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(Editor’s note: This was published in our June magazine prior to the SBC 2025 in Dallas.) A month out from the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting, there was only one known candidate for most offices of the Southern Baptist Convention.... Continue Reading »
(Editor’s note: This was published in our June magazine prior to the SBC 2025 in Dallas.) The SBC Committee on Nominations has released its 2025 report in advance of the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting to be held June 10-11.... Continue Reading »
How will we remember the 2025 legislative session? On one hand, two significant, hard-fought and much-negotiated pieces of legislation made it to the governor’s desk. On the other hand, just 45 bills were enacted. That is a low number... Continue Reading »
“I like your dog,” I said to the gentleman walking his dog along the streets of Athens. “His name is Hercules. He walks slowly and teaches me patience,” he said. “What’s your name?” I asked. “Christos.” I told Christos... Continue Reading »
(Editor’s note: This was published in our June magazine prior to the SBC 2025 in Dallas.) On June 9–11, 2025, cooperating Southern Baptists from across the states will gather in Dallas, Texas, in our 180th year of Convention organization,... Continue Reading »
(Editor’s note: This was published in our June magazine prior to the SBC 2025 in Dallas.) “Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving” (Col. 4:2 NKJV). The Southern Baptist Convention will meet June 8-11 in Dallas,... Continue Reading »
The Baptist Courier staff received six awards at the South Carolina Press Association’s April banquet in Columbia: • 1st Place, Faith Reporting: Mary Margaret Flook, for the article: “When Missions is Mundane and Knowing God is More Thrilling.” •... Continue Reading »
In the past few years, Americans have grown generally more positive toward the Bible, but that doesn’t mean they’re reading it more. According to a Lifeway Research study, U.S. adults increasingly view the Bible as a book worth reading... Continue Reading »
More than 425,000 same-sex couples had already wed in the U.S. when the Supreme Court approved such unions in the historic Obergefell v. Hodges decision June 26, 2015. Ten years later, the number of gay marriages has risen by... Continue Reading »
In the weeks leading up to the 2025 Southern Baptist Convention, calls for greater financial transparency, drastic changes in the direction and leadership of the ERLC, as well as the adoption of the Law Amendment were building momentum. Numerous... Continue Reading »
Giant flowers filled the screen as kids filed into LifePoint Church Smyrna for the final day of their 2025 Vacation Bible School. Reflecting Lifeway’s 2025 theme — Magnified! — the worship center was decorated with large ants, squirrels, caterpillars,... Continue Reading »
Calling SBC messengers at the 2025 annual meeting in Dallas to recognize God’s grace this past year, SBC President Clint Pressley said he is “glad to be Southern Baptist” and invited listeners to join in the celebration. “In the... Continue Reading »
The North American Mission Board shared ways churches can engage in reaching North America and reported on the results of Crossover Dallas during its presentation on June 10 to the SBC Annual Meeting in Dallas. “I’m reminded of what... Continue Reading »
Editor’s note: Sunday, June 22, is Mission:Dignity Sunday in the Southern Baptist Convention.By Karoline Chapman Psalm 68:5 says, “God in his holy dwelling is a father to the fatherless and a champion of widows.” On June 22, Southern Baptists... Continue Reading »
North Greenville University is mourning the loss of Professor Blake Smith, who passed away at the age of 48 on Tuesday. Smith was a professor of art and had been serving at North Greenville since 2003. “Professor Smith was... Continue Reading »
International Mission Board President Paul Chitwood encouraged all Southern Baptists to recognize their role in missions during the IMB report at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Dallas. Chitwood delivered the report to messengers near the conclusion of... Continue Reading »
Southern Baptists united to celebrate 58 newly appointed International Mission Board missionaries during the June 10 opening session of the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Dallas. Church messengers watched as missionaries took the stage to share their calling... Continue Reading »
Mike Blackwood is the new director of Church Engagement for Connie Maxwell Children’s Ministries. “I cannot think of anyone more fitting than Mike Blackwood for this important role,” said Danny Nicholson, president of Connie Maxwell Children’s Ministries. “His heart... Continue Reading »
Resolutions to be considered at the 2025 South Carolina Baptist Convention annual meeting are due by midnight on Oct. 10, 2025. Submissions must include your name, address, email address, and cell phone number. Please include the name and address... Continue Reading »
In 1925, Southern Baptists faced a “percolating maelstrom of denominational uncertainty,” Executive Committee President Jeff Iorg said in his EC report to messengers to the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting June 10. And in a time when solutions were needed,... Continue Reading »
Southern Baptist messengers to the 2025 Annual Meeting rejected an amendment last Wednesday, June 11, that would have required the Southern Baptist Convention to publish detailed financial information like IRS Form 990 disclosures. The vote defeated efforts to force... Continue Reading »
A collective resolution on restoring moral clarity regarding gender, marriage and the family arguably covered the most ground on Southern Baptist concerns, but messengers also approved measures aimed at pornography, chemical abortion pills, international religious freedom, and the growing... Continue Reading »
Messengers to the 2025 Southern Baptist Convention submitted 28 motions in Dallas, narrowly defeated a proposed constitutional amendment and voted not to abolish the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission during the two-day session of the Convention held June 10-11.... Continue Reading »
South Carolina pastor Josh Powell spotlighted three qualities of “an approved worker of God” during the Southern Baptist Pastors’ Conference in Dallas. “A minister of the gospel must not be interested in creating a reputation for himself,” the pastor... Continue Reading »
Messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in Dallas celebrated two important milestones: the 100th anniversaries of the Baptist Faith and Message statement and the Cooperative Program. Nearly 10,600 messengers registered for the June 11-12 annual meeting, topping... Continue Reading »
