Author: Baptist Press

SWBTS grad, now dean of seminary in Cuba, defends faith on Cubavisión

HAVANA (BP) – Bárbaro Abel Marrero Castellanos, dean of the Baptist Seminary in Havana and president of the Baptist Convention of Western Cuba, was invited to participate in a panel discussion concerning the public’s opinion of the new Cuban Family Code on Palabra Precisa (Precise Word), a TV show on the Cubavisión Network.

The show, broadcast April 1, was accessed by Christians all over the world via the internet and social media.

“I cannot stop saying that I felt the presence of God guiding me and the support in prayer of numerous brethren from different denominations and locations in our country,” Marrero told Baptist Press. “We are a great people, united and of one mind. …

“I want to thank the Lord and the authorities of the country for granting the conservative evangelical church this opportunity that we have yearned for and requested for a long time.”

Marrero, who has a Ph.D. in world Christian studies from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, also expressed gratitude for the “professionalism and cordiality with which we were treated by journalist Bárbara Betancourt, host Alienn Fernández, producer Pablo Santos, as well as the director of the program and the rest of the team involved in the recording.”

The executive secretary of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Cuba, Dora E. Arce Valentín, was also included in the interview.

“I believe we should never attack the people, but the argument,” Marrero said. “I was able to have a friendly conversation with Pastor Dora Arce before and after the interview. Although we have different ethical and theological positions, we are not enemies.”

Cuba’s “Family Code” is a set of laws dealing with everything from marriage to divorce to the raising of children. It also includes rules for disciplining children in Cuba that prohibit “any type of corporal punishment,” Marrero said. Though Marrerro decries abuse of children, he said the Family Code “limits the rights of parents towards their own children.”

Marrero recommended that if the Family Code is approved as it is, including its endorsement of same-sex marriage and its limits on parents’ ability to discipline their children, it should also include “an exception clause be created for people whose conscience would be violated and that the possibility be created for parents to have other options to educate their children.”

During the interview, Marrero shared the Gospel and used Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” – to explain God’s love for mankind. He defended his faith, defended the biblical union of marriage as an institution created by God between a man and a woman and said: “God’s love is not just words, but it is demonstrated in deeds.”

Marrero also was able to express his opinion about the church and society.

“I consider that the church is not called to conform to today’s times, but rather the church is called to be a light for society,” he said in the television interview. “In fact, Jesus Christ Himself called us Christians and told us that we were the salt of the earth and the light of the world. And one of the things that salt does specifically is to prevent a society from being corrupted, and what the light does is to not allow darkness to fill a place, a society, but rather to provide hope. In that sense, I believe that the church has a voice, it has a calling, it is not called to adapt to society, but rather to try to transform that society positively.

“In some way, the church must have a role of conscience in society. The apostle Paul, when he spoke to Christians, said to them, ‘Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by renewing your understanding.’ So, we understand that the church should not adapt, but should be a stimulus for the society to change. We can use the following illustration: the church is not a thermometer that simply adapts to the weather around it. The church is a thermostat that is called to establish a healthy climate so that society isn’t corrupted.”

The opportunity to be on the Cubavisión program was an important opportunity, he told BP.

“I think that we reliably showed that it is possible to dissent based on mutual respect,” Marrero said, “and it would be appropriate, based on this experience, that the Cuban population could enjoy opinion programs with this format, including other sectors and topics relevant to our society. These dialogues enrich us all in different ways. …

“This has been an opportunity for unity with like-minded thinking, and the majority of evangelicals in Cuba feel supported and encouraged to defend their faith.”

Marrero has served as dean at the Havana Baptist Seminary and served the churches affiliated with Cuba’s Western Baptist Convention since 2014. He has seen much growth in that time

“Currently the seminary has 400 students and offers a master’s degree in Christian ministry and theological education, as well as a ministry to pastor’s wives, several certificates, and six different bachelor’s degrees,” he said.

He asks other Christians to “pray for the church in Cuba, for the attacks, threats and challenges that are faced daily, and for the Lord to help Christians to remain faithful in a hostile setting.”

Supreme Court considers coach’s post-game prayers

WASHINGTON (BP)—The U.S. Supreme Court weighed lengthy arguments regarding whether a high school football coach’s post-game prayer at midfield violates the First Amendment’s ban on government establishment of religion.

The justices questioned lawyers for Joseph Kennedy and the Bremerton (Wash.) School District during oral arguments that lasted more than one hour and 45 minutes in a case that involves the rights of public school teachers and coaches to exercise their religious beliefs freely. The high court is expected to issue an opinion in the case before it adjourns this summer.

The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco twice ruled against Kennedy, who was ultimately joined by some players and others in the on-field prayers. In a 2021 opinion, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court said the school district would have violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause had it permitted Kennedy to continue to engage in his on-field religious exercise after games.

The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) joined in three friend-of-the-court briefs in support of Kennedy, two urging the Supreme Court to review Ninth Circuit rulings and one in March calling for the justices to reverse the lower court. “The Establishment Clause, as properly interpreted, does not override the government’s duty to accommodate the free exercise of religion on a nondiscriminatory basis,” the brief said.

Chelsea Sobolik, the ERLC’s director of public policy, told Baptist Press Monday, “As Christians, our faith shapes the totality of how we live and the structure of our lives. The government must allow people of faith to live out their convictions according to their religious beliefs.

“Coach Kennedy was living out his faith in public and should have the ability to do so, without fear of punishment,” she said in written comments. “Teachers, administrators, students or coaches do not shed their religious beliefs simply because they enter the schoolhouse door.”

