An early retirement incentive recently offered to 33 employees of the South Carolina Baptist Convention does not reflect immediate serious financial difficulties for the state denomination, even though Cooperative Program support from churches has tumbled over the past decade and shows few signs of rebounding. SCBC executive director-treasurer Gary Hollingsworth told The Courier there is […]
America’s pastors aren’t getting any younger. There are now more pastors over age 65 than under 40, a demographic shift over the past three generations that portends major challenges for the future church as baby boomer pastors age and die. According to a recent study by the Barna Group, the median age of Protestant pastors […]
At 100 Manly Street in Greenville, employees of The Baptist Courier pretty much can’t go anywhere without passing by Debbie Grooms’ office near the center of the building. She sees a lot of traffic during the day, and people stop at her door and lean in — to say hello … to chat about tomatoes, […]
Spend a few minutes across a table from Gene and Lisa Fant, and you’ll appreciate that humor is part of the equation in getting to know North Greenville University’s new first couple. Ask about his earliest childhood memories of Mississippi, and he’ll say, “Pine trees, rattlesnakes and tornadoes.” Ask her what first attracted her to […]
Gene C. Fant Jr., a veteran Baptist educator, has been named the eighth president of North Greenville University in Tigerville, S.C. Fant, 53, who most recently served as provost and chief academic officer for Palm Beach Atlantic University, a Christian school in West Palm Beach, Fla., was introduced as “God’s man” for North Greenville by […]
Whatever you call it — Sunday school, life groups, Bible study, or a name unique to your own congregation — the gathering together of people in small groups is central to the process of producing mature and effective disciples of Christ. “Unfortunately, I never attended Sunday school much growing up,” says Brandon Martin of First […]
In 2010, Jeremy and Lesley Creech heard a series of sermons at their home church, Barnwell First Baptist, on practical ways they could be the hands and feet of Jesus in their community. They learned, for instance, that if only one family in each Southern Baptist church in South Carolina volunteered to become foster-care parents, […]
Editor’s note: This story was updated Nov. 22, 2016, to include the number of churches represented at the SCBC annual meeting. Photos by Burnie Flake With the theme “Launch Out,” South Carolina Baptist Convention church messengers gathered Nov. 15-16 at Riverland Hills Baptist Church in Irmo, near Columbia, S.C., to conduct the state denomination’s business […]
Forgiveness, love, hope mark Townville community after fatal school shooting When the alert sounded Sept. 28 from Kyle Caudell’s scanner of an active shooter at Townville Elementary School, his first thought was that it must be a drill. Because his daughter is a fifth-grader at the school, he was aware that teachers and students had […]
Twelve months ago, when a historic “thousand-year flood” devastated lives from Columbia to the coast, Randy Creamer vowed that Baptists would be involved in the relief effort for the long haul. “This will be a marathon, not a 100-yard dash,” Creamer, disaster relief coordinator for the South Carolina Baptist Convention, said at the time. A […]