Oldest BP articles now available online
Baptist Press articles dating to 1948 now are available online in a searchable PDF format following a two-year digitization project by the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives. About 8,000 articles on 66,000 pages were scanned and then indexed by Google Search to serve as a valuable source of information on Baptist history. To access the files, visit sbhla.org and click on Collections to find Baptist Press Releases 1948-1995 at the bottom of the list. The archives can be searched by year and issue date or by specific terms, and stories also can be obtained through a general Google search. Articles starting in 1996 are accessible in the archives at bpnews.net.
Attendance higher, younger at SBC
Interest in the Great Commission Resurgence caused an attendance resurgence at the Southern Baptist Convention June 23-24 annual meeting in Louisville, Ky., according to registration secretary Jim Wells. This year’s unofficial messenger count was 8,790, more than 1,500 over last year’s tally in Indianapolis. “It was also a younger convention,” Wells said. “I saw a lot of younger pastors and families.” Wells said the large Kentucky numbers and the younger crowd could be attributed to the annual meeting’s close proximity to Southern Baptist Seminary, located in Louisville. As for next year in Orlando, Wells said he thinks he will see another boost in attendance. “It’ll be way up,” he said. “I’m looking for a significantly larger group because it is such a family-friendly destination.”
‘Saddle Ridge Ranch’ 2010 VBS theme
Kids will head out West for VBS 2010. “Saddle Ridge Ranch” is the 2010 Vacation Bible School destination where participants will be “roundin’ up questions” and “drivin’ home answers.” Set among snowcapped peaks and wide open spaces, the Bible study focus will be on questions real kids ask: “Who am I? Does God care about me? What is God’s plan for me? How can I be like Jesus? What do I do now?” The video for LifeWay’s VBS 2010 follows the adventures of four young cowboys and cowgirls and their wrangler friend, Jed, as they discover that the best adventure is more than riding horses or looking for rattlers – it’s about discovering Jesus, who wants to be the Lord of their lives.
True Love Waits gains foothold in South Africa
A dozen government departments, aid organizations and religious leaders signed an agreement June 25 with True Love Waits International to promote abstinence in schools within Eastern Cape, a province of South Africa. Student representatives from 15 schools gathered to celebrate the partnership between TLWI and the Eastern Cape government. With the agreement, TLWI gains access to all the schools within the Eastern Cape. South Africa is home to more than 10 million youth between the ages of 13 and 30. By the time most of them marry, studies indicate that they will have had approximately 10 different sexual partners.
Korean Baptists reach goal 1 year early
Members of the Council of Korean Southern Baptist Churches in America are celebrating the mobilization of 1,000 people for missions service through the International Mission Board. The council set a goal in 2007 of sending out 1,000 missionaries through the International Mission Board by the year 2010. The 600 or more people at the Korean Council’s annual meeting in Louisville, Ky., responded with fervent applause and intense prayer when Ken Winter, IMB vice president for church and partner services, reported the figures: 300 Koreans are serving with the IMB, another 200 are in the missionary candidate process, and 500 have committed to go when resources are available.
‘Idol’ concert among SBC family events
“American Idol” season six finalist Phil Stacey presented a concert to students and their families as one of the many family activities during the Southern Baptist Convention in Louisville, Ky., June 23-34. Stacey, a preacher’s kid, was ministering at a church in Jacksonville, Fla., and in the U.S. Navy when he auditioned for American Idol. He now resides in Cleveland, Tenn. He directed many of his comments to the sons and daughters of ministers as he sang, then moved the crowd by personally autographing a CD for each person in attendance that he and his wife Kendra, also a preacher’s kid, made in their home studio. “I know the pressures on preachers’ kids,” Stacey said. “I hope I planted a seed.”