Representing Kennedy, former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement told the justices when Kennedy knelt at midfield “to say a brief prayer of thanks, his expression was entirely his own,” protected by both the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment.

The concerns expressed by the school district were not the safety of band members or the religious coercion of students, but the “sole driving force behind its actions has been avoiding endorsement” of religion, he said. “I think it is very clear what motivated the district, and it was endorsement, endorsement, endorsement, endorsement again.”

Richard Katskee, the lawyer for the Bremerton School District, told the high court, however, Kennedy’s actions pressured students to pray, divided the coaching staff, prompted bitterness toward school authorities and resulted in students being knocked down when the field was stormed.

Private speech does exist that “puts improper pressure on students to conform religiously or otherwise,” he said, adding the court would need to undermine previous decisions and “disregard students’ rights” for Kennedy to win.

During the arguments, various justices brought up the oft-criticized Lemon test, a standard offered in the 1971 Lemon v. Kurtzman opinion that says a law must have a secular purpose, not primarily promote or restrict religion and “not foster an excessive entanglement with religion” to avoid a violation of the Establishment Clause.

Associate Justice Stephen Breyer questioned whether the court would need to rule on the Lemon test in the current case. Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch asked whether the justices would be overruling Lemon if they did not apply it in this case. He also commented the court has not applied it in church-state cases for the last 20 to 30 years.

Clement described Lemon as “a stubborn fruit” and urged the court to “slice it in half.”

Lori Windham – senior counsel for Becket, a leading religious freedom advocacy organization – said afterward the justices “were wrestling with the Establishment Clause and the mess that has been left by the Lemon test.”

“It’s time for Lemon to go,” she said on Twitter. “Under Lemon, ‘neutrality’ toward religion means no religion in public. This is as unconstitutional as it is irrational.”

The Supreme Court “sounds like it will protect Coach Kennedy,” Windham tweeted.

A leading advocate for a strict separation between church and state issued a warning, however.

A ruling by the justices against the school district could result in “the greatest loss of religious freedom in generations,” said Rachel Laser, president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. “We’re on very dangerous ground if the Court is considering overturning decades of established law that prevents government employees from pressuring students to pray in public schools.”

Beginning in 2008, Kennedy – an assistant coach with the Bremerton (Wash.) High School varsity team – would walk to the 50-yard line after each game, kneel and briefly pray, thanking God for the players. Players eventually began joining him, and Kennedy, who was also head coach of the junior varsity team, continued the practice for the next seven years. He also reportedly gave motivational speeches to players on both teams who gathered around him.

During the 2015 season, the school district superintendent sent a letter to Kennedy telling him to refrain from the post-game prayers and from religious expression in his motivational talks to players. The superintendent said Kennedy’s practices likely violated the Establishment Clause. After abiding by the mandate for a few weeks, Kennedy returned to his former practice of praying at midfield and was joined by others.

The school district placed Kennedy on administrative leave as a result. The athletic director recommended the school not rehire him in 2016, and Kennedy declined to apply for a coaching position when a new head coach was hired for the next season.

After a federal judge dismissed Kennedy’s lawsuit against the school district, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court in San Francisco declined to grant him a preliminary injunction. The judges ruled Kennedy knelt and prayed “as a public employee, not as a private citizen, and his speech, therefore, was constitutionally unprotected.”

In 2018, the ERLC joined eight other groups in a brief that called for Supreme Court review and repudiation of the Ninth Circuit in the case, but the justices declined to grant the request at the time. The case returned to federal court and worked its way back through the judicial system.

When the Supreme Court refused to review the decision in 2019, Associate Justice Samuel Alito and three of his colleagues explained in an opinion that “unresolved factual questions” made a decision at that point “very difficult if not impossible.” Alito said, however, the Ninth Circuit’s ruling might call for the high court’s review in the future.

After the Ninth Circuit panel upheld the judgment in May 2021, the appeals court rejected in July a request by Kennedy for a rehearing by the full court. He appealed to the Supreme Court.

Other organizations signing onto the ERLC-endorsed brief filed in March were the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, National Association of Evangelicals, Concerned Women for America, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Anglican Church in North America, National Legal Foundation, Samaritan’s Purse, Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation, Pacific Justice Institute, International Conference of Evangelical Chaplain Endorsers, Veterans in Defense of Liberty, Family Foundation and Illinois Family Institute.

This article originally appeared on Baptist Press.

FBC Keller to host candidate forum with SBC president candidates

KELLER, Texas (BP)—Tom Ascol, Bart Barber, and Robin Hadaway will participate in a panel discussion on Wednesday, May 4, at noon central at First Baptist Church of Keller. The discussion, which will be live-streamed, is set to be hosted by Joe Wooddell and Tony Richmond—both of FBC Keller.

Pastor Keith Sanders says the church is happy to host the event, knowing that “these godly men will demonstrate how to converse, agree, and disagree in Christian love with civility.” Sanders feels “Southern Baptists should be a light to the world first with the Gospel, but also in how we relate to each other in public discussion.”

Ascol, Barber, and Hadaway are currently the only announced candidates for the position. The election of a new SBC president will take place on June 14 at the 2022 SBC Annual Meeting in Anaheim, Calif. Current SBC president Ed Litton announced earlier this spring that he had chosen not to seek a second term in the position.

“It will be good for SBC members and friends to hear the candidates’ answers on how to encourage evangelism and missions, what they would prioritize, and how best to navigate denominational and cultural challenges in coming months,” Wooddell said.

