Author: Baptist Press

FBC Farmersville shines the light of Jesus during North Texas ice storm

FARMERSVILLE, Texas (BP) – When John and Judy arrived at First Baptist Church of Farmersville last Thursday, it had already been a rough 24 hours.

Like hundreds of other residents, the elderly couple had been without power for the past day after a massive ice storm hit Farmersville and the surrounding area starting Feb. 2. Worse yet, Judy relies on an oxygen machine that requires electricity. When they first lost power, a nearby convenience store allowed them to run an extension cord into the store so the oxygen machine could continue to work. But eventually the store lost power as well.

Local police took the couple to FBC Farmersville, which opened its facilities last week for people who needed a place to stay and a bite to eat.

“We decided a long time ago that we were going to be the kind of church that would step up and help the community on events like this,” said Bart Barber, FBC Farmersville’s senior pastor.

And help they did. FBC Farmersville fed an average of 40 to 50 people for eight meals. According to Lanette Jones, who led the church’s kitchen team during the effort, at least 80 percent of the families they helped were not members of the church. Many of those families were housed at the church where they found shelter and a sense of community as they awaited the return of power to their homes.

John and Judy arrived at the church right before dinner on Thursday, Feb. 4. The church put up some cots where the couple could sleep. But away from their beds, they struggled to rest that night. Pastor Barber, who was sleeping in his office, walked through the church every few hours to ensure everyone had what they needed. At 1:30 a.m., on one of these trips through the church building, Barber saw John and Judy sitting at a table, huddled around an iPad.

After a brief conversation, Barber discovered just how much the preceding days had worn them down. They had spent the previous day freezing in their home, had been up the night before, and spent that day at the police department. Now they were uncomfortable as they were trying to sleep.

As he checked on power at his home, Barber drove by John and Judy’s place to see if they could return. When he returned to the church to tell them power had resumed at their home, they were thrilled.

“John had fallen on ice and so he was walking with a cane,” Barber said. “Judy was on oxygen, so she moves slowly, but they sprung right up and went with me.”

It was 2:15 Friday morning, nearly two days since their ordeal began, as John and Judy climbed into Barber’s truck and headed to their home. Barber says the couple was overjoyed to be headed to their own bed finally able to rest.

His experience with the couple reminded him about important theological lessons on the human experience. He particularly thought of his mother, who is living in an Alzheimer’s facility.

“We are all here waiting – and it’s pretty uncomfortable. We’re tired,” Barber said. “And we’re waiting for our home to be prepared. I thought about my mom and her Alzheimer’s and her wait. I know going home after a long day’s work is nice but going home in the situation that couple was in was a major thing. I was thinking of what it would mean for my mom when Jesus calls her home. It’s going to mean so much joy. How much joy will she have when she is delivered to the home the Lord has for her?”

Barber notes that this is the fourth major weather event the community has experienced in his 23 years at FBC Farmersville. He sees the church’s ministry in these events as opportunities to share the Good News in the community and to help prepare the congregation to “do good works.”

“There’s an element of it where people in my church feel an automatic desire to do something for people inside and outside of church – their neighbors who are in trouble – when something like this happens,” Barber said. “It seems natural to them, and their avenue for serving like that ought to be the church.”

James says the church had several families with children – including one family of eight – at the church during the storm. Besides food and lodging, the church provided showers when needed as well. Some of the families were embarrassed that they needed the help, but James told them First Baptist’s facilities were a gift from God, and they wanted to share them.

“It’s an example that Jesus gives us in the New Testament, of being involved in our community and shining our light and helping our neighbors,” said James, who serves as the children’s minister at FBC Farmersville. “Our goal is to reach out to our neighbors and help them in a time of need, with food and, and shelter and warm clothes. Through that, hopefully, they’ll see the light of Jesus in our lives.”

This article originally appeared in Baptist Press.

7 Encouraging Trends of Global Christianity in 2022

Regardless of the situation in the United States, Christianity is growing around the world, especially in the global South, according to recently released analysis.

The Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary regularly updates a report tracking statistics and trends of religion in general and Christianity specifically around the world. There are seven encouraging trends to note in their 2022 Status of Global Christianity report.

Religious faith is growing faster than the irreligious

Particularly in the West, it can seem as if secularism is growing, and people are leaving the church and the faith. Globally, that is not the case.

While populations of all religions are growing at a 1.27 percent rate, the growth rate of the religiously unaffiliated is less than half that – 0.52 percent, well below the total population growth percentage. In particular, atheism is almost stagnant, growing only 0.18 percent per year. A 2015 Pew Research study also predicts the number of unaffiliated will shrink in terms of the share of global population.

According to the Gordon-Conwell report, there are fewer atheists around the world today (147 million) than in 1970 (165 million), with the number expected to continue declining through 2050.

Christianity continues to grow

Not only is religion growing overall, but Christian specifically is growing. With a 1.17 percent growth rate, almost 2.56 billion people will identify as a Christian by the middle of 2022. By 2050, that number will top 3.33 billion.

Catholics remain the largest Christian group with almost 1.26 billion adherents, but the two fastest growing Christian groups around the world are evangelicals (1.8 percent growth rate) and charismatics (1.88 percent).

The dramatic global growth for charismatic Christians is particularly noteworthy. In 1900, less than 1 million people around the world were considered Pentecostals. By 2050, more than 1 billion will be.

