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After the ‘three-year pandemic’

April 20, 2021 By Eric Reed

Eric Reed

The stories we hear right now are anecdotal: churches here and there witnessing something of a revival after months of closure and privation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some pundits warned that it may take years for all the regulars to return to church services, if they ever do. But more recent polls show people […]

All-time low membership: What does it mean?

April 5, 2021 By Eric Reed

Church pews

A recent Gallup poll showing that church membership among U.S. adults has dropped below 50% for the first time in 80 years has religious leaders scratching their heads. They’re not so much wondering why, but how do we get them back? A summary showing who actually left may help. Gallup says that declines are smaller […]

The next generation’s big question: Does ‘the Way’ mean the only way?

March 8, 2021 By Eric Reed

Does 'the Way' mean the only way?

Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised, but it hurts to read the numbers. A faith foundation built on the exclusivity of Christ in salvation is shifting under the feet of teens and young adults. A new poll by the Barna Group shows a growing number of young people say there’s more than one way to get […]

‘Sanctity’ beyond the unborn

January 13, 2021 By Eric Reed

Ahead of each January issue, our editorial team asks, “How will we report on ‘sanctity’ this year?” The Sunday before the anniversary of the 1973 decision legalizing abortion in the United States is observed as Sanctity of Human Life on the SBC calendar. This year it falls on January 17. For many Southern Baptists, that […]

Learning from 1918’s quiet Christmas

December 10, 2020 By Eric Reed

Christmas star

They called the holiday of December 1918 “the peace Christmas.” A truce had been declared. With the armistice announced, the shooting had stopped at 11 a.m. on November 11. Although the agreements to end The Great War were not yet signed, the world sighed relief that the confrontation that consumed Europe and 18 million war […]

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Featured Columns

Gerald and Betty Steffy

We need more like them

Brent Cloyd

When Gerald and Betty Steffy came to Fairfield in August 1959, the couple were in their mid-twenties.  Gerald had just completed his theological training, and he was called to serve North Side Baptist Church. Gerald and Betty served churches in Illinois well into their eighties. Gerald died in September 2022, and Betty just a few […]

Ruth and Naomi

Ruth’s surrendered life

Meredith Flynn

Don’t plead with me to abandon you or to return and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God” (Ruth 1:16). A few months after I moved to Illinois, I was assigned to […]

Watching for Baptist smoke

Eric Reed

While the world waited in St. Peter’s Square, watching a nondescript stove pipe protruding from the roof of the Vatican, I was recalling the smoke jokes at the church where I have served as interim pastor. And I’m thinking about our own Baptist conclave coming soon. In Rome, three rounds of black smoke from the […]

More Columns

9 tips for life on mission: Retired missionaries offer advice for next generation

Sue Sprenkle

The 20-something held up a fistful of letters. Inside the old-fashioned style of communication were words of encouragement and advice for the new International Mission Board missionary.  The letters reaffirmed words Zoe Hill heard countless times in person at First Baptist Church Columbia, Mississippi, from retired IMB missionaries Tom and Gloria Thurman:  1. The call […]

News

Victoria Awbrey

Awbrey named to SBC’s Dallas Team

Illinois Baptist Staff

Victoria Awbrey returns to the Registration Committee for the 2025 Annual Meeting in June. She was one of 26 members appointed by SBC President Clint Pressley. The registration committee is called “to supervise the registration of messengers, to oversee the operations of the registration desk, and to rule upon any questions which may arise in […]

Hunt trial on hold for now

‘To preserve unity’ S.C. megachurch withdraws

More News Stories

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, 2023 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 […]

Sallateeska baptism demonstrates SBC connections

A first-time ministry to migrant workers is very fruitful

More Mission Stories

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