While questions for the candidates will not be taken from the audience or live stream viewers, those interested in submitting questions before the event can do so at sbc2022presidentquestions@gmail.com.

Ascol has pastored Grace Baptist Church in Cape Coral since 1986. Prior to his time at Grace, he served as a pastor and associate pastor of various churches in Texas. Ascol is most widely known in the SBC for his work as president of Founders Ministries, an organization Ascol helped start in 1982. He is also a frequent contributor in TableTalk, the monthly magazine for Ligonier Ministries, has authored several books, and hosts a popular podcast – The Sword & The Trowel.

Pastor of First Baptist Church, Farmersville, Texas, Barber will also serve as the chairman of the Committee on Resolutions at the June meeting. In addition to his leadership of the Committee on Resolutions this year, Barber served on the committee in 2021, preached at the SBC Pastors’ Conference in 2017, served as first vice president of the SBC from 2013 through 2014, served on the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention executive board from 2008 through 2014 (including serving as chairman and vice-chairman), served as a trustee for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary from 2009 through 2019 and served on the SBC Committee on Committees in 2008. He also previously taught as an adjunct professor at SWBTS from 2006 through 2009.

Hadaway began his ministry career pastoring churches in California and Arizona before serving with the IMB on the field in Africa and South America. While on the field, he was involved in church planting in Tanzania, starting churches among unreached peoples in Northern Africa and directing church planting efforts in Eastern South America. During his stint in South America, Hadaway served as a regional leader for the IMB leading more than 300 missionaries in the region. Following his time with IMB, Hadaway spent nearly two decades at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary as a professor of missions and served in a variety of administrative roles including interim president, dean of students, vice president for institutional initiatives, interim CFO and interim administrative vice president. He currently serves as senior professor of missions at Midwestern.

The event is open to the public, and doors open at 11:30.

This article originally appeared on Baptist Press.

SBC’s Howe: 2023 annual meeting will no longer be held in Charlotte, N.C., due to space issues

NASHVILLE (BP) – The 2021 SBC Annual Meeting was the largest crowd we have hosted at an SBC annual meeting in a generation. This June’s meeting in Anaheim is shaping up to draw close to 10,000 for a gathering on the West Coast – nearly doubling the number of messengers from our gathering in Phoenix in 2017.

This started in 2018 when more than 9,600 messengers came to Dallas. After adding in guests, exhibitors, credentialed press and others, the official attendance was 16,032. Then in 2019, 8,183 messengers and 13,502 total attendees made their way to Birmingham, Ala.

And 2021 blew past those totals with 15,726 messengers and 21,474 total attendees making Music City their home for the week.

It’s safe to say a new generation of Southern Baptists has engaged with the Convention, and attendance at our annual meetings has ballooned. As the entity in charge of planning and promoting the annual meeting, the SBC Executive Committee is ecstatic over the response we’ve seen in recent years.

But that leaves us with a major problem for 2023.

When Charlotte, N.C., was selected in 2016 as the host city for the 2023 SBC Annual Meeting, the plans allowed for a maximum of 8,000 messengers and guests in the 280,000 square feet of available space at the Charlotte Convention Center.

Simply put, Charlotte simply does not have adequate space to host the SBC Annual Meeting in 2023.

The space now required to host an annual meeting exceeds 400,000 square feet – 225,000 for the main hall, 150,000 for the exhibit hall and 50,000 for registration and storage. This year in Anaheim, we will utilize more than 500,000 square feet. Last year in Nashville, we required more than 400,000 square feet—and truly needed more.

Charlotte has only 280,000 square feet of meeting space – less than 75 percent of what is needed to meet the current demands of our annual gathering.

Several conversations have taken place with meeting organizers and city officials in Charlotte over the past few months. Our team visited the city in February to see if any workable solution could be found. Ultimately, we were unable to find a way to keep the meeting in Charlotte – there simply was nowhere for us to hold the meeting as needed in the Queen City.

We also began researching options and earnestly praying for an alternative to Charlotte that would meet the current needs of our Convention for the 2023 SBC Annual Meeting. We inquired of every major city and convention center in the southeast United States. In the end, only one city was able to meet our four major needs for 2023: geographic proximity to Southern Baptists, hotel availability, available dates and available space.

That city is New Orleans, Louisiana.

The annual meeting was last held in New Orleans in 2012 – a historic gathering that saw Fred Luter elected SBC president. After meeting with city and convention center officials in New Orleans as well as with SBC Executive Committee officers, SBC EC Chairman Rolland Slade has called a special meeting of the EC in order for EC members to vote to relocate the 2023 Annual Meeting. This is in accordance with SBC Constitution Article 11.3, since the City of Charlotte is unable to fulfill its commitments to host the event – they simply do not have space for us to meet as needed.

Please understand this move comes at no fault to Charlotte other than the space they have available. The city wants to host Southern Baptists, but simply cannot. Our meeting has grown beyond the city’s capability and usable space. We will do everything in our power to honor the Queen City as this move is made, and it is our prayer that Southern Baptists will honor Charlotte for its willingness to host us.

As for New Orleans, several updates have been made to the city and the convention center since Southern Baptists last met on the bayou, and we are getting ready for an annual meeting unlike any the Crescent City has seen.

See you in Anaheim … and then—prayerfully—New Orleans!

This article originally appeared on Baptist Press.

5 facts about Annie Armstrong and the Easter Offering

Each year, churches affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) give generously to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering (AAEO). The AAEO is the primary way the SBC, through the North American Missions Board (NAMB), supports mission efforts in North America. One hundred percent of gifts given to AAEO are used to support more than 2,200 missionary families serving across the United States and Canada.

