Author: Baptist Press

How SBC missions have been influenced by Annie Armstrong

A few years ago, I read the SBC president at the time was considering different gavels for presiding at the SBC Annual Meeting. One of the options under consideration was the Armstrong gavel. I sent him an email with this message:

This weekend I did a bit of reading on Annie Armstrong and was inspired anew. Attached, please find 50 reasons why I’m advocating for an Annie Armstrong gavel. Annie was tireless in her efforts on behalf of Southern Baptists. We all enjoy the fruits from the toil of her labor.

Word count will not permit me to recount all 50 reasons in this article, but I want to share a few things I learned from Bobbie Sorrill’s Annie Armstrong, Dreamer in Action. Honoring Armstrong’s life means honoring the missions heritage of Southern Baptists and the contributions of Southern Baptist women. The offering which bears her name had brought in more than $2 billion for Southern Baptist missions efforts in North America at that time. In addition, at that time the offering for international missions, begun under her leadership, had brought in nearly $5 billion for the international missions efforts of Southern Baptists.

Annie Armstrong and the creation of the WMU

As a young adult, Armstrong helped Southern Baptists open and sustain foreign missions fields. No doubt, participating in the dedication services sending Lottie Moon’s sister, Edmonia, to China and William and Anne Bagby as the first missionaries to Brazil had a profound impact on her life. She developed a lifelong friendship with Anne.

With encouragement from Lottie Moon, Armstrong helped Southern Baptists continue to channel their energies toward missions with the launch of the Woman’s Missionary Union on May 14, 1888. At the meeting, Armstrong’s sister Alice read a paper titled, “Special Obligations of Woman to Spread the Gospel.”

Armstrong was elected as the first corresponding secretary of the Woman’s Missionary Union and would fill the role (unsalaried) for 18 years. During her first year, Annie personally wrote 637 letters and 182 postcards. She doubled the letters written the second year, and in the third she sent 2,737. In 1894, she wrote 17,718 letters.

Her writing hand was damaged permanently by this effort and never regained its strength.

All money collected by the organization would go to the mission boards. The first offering was at the request of the Home Mission Board to build a church and enlarge a cemetery in Cuba. The second WMU offering was to raise money for two female missionaries to help Lottie Moon in China. WMU members gave enough to send three women to China.

Annie Armstrong and domestic missions

When Armstrong heard of the plight of destitute ministers on the frontier home missions fields, she organized an effort to send frontier boxes. And she led the women to build chapels on the frontier and home missions fields.

Because of Armstrong’s efforts, Lula Whilden was appointed in 1887 to work with Chinese in Baltimore and Marie Buhlmaier was appointed to work with German immigrants. In addition, she petitioned the Home Mission Board to send a missionary to work with Italian immigrants. Armstrong advocated for the appointment and financial support of the first black female missionaries by the Home Mission Board and worked to help Native American women organize for missions. She welcomed the first two Native American women as delegates to the WMU, SBC, Annual Meeting in 1896.

In 1894, both the Home Mission Board and the Foreign Mission Board were in debt. Armstrong rallied WMU to join with the SBC to wipe out the Foreign Mission Board’s debt, raising even more than asked. For years, she even wished Southern Baptists would make provision in their wills for the work of the mission boards. And in 1899, Armstrong worked out a proposal encouraging legacies to the boards. Likewise, she worked with the boards to establish an annuity for their missionaries.

Ever the encourager, Armstrong made a 4,000 mile, 40-day trip to Oklahoma (via train, carriage and horseback) in 1900 with the hope of doing unifying work in the territory. Many people in her day used the word indefatigable to describe her.

She had seemingly unlimited energy and a deep inspiration to work. She was untiring, resourceful and persevering. Her spirit was indomitable.

Annie Armstrong had a profound and unprecedented impact on SBC missions – both in North America and around the world – that continues to resonate today in our collective Southern Baptist work and life. As you give to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering, remember the legacy of this indomitable leader whose influence is still being felt today.

This article originally appeared on Baptist Press.

Pastors say they need to develop disciple-making, technology skills

Disciple-making is the primary call of every pastor, and most recognize this as a skill they should continue to develop as church leaders.

According to the latest release in Lifeway Research’s 2022 Greatest Needs of Pastors study, U.S. Protestant pastors say disciple-making and technology are the two areas of skill development they most need to invest in to help them be better pastors.

“These findings come in a season when pastors feel a spotlight on their ability to lead,” said Ben Mandrell, president and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources. “They’re getting more honest about how inadequate they feel. Many pastors fear at some point their perceived shortcomings are going to be on display for their flocks to see.”

Nearly 1 in 4 pastors (23 percent) say the overall category of skill development is the area most challenging for them or the one that requires the most attention compared to the six other categories covered in the Greatest Needs of Pastors study. More pastors say areas of skill development are their greatest need than any other category.