Growth is fastest in the global South

The places where Christianity is growing the fastest? Africa (2.77 percent growth) and Asia (1.50 percent). In 2000, 814 million Christians lived in Europe and North America, while 660 million Christians called African and Asia home. This year, 838 million live in the global North, while almost 1.1 billion Christians live in Africa and Asia alone.

In 1900, twice as many Christians lived in Europe than the rest of the world combined. Today, more Christians live in Africa than any other continent. By 2050, Africa will be home to almost 1.3 billion Christians, while Latin America (686 million) and Asia (560 million) will both have more than Europe (497 million) and North America (276 million).

Christianity continues to spread out

As Christianity continues to grow in the global South, it is also becoming less concentrated in highly Christian areas. In 1900, 95 percent of all Christians lived in a majority Christian country. In 2022, that number has fallen to 53.7 percent. By 2050, most Christians (50.4 percent) around the world will live in non-majority Christian nations.

The percentage of non-Christians who know a Christian is climbing

With more Christians living outside of Christian nations, more non-Christians know a Christian. In 1900, only 5.4 percent of non-Christians could identify a Christian they knew. That number has grown to 18.3 percent today. By 2050, 1 in 5 non-Christians (20 percent) will know a follower of Jesus and have the opportunity to hear the Gospel from them.

As a result, the percentage of unevangelized people around the world continues to fall. In 1900, more than half of the world’s population (54.3 percent) was unevangelized. That has now fallen to 28 percent.

More than 90 million Bibles will be printed this year

As Christianity continues to grow, the printing of Bibles continues to grow along with it. This year, 93 million copies of God’s Word will be printed, up from 54 million in 2000 and 5 million in 1900. By 2025, 100 million Bibles will be printed each year. Currently, almost 1.8 billion Bibles are in circulation around the world. That will climb to 2.3 billion by 2050.

God’s Word continues to expand into new languages in new and exciting ways, including pastors and theologians in India developing and printing a first-of-its-kind Telugu study Bible for the nearly 90 million Telugu speakers in the country.

Fewer Christians are dying for their faith

In 2000, the Status of Global Christianity marked a rate of 1.6 million Christian martyrs over a 10-year period – the high mark of their report. In 2022, they estimate the decade-long number to be 900,000. Each death is a tragedy, but any improvement is worth noting.

The 10-year trends do not negate year-over-year numbers, like the increase in martyrs for 2021 as recorded by Open Doors’ latest report. Regardless of the current numbers or trends, churches should continue praying for persecuted believers around the world.

This piece has been adapted from one that originally appeared at LifewayResearch.com.

How should Christians think about a boycott of the Olympics?

On Tuesday, the ERLC hosted a special online event called “Oppression & The Olympics: A Discussion of China’s Human Rights Atrocities Ahead of the Winter Games.” During their time together, three panelists discussed China’s many human rights violations and why the Beijing Olympics is an occasion to spotlight the need for accountability.

In light of the upcoming American coverage of the Olympics by NBC Universal, some have urged the public to not engage in watching the games because of the Chinese Communist Party’s ongoing human rights violations, in particular against the Uyghur ethnic minority. This raises the question of boycotts and how Christians should think about them.

Thinking about boycotts

The term boycott refers to a refusal to buy, use, or participate in something as a means of expressing disapproval. A boycott can be either an act of protest or an act of coercion. In an act of protest, we are intentionally making purchasing decisions for the purpose of registering our disagreement or displeasure — regardless of whether it affects the behavior of anyone else. In contrast, an act of coercion is when we are intentionally making purchasing decisions for the primary purpose of changing someone else’s behavior.

In the case of the Olympics, we are either protesting or attempting to coerce a particular entity: either NBC Universal, the Chinese government, or both. We do not have a moral obligation to either watch the Olympics or buy products from China. The loss of one additional TV viewer or an individual consumer will also not cause much direct harm if we engage in a protest of refusing to watch the games or buy Chinese goods. We can merely make the decision to engage in such a protest based on our individual conscience without a concern about creating an moral conundrum.

However, if our goal is coercion, we are going beyond mere protest by attempting to wield our power in a way that brings about justice. Even though this is a nonviolent use of power, we should apply the similar principles and standards that we would use for violent use of power — which, for many Christians, would be just war principles.

Two principles associated with the just war tradition that would seem to apply to this situation are reasonable chance of success and discrimination. How those principles are applied is open to disagreement, of course, but here’s how we could frame the consideration. We can ask:

Are our actions likely to have the intended effect on NBC Universal and the Chinese government, and does the good of engaging in the boycott outweigh the economic destruction on innocent civilians, such as Chinese workers or employees of NBC?

How much economic harm should be allowed by our boycott depends on how likely our boycott is to lead to justice. If the boycott is likely to be effective, then a greater level of harm may be justifiable. However, if the boycott is likely to be ineffective, then the threshold for economic damage to innocents should be considerably less.

We can also be guided in our thinking about boycotts by the principle of proximate justice. As Steven Garber once explained the concept,

“Proximate justice realizes that something is better than nothing. It allows us to make peace with some justice, some mercy, all the while realizing that it will only be in the new heaven and new earth that we find all our longings finally fulfilled, that we will see all of God’s demands finally met. It is only then and there we will see all of the conditions for human flourishing finally in place, socially, economically, and politically.”