Here are five facts you should know about Annie Armstrong and the Easter Offering she started.

1. Annie Walker Armstrong was born in 1850 in Baltimore, Maryland. Her father died when she was 2, leaving her and her four siblings to be raised by her Christian mother. Although raised in a Baptist church, Armstrong did not become a believer until she was 19. In a Sunday service during the Civil War, Armstrong’s pastor told his Baptist congregation, “The religion of Jesus Christ gives peace in the midst of trouble.” Wanting this peace for herself, Armstrong put her faith in Jesus that day.

2. Shortly after she became a Christian, Armstrong joined 100 other members of her congregation in planting Eutaw Place Church. She remained a member of that church for nearly 70 years, until her death in 1938. At Eutaw she taught the Infant Class (i.e., children under the age of 12) for almost half a century. She also, as Shannon Baker says, “maintained an interest in ministering to mothers, immigrants, the underprivileged, the sick, African Americans, Indians, and later in her life, her Jewish neighbors.” It was at Eutaw that Armstrong also developed a passion for missions.

3. Armstrong became the founder and president of the Ladies’ Bay View Mission, an organization that cared for the poor, located on the site where Johns Hopkins Bayview

Medical Center now stands. In 1880, at the age of 30, she served as the first president of the Woman’s Baptist Home Mission Society of Maryland, which involved women in supporting the SBC’s Home Mission Board (now known as the North American Mission Board). The society’s first priority locally was forming a school for Native Americans in what is now Oklahoma and ministering to Chinese immigrants and impoverished mountain people. Armstrong later became the corresponding secretary (equivalent to an executive director) of the Maryland Mission Rooms, later called the Mission Literature Department, SBC. Initially, this department served as a missions library and reading room, but later became a publisher and distributor of missions literature.

4. At the age of 38, Armstrong led in framing the constitution of the Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU), an auxiliary to the SBC. She served as corresponding secretary until 1906. During this time she refused a salary for her work because she would never give to the Lord “that which costs me nothing” (2 Samuel 24:24). While at WMU, Armstrong and missionary Lottie Moon proposed a Christmas Offering to raise money to send single women to China to work with Moon. The offering, which raised enough for three missionaries, became the precursor to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for Foreign Missions — so named at Armstrong’s recommendation — which has raised billions from SBC churches and members for foreign missions.

5. Armstrong proposed the first WMU self-denial offering for Home Missions. In 1934, it was named in honor of Armstrong. To date, more than $2 billion has been donated by Southern Baptist churches and individuals to the AAEO, which supports thousands of missionaries in church planting and compassion ministries. While 35% of NAMB’s budget is provided by the Cooperative Program, 50% is provided by the AAEO. As NAMB notes, “Because of this sacrificial giving, millions of lives have been and continue to be transformed by the power of the gospel.”

The post 5 facts about Annie Armstrong and the Easter Offering appeared first on ERLC.

Lifeway Research: Pastors report struggling with time management, over-commitment

NASHVILLE—As pastors think about their greatest needs, some of those go beyond their ministries and are instead connected to their personal lives. Many pastors worry about their time management skills and how they can balance all the responsibilities they have at church and at home.

In their personal lives, half of U.S. Protestant pastors say they need to focus on time management, and more than half say avoiding over-commitment is a challenge for them, according to the latest release in the Greatest Needs of Pastors study from Lifeway Research.

“Pastors carry heavy burdens that include expectations of others as well as self-imposed demands,” said Ben Mandrell, president and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources, “There is a correlation between trusting in God – as explored in a previous release of the Greatest Needs of Pastors study – and ability to find work-life balance.”

Pastors’ personal lives

To determine the greatest needs facing U.S. Protestant pastors today, Lifeway Research interviewed 200 pastors who identified 44 issues they face in their roles. A thousand additional pastors were surveyed to determine which needs were most prevalent. All the unique needs were divided into seven categories: ministry difficulties, spiritual needs, mental challenges, personal life, self-care, people dynamics and areas of skill development.

Considering all these categories, 6 percent of pastors say their personal lives are currently the most challenging area for them or require the most attention. Six needs are classified as aspects of a pastor’s personal life.

The primary needs pastors face in their personal lives focus on how they handle their time and work. Half (51 percent) say time management is an aspect that needs attention or investment today, while 43 percent specifically point to developing a balance between work and home.

Fewer U.S. Protestant pastors say they need to devote additional attention directly to their children (29 percent), marriages (26 percent), caring for aging parents (23 percent) or financial stress (18 percent). Close to 1 in 6 (17 percent) say none of these are areas in need of specific investment.

“Pastors were not being asked if these areas of personal life matter. They were asked to indicate those areas that need additional focus today,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “Nowhere is it more likely than personal life, for a need to emerge for a pastor because they are giving attention elsewhere. There are only so many hours to split between work and home, and finding the right balance is important.”

Younger pastors, those between 18 and 44, are among those most likely to say they need to give attention to time management (58 percent) and their work/home balance (52 percent). They’re also among those most likely to say they need to invest specifically in their children (45 percent) and marriages (32 percent).

Pastors of more normative sized churches are among the most likely to say financial stress is an area of concern for them. Those leading churches of fewer than 50 (21 percent) and those with congregations of 50-99 (20 percent) are more likely than those at churches with attendance of 100-249 (14 percent) to say their personal financial situations require attention.

When asked to narrow down the single greatest need in their personal lives, 30 percent of U.S. Protestant pastors say time management and 21 percent say balance between work and home.

