Pickleball has been the fastest-growing sport in America for the past two years, and Southern Baptist churches are using it as a way to build relationships among their members and reach out to their communities. Invented in 1965 near Seattle, pickleball resembles Ping-Pong, badminton or tennis. Players stand on opposite sides of a three-foot-high net […]
Every pastor has a burning passion for the Lord and His church. For Dwight Easler, this burning passion carries over into his work as a local fire chief, which he views as an extension of his ministry. Easler has served as the senior pastor of Corinth Baptist Church and with the Corinth Fire Department for […]
The task can seem daunting. Most estimates put the number of children and teens in foster care at 400,000 at any given time. But Send Relief’s Family Advocacy Ministry (FAM) program is trying to tackle the problem one child – and one church – at a time. Josh Benton, vice president of North American ministry […]
When Woman’s Missionary Union national executive director-treasurer Sandy Wisdom-Martin watched her brother, Doug, get baptized last year, it represented a story of God’s faithfulness and Southern Baptist cooperation. After her mother shared the good news, Wisdom-Martin rearranged her travel schedule to be there. The baptism took place at Lake Sallateeska near her family’s childhood home […]
Sandy Wisdom-Martin, executive director-treasurer for the national Woman’s Missionary Union, hopes the organization’s new book, “Because of Hope: Reflections of Faith,” will help Southern Baptists find hope in the midst of despair. The book was produced as a way to emphasize WMU’s theme for their curriculum in the years 2022-2024, which is hope in Christ. […]
The speakers for the 2023 SBC Pastors Conference in New Orleans were announced recently. The event is set for June 11-12, 2023. “While distinct in their personalities, our preachers share a common belief that expository preaching is a theological outgrowth based on a high view of Scripture,” said Daniel Dickard, conference president. Dickard says he […]
This Sunday (Oct. 30) will mark the first official observance of Student Baptism Sunday on the Southern Baptist Convention calendar, and leaders across the convention are preparing for the celebration. Shane Pruitt, national Next Gen director for the North American Mission Board, told Baptist Press this date on the calendar provides an opportunity for churches […]
After much discussion, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Credentials Committee chose to withdraw its recommendation related to Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif. A decision on whether or not to disfellowship Saddleback for ordaining three female staff members as pastors in May 2021 will be delayed until a later date. The original motion, submitted by Shadd […]
Marshall Blalock, pastor of First Baptist Church, Charleston, said one of the spiritual lessons he learned through serving on the SBC Sexual Abuse Task Force was how to “think and act with more compassion.” Blalock was one of the eight members selected by immediate-past president Ed Litton to serve on the Task Force, and was […]
More than 2,100 professions of faith came as a result of the ministry of Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) in 2021, which is nearly a record number for professions of faith in a single year for the ministry. The full total of 2,133 professions of faith is just one of the positive statistics from SBDR. […]