Author: Jayson Larson

Lives ‘forever changed’ as SBTC DR Ida response resumes

GOLDEN MEADOW, La.—“Blue tarps everywhere. Piles of debris that were once someone’s life. Houses moved off foundations, roofs torn off and laying in yards that are a block away from the original homes. Homes with walls missing, twisted metal that once was a carport or storage shed or someone’s mobile home.” So wrote Southern Baptists of Texas Disaster Relief volunteer Sue Robinson in late October of the lingering devastation from Hurricane Ida, which made landfall Aug. 29.

Robinson spent five weeks in the Bayou State, arriving in Alexandria with three other SBTC DR volunteers even before Ida struck, to help Louisiana Baptist DR establish a statewide response.

After weeks as an incident management team leader in the Alexandria area, Sue Robinson joined relief efforts in Golden Meadow, where teams from Texas and other states conducted feeding and recovery efforts until the end of October, when operations paused for lack of available volunteers from Texas and other state conventions.

Nov. 7 saw a resumption of that work with Baptist DR recovery teams from the Kansas-Nebraska convention and First Baptist Pflugerville arriving, supported by a feeding team from the Pflugerville church. Other DR volunteers on site include a shower/laundry unit manned by volunteers from Calvary Baptist of Beaumont.

Another SBTC DR recovery crew is scheduled to rotate in Nov. 14 as teams try to complete the remaining 36 job requests from survivors.

The Golden Meadow deployment has been fruitful. Scottie Stice, SBTC DR director, praised not only the volunteer DR crews but also First Baptist Church of Golden Meadow for its outreach to the community.

“The church, under Pastor Matt Chouest, has done a tremendous job of serving the community from the beginning,” Stice told the TEXAN.

A large distribution center located in church facilities served as a clearinghouse for supplies for folks in need who did “drive-thru shopping,” giving their lists to church volunteers. Church members gathered the needed items from the organized stockpile and loaded goods into cars, a system geared for efficiency and to maintain COVID protocols, Stice explained. The distribution has been scaled back as needs have decreased.

COVID protocols have been observed during the entire Ida deployment, Stice confirmed, noting that SBTC DR teams had ministered in 17 different during the Ida crisis.

In addition to the lengthy Golden Meadow deployment, SBTC DR crews have served in the following locations and capacities: incident management at Forest Hill near Alexandria; laundry and/or shower support at West Monroe, Denham Springs, Minden, Gonzales; mass and quick response feeding at Denham Springs, Gonzales, Houma and Jean Lafitte; recovery work at Hammond and Morgan City. SBTC DR has also rented or provided equipment as needed in New Orleans, Ponchatoula, Jean Lafitte and Houma.

The area near Golden Meadow is scenic, despite the reminders of the recent storm. Shrimpers cast their nets along the nearby intercoastal waterway. The beauty is beyond the physical, however, as many in that area of the Bayou State have trusted Christ as Savior or renewed their faith through prayer with Baptist chaplains and DR volunteers.

“There were seven salvations the week I was there,” Stice said.

“Lives are forever changed,” Sue Robinson affirmed on Facebook.

“Many unsaved survivors both saw and were told of Jesus’ wonderful grace and mercy, with several accepting him as their Savior and Lord,” SBTC DR volunteer Joe Hartness also posted on Facebook. “And isn’t this what we’re about, fellow volunteers? Sharing Christ’s amazing love.”

SBTC DR Ida response as of Nov. 1

Volunteer Days

Volunteer Hours

Meals Prepared/Served

Spiritual Contacts

Professions of Faith

Richards, Lorick to address Annual Meeting on Day 1

FLINT—The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Annual Meeting kicks off today at Flint Baptist Church on the outskirts of Tyler.