Fewer than 1 in 10 point to children (9 percent), caring for aging parents (9 percent), marriage (8 percent) or financial stress (6 percent). Another 18 percent either say none of these or they aren’t sure.

Pastors of churches with fewer than 50 in attendance are the most likely to say they most need to give attention to time management (39 percent) and least likely to say balance between work and home (14 percent).

When pastors are asked to narrow down all their needs to their single greatest need, 20 needs are chosen by more than 1 percent of pastors, including time management (3 percent) and balance between work and home (2 percent).

Pastoral self-care

Pastors, who make a career of caring for the needs of others, admit they often need to give attention to caring for themselves. Nine in 10 U.S. Protestant pastors point to at least one area in the self-care category as a need for them, and 14 percent say the category of self-care is the most challenging personally.

More than half of pastors say they find consistently exercising (59 percent) and avoiding over-commitment and overwork (55 percent) to be challenging in their ministry. Slightly less than half say they struggle with eating right (49 percent), taking time away from their job for hobbies or other interests (47 percent) and consistently resting (45 percent). Far fewer say they face an ongoing illness (13 percent), while 10 percent say none of these is an area of difficulty.

“While most pastors are quick to say they have several challenges in caring for themselves, they are also quick to prioritize ministry needs ahead of their own,” McConnell said. “Among categories that need attention today, almost two-thirds of pastors put skills, people or ministry difficulties ahead of their own self-care. Constantly working from a physical deficit is not a sustainable formula for pastoral ministry.”

Pastors of churches with worship service attendance between 100-249 (57 percent) and those with 250 or more (60 percent) are more likely than pastors of churches with fewer than 50 in attendance (48 percent) to say they find avoiding over-commitment and overwork to be a challenge for them.

Those 55 and older (17 percent) are more likely than younger pastors to say they are facing an ongoing illness.

African American pastors (63 percent) are more likely than white pastors (42 percent) to say consistently resting is a self-care area of need from them. The same is true for pastors 44 and younger (50 percent) compared to pastors 65 and older (37 percent).

When asked what self-care need is the most challenging for them, a quarter of U.S. Protestant pastors point to avoiding over-commitment and overwork (24 percent) and consistently exercising (24 percent). Fewer mention eating right (14 percent), taking time for hobbies (13 percent), consistently resting (9 percent) or facing an ongoing illness (5 percent). Around 1 in 10 pastors (11 percent) say they aren’t sure or none of these issues are the most challenging for them.

Younger pastors and those at larger churches are among the most likely to identify avoiding over-commitment and overwork as the top self-care need they face. Those 44 and younger (30 percent) are more likely than those 65 and older (17 percent) to single out overworking. Similarly, those pastoring churches with attendance of 250 or more (35 percent) and 100-249 (28 percent) are more likely than those with congregations of 50-99 (19 percent) or those with fewer than 50 (20 percent) to say avoiding over-commitment is their greatest self-care need.

Compared to all the needs identified by pastors, consistently exercising (4 percent), avoiding over-commitment (3 percent), facing an ongoing illness (2 percent) and eating right (2 percent) are among the 20 issues more than 1 percent of pastors identified as their single greatest need to address.

When thinking about improving their personal lives and self-care, Mandrell said pastors should focus on their own humanity and rely on God to accomplish the work of the ministry. “We are human beings, not human doings,” he said. “By choosing to ‘be’ and let God ‘do’ pastors can display His strength in their weakness – and be an encouragement to the people they serve.”

For more information, view the complete report and visit LifewayResearch.com/GreatestNeeds.

3 truths to teach your family this Easter

Every Christian parent wants their kids to live in the hope and joy found only in Christ. But every day, our kids talk to kids who disagree with what we’ve taught them. At school, in the neighborhood, and even at church, your child will hear, “Has God really said that?” “God isn’t really going to do that!” “That’s just make-believe.” How can we prepare our children to know what is true and what is a lie?

The Bible warns us of God’s enemy, Satan. From the beginning of time, Satan has lied to keep us from trusting God. Satan easily deceives us. Without God’s powerful Word, our kids trust in cultural trends. Each new philosophy and temptation tries to carry them away. What can we as parents do? We can teach them to look to Jesus, who triumphed over Satan at the cross. When Pilate asked, “What is truth?” Jesus answered, “The reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me” (John 18:37).

And although it’s true that God, in Christ, delivers believers from the penalty our sin deserves, we still struggle constantly with sin on this Earth. This can be a hard reality for our children to grasp. How can we help our family understand the struggles we face and, at the same time, the hope we have in Jesus? God’s truth responds to our biggest questions and our inner struggles. Here are three truths to hold on to as you prepare your family to celebrate the foundation of our hope — Christ’s death and resurrection.

1. Satan’s lies battle against God’s truth

The serpent whispers, “True happiness comes through what you have and do.” “Who needs to be Jesus’ friend? Live for yourself and be happy.” “Why tell the truth when no one else is?” “Don’t you have a right to be angry?” Let the truth of God’s Word drown out Satan’s lies. In the Holy Spirit’s power, we can help our kids identify the lies.

We can expect Satan’s lies to battle with God’s truth in our minds and hearts. When we least expect it, doubt and fear will suddenly fill our kids’ hearts. Prepare for those moments. Give your family the hope we all need — Jesus truly saves! In Christ, God loves and forgives us. And God assures us that he is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4). As we trust in Jesus, the Holy Spirit makes the truth more powerful than the next new lie (2 Timothy 3:15-18).