Here’s an example of how we might balance these factors in regard to our decision about a boycott:

We can refuse to watch the Olympics on NBC since viewership increases their advertising revenues. We can also refuse to buy any products made by slaves — which might include Olympic souvenirs — since this is the best way for me to apply proximate justice.However, we may decide we will not refuse to buy products merely because they are made in China since an individual boycott is almost assuredly going to be ineffective, and the most likely outcome would be that the only people hurt would not be the Chinese government but the poorest of Chinese workers (some of whom are our brothers and sisters in Christ).We can use what power we have to take other steps that are most likely to affect the Chinese government and minimize the harm to innocent Chinese people. For example, we can use social media to raise awareness about Chinese atrocities and the treatment of the Uyghurs while the Olympics is ongoing.

Whatever choice we make about the boycott, there are certain actions we can all take to promote justice. As the panelists noted during the ERLC event, we can contact our U.S. representatives and senators and encourage them to enact legislation that limits Chinese government power. We can also pray for world leaders to have courage to put an end to the Uyghur genocide and to rethink economic exchange with a communist government that disregards human rights.

The post How should Christians think about a boycott of the Olympics? appeared first on ERLC.

IMB celebrates early reports of record-breaking offerings

RICHMOND, Va. – International Mission Board trustees approved the appointment of 52 new full-time, fully funded missionaries, while also honoring the service of 80 emeritus missionaries during their Feb. 2-3 meeting.

Chuck Pourciau, trustee chairman and lead pastor of Broadmoor Baptist Church in Shreveport, La., presided over the two-day meeting, which included 53 trustees meeting in person and 17 joining online due to issues such as COVID-19 and inclement winter weather.

The new missionaries were honored during a Sending Celebration Wednesday (Feb. 2) at Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Glen Allen, Va., which included a livestream option for families and church partners around the world to join in the event. Jarrett Stephens, senior pastor of Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston, brought a message of encouragement to the new appointees.

‘Most important work in the universe’

In his presidential report to trustees, IMB President Paul Chitwood reflected on how the world has changed in the past two years, noting many people have lost numerous family members and friends in that time.

“What a powerful and painful reminder that the work we do together at the IMB is the most important work in the universe,” Chitwood said. “Whether from COVID or cancer or a car wreck, ‘It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes the judgment.’ The truth of Hebrews 9:27 is harder to deny in a global pandemic that has taken the lives of nearly 6 million people, and those are just the ones who got counted.”

He said that as the world finds it more difficult to ignore the reality of death, Southern Baptists have an opportunity to share the next verse in the chapter – Hebrews 9:28: “so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him.” However, about 3,000 people groups still have no known believers among them.

“That’s why we still have a job to do,” he said. “The most important work in the universe remains unfinished. Thankfully we haven’t quit. In fact, we may be working harder than ever before.”

Chitwood said evidence reveals that support of Southern Baptists for international missionaries and for fulfilling the Great Commission is, indeed, growing:

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering (LMCO) gifts, through the first four months of the current financial year, are up 16.1 percent over last year.
Report after report of record-breaking Lottie offerings have poured in from churches across the country.
Gifts through the Cooperative Program are up almost 10 percent over the same four months of last year.
In all, IMB’s combined revenue is currently running 13.6 percent ahead of last year.

Other areas of progress Chitwood noted:

Churches that have never given to missions through the IMB before have now made contact with a missionary, and they are giving.
The pipeline of missionary candidates is increasing consistently.
For the first time in IMB’s history, future commitments to retired missionaries are fully funded.
IMB has systems in place to protect the most vulnerable from abuse and to deal appropriately with abusers.
IMB is diversifying teams, as the IMB exists to serve all Southern Baptists in carrying out the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations.

“By God’s grace and in His favor, I believe what we are doing together at IMB is working,” Chitwood said. “The work … isn’t finished, and the vision has not yet come to pass. So we press on, until all whose names are in the Book of Life from every nation, people, tribe and language, have heard the Good News.”

As Southern Baptists faithfully send more missionaries to fulfill the Great Commission, Chitwood has stressed the need to undergird those additional personnel with consistent, concerted prayer and ongoing generous financial support through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. While applauding the recent improvements toward financial health, IMB’s Finance team notes that recovery from decades of revenue trailing inflation requires the continued generous support of Southern Baptists. IMB also is committed to ongoing vigilance in good stewardship, which is a foundational commitment in IMB’s planning and budgeting.

Price Jett, IMB’s treasurer and CFO, reported that the mission board’s financials for 2021 have been audited and received an unmodified opinion, which is the highest level of confidence given by the auditors. He noted that no property sales were used for income and, as always, 100 percent of Lottie Moon offerings were used for overseas ministries.

Recognition of service

Todd Lafferty, IMB executive vice president, honors 93 former colleagues, both staff and missionaries, and one missionary kid who went to be with the Lord during 2021. Here he memorializes Harriett Lennon, age 100, who served 31 years in Thailand. IMB Photo

IMB Executive Vice President Todd Lafferty recognized the lives of 92 colleagues and one missionary kid – including two active missionaries, 80 emeritus missionaries and 10 retired staff – who died in the past year. The field personnel’s lives totaled 2,206 years of service through the IMB, with an average age of 89 and an average 28 years of service. These were “lives well-spent and invested for the sake of the Gospel in reaching the nations for Christ,” Lafferty said.