“The value pastors place on continuing to grow and invest in their skills shows the care they have for their role in leadership within the church,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research.

Top areas of skill development

For this study, Lifeway Research interviewed 200 U.S. Protestant pastors who identified 44 issues they face in their roles and then surveyed 1,000 additional pastors to determine which of these needs are most prevalent among pastors. The nearly four dozen needs were divided into seven categories: ministry difficulties, spiritual needs, mental challenges, personal life, self-care, people dynamics and areas of skill development.

Among the eight needs identified as areas of skill development, disciple-making stands out above the rest, followed by technology. Nearly 2 in 3 pastors (63 percent) say disciple-making is an area they need to invest in developing to help them be better pastors, and half (50 percent) point to technology.

“While pastors taking the survey were encouraged not to focus on COVID-19 in their responses, the recent experiences of many pastors likely influenced the prevalence of technology as a skill that needs more development today,” said McConnell. “In the spring of 2020, many churches moved rapidly to add streaming capabilities for their worship services. As technology met a need, many pastors realized there are other tools they haven’t used that may help them minister more effectively.”

Less than half of pastors (47 percent) identify leadership as a skill in which they need to invest. The percentage of pastors who say areas of communication (44 percent), counseling (44 percent) and administration (43 percent) are skills they need to further develop are similar. Fewer say they need to invest in conflict management or resolution (41 percent), while a third noted preaching (32 percent). Few pastors (5 percent) say none of these are areas of skill development they need to invest in currently.

Pastors with a doctoral degree (50 percent) are least likely to say disciple-making is a skill they need to invest in to improve as a pastor. Pastors in the South (66 percent) are more likely than those in the West (55 percent) to identify this as a need.

In many areas of skill development, young pastors, those 18 to 44, are more likely than older pastors to identify those skills as areas of needed improvement, with technology being the exception. Young pastors (52 percent) are more likely to identify communication as an area of skill development than pastors between the ages of 55 and 64 (38 percent) or over 65 (42 percent), and they’re the age group most likely to say conflict management and resolution (56 percent) and counseling (59 percent) are areas they need to invest in learning. Young pastors (54 percent) are more likely to select leadership as an area of skill development they need to invest in than pastors over 65 (40 percent) and more likely to select preaching (38 percent) than those between the ages of 55 and 64 (28 percent). But pastors 18 to 44 years old are least likely to say they need to invest in learning technology to help them be better pastors (35 percent).

“Younger pastors grew up with technology and are used to the rapid pace of adoption of new technologies,” McConnell said. “Technology can touch everything from communication to socializing, to finances, to where people participate. Yet each tool has a learning curve.”

With technology, pastors of churches with attendance of fewer than 50 (57 percent) are more likely to identify this as an area they need to invest in than pastors of churches with attendance of more than 250 (42 percent). African American pastors (63 percent) are also more likely to say technology is an area of needed skill development than white pastors (48 percent).

Greatest skill development need

When asked to narrow it down to the area of skill development they most need to invest in at this time, pastors chose the same top two areas. More than 1 in 4 pastors (28 percent) say disciple-making. Almost 1 in 5 (19 percent) say technology is the area of skill development they most need to invest in right now.

“Making disciples doesn’t happen by itself. It requires personally investing in others and encouraging their walk with the Lord,” McConnell said. “Much of a pastor’s training focuses on preaching. Once in the role, five times as many pastors want to develop their skills in the relational and spiritual dimensions of making disciples than in preaching skills.”

Fewer pastors say they need to invest in administration (10 percent), leadership (10 percent), counseling (9 percent), conflict management or resolution (8 percent), communication (6 percent) or preaching (5 percent) at this time. Another 6 percent of pastors say none of these are areas of skill development they most need to invest in learning.

Pastors over the age of 65 are most likely to say technology is the area of skill development they most need to invest in now (34 percent). Mainline pastors are also more likely than evangelical pastors to say technology is their top area of needed skill development (26 percent vs. 16 percent). And once again, pastors of churches with fewer than 50 people in their weekly worship gathering (28 percent) are the most likely to identify technology as their greatest skill development need.

“These findings tell pastors they’re not alone in their concerns,” Mandrell said. “The data also demonstrates that pastors love their people and want to be at their best for them.”

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

Pastors’ Conference announces lead-in prayer gathering, additional speakers

ANAHEIM, Calif. (BP) – The upcoming SBC Pastors’ Conference will include 12 sermons and a time of prayer and worship before the meeting, President Matt Henslee announced March 29.