2. God has a bigger purpose in our suffering

Our world expects parents to teach their kids to look on the bright side. But what happens when the bright side is hard to find? God doesn’t ask us to pretend that things are good when they are bad. Instead, God calls us to cry out to him. The psalmist says, “Pour out your hearts before him; God is a refuge for us” (Psalm 62:8). Prayers of lament and repentance let your kids hear you talk to God about your fears, impulses, and discouragements. They may begin to see the connection between our struggles and our need to depend on God.

We may think our kids need to hear “feel-good” prayers, but we don’t have to pretend all is well. God, in his Word and by his Spirit, is with us in life’s struggle. He invites us and our kids to ask hard questions. “Why do Christians still struggle with sin?” “Why does God allow bad things to happen?” “Why do people get sick and die?” Hard questions can lead our kids to the solid hope in Christ they need.

As Easter approaches, follow Jesus on his hard road to the cross. You can read excerpts from A Jesus Easter with your family. It tackles 25 of Satan’s lies with God’s eternal truth. It may lead your kids to ask more tough questions: “Jesus had done nothing wrong, so why did bad people accuse him?” “Why did they call Jesus names and beat him?” “Why did Jesus have to suffer and die?” As your family reads the Scriptures together, teach your kids to watch for God — his person and promises. Open God’s Word, and show your family what it means to look for God’s bigger purpose. Our loving heavenly Father is at work, making us more like his Son, Jesus.

3. Hardship teaches us to hope in God

Our children hope for many things that may or may not happen. But there’s no maybe about hope in God. Resurrection hope in God means we can be certain his Word is true. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin and open the way for us to be God’s children. He rose to life, defeating Satan, sin, and death forever. Now God’s children know that they, too, will be raised to new life after they die (1 Corinthians 15:20-23). Our kids can know that Jesus empowers his children to live the life he died to give them. Our bodies will die, yet we will be resurrected in a glorified body. Death and sin can never touch us again (Philippians 3:21).

Easter is a special time to look to the cross of Christ and his resurrection — to refresh our hope in God if we have already trusted in Jesus, and to point our children to salvation if they have not yet trusted in him. Jesus frees us from the power of sin (Romans 6:17-18). The more this amazing truth takes hold of us, the more we experience a taste of victory. The truth our kids believe can overpower whatever lies Satan throws at them. And when they sin, they will find grace and comfort in repentance and forgiveness. Jesus has gone ahead of us to prepare a place for us (John 14:2-3). One day he will come for us. We will live with him in his kingdom without sin (1 John 3:1-3). He will wipe away every tear. We will only have pefect joy, forever (Revelation 21:3-4; 22:5).

When doubts and sins threaten our children’s hearts, hope in Jesus keeps them safe. God’s Word tells the truth about sin and suffering so that our families can find freedom, hope, and joy in Christ. You don’t have to live in fear of the wrong opinions and lies that your children will encounter. Let God’s Word guide your family, make them wise, and strengthen. Make this Easter a time for your family to discover true hope through faith in Jesus Christ.

The post 3 truths to teach your family this Easter appeared first on ERLC.

SWBTS approves budget, elects faculty, honors Dockery

FORT WORTH—The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary board of trustees approved the 2023 fiscal year budget, heard reports of increased giving through the institution’s advancement efforts, elected a new faculty member to the School of Church Music and Worship, named two faculty members to hold endowed academic chairs, and approved the renaming of an academic center in honor of David S. Dockery, during its April 4-5 spring meeting.

“It is my joy to report to the board of trustees that the state of Southwestern Seminary is strong, and it is growing stronger every day by God’s grace,” Adam W. Greenway, president of Southwestern Seminary and Texas Baptist College, said in his report to the board during the April 5 plenary session.

The board approved the proposed fiscal year 2023 budget of $37.367 million, representing a 5.86 percent increase over the current year. The budget includes a 3 percent cost-of-living increase for faculty and full-time staff, a 3 percent increase in tuition and fees, as well as targeted investments in Hispanic programs, technology infrastructure, and other campus improvements, Greenway said.

“This is a careful, conservative budget,” he said, while noting that “in these inflationary times, we are able to include a cost-of-living adjustment for all full-time employees for the first time in many, many years.”

Trustees heard reports of “robust blessings” to the seminary’s various advancement efforts for fiscal year 2021, with $17.4 million raised. Not counting funds resulting from the Harold E. Riley Foundation settlement, more than $8.5 million was received, which has already been surpassed in fiscal year 2022 with nearly $10 million received through April 4. The seminary’s fiscal year ends July 31.

“Every dollar our Institutional Advancement team raises is one less dollar we have to charge our students in tuition and fees,” Greenway said. “Of course, we must also give thanks to faithful Southern Baptist churches across our nation whose sacrificial support through the Cooperative Program makes affordable theological education possible at Southwestern Seminary and our five sister seminaries.”

Joshua A. Waggener was elected professor of church music and worship, effective Aug. 1, 2022. He has served on the faculty of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary since 2008 and earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Durham University in the United Kingdom.

“We prayerfully look forward to welcoming he and his wife to service here at Southwestern Seminary,” Greenway said prior to the board’s election of Waggener to the faculty. Greenway later noted the School of Church Music and Worship was the first graduate school of its kind in the landscape of theological education and today is the last freestanding school at a North American seminary.

