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Illinois Baptist State Newspaper

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Upbeat Foshie reports at his first IBSA Board meeting

March 25, 2026 By Ben Jones

Scott Foshie

Springfield | “I believe a new season of cooperation and Great Commission fruit is about to be driven by our Lord. We can’t do it by ourselves… It must be a ministry of the Holy Spirit through Illinois Baptists.” In his first address to the full IBSA Board as incoming Executive Director on March 24, […]

Good joins IBSA as Collegiate Ministry Catalyst

January 28, 2026 By Ben Jones

Springfield | Daniel Good is the new Collegiate Ministry Catalyst, a part-time role created this year to help create and manage church partnerships strategically reaching students on Illinois university campuses. He began work in his new position January, 15. Good will continue to serve as lead pastor of Cornerstone Church in Savoy, where he has […]

Consultants work in 5 regions

January 8, 2026 By Ben Jones

Regions map

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 […]

Leaders’ summit in Springfield

December 26, 2025 By Ben Jones

ILS 2026

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 […]

BF&M Article 18: In the beginning God created… family

December 9, 2025 By Ben Jones

BF&M The 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 […]

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Featured Columns

Mark Emerson

Worth every effort

Mark Emerson

When the news came, I was tired—Day 4 of VBS tired. Tired had been the theme of every drive home with my wife that week. Somewhere along the way I had finally asked the question only the overly weary ask: “How long are we going to keep this up?” Months of planning had become weeks […]

Loophole

Messengers close loophole

Eric Reed

It seemed like no big deal at the time. Messengers quickly voted for a change to the Baptist Faith and Message in 2023, there was no great debate. The motion came up and it kind of slid through—and that’s the problem. In 2026 they voted to prevent that from ever happening again. At the 2026 […]

A Committed Church: 2 Timothy 2:1-4

Maurice Gaiter

In a recent trip to Haiti, I heard a Haitian pastor illustrate to his congregation the need for total commitment to Christ. A man wanted to sell his house for $2,000. Another man wanted to buy it, but because he was poor, he couldn’t afford the full price. After much bargaining, the owner agreed to […]

More Columns

Good signs (so far)

Illinois Baptist Staff

Springfield | In church life, some summers are marked by a slump—in giving, attendance or attitude. But not this year, and especially not for IBSA. With the new administration now entering its second quarter, there are notable signs of positive attitudes in the network of churches. Some observations are anecdotal, with stories coming from the […]

News

IMB Photo

IMB missionary dies while serving in the Philippines

IMB.org

Esther (Sook Hyung) Kim, a Southern Baptist missionary to Philippines, died July 16 after suffering a heart attack. She was 64. Kim was attending a team meeting when she began to feel ill and went to a local hospital for care. Hospital staff revived her after she collapsed on site, but she did not regain […]

Young returns to IBSA team

World Cup scores for digital witness

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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