“Interspersed among the 12 expositional sermons you will hear through Colossians will be six timely messages from some faithful men of God,” he said. “While exegetically faithful and a little shorter, these will cover topics vital to our work as Southern Baptist pastors. You will hear from Drs. Adam Greenway, Paul Chitwood, Hance Dilbeck, Bryant Wright, Kevin Ezell and a dynamic evangelist named Daniel Ritchie.”

The prayer time will take place in the main hall at the Anaheim Convention Center from 4-6 p.m. on June 12. “We Proclaim Him” is the theme of the 2022 Pastors’ Conference, which gathers in conjunction with the SBC annual meeting each year.

The conference preachers gathered on Feb. 17 at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary for a time of fellowship, planning and prayer.

“A significant time devoted to prayer” was a goal for the conference, Henslee shared. While prayer will be a part throughout the four sessions, Pastor Robby Gallaty and the worship team of Long Hollow Church in Hendersonville, Tenn., will lead in a devoted time for it before the conference.

“You may remember that Dr. Gallaty did something similar in a packed side room in Nashville [prior to last year’s annual meeting],” said Henslee, “but this will take place in the main room this year and take us to the beginning of the Pastors’ Conference.”

“I should not need to tell you why prayer is so critically important for us as we descend upon Anaheim, but I would like to remind you of what the late E.M. Bounds said, ‘Prayer should not be regarded as a duty which must be performed, but rather as a privilege to be enjoyed,” Henslee noted.

“If you can get there by 4 p.m. on June 12th, or 4:30 p.m. or even 5 p.m., do not stop. Go straight to the main hall and join us for prayer. If you cannot, I ask you to pray wherever you are from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.”

Those wanting to give to the conference now are still able to do so. “We are working hard to fundraise every dollar we will need so that every dollar we raise during the SBC Pastors’ Conference can go to a ministry near and dear to my heart, Mission:Dignity,” he added.

This article originally appeared at Baptist Press.

Women in Uganda find escape from brothels and hope for salvation

Women in the slum brothels of Kampala, Uganda, are learning God has not forgotten them, there is hope and redemption in their life stories, and He has given them a new name.

IMB missionary Allie White remembers riding in motorcycle taxis past slums housing brothels, and she would look down the alleyways and ask, “What is this place?”

Allie told one of her Ugandan national partners, Victoria, that she wanted to go into the area.

“I’m not going down that alley,” Victoria said firmly. However, the Lord turned her heart toward the women as she began praying with Allie and other Ugandan Christians.

“It’s a very high area of prostitution, so we began to ask God to open doors for us down there,” Allie said.

Victoria said God used future trips riding past the slums to open her heart.

“Whenever we were passing by, I would feel in my heart that I should go and meet these ladies. The more we went down there, the more we felt deep in our hearts that we’re supposed to start drawing close to these ladies and then see how their life is and how can we reach out to bring the gospel to them,” Victoria said.

When Allie shared her desire to minister to prostitutes with her language teacher, she told her, “My heart burns for this too.”

The women had enough interest to start a weekly Bible study. Six people came the first week. The second week, they asked a local councilman to encourage women to come. Sixty women came the next week.

Many women gave their lives to Christ that day and are still involved in the Bible study. They’ve chosen to get baptized and are involved in a local church in the slum.

“Our goal is to restore women who are affected by the sex trade industry and prostitution, and to empower them with dignity as they proactively engage in a spiritual transformation,” Allie said.

Allie said God led her and her national partners to Revelation 2:17: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.”

They learned that the women have a ‘work name’ and a ‘home name.’

“When we first meet them, a lot of them give us their name that they go by at the brothel. We’ve seen a lot of cases when they come to Christ, or they get comfortable enough with us, that they share their real name with us.”

Allie said the verse is a “beautiful picture of how, when we become God’s children, we receive a white stone of innocence, even though we deserve guiltiness. We get a white stone with a new name written on it. It’s a beautiful picture of God’s forgiveness in our own lives and with these women.”

One of these women is named Sarah, who comes from a Muslim background.

Salvation of Sarah

After Sarah’s husband passed away, her father-in-law sold everything they owned and put her out on the street. It wasn’t what she wanted for her life, but to provide for her children, she turned to prostitution. Sarah committed her life to Christ at the Bible study, and she knew she couldn’t go back to prostitution. She began making soap to bring in an income.

When Sarah was almost evicted, the church, located in the middle of the slum and without much income, raised the equivalent of $200 to cover Sarah’s rent for six months.

“God has really changed Sarah’s life. She is hungry for the Word of God. She is bringing other women in that area to the weekly Bible studies. The love of Christ, it just exudes from her,” Katie Hall said. Katie also serves in Kampala with the IMB.

Sarah recently received her first Bible and was baptized with seven other women who also left prostitution. Sarah’s 19-year-old daughter asked why the Christian women visited, Sarah shared her testimony, and her daughter committed her life to Christ.

