Well, I would say I have grown, number one, in just a greater appreciation for the staff who carry out the ministry through our five programs, their commitment, their devotion, their compassion, and their expertise in the areas in which they work.
When you’re a pastor or as the AMS, you have occasional interaction. You know, you’re always getting people at their best. But the day in, day out grind is a little different as you observe people. But that passion is consistent.
Then secondly, the diversity of our programs. Caring for the unborn, caring for prospective mothers, dealing with people that are looking to adopt, helping troubled teens and families reconcile. And then to think about the whole spectrum of people that come to our counselors and are dealing with so many different issues, whether it’s depression or marital strife or family strife, all those things. It’s a testimony to those who’ve walked ahead of me that had the foresight to move ahead in those programs; now being entrusted with that responsibility.
The conversations that we have in our leadership meetings are focused on mission. We’re focused on the vision about who we are, what we do, and where we’re going. It’s important for us not only as the staff, but to be able to clearly communicate that to our churches and to our donors as we serve them.
Q: At the IBSA annual meeting, you used a phrase that intrigued me. You said, “The children’s home is not an orphanage. It hasn’t been since 1940.” Why is that significant?
A: Well, the word orphanage conveys a particular meaning, right. It means children who essentially have no guardian, no mother or father, and there’s nobody left to care for them. And certainly in the creation of the Children’s Home in 1918, with the Spanish Flu and World War I occurring, there was a need.
By the 1940s, even the state of Illinois changed their vernacular about orphans. It was no longer parentless children or teenagers who were coming to the organization. It was teens who were having trouble at home and needed care.
Today we have a boys’ cottage and we have a girls’ cottage in operation, and we are licensed for four. We have about a dozen residents. They often are here for a few months or a year. Maybe a school year.
Q: And the goal is to get the residents back to their homes.
A: Yes, restoration with families is always the goal. The residential care program focuses both with the resident but also the family members at home, because there are changes that have to be made there as well for effective restoration to take place.
In 2024, the diversity of our programs is much different than just the focus on residential care that the agency had in the early years—with the residential campus in Carmi, Angel’s Cove Maternity Home, GraceHaven Pregnancy Resource Clinic, Faith Adoptions, and Pathways Counseling in 11 locations across Illinois and online.
Q: What would you say are your frontier ministries, those areas where you see BCHFS having more impact going forward?
A: Well, I would say every one of our five programs has impact going forward. Obviously GraceHaven, our pregnancy resource clinic is our newest ministry. I find there are parallels between the creation of Baptist Children’s Home in 1918 and then Grace Haven in 2020. The pandemic in both cases was providential. I think that particular ministry is ripe for partnership with like-minded agencies around the state.
Q: Your annual report talked about the recent achievements of Pathways Counseling service.
A: Yes, the number of people seeing counselors these days, especially since the pandemic, has grown exponentially. We will have served almost 1,000 clients this year. Pathways Counseling is by far the program that reaches the most people.
We are always looking for counselors who align with our statement of faith (Baptist Faith & Message) who would be willing to work with us and provide those services. We have ten or so churches around the state that would like to have a counselor. But that’s where we need the help of churches, to find those counselors to contract with us.
Q: How do we encourage our churches and ourselves to engage more fully in those places where there are more abortion clinics, and where the landscape has changed?
A: Well, I think for our churches to really become engaged, it comes down to answering the question about human life and human value. Life that begins at conception looks a lot different from life, say, at age 90, doesn’t it? But that person at age 90 was the same person who was conceived and is in that embryo. He’s just in a different stage of development.
If we can understand that truth in that context, then I think the value of human life becomes self-evident. I think if we can understand that truth in the church, we might be more apt to defend life.
Q: What about the pastor who is concerned about stirring up a debate?
A: Yes. So sanctity of life begins in the pulpit. Looking back, I’m better informed today because there are more resources, and I’ve engaged the conversation more in recent years than I did early on in my pastorate.
Our recent speaker at our GraceHaven fundraiser dinner has written a book called The Case for Life. Scott Klusendorf speaks about how we can equip Christians to engage the culture, specifically pastors equipping their church members.
Fear number one is the fear of distraction. Won’t addressing abortion distract the church from the gospel? That’s a valid concern. But recognizing abortion is sin, then we have to point people to the gospel, to the forgiveness of God, the redemption of God.
Q: The Roe reversal has meant calls for the church to respond differently—especially in care for pregnant women and for adoptions.
A: Our Faith Adoptions program has a statewide reach. In 2024 we’re looking for couples, preferably in our Baptist church family, our IBSA family, that are looking to adopt. And we do home studies from Chicago all the way south to Metropolis.
We have good relationships with DCFS, and they make us aware of birth moms who are ready to adopt. Our counselors will go to the hospitals and meet with those birth moms and are often there at delivery. That’s why we need adoptive couples. We need families who are ready to adopt.
Q: Illinois is one of the most liberal states in terms of abortion, which means among the least favorable in terms of the sanctity of—and preservation of—life. In this environment, how do you hold onto hope?
A: There’s a verse that I preached when I was IBSA President, Jeremiah 29:7: “So pursue the well-being of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it thrives, you will thrive.”
We know about the vast amount of lostness in the state of Illinois, and we could focus on the darkness, the despair that surrounds us, as God’s people did when they were in Babylon. They felt out of their element. They felt alienated. They were in a culture that was dark. They had all these beliefs and other gods, but rejected the one true God.
But I see parallels to our culture. We have the good news, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to be well received. But we can ask the Lord to help us make our towns, our communities, our state, a better place despite the darkness. We just need to shine right where we live.
Learn more about the Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services at BCHFS.com.