Emeritus missionaries included, among many others who served around the globe: Donald Redmond, age 87, who served 42 years in Costa Rica; Hilda Cowsert, age 93, who served 41 years in Brazil; Dee Oliver, age 89, who served 40 years in the Philippines; Lucy Wagner, age 93, who served 39 years in Korea; Annelli Dotson, age 92, who served 39 years in Zimbabwe; and Barbara Workman, age 77, who served 38 years in South Africa and Malawi.

Retired staff whose service was recognized included Clark Scanlon, who served 42 years in Guatemala and then as executive assistant to the senior vice president in Overseas Operations; Selma Herweyer, who served for 33 years as an administrative assistant in stateside assignment training; Jim Edwards, who served for 33 years as the director of Staff Human Resources; and Dewey Merritt, who served 30 years in Zimbabwe and as associate director in the Volunteers in Mission Department.

The current personnel’s names and the dependent’s name were not shared publicly due to security parameters.

The ask

In closing, Pourciau told trustees about three young siblings who live near him who decided to raise money for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, which supports the presence of Southern Baptist missionaries overseas. The children’s mother offered her baking skills to help their efforts, and Pourciau noted that people were willing to give more than the value of the baked goods when they learned about the heart of the children’s effort.

During a break from the February 2022 IMB trustee meeting, Alfredo Valencia (left), IMB candidate consultant, speaks with Lierte Soares, lead pastor at Framingham Baptist Church in Boston. Soares is a NAMB church-planting missionary originally from Brazil. Multiple generations of Soares’ family came to Christ through IMB missionaries in Brazil. IMB Photo

After their sale, the three siblings walked into his office, each carrying an envelope containing $325. Collectively, the children raised $975 to support international missions. The resources needed f or missions support exist, Pourciau said. What is lacking, often, is the “ask.” Southern Baptists need to be asking for the financial resources required to get the Gospel to the people of the world, he said, and he challenged trustees to lead out in asking for those resources.

“Most of the time, the desire to give to this work is there,” Pourciau said. “It’s the greatest need in the world. We just need to ask.”

To find out how your generosity transforms lives, visit https://www.imb.org/generosity/.

The next IMB board of trustees meeting is scheduled for May 17-19, 2022, in Orlando, Fla., in conjunction with a special gathering of emeritus missionaries that happens every five years. The next missionary Sending Celebration will take place at the 2022 SBC Annual Meeting in Anaheim, Calif., scheduled for June 15-16, 2022.

NAMB celebrates more than 50,000 ‘ones’ posted on Who’s Your One map

ALPHARETTA, Ga. – The North American Mission Board (NAMB) announced Thursday, Jan. 27, that more than 50,000 people had, through the Who’s Your One evangelism campaign, represented their commitment to pray for and share the Gospel with at least one person by placing their “one” on the Who’s Your One map.

“I’ve been extremely motivated to help Southern Baptists make ‘the main thing, the main thing’ again,” said Johnny Hunt, NAMB’s senior vice president of evangelism and leadership, referring to evangelism as the main thing. “The best thing you can ever do for someone is share the Gospel with them, and Southern Baptists work together to see that the Gospel makes its way to the ends of the earth.”

NAMB launched the Who’s Your One campaign in 2019 in conjunction with J.D. Greear, lead pastor of The Summit Church in Durham, N.C., and then-president of the Southern Baptist Convention. The focus of the campaign is to help churches encourage those in their congregations to focus intentionally on sharing the Gospel with at least one person they know.

During live events – like the Who’s Your One Tour – and in other venues where NAMB’s evangelism team has been teaching, people have been encouraged to submit the first name of their one at whosyourone.com. As of today (Feb. 2) the number has reached nearly 52,000 commitments.

Since the launch of the campaign, thousands of churches have begun implementing Who’s Your One in some form or fashion in their churches. NAMB has distributed more than 32,000 Who’s Your One evangelism kits to pastors and church leaders to help their congregations emphasize evangelism. And NAMB has been sharing stories on social media of churches that have seen a greater focus on evangelism as a result.

“We started Who’s Your One with a vision of seeing more churches and believers reach their communities,” Hunt said. “Every year, we know that too many Southern Baptist churches fail to reach and baptize even one new Christian. It’s been my prayer and passion to see more churches catch a fire for evangelism and reach those who need Jesus.”

NAMB’s Who’s Your One Tour resumes in March in Illinois with nine stops across the United States on the calendar for this year, and NAMB continues offering free evangelism kits and other resources to pastors.

This article originally appeared on NAMB’s website.

McLaurin named SBC Executive Committee interim president/CEO

NASHVILLE (BP) – Willie McLaurin will be the interim president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee. The EC officers made the announcement Tuesday (Feb. 1). Since 2020, McLaurin has served as the vice president for Great Commission relations and mobilization at the EC.

“We hope that he will help us to reset the tone by which the EC serves Southern Baptists,” said Rolland Slade, EC chairman.

McLaurin served for 15 years at the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board before joining the EC staff in January 2020.

“Our EC staff is committed to serving our Convention well. Jesus’ last words to us in Acts 1:8 should be our first priority as a network of churches. My prayer is that we will continue to put a laser-sharp focus on cooperation and collaboration,” McLaurin told Baptist Press.

He said he is grateful for the opportunity to lead during this season.