“God is using Sarah among the women there,” Katie said. “She’s not turning her back on the women that she worked with. She’s actually actively drawing them toward the church and toward the ministry. You can just see Christ radiate from her.”

Come as you are

“We include women who are still very deep in prostitution. We let women come who have a deep desire to leave but just don’t know how to. The women who have left also are involved,” Allie said.

“It is very challenging, because a lot of the women have been in this business, the sex trade industry, for a long time. Some of them started very young, so they don’t necessarily have the education or [knowledge of] other trades,” Allie said.

Their faith and courage encourage Allie.

“When they say they are done with prostitution, they are giving up their job, they are giving their housing, because most of them live in the brothel. They’re saying, ‘I trust God enough to give up this and suffer,’” Allie said.

Katie said the local church’s involvement in the ministry is massive. The pastor’s wife had been trying to find a way to reach these women.

“Our national partners are walking very, very closely with these ladies because they can enter into a space that we’re not privy to often,” Katie said.

The involvement of local church members and national partners in the ministry requires trust.

“Our national partners have probably experienced more pushback because they had to cross some cultural barriers for themselves to even go in that area,” Katie said. “They’re taking a risk being associated with it, so they really have had to step into an area that they were uncomfortable stepping into in order to engage the women.”

“Ladies from the church are walking side by side with Allie. They’re leading out in a lot of the one-to-one discipleship that’s happening,” Katie continued. “They’re also walking hand in hand with them.”

Allie agreed. “My main job is to walk beside my national partners. They are the ones in the trenches every day.”

Katie said consistency is key.

“Lots of people might come in once, give some things or vomit the gospel, but then they just leave, and they don’t come back,” Katie said.”

Allie, Victoria and other national partners’ consistency makes all the difference.

“It’s that they keep coming back to the places that aren’t lovely. They keep coming back and they keep chatting with the women, and they keep just sitting there and they keep taking some of their abuses because some of them are drunk and yell at them and are mad that they’re there. They think they’re going to take their customers. Allie and Victoria have continually gone back and continually loved and continually just shown up,” Katie said.

Pray now for the continued service of Christians in the slums of Uganda. Ask God to deliver more women out of prostitution and into an eternal relationship with Him.

High court ruling for Texas inmate praised

WASHINGTON (BP) – Southern Baptists at national, state, and local levels commended the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling Thursday (March 24) in support of a condemned Texas inmate’s request to have his pastor lay hands on and pray aloud for him when he receives a lethal injection.

In an 8-1 opinion, the high court said John Ramirez, who was convicted of a 2004 murder, “is likely to succeed in showing [the state’s] policy substantially burdens his exercise of religion.” Ramirez had sued Texas prison officials for refusing to permit Dana Moore, pastor of Second Baptist Church in Corpus Christi, to minister to him as requested when he is executed.

With only Associate Justice Clarence Thomas dissenting, the Supreme Court reversed a decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans and returned the case to federal court. That court should issue an injunction requiring the state to grant Ramirez’s request if prison officials continue to refuse to allow Moore to touch and pray audibly for him at a rescheduled execution, the high court said in its opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts.

“This is a significant affirmation of religious liberty,” said Brent Leatherwood, acting president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). “The Supreme Court affirmed that religious freedom does not end at the execution chamber door.

“In the majority opinion, the court provided significant guidance about how this case should be handled moving forward,” Leatherwood said in an ERLC news release. “The state of Texas should accommodate Mr. Ramirez’s sincere requests based on his religious beliefs and allow Pastor Moore … to minister to Mr. Ramirez in his final solemn moments of life.”

Tony Wolfe, associate executive director of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, called the decision “a win for religious liberty.”

“Baptists have long confessed their conviction toward ‘full freedom in the pursuit of spiritual ends,’ noting that such religious liberty ‘implies the right of free and unhindered access to God on the part of all men’ (The Baptist Faith and Message 2000, the SBC’s confession of faith),” he said in written remarks.

“Even those among us who are convicted of the most heinous of crimes are to be cared for and ministered to by religious officials at their request and upon the church’s agreement,” Wolfe said. “A pastor’s presence and spiritual ministry at the moment of death [are] among the most solemn of ministerial occasions.”

Moore told Baptist Press, “It is a blessing that if John does receive a date and if he is executed, that at least I’ll be able to hold his hand [or otherwise touch him] and pray” with him.

It also is a blessing “from the precedent that we can practice our faith, even in the death chamber,” he said. “[A]s a Baptist, that’s important, to be able to practice our faith where and when we need to be allowed to do so. There’s nothing compelling to keep us from doing that, even in the death chamber.”

Though, Moore said, “the downside is this opens up the opportunity” for him to receive a new date for execution.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice said in a written statement Thursday, “We respect the court’s decision and will be making appropriate modifications to our practices to align with today’s ruling.”