Comparing the Cooperative Program to the Mighty Mississippi, Tony Wolfe told Southern Baptist messengers, “What we’ve been entrusted is not some rippled stream. It is a fast-flowing river, and it is full of torrential currents that support the entire... Continue Reading »
During the June 10 afternoon session of the SBC annual meeting in Dallas, SBC Executive Committee President Jeff Iorg led messengers in celebrating 100 years of Cooperative Program giving. Referencing Joshua 4, he shared the story of God instructing... Continue Reading »
Pastors were encouraged to keep their focus on God’s work and God’s approval during the second session of the SBC Pastors’ Conference June 9 in Dallas. The session featured sermons by David Kim, Jamie Dew and Josh Powell at... Continue Reading »
Clint Pressley was overwhelmingly reelected president of the Southern Baptist Convention. His second term will commence at the close of the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting in Dallas. David Morrill, a member of Applewood Baptist Church in Colorado, contested Pressley’s... Continue Reading »
SBC Pastors’ Conference President D.J. Horton will occupy a spot on a special committee alongside former Send Relief President Bryant Wright and Ted Traylor, longtime pastor of Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fla., to study the future of the... Continue Reading »
“Let the nations be glad,” urged WMU Missions Celebration speakers as they celebrated the anniversaries of the IMB Journeyman Program, the North American Mission Board’s Annie Armstrong Easter Offering and the WMU Foundation. This year’s WMU celebration at the... Continue Reading »
A sweltering Saturday in Dallas served as the capstone to a week of gospel-centered outreach and service to the communities in the metroplex as Southern Baptists gathered for Crossover Dallas to reach the city. Volunteers from churches across the... Continue Reading »
“The hour of magnetic concern” had arrived at the SBC Annual Meeting, as the Tennessee Baptist and Reflector put it. The Convention’s confession of faith was the topic at hand. Messengers were debating whether to tailor it specifically to... Continue Reading »
Welcome to our hometown of Dallas. GuideStone, the only one of the historic boards of the Southern Baptist Convention based west of the Mississippi River, has grown up alongside the city. In 1918, when Southern Baptists selected Dallas as... Continue Reading »
The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee is relaunching its abuse prevention and response website with expanded resources to equip churches to create safe spaces for children and adults to worship God unhindered by abuse. An updated Essentials 2.0 curriculum,... Continue Reading »
It was a challenging time for the SBC’s Cooperative Program (CP). The U.S. economy slowed. Baptist leaders committed embarrassing and costly sins. As some alleged creeping liberalism in the Convention, doctrinal squabbles threatened cooperation. The SBC president put it... Continue Reading »
Resolutions to be presented to messengers to the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting include calls to ban sports betting and pornography and strong statements on the natural family and religious liberty. The SBC Committee on Resolutions released its proposed resolutions... Continue Reading »
Do Southern Baptists believe women can be pastors? Recent inaction by the SBC’s Credentials Committee has left this an open question. But this month in Dallas, Southern Baptists will have another opportunity to answer definitively. Pastor Juan Sanchez announced... Continue Reading »
Pastors face unique challenges in their role and often feel overwhelmed, but few decide to step away from the pulpit and pursue another career. Only around 1 in 100 pastors leave the ministry each year, according to a Lifeway... Continue Reading »
Editor’s note: This piece is a bonus piece in a five-part series leading up to the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Baptist Faith and Message at the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting in Dallas. “His going cast the... Continue Reading »
Q&A with Tony Wolfe, co-editor of “A Unity of Purpose” In 2023, the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee assembled a small team to help prepare for the centennial anniversary of the Cooperative Program in 2025. Tony Wolfe, executive director-treasurer... Continue Reading »
After years of limiting gambling to the elusive dream of instant wealth by finding that lucky lottery ticket, the South Carolina Legislature is considering three bills that would transform our state into a gambler’s paradise. The Equine Advancement Act... Continue Reading »
The South Carolina Baptist Convention (SCBaptist) is deeply saddened to announce the passing of Donald King, who faithfully served as director of Leadership Development since 2018. Donald passed away peacefully on May 20, 2025, following a courageous battle with... Continue Reading »
By Nancy Lyons Thomas When I started my third year of teaching history at Poynor Junior High in Florence, S.C., following graduation from Furman University in 1962, I could not have imagined that I would start the 1965 school... Continue Reading »
So far this year, at least 5,300 Southern Baptist trained Disaster Relief volunteers have responded to 40 natural disasters across the United States, from wildfires in California to storms on the eastern side of the nation. That was before... Continue Reading »
June walked into the jungle and arrived in a village that had never heard of Jesus. June was discipled in a SCBaptist church that cooperated with over 1,600 churches this past year by giving through the Cooperative Program. She... Continue Reading »
Four thousand and one Southern Baptists from across the states entered the newly constructed Ellis Auditorium Wednesday, May 13, 1925, as the morning sun crested the eastern hills which stood guard over the Crossroads of the South. On the... Continue Reading »
Search and rescue efforts continue across Kentucky even as recovery efforts have begun in Missouri following deadly storms that swept across the region May 16-17. More than 25 people were killed by the storms, and thousands suffered injury and... Continue Reading »
“Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1, NKJV) Our testimonies are all different. I enjoy sharing with others how the local church is an essential part of my testimony. My home church ministered to my... Continue Reading »
Louisiana pastor Jay Adkins says he plans to nominate current SBC Recording Secretary Nathan Finn for another term when Southern Baptists gather in Dallas, June 10-11. “Dr. Finn is imminently qualified to serve in this area. He is a... Continue Reading »
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