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Illinois Baptist State Newspaper

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Barber taps Wellman to lead ‘cooperation’ study, makes ARITF changes

August 11, 2023 By Eric Reed

Jared Wellman

Nashville, Tenn. | Southern Baptist Convention President Bart Barber named fellow Texas pastor Jared Wellman to chair the group studying “friendly cooperation” as a standard for church membership in the denomination. “I am concerned about the way that we’re defining friendly cooperation,” Barber said in an exclusive interview with the Illinois Baptist just ahead of […]

Baptists bless churches across Chicagoland

August 9, 2023 By Eric Reed

IBSA's Nate Adams (far right) and NAMB's Sammy Simmons (back center) pray with the team from Empowerment Community Church in Chicago.

Chicago | The first weekend in August will be remembered for several events in Chicagoland: big baseball rivalries, Lollapalooza concerts, and the arrival of Southern Baptists for Serve Tour. A total of 973 volunteer participants from 11 states and 67 SBC churches partnered with church planters and pastors in the city and suburbs for two […]

Disaster Relief aids Washington, Sangamon counties

July 5, 2023 By Eric Reed

Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief teams provide meals after July 2 storms in Nashville, IL.

Nashville, Illinois | Assistance from Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief (IBDR) has shifted from Washington County in the southern part of the state to the central region as of Wednesday afternoon, July 5, as both areas clean up after wind damage and cope with continued power outages. Disaster Relief crews from out of state were headed […]

Quiet campaign with loud outcome

June 27, 2023 By Eric Reed

Bart Barber

Before the convention started, few people were making predictions about the outcome of the presidential election. Certainly, the word “landslide” was not in the ether, because so many things about the annual gathering were uncertain—starting with the presidency. Incumbent Bart Barber was being challenged after serving only the first year of a customary two terms […]

New Orleans by the Numbers

June 15, 2023 By Eric Reed

More than 4,000 messengers and guests registered for the SBC annual meeting within three hours of opening on Sunday afternoon, June 11, prior to the June 13-14 meetings at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in the Crescent City. BP photo

Baptists are called “numbers people” with a bit of a tongue cluck when it’s said. In this summary of significant tallies from the SBC Annual Meeting in New Orleans, the numbers tell the story. And overall, it’s a good one. 35 – Are we divided? Before the meeting opened on Tuesday, the Executive Committee (EC) […]

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Featured Columns

After another leadership failure, forgive? Yes. Forget? Maybe later.

Eric Reed

My cousin Holly’s house burned down in July. The family and their dog were saved, but they lost everything. Literally everything, except her grandmother’s ancient roasting pan just big enough for a 12-pound turkey and a diamond ring. Everything else in their rural home was gone in under an hour. The irony was that my […]

Nate Adams

Positive purpose

Nate Adams

Without question, more of my time and passion is invested in encouraging churches to give to missions through the Cooperative Program than through any designated offering, including our own state missions offering. I believe that’s as it should be. Yet both the CP and designated offerings have vital, important purposes. My conviction is that the […]

What personal missions commitment looks like

Meredith Flynn

“Your partnership is needed now.” That sentence jumped out as I looked over this year’s Mission Illinois Offering materials. This time of year always reminds me of the things that unite Illinois Baptists: the shared prayer that more people will come to know Jesus; the shared burden for our communities in need of transformation; and […]

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Newsmakers Interview with Bart Barber, Part 3

Eric Reed

Southern Baptist Convention President Bart Barber is featured in the September issue of the Illinois Baptist. An hour-long interview focused on key issues including women in pastoral ministry and “friendly cooperation.” Editor Eric Reed asked Barber to look ahead to the 2024 SBC in Indianapolis. They discussed the role of social media in our Baptist […]

News

SBC EC votes at September 2023 meeting

Recap of this week’s SBC Exec Comm meeting

The Baptist Paper

While the anticipated next step regarding who will temporarily lead the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee in the interim period changed mid-way through the trustees’ meeting this week, trustee chair Philip Robertson plans to begin a new search right away. Recently retired Kentucky pastor Dan Summerlin provided this statement yesterday afternoon (Sept. 19) after alerting […]

Barber recalls ‘bold’ Southern Baptists, urges cooperation amid trials

Quick look at SBC Exec Comm agenda, Sept. 18-19

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Mission

Metro East church plant hosts multiplication meeting

Metro East church plant hosts multiplication meeting

Ben Jones

Pastors and church leaders from around the Metro East area gathered in Collinsville May 17 for the second Multiply Illinois Hub. These quarterly regional events are designed to encourage and equip those interested in church multiplication. Heights Community Church, planted in 2016, hosted the gathering in their newly renovated home. With the St. Louis skyline […]

Sallateeska baptism demonstrates SBC connections

A first-time ministry to migrant workers is very fruitful

More Mission Stories

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