My family has been compared to the Tribe of Levi. As a child, I can remember family cookouts feeling like an auxiliary meeting of the South Carolina Baptist Convention. My father, Horace Sims, was a pastor; my maternal grandfather, Grady Bridwell, was a pastor; and uncles on both sides of the family were pastors. The […]
We live in a world where everyone wants to know the answer to the question, “What’s in it for me?” I remember a conversation with some concerned parents one time who demanded that we consider what is best for the youth in the church. I was young and somewhat arrogant. I’m sure my answer seemed […]
As we get closer to the annual meeting, my anticipation and anxiety continue to grow by leaps and bounds. Over the last few weeks, I’ve had a recurring dream that I’m trying to get to the meeting, and I just can’t get there. Every road is blocked. Every which way I turn, there seems to […]
They say that nothing is as certain as death and taxes. I would add change to the list of life’s certainties. Sometimes we choose change, and sometimes it chooses us. Sometimes it’s a combination of the two. I’ve seen a lot of change in my 45 short years of life. A lot of that change […]
I was called to serve as the pastor of a small, South Carolina Baptist church when I was 23 years old. There were 12 people in attendance on my first Sunday there. We were an aging church in a shrinking community with diminishing finances and several years of zero baptisms. If something didn’t change, if […]
“Engage” is the theme for the 199th annual meeting of the South Carolina Baptist Convention this November. Engaging the hearts and minds of South Carolina Baptists has been the business of The Baptist Courier for 150 years. That’s right — for a century and a half, The Courier has been informing and inspiring Southern Baptists […]
One early summer evening in Greenwood, my dad and I were grilling burgers in our backyard. Dark clouds filled the sky as lightning flashed in the distance and thunder rumbled softly. A heavy drizzle began to moisten our shoulders. My dad joked, “This may be the day we all go home to be with the […]
Once a year, the churches of the South Carolina Baptist Convention send messengers from their congregations to help set the course for our cooperative ministry. This gathering of South Carolina Baptists is called the annual meeting. This meeting is a vitally important part of Baptist life. There are at least four important things that take […]
I believe we can accomplish more together than we can apart. I’ve always believed this, and I think I always will. I grew up learning all about how we as South Carolina Baptists accomplish incredible feats through cooperative missions and ministries, and how we funded those endeavors through the Cooperative Program. My dad, Horace Sims, […]