“I want to express deep appreciation to Chairman Rolland Slade and the Executive Committee officers for entrusting me with the opportunity to serve. It is an honor to partner with Southern Baptists in advancing the mission of winning the world to Jesus,” McLaurin said.

Prior to serving at the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, McLaurin was executive pastor at Greater Missionary Baptist Church in Clarksville, Tenn., and senior pastor at Greater Hope Baptist Church in Union City, Tenn. He has also served as an interim pastor for numerous Southern Baptist churches.

It was McLaurin’s pastoral experience, Slade said, that made it clear to the EC officers that he should be their choice. “The messengers and churches of all sizes throughout the SBC need to know that they are seen, heard and appreciated,” he said.

EC bylaws give the officers authority to name a vice president to the interim role.

McLaurin takes over the role after a challenging season for the EC. The process of waiving attorney-client privilege related to the ongoing investigation over allegations of mishandling reports of sexual abuse in the Convention took a heavy toll on EC members and the way they are viewed by the SBC.

McLaurin said he hopes to begin restoring trust in the EC during the interim period.

“No network of churches is without challenges. My prayer is that this season will bring healing and unity to our Convention,” McLaurin said. “When we love each other the way Jesus loves people then we create the atmosphere for cooperation.”

Slade believes this should be McLaurin’s central focus. “Immediately before us is the challenge to regain the sense of trust of Southern Baptists,” Slade said. “Regaining that trust includes focusing on relationships within and well as outside of the Southern Baptist Convention. That has been the assignment [McLaurin] has carried [during his time] at the EC. It is also an assignment he carried for more than 15 years on behalf of the Tennessee Mission Board while serving as their associate executive director.”

SBC EC bylaws mandate the interim president and CEO be chosen by the EC officers from the current EC vice presidents.

Jeff Pearson is the chief financial officer and Jonathan Howe serves as the vice president for communications. Pearson recently announced his resignation from the EC, effective Feb. 15.

McLaurin previously served on the SBC Resolutions Committee in 2018 and as president of the Black Southern Baptist Denominational Servants Network in 2011-2012. He also was on the Executive Board of the Tennessee Baptist Convention from 2003-2005 and was the inaugural president of the African American Fellowship of the Tennessee Baptist Convention.

McLaurin is a member of Simeon Baptist Church in Antioch, Tenn. He and his wife Antonia have two daughters, Sienna and SiChanna.

He is the first African American to lead an SBC entity and follows Ronnie Floyd, who resigned as EC president and CEO last October. Floyd served in the role for less than 30 months before leaving the post.

The EC is scheduled to meet in Nashville Feb. 21-22.

Slade said that while this is an important step for the EC, there will be more information regarding additional leadership assignments at a later date.

‘Who’s Your One’ campaign leads to growth in East Texas church

HENDERSON, Texas — In Texas’s Rusk County, at least two churches closed because of the pandemic. So, pastor David Higgs of First Baptist Church (FBC) in Henderson, Texas, knew his church couldn’t sit in neutral and expect to endure the challenges.

“There are plenty of unchurched and lost people in our community. God wants to use this church to reach the nation for Christ,” said Higgs.

He took his whole staff to Longview last year to attend a Who’s Your One Tour stop at Mobberly Baptist Church to help them get their evangelistic program on track.

The staff at FBC Henderson left Longview brainstorming ways they could tailor the content they had learned to fit their church.

“You know, one of the things we liked about Who’s Your One in the context of COVID is that it did not require a big event. Four people can meet together and socially distance if they want,” said Higgs.

First Baptist Church Henderson believes that a “Church on Mission” honors God, loves people and meets needs.

“For me as a pastor, I had no idea if anything would happen. We rallied the church to do the Who’s Your One strategy, not knowing if we would reach a single person,” said Higgs.

At the beginning of the campaign, Pastor Higgs asked his churchgoers, “Is it a bad time for a campaign? Well, yeah, it’s COVID time, but isn’t it just like God! So, many people are hurting; so many people need the help and the hope that only Jesus Christ can provide. So, maybe it’s just God’s timing that He’s having our church do this campaign during this time.”

Higgs and his leadership team tailored Who’s Your One to their church’s culture and context.

“It made a difference for us. We added evangelism training, and we produced little table tents that we gave to every person to put around in their house that would remind them to pray for their one,” said Higgs. “We put posters around the building. We planned it into a two-month campaign.”

They organized prayer meetings at the church every night throughout the whole campaign, too.

“It was an outdoor prayer meeting, and we just met outside for 15-20 minutes. Some nights we had a dozen attend, and other nights, we had 65 or 70 people. And, then we had membership commitment cards. We asked people to commit to the Who’s Your One campaign, and we had three hundred members sign up to participate,” Higgs explained.

They put every person who signed up into teams of four, each with a team captain, and they met once a week.

“We asked them to meet Sunday before church or after church to encourage one another and to keep one another accountable,” said Higgs. “As their pastor, I sent out a weekly email to all 300 participants to encourage them and to give them updates. And, then the last thing we did was give everyone that signed up—all 300 people—NAMB’s Who’s Your One resources, the 30-day devotional book and the 30-day prayer guide.”

Toward the end of the campaign, the church planned a new and prospective members luncheon so everybody could bring their one to eat and find out more about the church.

The church has seen 41 people come to faith so far as a result of the campaign.

