While Matthew was still churning up the U.S. eastern seaboard as a Category 4 hurricane, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers were already preparing hot meals for storm evacuees in Florida. Meal preparation is expected to number in the thousands as multiple teams and kitchens from other states began operations Oct. 10. Meanwhile, SBDR assessors are working […]
With dams continuing to fail in South Carolina Oct. 7, Southern Baptist Disaster Relief leaders gathered by conference call to plan a multi-state long-term response to historic flooding that has overwhelmed the state. SBDR command centers have been established at the South Carolina Baptist Convention office in Columbia and at the Charleston Baptist Association where […]
Imagine if pastors received the same support and accolades reserved for college football coaches. While many churches encourage their pastors well — and some do an exemplary job — many pastors feel closer to last year’s fired head coach than the man with the post-game TV show. Enter pastor appreciation month in October. Pastors need […]
Imagine if pastors received the same support and accolades reserved for college football coaches. While many churches encourage their pastors well — and some do an exemplary job — many pastors feel closer to last year’s fired head coach then the man with the post-game TV show. Enter pastor appreciation month in October. Pastors need […]
The 22 students from The Church at Lifepark had no idea they would be the first of thousands. Student minister Paul Coleman registered his Mount Pleasant, S.C., group for the 2015 Send North America Conference when online reservations opened last year. More than 13,000 people have followed their lead. The conference, to be hosted at […]
As he developed his May 25 children’s sermon Mark Standridge planned to hold back one card from his young audience. The pastor of Placer Heights Baptist Church in Placerville, Calif., opened his brief message with a question for the children. “Have any of you ever collected baseball cards?” Standridge asked. “When I was a boy […]
God can change hearts in a flash. In one instant a person’s reality is altered — their drive, desire, vision. When Derek and Lindsay Allen felt called to move to Miami, their family left behind everything they knew of life before. It happened at a church planting conference the couple attended. “We went with open […]
A task force designed to address declining baptisms among Southern Baptist churches released its full report on May 12. An urgent, immediate call for spiritual renewal and personal commitment to evangelism and discipleship are the common threads among five recommendations made by the Pastors’ Task Force on Evangelistic Impact and Declining Baptisms. The national task […]
Camille. Hugo. Andrew. 9-11. Katrina. Haiti. Tuscaloosa. Joplin. Sandy. Oklahoma City. Those words often bring to mind disasters; they trigger emotions and memories difficult and poignant. Southern Baptists have had a common response to all of them: Help. Disaster relief has captured the hearts of volunteers from all backgrounds. Regardless of race, age, gender or […]
Editor’s note: Southern Baptists will observe World Hunger Sunday Oct. 13 to highlight the ministry being undertaken nationally and internationally through Global Hunger Relief (formerly the World Hunger Fund). A rural concept has taken root at a urban church in Philadelphia as an outreach to its neighbors. An urban garden at Philadelphia’s The Foundry Church […]