The ERLC joined in a friend-of-the-court brief for the Supreme Court with the Christian Legal Society and six other faith or religious freedom organizations in support of Ramirez’s free exercise of religion.

Ramirez, 37, was scheduled to receive the death penalty Sept. 8, but the Supreme Court granted a stay of the execution that night and heard oral arguments about the case in November. He filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court after a federal judge and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals both refused to stay the execution.

Moore said he believes Ramirez came to know the Lord in prison in “a genuine way” and underwent a change. He has ministered to Ramirez since 2016, when the prisoner was accepted as a member of Second Baptist Church. In 2008, Ramirez was convicted of the murder of convenience store clerk Pablo Castro, whom he stabbed 29 times during a robbery.

Texas failed to satisfy the requirements of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), Roberts said in the majority opinion. RLUIPA, a federal law enacted in 2000, prohibits the government from substantially burdening the free exercise of religion by a prisoner or, in land-use cases, by a person or institution. The government, however, can gain an exemption from the law if it can show it has a compelling interest and is using the “least restrictive means” to further that interest.

Texas “has not shown that it is likely to carry that burden,” Roberts wrote. “Ramirez is likely to succeed on his RLUIPA claims because Texas’s restrictions on religious touch and audible prayer in the execution chamber burden religious exercise and are not the least restrictive means of furthering the State’s compelling interests.”

When it approved RLUIPA, Congress decided “prisoners like Ramirez have a strong interest in avoiding substantial burdens on their religious exercise, even while confined,” according to the chief justice’s opinion. “Ramirez is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of injunctive relief because he will be unable to engage in protected religious exercise in the final moments of his life.”

A specific injunction like the one Ramirez “seeks – rather than a stay of execution – will be the proper form of equitable relief when a prisoner raises a RLUIPA claim in the execution context,” Roberts wrote.

In his dissent in Ramirez v. Collier, Thomas said the “only relevant evidence … cuts strongly in favor of finding that Ramirez is insincere” in his belief that having Moore lay hands on him is part of his faith. Also, Ramirez failed to exhaust the administrative remedies available to him, Thomas said.

Ramirez said in his application to the Supreme Court he believes Moore’s “laying on of hands on him as he dies, and the vocalization of prayers and Scripture, will assist his passing from life to death and will guide his path to the afterlife.”

Second Baptist Church in Corpus Christi is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, one of two Baptist conventions in the state, and the SBC, Moore said.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice changed its policy on permitting clergy in the execution chamber after the Supreme Court stayed Patrick Murphy’s execution in 2019 because his Buddhist spiritual advisor was not allowed to be present though Christian and Muslim chaplains were. The department barred all spiritual advisors from the execution chamber until it revised its policy in April 2021 to permit their presence. Under the current rules, chaplains are not permitted to pray or read Scripture while in the chamber, however.

The ERLC-endorsed brief argued the state violated RLUIPA. In addition to the ERLC, also signing onto the brief filed by Christian Legal Society were the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, National Association of Evangelicals, Anglican Church in North America, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Rutherford Institute and Queens (N.Y.) Federation of Churches.

Thomas was admitted to a Washington hospital March 18 with “flu-like symptoms,” the Supreme Court’s public information office reported March 20. It has issued no updates on his condition.

This article was originally published by Baptist Press.

Former missionary Robin Hadaway to be nominated for SBC president

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (BP) – Former International Mission Board missionary Wade Akins has announced he intends to nominate fellow former IMB missionary Robin Hadaway for SBC president at the upcoming 2022 SBC Annual Meeting in Anaheim, Calif.

Hadaway becomes the third announced candidate for the office. Florida pastors Willy Rice and Tom Ascol have already been announced as candidates.

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.

“Robin Hadaway has a passion for missions, evangelism and church planting,” Akins told Baptist Press in a statement. “He believes thousands of Southern Baptists – men and women, pastors and laypersons – need to drop what they are doing and seek a career in home and foreign missions.”

Akins also said that, if elected, Hadaway would strive to “see 1,000 new WMU chapters started,” saying “WMU has the backs of our missionaries by providing what’s often lacking – prayer and financial support.”

Following his time with IMB, Hadaway spent nearly two decades at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary as a professor of missions and serving in a variety of administrative roles including interim president, dean of students, vice president for institutional initiatives, interim CFO and interim administrative vice president.

Prior to his call to ministry, Hadaway served four years in the U.S. Air Force as a pilot attaining the rank of captain, worked as military air traffic controller and finished his career as an administrative officer.

Hadaway is no stranger to service in the SBC having served on the 2000 SBC Credentials Committee, the 2005 and 2006 SBC Resolutions Committees, the 1981 Local Arrangements Committee and the planning committee for the 1984 Baptist World Alliance meeting in Los Angeles.

