• Contact
  • Return to IBSA
  • Advertise Through Us
  • Subscribe
  • E-Reader

IBSA News

Illinois Baptist State Newspaper

  • Quick Links
    • E-Reader
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
    • Resource
  • News
    • IBSA
    • SBC
    • Culture
    • Illinois Churches
  • Stories
    • Church Planting
    • Mission
  • In Focus
  • Columns
    • Nate Adams
    • Eric Reed
    • Meredith Flynn
    • Table Talk
    • Reporter’s Notebook
    • Encouraging Words

Getting there requires knowing where here is

April 25, 2024 By Michael Nave

Micheal Nave

One of the most damaging mistakes we are making today is obsessing on where we want to be without getting honest about our current reality. Maybe Siri and Google Assistant have fueled the delusion. When we ask them for directions, they automatically launch directions to where we want to be from our current location. They […]

The joy (and pain) of letting go

June 8, 2023 By Michael Nave

Micheal Nave

It is hard to believe this is my 26th Father’s Day—as a father. It seems like yesterday I was changing Zachary’s first diaper. Ironically, I was much more confident in my parenting, say 10 years ago. Having two children grow up and move out confronted me with all the things I failed to get done […]

‘Respect’ and the marriage law we strongly oppose

December 1, 2022 By Michael Nave

Micheal Nave

Here’s another moment when we feel like Dorothy, convinced she’s not in Kansas anymore. We might say, “I’ve a feeling this is not the world it used to be, and I don’t like it!” This time it is passage of The Respect for Marriage Act by the U.S. Congress. It sure feels like another “nail […]

Pastoring people with sexual identity questions

August 30, 2022 By Michael Nave

A screenshot from Cornerstone Church's website that includes similar language to what the author describes.

I’ve had the conversation many times. Sometimes it’s with the person who says, “I think I’m gay.” Sometimes it’s with their friend or their parents. In our culture today, discussions about sexual identity are commonplace. It’s not only in large metropolitan areas. It’s here, it’s more public, and it’s growing among teens and young adults. […]

Featured Columns

Chuck Kelley

Blinded by bright spots: Kelley warns of trends we’re ignoring

Chuck Kelley

(Ed. note: One IBSA Annual Meeting keynote speaker has been concerned about the direction of the SBC for a long time. As a professor at New Orleans Seminary, he warned in 1983 that the denomination had plateaued. He pointed to the loss of evangelism among Methodists that led to their decline. “They never mounted a […]

Site where Paul is believed to have baptized Lydia.

Lydia’s quick response

Meredith Flynn

“A God-fearing woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying” (Acts 16:14). The account of Lydia is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment in the middle of the Book of Acts. Her story is only three verses long, but […]

Family reunion

Nate Adams

As I was preparing for my first IBSA Annual Meeting as Executive Director almost 20 years ago, I remember one long-time staff remember exclaiming, “I just love the Annual Meeting! It’s like a big family reunion.” Having just moved back to Illinois three months earlier, I didn’t yet share his enthusiasm. I was still meeting […]

More Columns

Unity, cooperation reign at IBSA Annual Meeting

Eric Reed

Springfield | If 1925 was a year to remember, with the birth of a unified missions funding system and the denomination’s first official statement of faith, then 2025 was also a year to remember. Southern Baptists celebrated the centennial anniversaries of Cooperative Program and the Baptist Faith and Message. Illinois Baptists marked the coming 20th […]

News

Trinity Christian College

Trinity Christian College will close

Illinois Baptist Staff

Palos Heights | After 66 years in operation in suburban Chicago, Trinity Christian College will close at the end of the 2025-26 academic year. The school’s final commencement will be May 8, 2026. The liberal arts school offered degrees in 70 programs. It was named among the top schools in the Midwest region by U.S. […]

Pritzker considering suicide bill

Panel at Annual Meeting to address campus ministry

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

  • News
  • Mission
  • In Focus
  • Columns

Copyright © 2025 · Website by Megaphone Designs