Among the highlights on today’s schedule will be the ceremonial passing of the torch from SBTC’s first executive director, Dr. Jim Richards, to his successor, Dr. Nathan Lorick. A recognition dinner for Dr. Richards and his wife, June, will be held at 4:45 p.m. Richards will then bring the Biblical Challenge sermon beginning at 7:20 p.m.

Lorick will address the meeting with a Biblical Challenge at 8:15 p.m., and he and his wife, Jenna, will greet attendees at a come-and-go welcome reception at 9 p.m. (immediately following the evening session).

Registration information

Pre-registration ends at noon today. Messengers are encouraged to call their church office to be registered as a messenger. Registration will also continue onsite throughout the Annual Meeting.

Those unable to attend the Annual Meeting in person can follow the main sessions by watching the live stream provided online. Registration is required.

Tell us your stories!

Make sure to check out the SBTC and the Texan on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram for powerful stories, live tweets and up-to-date info from the Annual Meeting.

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If you are an individual or church leader and have a story you want to tell, you can use the hashtag #sbtcAM21 or submit info using this link.

IMB helps Ukraine become a missionary-sending force

Pedestrians walk on the street in Kharkov, Ukraine. IMB Photo

Twenty-seven years ago, Mick and Dalese Stockwell left Texas and flew to the newly opened Eastern European country of Ukraine to plant churches. The former Soviet Republic was battered and bruised, having endured years of suppression by Communists, but the church remained viable, even robust. In 1991, when Ukraine declared its independence from the Soviet Union, the country had the second largest Baptist community in the world, second only to the U.S.

As Mick served alongside Ukrainian brothers, he saw their potential as a mission-sending force. Fifteen years ago, he helped them begin their fledgling Ukrainian Baptist Union Foreign Missions Department.

Mick and Dalese Stockwell have served in Europe for 27 years. They currently live in Prague, Czech Republic, but are still involved in catalyzing Ukrainians on mission.

This year, Mick and other International Mission Board leaders are meeting with Ukrainian Baptist Union leaders to establish six new mission training centers around the country. Initial meetings were so successful that IMB leaders from other regions of the world are also now seeing the potential for Ukrainians to help them reach the unreached in their part of the world.

Mick, IMB’s European globalization strategist, is celebrating seeing his vision become a reality.

“It’s like a mustard plant that was planted in the ground 15 years ago is now exploding,” Mick said. “The potential is huge. Ukrainians’ economic, political and geographical position gives them an advantage that we, as Americans, no longer have. Because of the investment and equipping IMB has given over last 30 years, they are now taking their place on the global stage as missionary equippers and senders.”

How the IMB invested and equipped

The Stockwells are just one example of Southern Baptists who have invested their lives in Ukraine.

A steady stream of missionaries has served faithfully over the past 30 years to plant churches, teach at seminaries and share Christ. Even this year, Ukraine was one of the first European countries to open post-COVID, allowing student teams to come. One family hosted three students in Ukraine’s capital last summer, in part to evangelize in the ethnically diverse region. Their city is a religious hub with more than ten mosques and one of the largest Hindu temples in Europe.

This international presence is one reason Ukraine has great potential for missionary activity and is a prime place to teach the importance of a global focus in missions. According to Mick, there are 80,000 international students in Ukraine each year, most from the parts of the world that are most resistant to the gospel. In addition to training Ukrainians to go abroad, IMB is helping Ukrainians develop a strategy to reach these students so they can take the message of hope to their own people.

Much of this training takes place in two seminaries that are heavily influenced by IMB personnel. Dan and Lori Upchurch helped start an evangelism and church planting degree program in Kiev decades ago that prepares pastors to minister in the Russian-speaking world. The program now has a Ukrainian director.

The Upchurches, along with Russell and Ingred Woodbridge, went on to help in a seminary in Lviv, Ukraine, which has seen phenomenal growth in the past few years. In 2013 they had 40 students; in 2019 they had nearly 800. This growth was partly due to the forced displacement of many due to the war with Russia in the Crimea region, but it was also due to “the addition of church planting, international missions and young leaders programs that train students to be biblical, missional and accountable leaders in the local church,” according to Preston Pearce, IMB’s theological education strategist for Europe.