Hadaway and his wife, Kathy, returned to California after he retired from residential teaching a year ago. He now serves as MBTS’ senior professor of missions and resides in Oceanside, Calif. The Hadaways are currently members of New Song Community Church in Oceanside. According to its Annual Church Profile statistics, New Song reported 26 baptisms in 2021, undesignated receipts of $1,648,176.96 and giving through the Cooperative Program of $16,750.02 (1.02 percent of undesignated receipts).

Hadaway is a graduate of the University of Memphis, has an M.Div. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and D.Min. from Gateway Seminary as well as a D.Th. from the University of South Africa. He and Kathy have three children and two grandchildren.

This article was originally published by Baptist Press.

Voddie Baucham to be 2023 SBC Pastors’ Conference presidential nominee

ANAHEIM, Calif. (BP) — Voddie Baucham, dean of theology at African Christian University in Lusaka, Zambia, will be nominated for Southern Baptist Convention Pastors’ Conference president at the 2022 SBC Annual Meeting in Anaheim, according to a story published at the Daily Wire, a conservative news site conceived and founded by political commentators Ben Shapiro and Jeremy Boreing. The nomination was also announced in a statement posted at the Founders Ministries website.

“Voddie Baucham is one of the most faithful expositors of our day, a day in which sound preaching is more important than ever,” the Founders Ministries statement said. “He will give the exact kind of leadership needed for the SBC Pastors’ Conference, an event which in recent years has shifted radically from one of the high points of the entire year into what many have termed ‘Woke Fest.’ The importance of restoring that pivotal event cannot be overstated.”

The statement supporting Baucham’s nomination is signed by 11 people. Among those is Mike Stone, a member of the SBC Executive Committee and the steering committee of the Conservative Baptist Network (CBN), who lost the SBC presidency in 2021 in a runoff with Ed Litton. Stone is senior pastor of Emmanuel Baptist in Blackshear, Ga. Several other CBN members are signatories as well, including current SBC First Vice President Lee Brand.

Baucham left his position as founding pastor of Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, Texas, in 2015 and is no longer an active member there, current pastors Erin Frye and Aaron Wright told Baptist Press.

“We only have active members at Grace Family Baptist Church. This is, by the way, what Voddie always taught while he was preaching in the church. He stands by that now as well. There is no such thing as an inactive member,” Frye and Wright said in a jointly signed email. “Therefore, when we sent him out to Zambia, he joined the solid biblical church he was attending. He is a member of Kabwata Baptist Church in Zambia and has been since 2015.

“He continues to be a part of our church since we are the Southern Baptist Church that sent him out. We support him monthly, and he regularly comes back and preaches at our church and other conferences.”

Grace Family contributed $500 through the Cooperative Program in 2021, which was the church’s first CP gift since 2014, a Southern Baptists of Texas spokesperson told Baptist Press.

Neither the seminary where Baucham now serves nor the church where he is a member are Southern Baptist. They are both affiliated with Reformed Baptists of Zambia.

It is unclear whether Baucham’s lack of membership in a Southern Baptist congregation precludes his nomination. The conference has no organizing documents or stated qualifications for its officers. Baucham serves on the board of Founders Ministries and is a member of the CBN steering council, two groups with Southern Baptist members.

President of Voddie Baucham Ministries, Baucham lists an active speakers’ itinerary at voddiebaucham.org, including a 2022 spring tour that included engagements at the G3 Expositors Conference in Santa Clarita, the Shepherds’ Conference in Sun Valley, the 58th Annual Louisiana Governor’s Prayer Breakfast in Baton Rouge, La., and the Triple R Fundraising Dinner in Crestview, Fla., among other stops.

Baucham did not respond to requests for comments Baptist Press sent to two different email addresses at time of publication .

He describes himself as a cultural apologist. According to voddiebaucham.org, “Whether teaching on classical apologetic issues like the validity and historicity of the Bible, or the resurrection of Christ; or teaching on biblical manhood/womanhood, marriage and family, he helps ordinary people understand the significance of thinking and living biblically in every area of life.”

He planted Grace Family Baptist Church in 2006, and maintains a relationship with the church as a missionary, Frye and Wright said.

“We sent him out as a missionary to work at the African Christian University in Zambia in 2015. We believe that missionaries going out into the field should join the church that they are attending residentially on the field,” Frye and Wright said. “We believe this because biblically, that is how someone is shepherded.” The church only allows exceptions when missionaries in serving in areas with no churches, the pastors said.

The statement from the group did not indicate who will nominate Baucham for the post, but it also announced the intended nomination of Florida pastor Tom Ascol, Founders Ministries president, will be nominated for SBC president.