Two current faculty members were named to hold endowed chairs that have achieved full funding status in recent months: Chris Shirley, associate dean of the Jack D. Terry School of Educational Ministries, to the Jack D. and Barbara Terry Chair of Religious Education in the Terry School, and John D. Massey, dean of the Roy J. Fish School of Evangelism and Missions, to the Charles F. Stanley Chair for the Advancement of Global Christianity in the Fish School. The Terry Chair and Stanley Chair are the first endowed chairs to be fully funded at the level of $2 million. Both chair designations are effective immediately.

“Every fully endowed chair that we are able to secure the funding for preserves and perpetuates academic instruction in these core disciplines,” Greenway said. “It is my prayer and my desire as president that we one day have a fully funded endowed chair in every core discipline in the Master of Divinity degree, the core degree program of the seminary, and these two chairs put us down that road in a very positive way.”

Greenway also announced the appointment of J. Stephen Yuille as professor of pastoral theology and spiritual formation in the School of Theology, effective July 1. He currently serves as vice president of academics and academic dean at Heritage College and Seminary in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, as well as associate professor of biblical spirituality at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Yuille earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree from London School of Theology.

“We are very excited about Dr. Yuille’s coming and about a renewed and reinvigorated emphasis upon the spiritual formation of students here at Southwestern Seminary, particularly those heading into the pastorate,” Greenway said. “Before we are able to do anything for God, we need to always walk in humility and to be right with God and to give careful attention to personal spiritual disciplines and pastoral theology.”

Trustees approved the naming of the Center for Global Evangelical Theology in honor of David S. Dockery, distinguished professor of theology and former interim provost of the seminary. During the Evangelical Theological Society meeting in November, Greenway announced the previously “dormant” Center for Theological Research would be rebranded and relaunched.

“With the Dockery Center for Global Evangelical Theology, it is our hope to call for the recovery of the best of evangelical theology, a renewed commitment to historic orthodoxy, and a reclaiming of the best of the Christian tradition in its classical and Reformation expressions exemplified in the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene and Chalcedonian affirmations, primary commitments found among the Reformers and the Radical Reformers, as well as key aspects of Pietism, Puritanism and Revivalism,” Greenway said of the center’s work.

“The Lord is also helping our seminary increase our heart for the nations and truly become more of a global seminary,” Greenway said. “The Dockery Center for Global Evangelical Theology will help lead out in this effort as we continue to try to exemplify the best of what it means to be Baptist evangelicals and evangelical Baptists.”

Trustees also received announcements of other appointments and reassignments of several current faculty, effective June 1, 2022:

Tanya Karyagina, assistant professor of piano in the School of Church Music and Worship;
Coleman M. Ford, assistant professor of humanities in Texas Baptist College; and
Justin Wainscott, assistant professor of pastoral ministry in the School of Theology and director of Professional Doctoral Studies.

The board approved the promotion of Charles Carpenter from associate professor to professor of humanities in Texas Baptist College. Sabbatical leaves were granted to W. Madison Grace II, associate professor of theology in the School of Theology, and Joshua Williams, associate professor of Old Testament in the School of Theology, for Aug. 1, 2022-July 31, 2023, and for Deron J. Biles, professor of preaching and pastoral ministry in the School of Theology, for Aug. 1-Jan. 31, 2023.

Trustees reelected their current slate of officers: as chairman, Danny Roberts, executive pastor of North Richland Hills Baptist Church, North Richland Hills; as vice chairman, Jonathan Richard, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Estancia, New Mexico; and as secretary, Jamie Green, retired speech-language pathologist in Katy.

In other matters, trustees approved:

Spring 2022 graduates nominated by the faculty and certified by the registrar;
bylaw changes reflecting the new senior administrative structure and other updates;
responses to two motions referred by the 2021 Southern Baptist Convention that will be published in the 2022 SBC Book of Reports;
a contract with Guinn Smith & Co. for the fiscal year 2022 financial audit;
a revised corporate resolution;
renewal of the seminary’s line of credit authorization; and
the authorization of the president to designate year-end fiscal year 2022 funds.

All recommendations to the board were approved by unanimous votes.

At the conclusion of his committee report to the board, Mark S. Mucklow, chairman of the strategic initiatives and governance committee and pastor of First Southern Baptist Church of Glendale at Sahuaro Ranch in Glendale, Ariz., said it is a “new day” at Southwestern Seminary as he commended the work and leadership of Greenway.

“I can get behind him, following him and these incredible people he’s found and brought together,” Mucklow said. Speaking about the future of the institution, he added, “God’s going to do an incredible thing; He already has.”

Board members heartily affirmed Mucklow’s words with “amens” and applause.

In his concluding remarks, Greenway expressed appreciation for the service of outgoing board members, J. Kie Bowman, Texas; Jeff Crook, Georgia; Connie Hancock, Ohio; and Don Whorton, an at-large member.

The next scheduled meeting of the board of trustees is Oct. 17-18, 2022.

FBC Farmersville’s Barber announced as candidate for SBC president

FARMERSVILLE, Texas (BP) – Southern Baptist Convention Pastors’ Conference president Matt Henslee announced his intention to nominate Texas pastor Bart Barber for the office of SBC president at the upcoming SBC Annual Meeting in Anaheim, June 14-15, 2022.

Barber becomes the fourth announced candidate for the office this year but only the third candidate who will be considered by messengers for the position. Florida pastor Willy Rice was announced as a candidate last month but withdrew his candidacy Wednesday (April 6). Other announced candidates include Florida pastor Tom Ascol and Robin Hadaway, senior professor of missions at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Pastor of First Baptist Church of Farmersville, Barber will also serve as the chairman of the Committee on Resolutions at the June meeting – a position he was appointed to by current SBC President Ed Litton who opted not to seek a second term.

