When Todd Chipman and his wife, Julie, finalized their adoption of two grade-school-aged sisters, the courtroom was packed with excited members of the Kansas City, Kan., congregation that he pastors. Members of The Master’s Community Church even arranged for the judge to give American Girl dolls to the sisters from the bench. So overwhelming was […]
The Great Commission, the Cooperative Program, supporting pastors and listening to Southern Baptists will be among the early emphases of Ronnie Floyd’s presidency at the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee. “Our missional vision as Southern Baptists is to present the gospel of Jesus Christ to every person in the world and to make disciples of […]
Warren Wiersbe, an author and pastor credited with influencing thousands of preachers toward biblical exposition, died May 2. He was 89. “I first heard Dr. Wiersbe at a Bible conference” in Chattanooga, Tenn., in the early 1960s, said Jerry Vines, a former Southern Baptist Convention president and longtime friend of Wiersbe’s. “What I heard him […]
A fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris — lamented in media reports as the marring of a historic French symbol — has deep theological significance some observers may have missed, say evangelical scholars of culture and art. “Notre Dame is the handiwork of those who self-identified as Christian, and it testifies to the essential […]
Adam Greenway says he wants to continue Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s legacy as the “big-tent seminary of the SBC,” where Southern Baptists who differ on secondary theological issues can unite behind rigorous scholarship, missions and evangelism. Greenway laid out his vision at a Feb. 27 press conference following his election as Southwestern’s ninth president. He […]
North Carolina pastor J.D. Greear will be nominated for a second term as president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Pennsylvania pastor K. Marshall Williams announced April 12. “In these troublesome and turbulent times, we need a pastor-preacher-prophet that will stand in the gap and lead with confident, consistent, convictional, Christo-centric, courageous courtesy,” Williams, pastor of […]
Arkansas pastor and former Southern Baptist Convention president Ronnie Floyd will be recommended for the presidency of the SBC Executive Committee, the EC’s presidential search committee announced March 31. The full EC will consider Floyd’s nomination Tuesday, April 2, at a special called meeting in Dallas to begin at 11 a.m. CDT at the Grand […]
After two days of meetings, representatives of Paige Patterson and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary say they have determined, with no disagreements, the rightful ownership of 89 boxes of documents related to Patterson’s 1992-2003 presidency at Southeastern. Southeastern said it recovered “student” and “personnel” records from Patterson. Patterson’s representatives said he maintained all but about one-third […]
When a white supremacist gunned down nine black worshipers at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, S.C., mission catalyst Bob Lawler knew he had to say something to the Baptist association he led in northern California. So Lawler gathered the association’s 48 ethnically diverse churches for a joint worship service. When he stood to preach, Lawler […]
In light of “an accelerated rate of erosion” at “brick-and-mortar” stores, LifeWay Christian Resources President Thom Rainer has announced that some LifeWay stores will be closing. The number of stores to close and the timing of those closures has not been announced. Rainer wrote in a Jan. 15 email to all LifeWay employees, “We […]