In addition to Stone and Brand, signers of the statement are Tom Buck, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Lindale, Texas, and a board member of G3 Ministries; Javier Chavez, senior pastor of Amistad Cristiana International and a member of the CBN steering council; former Atlanta, Ga., fire chief Kelvin Cochran, a member of the CBN steering council; Mark Coppenger, Illinois pastor, CBN steering council member and former president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; Greg Davidson, senior pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Vacaville, Calif., and state coordinator of the CBN California chapter; Mark DeVine, associate professor of Beeson Divinity School; Brad Jurkovich, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Bossier City, La., and a CBN steering committee member; Ronnie Rogers, senior pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Norman, Okla., and a CBN steering committee member; and Carol Swain, former professor of political science and law at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

The article was originally published by Baptist Press.

Florida pastor Tom Ascol announces candidacy for SBC president

CAPE CORAL, Fla. (BP) – Founders Ministries President Tom Ascol announced his intention to run for SBC president Tuesday (March 22) in a story published at the Daily Wire, a conservative news site conceived and founded by political commentators Ben Shapiro and Jeremy Boreing. The nomination was also announced through a post at the Founders Ministries website.

Ascol becomes the second announced candidate for the office. Florida pastor Willy Rice was announced as a candidate last month a day after current SBC President Ed Litton announced he would not seek a second term.

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.

“I love the SBC and am grateful for all the wonderful things God has done in and through the Convention,” Ascol told Baptist Press in a phone interview. “I believe we are in need of a course correction so that regular Southern Baptist churches can have a voice and can help hold our institution and entities accountable to the churches that own them. If we don’t do this, then we will lose many opportunities to be united to spread the Gospel of Jesus around the world.”

The nomination announcement at the Founders website was signed by nearly a dozen Southern Baptists – many of whom are leaders in the Conservative Baptist Network – including current SBC First Vice President Lee Brand and Mike Stone, runner-up in last year’s election for SBC president.

The announcement cites a “freefall” of baptisms and evangelism as reasons for needing Ascol to “unite our convention around the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

According to Annual Church Profile information, Ascol’s church has not officially reported baptism totals since 2004. However, Grace did report 280 in weekly worship attendance with $725,110.02 total undesignated receipts and $30,660.94 (4.23 percent) given through the Cooperative Program. According to Ascol, the church gave a total of $159,524.20 in Great Commission Giving and $34,500 to Southern Baptist Disaster Relief last year.

Ascol is most widely known in the SBC for his work as president of Founders Ministries, an organization Ascol helped start in 1982 that is “committed to encouraging the recovery of Gospel and the biblical reformation of local churches.” According to its website, Founders holds to the 1689 Second London Baptist Confession of Faith as its doctrinal confession. Ascol 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.

Ascol’s lone service role in the SBC on the national level was in 2012-13 when he was a member of a Calvinism Advisory Committee assembled by then-SBC Executive Committee president Frank Page. The task force was charged with developing “a strategy whereby people of various theological persuasions can purposely work together in missions and evangelism.”

Ascol is a graduate of Texas A&M and has both an M.Div. and Ph.D. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Donna, have six children and 15 grandchildren.

This article originally appeared on Baptist Press.

How Christians can think about the epidemic of online gambling and sports betting

I am an avid college basketball fan. During my college years at the University of Tennessee, our basketball program took major steps forward in being competitive each year, routinely making the NCAA tournament. I follow my team and interact with various sports accounts on social media, which has put me in the target audience for many marketers including most sports betting apps and other forms of online gambling.

These companies routinely target younger to middle-aged men, especially those who show interest in sports. I can’t go an hour or two online without seeing multiple ads for sports gambling, and even more so during March Madness. And due to the power of algorithms and digital marketing, the more I research this subject (and even you simply reading this type of article) will increase the likelihood of seeing gambling ads across the internet and social media platforms.

In recent years, there has been an explosion of online gambling especially related to sports. Whether professional sports like football, soccer, and basketball or collegiate sports including the current NCAA basketball tournaments, many of us are inundated with countless advertisements about making a quick buck or even betting on our team to win it all. Most of these ads are tailored to our favorite teams, often using images from high-profile games with the allure of “instant bonuses,” free credits, or an easy win. This time of year, online gambling surges leave many in their wake.

According to The New York Times, about 30 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico currently allow sports gambling either online or in person, which means that over 30% of the population is able to legally bet on March Madness or other sporting events, across sports. These deceptive schemes or forms of “entertainment” can ruin someone’s life quickly, particularly those who may be prone to addictions or destructive behavior. They can be devastating and predatory. But how did this explosion in online sports betting become so widespread, and what is the human toll? And how does the Church begin to navigate these complex ethical issues that are plaguing our communities?