“Barber is what Southern Baptists are when they are at their best,” Henslee told Baptist Press in a statement. “As a church, First Baptist Farmersville gives generously through the Cooperative Program and directly supports missionaries and church planters. As a pastor, Barber is actively involved in the local association, state convention, and the national level of the Southern Baptist Convention. He preaches the Word faithfully, reaches the lost passionately, and truly believes Baptists are at their best when they are working together to advance the kingdom.

“Whether I was starting in ministry about 10 miles from him or pastoring churches 600 miles from him, Bart has been a phone call away for counsel or help as I navigated the ups and downs of ministry. Now as his associational missionary and fellow pastor, I have a front-row seat to a man who loves his family well, shepherds his church with care, and still finds time to encourage pastors and promote unity in our Convention.”

In addition to his leadership of the Committee on Resolutions this year, Barber served on the committee in 2021, preached at the SBC Pastors’ Conference in 2017, served as first vice president of the SBC from 2013 through 2014, served on the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention executive board from 2008 through 2014 (including serving as chairman and vice chairman), served as a trustee for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary from 2009 through 2019 and served on the SBC Committee on Committees in 2008. He also previously taught as an adjunct professor at SWBTS from 2006 through 2009.

According to Annual Church Profile information, First Baptist Farmersville reported 14 baptisms in 2021 and averaged 320 in weekly worship. The church collected $1,189,783 total undesignated receipts, with $145,528 (12.23 percent) given through the Cooperative Program. The church also gave $64,713 to the 2021 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and an additional $17,397 to other Great Commission causes.

Barber is a graduate of Baylor University and has both an M.Div. and Ph.D. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Tracy, have two teenage children.

This article was originally published by Baptist Press.

National CP giving nearly $11M above budget halfway through fiscal year

NASHVILLE (BP) – Six months into the 2022 fiscal year, giving through the Cooperative Program totaled more than $105.9 million, almost $11 million above the mid-year budget of $95 million.

“The sustained faithfulness of giving through the Cooperative Program is a testimony to the generosity of our Southern Baptist churches,” said Willie McLaurin, SBC Executive Committee interim president, in a statement. “The Cooperative Program reaches the nations and the neighborhoods with the Good News. I am incredibly thankful for local pastors who lead their congregations to forward financial resources to reach their local, national and international mission field. In the first six months of the fiscal year, we have witnessed the faithfulness of God time and time again.”

The amount given through the Cooperative Program in March 2022 totaled $16,035,496.31, which was $262,110.13 (1.66 percent) more than the $15,773,386.18 received in March 2021 and $202,162.97 (1.28 percent) more than the monthly budgeted amount of $15,833,333.34.

As of March 31, gifts received by the EC for distribution through the CP Allocation Budget total $105,914,683.19. This is $9,861,943.87 or 10.27 percent more than last year’s budget contribution of $96,052,739.32. The amount given is ahead of the $95,000,000.04 year-to-date budgeted projection to support Southern Baptist ministries globally and across North America by $10,914,683.15 or 11.49 percent.

Designated gifts received in March amounted to $29,398,583.09. This total was $1,041,127.04, or 3.67 percent, more than gifts of $28,357,456.05 received last March. Also, this year’s designated gifts through the first six months of the fiscal year amount to $123,990,059.74, which is $10,532,194.66 or 9.28 percent more than the $113,457,865.08 given through same period in the previous fiscal year.

The Cooperative Program is the financial fuel to fund the SBC mission and vision of reaching every person for Jesus Christ in every town, every city, every state, and every nation. Begun in 1925, local churches contribute to the ministries of their state convention and the missions and ministries of the SBC through a unified giving plan to support both sets of ministries. Monies include receipts from individuals, churches and state conventions for distribution according to the 2021-2022 Cooperative Program Allocation Budget.

State and regional conventions retain a portion of church contributions to Southern Baptists’ Cooperative Program to support work in their respective areas and forward a percentage to SBC national and international causes. The percentage of distribution is at the discretion of each state or regional convention.

The convention-adopted budget for 2021-2022 is $190 million and includes an initial $200,000 special priority allocation for the SBC Vision 2025 initiative. Cooperative Program funds are then disbursed as follows: 50.41 percent to international missions through the International Mission Board, 22.79 percent to North American missions through the North American Mission Board, 22.16 percent to theological education through the six SBC seminaries and the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, 2.99 percent to the SBC operating budget and 1.65 percent to the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. If national CP gifts exceed the $186.875 million budget projection at the end of the fiscal year, 10 percent of the overage is to be used to support the SBC Vision 2025 initiative with the balance of the overage distributed according to the percentages approved for budgetary distribution. The SBC Executive Committee distributes all CP and designated gifts it receives on a weekly basis to the SBC ministry entities.

Month-to-month swings reflect a number of factors, including the timing of when the cooperating state Baptist conventions forward the national portion of Cooperative Program contributions to the Executive Committee, the day of the month churches forward their CP contributions to their state conventions, the number of Sundays in a given month, and the percentage of CP contributions forwarded to the SBC by the state conventions after shared ministry expenses are deducted.

Designated contributions include the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions, the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions, Southern Baptist Global Hunger Relief, Disaster Relief and other special gifts. This total includes only those gifts received and distributed by the Executive Committee and does not reflect designated gifts contributed directly to SBC entities.

CP allocation budget gifts received by the Executive Committee are reported monthly to the executives of the entities of the convention, to the state convention offices, to the state Baptist papers and are posted online at sbc.net/cp.

This article originally appeared on Baptist Press.