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Illinois Baptist State Newspaper

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Thinking about death—and life—and ministry in the middle

April 13, 2020 By Eric Reed

I find myself thinking about Jack Anders* right now. Jack was relatively a young man when he accepted the pastorate of a large established church in a popular oceanside community in Florida. The church was approaching 100 years old and so were many of its members. Jack lived not far from where I did. We […]

Wilma Booth of Elgin died on Good Friday

April 10, 2020 By Eric Reed

Wilma Booth

Wilma Booth of Elgin died from Coronavirus complications April 10 at Sherman Hospital. A lifelong Southern Baptist and leader in Baptist circles, Booth, 81, is being remembered fondly for decades of service to her church and to Illinois Baptists. “Wilma was a rare jewel,” said Nate Adams, executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association. […]

Illinois Baptist delivers online: Print edition goes monthly in crisis season

April 7, 2020 By Eric Reed

The number of visitors to online Illinois Baptist media has more than doubled during the Illinois stay-at-home order, and in some cases, traffic has increased more than 500%. To accommodate the staff time needed to produce extra news reports and online resources for the local church’s Coronavirus response, the Illinois Baptist newspaper will adopt a […]

Monumental: Before we take up the cross, we should consider the cost.

April 6, 2020 By Eric Reed

Rounding the bend where I-57 meets I-70 at Effingham, there rises on the east side of the highway the largest cross you may ever have seen. In fact, it’s the largest cross in the United States. Bud Althoff wanted it to be so. The Effingham resident had seen a similar cross while passing through Groom, […]

Rural resurgence: Millennials are leaving the city

February 26, 2020 By Eric Reed

Millennials are leaving the cities and finding “home” in small towns and rural areas. That’s the latest trend reported by recent research. The young adults, born from 1981 to 1996, are no longer finding urban centers and metro areas attractive. Why? They’re looking for community and opportunity. 30,000 Millennials left metro areas in 2018, the […]

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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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