“We achieve more if we get all the people of God to do all the work of God. The more people we can get engaged in evangelism, the more we will reach,” said Higgs. “It reminds me that God does reward our evangelistic efforts.”

Pastor Higgs explained that evangelism impacts every part of the church, from the person who greets to worship and prayer. Even children become involved.

“Evangelism doesn’t just belong to the North American Mission Board,” Higgs said. “It belongs to the Body of Christ, and you know, we’re all different. God made us all different, so pastors have to think about their specific flock.”

Pastor Higgs hopes to make Who’s Your One an annual event every fall.

“Who’s Your One helped us organize our church for outreach amid COVID,” he said. “It was a great help to our church to find some traction in evangelism during this hard season. If we continue to do what God leads us to do in sharing the name of Christ with somebody, that’s not failure, that’s success.”

“Why Anaheim?” you ask … here’s why

Even though the SBC is the largest convention of churches in world, personal relationships are key when it comes to our cooperative work. First, our relationships with Jesus Christ and, second, our relationship with one another.

Each year, the SBC annual meeting gives us an opportunity to renew those relationships face to face. Whether it’s spending time with pastors and church leaders who serve in other parts of the country, talking with convention entity leaders or meeting new friends in the exhibit hall, the annual meeting is all about relationships.

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the meeting in many ways, even leading to the cancellation of the 2020 meeting.

In addition, the 2022 meeting’s placement in California has caused some to ask about the distance, cost and purpose related to the rotation of the meeting’s location.

Why Anaheim in 2022?

Messengers to the SBC Annual Meeting approve host cities

At the June 2016 meeting of the SBC Executive Committee, the members of the EC voted to award the 2022 SBC Annual Meeting to the City of Anaheim. Steve Swofford, chairman of the Convention Arrangements workgroup, made the recommendation to messengers to the 2016 SBC Annual Meeting in St. Louis. This recommendation was approved by the messengers (SBC Annual, page 67) without opposition.

In awarding the 2022 SBC Annual Meeting to the City of Anaheim, messengers followed a time-honored tradition of moving the annual meeting to different regions of the country in the spirit of showcasing how God is moving in and through Southern Baptists in a particular area.

Looking ahead, messengers have approved Charlotte, N.C. for the 2023 SBC Annual Meeting, Indianapolis for the 2024 SBC Annual Meeting, Dallas for the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting and Orlando for the 2026 meeting.

How is a meeting site changed?

Under Article XI of the SBC Constitution, there are only two ways for the annual meeting to be relocated.

The first way is for the Executive Committee to make the change if the “entertaining city withdraws its invitation or is unable to fulfill its commitments.”

The second way is for the Convention officers, the Executive Committee and the executive heads of the Convention’s boards and institutions to act as a body and cancel the regular meeting or change the place of the meeting “in case of a grave emergency.”

At this time, the city of Anaheim has not indicated it has any plans to withdraw from its contract due to the COVID pandemic or COVID-related restrictions. In fact, the Anaheim Convention Center Calendar of Events is loaded with events on an almost daily basis.

What about COVID-19 guidelines?

COVID-19 continues to be a struggle for event organizers across the country. Thankfully, local officials in Orange County have hosted and continue to host events as large as, and even larger than, Southern Baptists’ expected gathering in June. Guidelines also continue to change as cases rise and fall. In 2021, the SBC meeting’s COVID-19 guidelines continued to change as the event approached. Guidelines will likely change between now and June, Baptist Press will communicate those as the event approaches. For an overview of current guidelines, please visit the city’s website.

More about California

The 2022 Annual Meeting will be just the fifth meeting west of the Rockies in more than 30 years. Traveling to the West Coast roughly once every six years is far from the burden many of those out West endure to participate the other five years. In fact, it has been more than 40 years since the meeting was held in California.

Finally, California – the most populous state in America – is the largest state convention in the SBC outside of the South. There are nearly 1,800 Southern Baptist churches in California with more than 400,000 members.

Reaching California with the Gospel has long been a part of the strategic mission of Southern Baptists. This was in fact part of the impetus for placing what is now Gateway Seminary in California when it was founded in 1944.

Hosting the annual meeting in different locations allows Southern Baptists to see how God is at work in different regions and cities across the United States.

This article originally appeared on Baptist Press.

Julio Arriola servirá en SBTC como director de la alianza para plantación de iglesias de Send Network

Julio Arriola regresa a un paisaje muy familiar.

Una vez que ponga oficialmente los pies en suelo tejano, descubrirá que la necesidad del evangelio es más grande que nunca.

Arriola, de 45 años, ha aceptado el llamado para servir como el director principal de Send Network de la SBTC, una alianza para la plantación de iglesias entre la Junta de Misiones Norteamericanas (NAMB, por sus siglas en inglés) y la Convención Bautista del Sur de Texas (SBTC, por sus siglas en inglés). La Junta Directiva de la SBTC votó unánimemente la aprobación de la alianza con NAMB en agosto. Así mismo, el miércoles la Junta también confirmó a Arriola en su nuevo puesto.

