Obituary: William Lloyd Birch

William Lloyd Birch, 87, of Florence, a retired college professor and ordained Baptist minister who served more than 45 South Carolina churches as interim pastor, died May 29, 2017. A Louisville, Ky., native, Birch earned degrees from Georgetown College in Georgetown, Ky., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and the University of Kentucky. After serving churches and […]

Obituary: Bill Lockaby

William J. “Bill” Lockaby Jr., 91, of Pickens, died June 5, 2017. Born in Greenville, he pastored churches in South Carolina and North Carolina for more than 50 years. He served in the U.S. Navy in World War II and was a member of Northside Baptist Church. He was preceded in death by his wife, […]

Obituary: C. Wilton Maxwell

C. Wilton Maxwell, 88, Simpsonville, who served as a pastor for more than 50 years, died May 16, 2017. A native of Simpsonville, he studied at North Greenville Junior College (now North Greenville University) and earned a B.A. degree from Furman University in 1960. He attended Erskine Theological Seminary and Luther Rice Seminary, where he […]

Obituary: Robert Burks

Robert “Bob” Edward Burks, 86, of Clemson, a retired religion professor at Anderson College (now Anderson University), died May 28, 2017. He graduated from Mercer University and earned a doctoral degree in New Testament at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He moved to Anderson in 1961 to serve as associate pastor at First Baptist Church. He […]

Survey: VBS is top summer activity for churches

When we asked South Carolina Baptist churches in an online survey to tell us what activities they had planned for the summer, it was no surprise that Vacation Bible School came in at number one, with 84 percent of 25 responding churches reporting they will hold VBS. A majority of churches have also scheduled youth […]

Anderson University takes over ‘Preaching’ and ‘Youthworker’ magazines

Anderson University has obtained Preaching magazine and Youthworker journal from previous owner Salem Media Group and will carry on publication of the two long-established print publications for ministry leaders. In addition to publishing the two quarterly magazines, Anderson University will also develop new websites to operate in conjunction with the print publications. The websites previously […]

Palmetto Baptist Association Missions Expo held May 21 at Belton church

Palmetto Baptist Association hosted a Missions Expo on May 21 at Whitefield Baptist Church in Belton. The meeting featured a message by a former missionary to Eastern Europe and displays from South Carolina Baptist Convention ministry partners and organizations. Mike Baker is director of missions for Palmetto Association.

Summer Camp: Opportunities abound for South Carolina Baptists

Writers: Butch Blume and Scott Vaughan Summertime is camp time, and upwards of 22,000 teens and children will spend a week or more at one of several South Carolina Baptist Convention-related camps in June, July and August. And while all the camps offer fun and recreation, they also provide intensive Bible study, discipleship instruction and […]

Wahalla church installs miniature outdoor lending library

It’s not high tech and doesn’t replace the church’s much larger brick-and-mortar library, but this tiny structure is open 24/7. The prayer of church members at College Street Baptist Church in Walhalla is that it will help share the love of Christ and spread the gospel message outside the church’s walls. Church member and Gideon […]