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Gillespie church plans new community ministry in expanded facility

July 13, 2022 By Ben Jones

Dane Solari, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Gillespie points to their progress on a project that was years in the making. Volunteer Carpenters For Christ from six states came to the Illinois town for two weeks to build a 10,000 square foot multi-purpose addition for ministry to the community.

Outside puddles formed on the new concrete slab from an early June downpour that rolled through Gillespie. The work site smelled of the fresh-cut lumber of stud walls and trusses. The yard was ringed by pick-up trucks and construction trailers, but mostly it was silent. Inside the church basement was noisy with the sounds of […]

What is clear and unclear after Anaheim

June 16, 2022 By Ben Jones

Photo by Adam Covington

Clear: Despite loud voices on social media and at the floor microphones voicing opposition to the Sexual Abuse Task Force recommendations and to the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, urging messengers to “change the direction,” there is a quiet majority in the SBC. If the messengers at Anaheim are a representation of the people in […]

SBC Final Day: No coasting allowed

June 15, 2022 By Ben Jones

Kevin Smith, Ethics & Religious Commission vice chair and campus pastor of Family Church Village in West Palm Beach, Fla.

The last day of the convention is a “downhill day.” Anticipations, expectations, and even tensions build the first few days. Wednesday is the peak, the height of all that messengers come expecting. The most talked-about votes are now in the past. Most of what is left are reports, seminary luncheons, and last opportunities to catch […]

Scene on Tuesday: A Sea of Yellow

June 15, 2022 By Ben Jones

Messengers vote to approve the recommendations brought by the SBC Sexual Abuse Task Force.

Tuesday afternoon, with over 8,000 SBC messengers checked into the Anaheim Convention Center, there were two questions on nearly every messenger’s mind. These two questions were the focus of the packed rooms in the early morning Baptist Twenty-one and Conservative Baptist Network meetings, across the street from the convention center. First, how would the messengers […]

Tuesday morning SBC: Game on

June 14, 2022 By Ben Jones

IMB Commissioning Service

This morning the real meeting began, and the convention hall looked like it. The place was packed, with over 7,500 registered messengers in attendance. It was a morning marked by floor debate, the SBC President’s sermon, and a glorious missionary commissioning service. The spiritual highlight of the morning was the IMB Sending Celebration where 52 […]

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Featured Columns

SBC25 Dallas

7 BOLOs for the Dallas Convention

Eric Reed

If the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Dallas June 10-11 proves to be a rowdy rodeo, we will “be on the lookout” for these issues. 1. The long arm of the Law Amendment. The open letter to SBC churches on a method to resurrect the Law Amendment virtually guarantees that someone will try it. Asked […]

Nate Adams

Between summits

Nate Adams

Those who know me or who have been reading this column for a while know that I am on a bit of a quest to climb as many of Colorado’s 14,000-foot mountains as possible. My oldest son, Caleb, and I have summited 37 “fourteeners” together, some with other family members. My wife, Beth, would be […]

Turning volunteers’ no’s into enthusiastic yes’s

Daniel Kim

In the third week of my internship, I was assigned to tear down chairs and tables after an event in our gym. Coming from a smaller church, I assumed I could handle it on my own—until I saw eight tables and 150 chairs that needed to be cleared. After three grueling hours, one thought kept […]

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SBC 2025: Back where we started

Illinois Baptist Staff

Dallas | Messengers to the 2025 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in Dallas June 10-11 arrived at the probability that motions from the floor on women and the pastorate, financial transparency, and the fate of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission would dominate the discussion. In the business sessions, they did. But in the end, […]

News

Pressley reelected

SBC: New and familiar faces elected

Lisa Misner

Dallas | Clint Pressley was reelected to a second one-year term as president of the Southern Baptist Convention on the first day of the Annual Meeting in Dallas June 10. And his new first vice president is an evangelist familiar to many because of triumph over significant disabilities. One candidate elected without opposition was presented […]

Jennifer Lyell dies after brief illness

HLGU opposes mandate

More News Stories

Mission

“While we have not yet arrived at the destination we envision, I believe we are clearly headed in the right direction,” said IMB President Paul Chitwood to trustees in the May 22 plenary session. IMB Photo

IMB trustees appoint new missionaries, elect first woman chair

Leslie Caldwell

Richmond | International Mission Board trustees approved 65 fully funded missionaries for appointment during their May 21-22 meeting near Richmond, Virginia. The missionaries approved for appointment will be recognized during a Sending Celebration on Tuesday, June 10, at 10:08 a.m. CDT in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Dallas. The event will […]

Metro East church plant hosts multiplication meeting

Sallateeska baptism demonstrates SBC connections

More Mission Stories

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