Julio Arriola fue presented a la Junta Ejecutiva en la Conventión de los Bautistas del Sur de Texas (SBTC) el miércoles 10 de noviembre. Arriola servirá Como el prefer director de Send Network SBTC — unable alianza de plantación de Iglesias enter la Junta Misiones Norteamericanas (NAMB) y el SBTC. Foto de Southern Baptist Texan/SBTC

Arriola será empleado de NAMB, pero trabajará desde la sede de la SBTC en la ciudad de Grapevine. Esta nueva colaboración le permitirá a la SBTC apoyarse en el amplio conocimiento y experiencia de NAMB para asesorarlos en las áreas de la plantación de iglesias, cuidado pastoral y capacitación de plantadores, así como en la recaudación de fondos.

Kevin Ezell, presidente de NAMB, dijo: “Estamos muy contentos de darle la bienvenida a Julio a la familia de NAMB. Su amplia experiencia y liderazgo en la plantación de iglesias proporcionará un indudablemente impulso a los esfuerzos de plantación de iglesias de Send Network y la SBTC. Para formar plantadores de alta capacidad, necesitamos líderes de alta capacidad —como Julio— que hagan lo que sea necesario para asegurarse de que los plantadores de iglesias estén adecuadamente preparados, capacitados y movilizados”.

Arriola dirigirá una alianza que permitirá a la SBTC ampliar sus esfuerzos de plantación de iglesias utilizando los recursos de NAMB en las áreas de evaluación, capacitación, asesoramiento, cuidado pastoral y apoyo a los plantadores de iglesias en todo el estado.

Arriola comentó: “Estamos muy contentos de estar de vuelta en Texas”. Nos encanta el lugar. Pero así como Texas es grande, también lo es su necesidad de Jesús, y plantar iglesias sigue siendo la manera más efectiva de alcanzar a la gente con el mensaje vivificante de Jesús — el evangelio.”

El mexicano aporta un impresionante (y práctico) conjunto de herramientas a la creciente red de plantadores de iglesias de la SBTC. Arriola tiene experiencia vocacional en iglesias de varios tamaños, ha plantado y pastoreado una iglesia que ahora es la más grande de Guadalajara, México (una ciudad de 1.5 millones de habitantes), y se le considera un líder influyente entre la población latina, que es uno de los grupos demográficos de más rápido crecimiento en Texas.

Julio Arriola, de 45 años, aceptó el lammed para servir como el primer director de Send Network SBTC, una alianza de plantación de Iglesias entre la Junta de Misiones Norteamericanas (NAMB) y la Convención de los Bautistas del Sur de Texas (SBTC). En la foto de izquierda a derecha están Arriolla, segundo desde la izquierda, George Ross, director de la Región Sur de NAMB, ny Nathan Lorick, director ejecutivo de SBTC. Foto de Southern Baptist Texan/SBTC

Arriola se desempeñó recientemente como director ejecutivo de Relaciones y Movilización Hispana del Comité Ejecutivo de la Convención Bautista del Sur, en Nashville, cargo que ocupó desde diciembre de 2019. Mientras estuvo allí, trabajó para desarrollar e implementar estrategias para la máxima participación e involucramiento de las congregaciones hispanas y los líderes de las mismas en toda la CBS, y su red de cooperación entre iglesias. Sus funciones también incluyeron la movilización de las congregaciones hispanas en áreas clave, incluyendo el evangelismo y la plantación de iglesias (de acuerdo con las estrategias de Send Network y Send Relief de NAMB).

El Dr. Nathan Lorick, director ejecutivo de la SBTC, mencionó: “En este momento monumental, Dios está llevando el mundo a Texas. Estamos muy emocionados de que Dios haya guiado a Julio Arriola para que se una a la SBTC a través de Send Network. Creo que hoy más que nunca veremos más iglesias plantadas “.

La necesidad de plantar iglesias en Texas es inmensa. De los 30 millones de residentes, se estima que 19 millones no han sido alcanzados. Según las cifras de la SBTC, 1000 personas se mudan a Austin semanalmente; casi 2000 se mudan a Houston semanalmente; y el área Metroplex de Dallas-Fort Worth (norte de Texas) registra casi 3000 nuevos residentes cada semana.

Estos nuevos habitantes son cada vez más diversos. En Texas viven más de 400 etnias que hablan más de 300 lenguas, lo que convierte al estado en uno de los conglomerados de personas más diversos del mundo. Arriola dijo que reconoce que la cosecha en Texas es abundante y, sin embargo, los obreros siguen siendo muy pocos. Razón de más, dijo, para “llamar a los llamados” y hacer que todas las etnias participen.

Arriola indicó: “La plantación de iglesias es un reto: requiere mucha oración, trabajo, dinero, planificación, capacitación y gente comprometida con la obra de Dios. Así que esta colaboración nos permitirá estar al lado de nuestras iglesias y sus plantadores a fin de proporcionarles un camino para plantar iglesias sanas y bíblicas. NAMB ha desarrollado evaluaciones, capacitaciones y estrategias que son inigualables y estamos listos para hacer que todo esto esté disponible a través de esta alianza”.

Los lazos de Arriola con Texas ya son fuertes. Él y su esposa, Carla, se casaron aquí y sus tres hijos (de 19, 17 y 15 años) nacieron en Houston. Arriola se ordenó en la Segunda Iglesia Bautista de Rosenberg en el 2003 y, tras un periodo de casi dos años sirviendo allí como pastor de jóvenes, se convirtió en líder de alabanza en la Iglesia Bautista Sugar Creek de Sugar Land. También obtuvo su ciudadanía estadounidense mientras vivía en Texas y alcanzó su maestría en Estudios Teológicos en el Seminario Teológico Bautista del Suroeste, en mayo de 2020.

