‘Call 2 Fall’ issued for July 5
Churches and individuals are invited to answer the Call 2 Fall on Sunday, July 5. The initiative is aimed at praying for the healing of America and declaring dependence on God immediately after celebrating the nation’s independence from Great Britain. “It’s incumbent upon the church to assume the responsibility for where the nation is and to lead us forward, not from a political standpoint but from a spiritual standpoint,” Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said. “If the spiritual things are in order, the political things seem to be a lot easier to solve.”
Church care plan for chaplains unveiled
The Southern Baptist Convention’s first ministry care plan for churches whose pastors are called to active duty with the military will get its official launch at this year’s SBC annual meeting, June 23-24 in Louisville, Ky. Keith Travis, director of the North American Mission Board’s chaplaincy and evangelism team in Alpharetta, Ga., said the plan outlines steps churches can take when a pastor or staff member has to serve as a National Guard or reserve chaplain.
Multi-site churches entail challenges, rewards
Multi-site churches have grown in number from about 10 in 1990 to more than 2,000 in the United States last year, according to Scott McConnell, associate director of LifeWay Research. “Adding a site does not simply add an address to your church,” McConnell writes in a new book, “Multi-Site Churches: Guidance for the Movement’s Next Generation.” “It adds complexity” – which can cause “irreparable damage” to a church or, conversely, impact a community for Christ in a way that one church campus cannot do, according to McConnell.
89 North American missionaries appointed
Eighty-nine North American Mission Board missionaries were commissioned May 18 in a service hosted by Morrison Heights Baptist Church in Clinton, Miss. NAMB president Geoff Hammond, who was commissioned as a NAMB missionary at nearby First Baptist Church, Jackson, in 2000, cited the apostle Paul’s visit to Thessalonica in chapter 17 of Acts in telling the new missionaries to be bold as they go into the mission field. “There is a trend in ministry today that says you have to first go to a community and fit in and be a part of things,” Hammond said. “Too often we fit in so much nobody can tell the difference. You need to go be a part of the community, but let them know what you believe. Jesus said it well – don’t hide your light under a bushel.”
W.Va. flash floods trigger Baptist disaster relief
In the wake of flash floods that washed away rural roads and even mountainsides over six southern West Virginia counties on Mother’s Day weekend, Southern Baptist disaster relief feeding units and mud-out crews remain on the scene. Some 100-140 disaster relief volunteers have responded to the West Virginia floods – including feeding units and mud-out teams from South Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio and New England. Five inches of rain over two days triggered flash floods that destroyed 200 homes and caused major damage to another 120, reported Delton Beall, state director of missions and state disaster relief director for the West Virginia Convention of Southern Baptists.
Majority of Americans pro-life, Gallup says
A majority in the United States describes itself as pro-life on the abortion issue, marking a substantial change in public opinion in the last year, according to a new Gallup Poll. The survey results released May 15 showed 51 percent of adults said they are pro-life, while 42 percent identified themselves as pro-choice. It is the first time a majority of Americans have called themselves pro-life since Gallup began asking the question in 1995. Until now, no poll had shown more than 46 percent saying they are pro-life. A year ago, the same poll, which is titled the Gallup Values and Beliefs survey, showed 50 percent considered themselves pro-choice and 44 percent pro-life.
Fighting in Pakistan drives 1 million from homes
Relief workers have mobilized to identify ways Southern Baptists can help some of the estimated 1.2 million people who have fled Pakistan’s Swat Valley as their country’s military inflicts heavy casualties on Taliban insurgents who control the area. The United Nations’ refugee agency said that 1.2 million people from Swat and two adjoining districts in northwest Pakistan have registered as “internally displaced people,” according to the Toronto Globe and Mail newspaper. Barely 10 percent, however, are living in the camps opened to accommodate them. Most are opting out of the camps in favor of staying with relatives or renting a place to stay, according to reports. Approximately 80 percent of the displaced people are women and children.