While reading Eddie and Dawn Leopard’s “Home Base Marriage” (Courier Publishing, $14.95), one experiences the feeling not of reading an advice book, but of enjoying a conversation around the table after a pleasant meal. It’s a conversation laced with laughter, tears and real-life stories, but mostly it’s one marked with honesty and openness from […]
Saddleback Ordination Sparks Discussion Over Women Pastors
An ordination service at Saddleback Valley Community Church has reinvigorated an ongoing discussion among Southern Baptists over the title of “pastor” and whether and how that label should be applied to a woman in a ministry context. A post to the church’s Facebook page described the service, held May 6, as part of “a historic […]
‘Pondering Proverbs’ Is 2-Volume Study Of Biblical Wisdom
Tom Hinkle, pastor of St. John’s Bethel Baptist Church in Moncks Corner, has written a two-volume study guide, “Pondering Proverbs: A Devotional Look at God’s Wisdom” (Courier Publishing, $17.95 per volume). The twin volumes total 752 pages; Vol. 1 covers the first 16 chapters of Proverbs, Vol. 2 chapters 17-31. “Pondering Proverbs” is not intended […]
Moore Leaving ERLC
Russell Moore is leaving the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, ending an occasionally controversial eight-year tenure, to take a role with Christianity Today. He will begin a role this summer as public theologian for what the magazine described as “a new public theology project.” In a message posted to his personal blog, […]
Southern Baptist Convention Comes To Nashville’s Music City Center
This year’s annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention will convene June 15 and 16 at the Nashville Music City Center. Generating the most comments has been the election of president. Four candidates will be nominated for president: R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky.; Mike Stone, pastor of Emmanuel […]
Wilton Pens Book On Spending Saturdays With Billy Graham
Billy Graham’s longtime pastor and friend, Don Wilton, shares personal insights and wisdom gained from his personal times over more than 15 years with America’s pastor in the new book “Saturdays with Billy: My Friendship with Billy Graham” (Thomas Nelson, 193 pages). The senior pastor of nearly 30 years at First Baptist Church in Spartanburg, […]
Altered For Pandemic, Crossover Will Precede Nashville SBC Meeting
For more than 30 years Southern Baptists have focused on working together to serve and reach those in the host city of the SBC annual meeting through an evangelism emphasis called Crossover. This year’s approach in Nashville will differ from previous years, but Southern Baptists are cooperating to help churches in Middle Tennessee minister to […]
NAMB Requests SBC College Ministry Assignment Transfer
During their spring meeting, trustees of the North American Mission Board passed a resolution formally requesting that the SBC’s collegiate ministry assignment be entrusted to the organization. The request was made as a result of changes, proposed earlier this year, to LifeWay Christian Resources’ ministry assignments. At the February 2021 meeting of the SBC Executive […]
Judson College Board Votes To Close School
During its regularly scheduled meeting May 6, the Judson College for Women board of trustees pulled the trigger on what they had hoped wouldn’t happen — a vote to close the 183-year-old Alabama Baptist institution. Eighteen members of the 24-member board voted in favor of suspending academic operations and to move through an orderly closing […]
Obituary: Paul Smith Sr.
Paul Montgomery Smith Sr., 84, of Lancaster, died April 27, 2021. He attended the University of South Carolina and was a graduate of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He served as pastor of several South Carolina Baptist churches, including Beaver Creek, Pleasant Hill, Denny Terrace, Heath Springs, Fork Hill and Catawba. He also served as interim […]