As global tensions rise, SBC military chaplains prepare

Tensions have escalated in Eastern Europe after Russia began amassing troops on its border with Ukraine over recent weeks. Any time the world’s geopolitical temperature rises, military chaplains begin making mental, spiritual and strategic preparations in case conflict does break out.

“When chaplains put on the uniform, they must always consider the sober reality, like all military members, that their lives could quickly transition to a wartime footing,” said Doug Carver, executive director of chaplaincy and a retired chaplain Major General in the United States Army. “For those in uniform, life can change in an instant, without any warning, and chaplains need to be prepared as well for any military contingency.”

Carver was deployed in Germany in 2001 during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and his unit immediately shifted to a war footing after the United States and the world were caught by surprise. By 2002, he and his troops were deploying to the Middle East.

“As the senior chaplain, one of my goals was to help our chaplains and troops to prepare themselves spiritually to go into combat, knowing that war always brings with it suffering, casualties and death,” Carver said.

U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Timothy Springer, a chaplain with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), leads the invocation during a May 18, 2019 Corporals Course graduation aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD 4). The Marines and Sailors of the 11th MEU are deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations to support regional stability, reassure partners and allies, and maintain a presence postured to respond to any crisis ranging from humanitarian assistance to contingency operations. (U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Lance Cpl. Dalton S. Swanbeck)

Tim Springer was serving as a missionary in Russia on the eastern side of the nation in 2001 when a U.S. Navy ship visited a nearby port. Springer had the opportunity to meet the ship’s chaplain. Soon after, God began stirring a calling in his heart to serve members of the United States’ Armed Services.

Now, Springer is a Southern Baptist chaplain in the U.S. Navy who is currently stationed in California.

“The situation in Russia weighs on my heart, and I pray for the people there,” Springer said. “Having served there as a missionary and even serving alongside Ukrainians, I know people who are still there.”

Chaplains play a key role in coming alongside soldiers to help them prepare for the severity of what they might experience and how that will affect them mentally, emotionally and especially spiritually given the lethal nature of modern warfare and the potential for mass causalities.

U.S. Army Chaplain Colonel Keith Croom retired from military service after 31 years as a chaplain. His experience included deploying as a chaplain along with U.S. Special Operations troops. Photo submitted by Keith Croom

“I’ve deployed multiple times, and it never gets easier,” said Chaplain Colonel Keith Croom, who retired in December following more 31 years serving in the U.S. Army and National Guard. “You learn to control your emotions a little better. You recognize what you’re going through a little better, but every time you say goodbye to your family, you know you might never see them again.”

As a chaplain, Croom underwent the specialized training that Green Berets endured and served as a chaplain to United States’ Special Operations forces. Those forces enter a region before any conflict breaks out and typically remain long after other troops have withdrawn. A chaplain almost always accompanies those forces.

“That demonstrates how committed our military is—our chaplains, all the denominations and the individuals—are to making sure that these men and women are supported religiously,” said Croom.

The training chaplains receive centers on equipping and instructing them how best to minster to and meet the needs of soldiers during combat. To provide that “ministry of presence,” chaplains need to be as close to their troops as they can and identify the times and places where those under their care may need guidance and counsel the most.

They also must ensure that they have adequate religious and ministerial resources to meet the myriad religious needs of their troops in the field, including what Carver described as “chapel in a box.” Each unit has a portable chapel that can immediately be set up anywhere in a training or combat environment where chaplains can conduct religious services and provide pastoral care for service members.

“A lot of the preparation we do is the training that we do,” said Springer. “We do the training beside our Sailors, our Marines. We go on the hikes and get in the pool. We’re noncombatants, so we don’t fire the weapon systems, but we still go to the range with them”

Those opportunities afford chaplains the opportunity to build relationships and intentionally invest in their lives, learn about who they are and earn the right to talk about their religious convictions.

Douglas Carver, Chaplain (Major General), US Army, Retired, serves as executive director of chaplaincy at the North American Mission Board. Over the course of his career as a military chaplain, Carver deployed multiple times, including to the Middle East following 9/11. NAMB photo by Casey Jones

When danger seemed closest, Carver’s experience revealed that soldiers were more willing to talk about their deep spiritual questions and religious needs.

“Whether you are in combat or back home, a Southern Baptist military chaplain’s primary focus is on proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the hope we have in Him,” Carver said. “Our troops have a tendency, particularly in war time, to want to know about the weightier theological issues, the meat of God’s Word, not just something simple.”

One of the most important things a chaplain must consider on deployment is not just the troops under his care but their families back home who are anxious about their loved ones going to war.

“The real heroes are the spouses who are at home,” Croom said. “It was a lot harder for my wife, Kelly, to wave goodbye back to me, especially when she had our two children in diapers. It was a lot easier for me to leave than it was for her to see me go.”

For now, Christians can pray that any military members who deploy in the next weeks and months will not be doing so into a conflict zone.

“Keep our military chaplains in prayer and pray for those in leadership who could prevent war through diplomacy, starting with the Commander-in-Chief and down to our national and military leadership,” Carver said. “They need our prayers for wise counsel and great wisdom.”

This article originally appeared on NAMB’s website.