The COVID-19 pandemic created short-term challenges for Southern Baptist mission efforts. But it included the opportunity to re-assess missiological practices while encountering a world re-awakened to its mortality and eternal matters. No SBC entity faced trickier maneuvering in the late winter and spring of 2020 than the International Mission Board. As COVID rates soared and […]
As a physician during the COVID-19 pandemic, I’m frequently asked, “Should I take the vaccine?” My answer is yes. For the vast majority of people, the benefits of COVID vaccination greatly outweigh the risks. Almost all doctors I know wanted the vaccine for themselves and their families as soon as it became available. This is […]
A defining characteristic of honest medical clinicians is the ability to admit when they are wrong when confronted with new data. Well, with the thimble full of humility that I possess, I am here to tell you I was wrong about the COVID vaccine (actually, it’s a genetic therapeutic agent). Let me back up a […]
Should you take the COVID vaccine or not — that is the issue. There are enough confusing and conflicting reports revolving around the COVID vaccinations that many well-meaning people could be puzzled and disturbed. Franklin Graham, leader of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, says you should take the shots and that pastors […]
The pandemic forced churches across the country to make significant changes, but none were quite like the one at Stony Fork Community Church in Rock Hill, formerly known as Outbreak Church. After enduring the impact of COVID-19 like most every other congregation, Pastor Scott Carroll, along with the elders and staff of Outbreak Church, began […]
COVID cases are surging, and hospitals are reaching capacity. This has led many to ask why there is so much resistance to having a vaccination that might have kept us out of the situation now facing the nation. I believe that the COVID vaccine is a remarkable, life-saving achievement. While we will doubtless learn more […]
Members of the Baptist Nursing Fellowship had already witnessed, literally, the realities of COVID-19 in emergency rooms across the country before Nov. 21 last year. That day it became personal, however, when the group’s executive director, Lori Spikes, died after being hospitalized with the illness. “She was steps away from being able to receive the […]
Churchgoers aren’t attending yet at pre-pandemic levels, but most say they value gathering with their congregation and are anxious to do so when the threat of COVID-19 ends. A study of 1,000 Protestant churchgoers in the U.S. from LifeWay Research found that when COVID-19 is no longer an active threat to people’s health, 91 percent […]
Facebook timelines changed forever on Sunday, March 15, 2020. Many, if not most, churches opted to go digital-only that day after witnessing such steps as President Trump declaring COVID-19 a national emergency, and professional and collegiate sports suspending activities. As church leaders looked to make services available for members, Facebook scrambled to keep up with […]
How can a small church do big things? By making an eternal impact in the lives of people. Keith Davis has been the pastor of Zion Hill Baptist Church in Spartanburg for almost 21 years. The church is relatively small in number but is making a spiritual impact in the lives of people in the […]