The human toll of gambling

Gambling has become an epidemic around the world in recent decades. It is important to note that gambling is not a new phenomenon or simply related to sports, as this form of entertainment (and addiction) has long been a part of our culture in the U.S., ranging from the allure of Sin City to the lottery in many states across the nation. Due to the digital age, the means have become easier in recent years, and gambling addictions can be assumed as predominant throughout our communities. This is true for about 1-3% of our country’s population, which brings the total of those dealing with serious gambling addictions to over 10 million people. Gambling accounts for about $53 billion of revenue in the U.S. alone, with $900 million in sports-related gambling in 2019.

And it isn’t hard to see the devastating effects of gambling in our communities. Whether it’s a neighbor getting $5 on pump 2 and $10 worth of scratch-offs or intoxicated casino-goers racking up major tabs with the hopes of striking it big, the house always wins by design. It’s clear that gambling is an extremely attractive venture for many as it can bring in desired tax revenue for local governments and be a lucrative business venture. Though if the chances of winning were actually high enough for most to win, then gambling wouldn’t be such a profitable business model. Online gambling companies, especially those connected to sports, know they will draw a major profit as most business leaders will never willingly put themselves at great risk of massive financial loss even if the public suffers as a result of their business.

Sports gambling exploded after the 2018 Supreme Court decision to strike down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which opened the door to online sports betting across 21 states. PASPA was a 1992 federal law signed by then President George H.W. Bush, which prohibited states from offering sports gambling, with very few exceptions. The act did not make sports gambling itself a federal crime, but instead allowed the “Attorney General, as well as professional and amateur sports organizations, to bring civil actions to enjoin violations.” While many states allowed casinos, racetracks, and other forms of gambling prior to this decision, this case brought by the State of New Jersey allowed for sports gambling to be a major fixture in these institutions including online or app-based sports gambling which have become especially prominent during playoffs, tournaments, and large sporting events.

Given the ubiquity of sports betting in our digital society, it is likely that you or someone you know well is gambling or is struggling with addictive behavior. In light of the addictive and predatory nature of gambling, how should the Church respond to this growing epidemic in light of the biblical ethic?

The Church and the common good

The Christian ethic reminds us of some core truths that apply in conversations about gambling and addiction. First and foremost, we are each called to live righteous and God-honoring lives, knowing that everything we have is from God himself (1 Corinthians 4:7). Among Christians, it can be tempting to simply give God “his portion” of our income and fail to see that all the rest is a gift from God, too. We are called to wisely steward these gifts as we seek to love God and love our neighbor (Mark 12:29-31). This all comes down to the perennial question of ethics: Just because we can do something, does that mean we should?

It is important to note here that God is the creator of the entire universe, and he also created each of us in his image whether or not we choose to fulfill our purpose as his image-bearers. It may be one thing to participate in a company tournament raffle or to have a friendly wager between friends, but online gambling and app-based sports betting is a completely different situation especially if one is flippant about their stewardship of God’s provisions. Often gambling is done where one sacrifices their necessities or provision with the hopes of winning big.

Another angle that is not often discussed in light of gambling are the social effects of our sin, greed, and pride. Like the man who gets $5 of gas and $10 of scratch-offs, the allure of gambling can be used to take advantage of certain segments of our neighbors and communities. As I mentioned above, gambling is a predatory practice — exploiting some for the benefit of others. An important question for all of us to ask is how does one’s participation in this type of industry, even if it is done without malicious motives, encourage or sustain these predatory practices throughout our society? Does your involvement prop up this business model that is known to exploit the weaknesses of others and dehumanize them in the process?

Similar to how payday lending is predatory with astronomically high interest rates and short loan periods, online gambling is designed to line the pockets of the company rather than to promote the common good rooted in the dignity of all people. Taking advantage of our fellow image-bearers, especially in terms of financial provisions and their economic future through highly addictive means like contemporary sports gambling apps, is morally incongruent with the biblical ethic as it is a form of stealing and being deluded by the love of money (Exodus 20:17; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 1 Timothy 6:10). It does not live up to the standard which Christ gave us to “love our neighbor as ourselves” (Mark 12:31). Gambling also leads to countless other social ills, including the breakdown of families, other highly addictive behaviors, loss of homes and jobs, and extreme financial peril.

Gambling, including the meteoric rise of sports betting, often leads to encouraging vice in our society rather than virtuous and wise behaviors. It is important for the Church to remember that all policies, laws, and practices are inherently moral by nature as they encourage or discourage certain behaviors. As many in our communities are lured in by the delusions of quick cash, massive payouts, and a long list of ‘what-ifs’, the Church must be ready to care for and love those who are seeking to break these addictions. Far from being an isolated and simple issue, gambling has unfortunately become a mainstay in our society, especially in this digital age.

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