Dying churches used to haunt John Mark Clifton. They seemed to be everywhere. Churches that once experienced 200 to 300 people in weekly worship when Clifton was a teenager, eventually struggled with fewer than 30 people attending each Sunday. Often the churches had large but empty buildings and could barely pay their facility costs. “I […]
From foreign battlefields to American corporate board rooms to hospital bedsides to the front seats of police cars and more, Southern Baptists minister through their chaplains in some of the most hard-to-reach locations of North America. Southern Baptists continue to see the need to send chaplains to places where the church may not have access, […]
People say Detroit is broken and bankrupt. Yet Southern Baptist church planter Daryl Gaddy has another word for his beleaguered city: home. Detroit became the largest city in American history to file for bankruptcy last summer — a decline that began in the 1950s and accelerated in the 1980s. The city’s auto industry had cranked […]
The 16 or so remaining lay members of Lakeview Baptist Church in New Orleans didn’t fit the bill of a church planting core team. All senior saints, none younger than 70, they lacked youthful energy, but compensated with experience and vision. When they met church planter James Welch (@harborjames) in 2008, they were still grieving […]
With Pastor Appreciation Month observed by most churches in October, the North American Mission Board is providing laypeople with resources to encourage and support their churches’ shepherds. “NAMB’s mission is to penetrate lostness in North America,” NAMB president Kevin Ezell said. “Local pastors are the ones who lead churches to focus on that mission. We […]
With Pastor Appreciation Month on the horizon, the North American Mission Board is providing laypeople with resources to encourage and support their churches’ shepherds. “NAMB’s mission is to penetrate lostness in North America,” NAMB president Kevin Ezell said. “Local pastors are the ones who lead churches to focus on that mission. We strongly encourage every […]
When pastor Paul Anderson* stood before his Southern Baptist church more than a decade ago and confessed a moral failure before resigning, he figured it would be his last time behind a pulpit. Full of regret and shame, Anderson and his family planned to head back to his hometown and out of ministry forever. But […]
More than 35 percent of the registrants at the 2013 Send North America Conference signed up for one of five ethnic ministry tracks. The final tally of registrants included 1,526 participants for the ethnic tracks, which included Hispanic Leadership and Mission, Black Church Discipleship and Development, Reaching People from a Muslim Background, Korean Leadership and […]