Their current Ukrainian director is a Ph.D. graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Missions has been deeply implanted in their DNA through the Southern Baptist model.

Joe Ragan spent 26 years serving with the IMB in Eastern Europe.

Another big influence in the Ukrainian missions movement is the late Joe Ragan. Ragan began serving in Ukraine in 1994 and ended his tenure in 2020 as he succumbed to cancer. He was pivotal to the current missions focus in Ukraine.

“No one loved Ukrainians more than Joe. He literally gave his life for the Lord and his ministry. Joe helped mobilize the first Ukrainian mission team, recruiting and sending college/seminary students from Ukraine on short-term mission trips to Kazakhstan starting around 2005. He also recruited a Ukrainian family to go to there in a partnership with Mississippi Baptists,” Mick said.

When Ragan died, part of his estate went to establish the six missionary training schools being started now across the country. And in his honor there is a giving project set up to continue work in Ukraine.

U.S. Southern Baptist churches have also sent volunteer groups, funded programs and provided funds for the new training school.

How IMB is partnering today

Today, IMB is helping launch new missionary training centers in Ukraine. This partnership is intended to develop Ukrainians as Global Missionary Partners (GMP). GMPs are cross-cultural missionaries who are affirmed and sent by a local church and sending entity in their home country. The GMPs are nurtured and affirmed by IMB personnel and work in cooperation with an IMB field team.

GMPs are being developed around the globe, not just in Ukraine.

“There are 140 Baptist conventions and unions around the world that our researchers have been able to locate,” IMB President Paul Chitwood said. “They are the fruit that remains from 175 years of work. We want to work with those partners and help them send their own missionaries.”

D. Ray Davis, IMB’s church mobilization manager, explains why developing GMPs is integral to IMB’s long-term mission strategies.

Ukrainian partner, Vitaly Sorokun, director of the Ukrainian Baptist Union’s Foreign Missions Department, will help IMB host an event in late November for all seminaries and training institutions across Ukraine that are equipping students for missions. This event will lay out how to become GMPs with IMB.

“Instead of U.S. churches sending internationals, we’ve recognized it is healthier, more sustainable and more appropriate for IMB and our churches to invest our 175 years of experience in assessment, sending-support structures, training and strategic areas into national partners,” Davis said. “We provide training and guidance to local churches and conventions overseas in helping them organize to send, but we also are expanding our overseas IMB teams to include global partners as team members.”

These partnerships help both parties, because the GMPs are not funded by IMB, but have access to IMB’s infrastructure of support — emotional care, resources for language learning and childhood education, logistical support, and practical help like finding housing and transportation.

“We can lend our robust support infrastructure to partner organizations until they develop the resources to provide these services for their workers. Training partner support personnel is part of the strategy to expand their capacity to send and support missionaries,” said Amanda Dimperio, director of globalization for the IMB.

IMB’s goal is to send 500 GMPs from across the globe to partner with our already existing missionary teams. In addition, IMB is helping to fuel the mission vision by taking Ukrainians on vision trips to see the need for Christ in far-to-reach places that are no longer accessible to us as North Americans. Ukrainians can help further the Matthew 28 mandate to take the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth.

Pray

Please pray for ongoing meetings with other Russian-speaking counties that take place this month to help in partnering together to cross-train, interact and mobilize believers from the former Soviet Union.
Pray for IMB personnel as they take on the job of mentoring and discipling new missionaries from our partnering countries.
Pray for meetings this month led by IMB and Ukrainian leadership as they present the GMP vision to seminaries and training institutions across Ukraine.

Karen Pearce is a contributing writer for the IMB who serves among European peoples.

The post IMB helps Ukraine become a missionary-sending force appeared first on IMB.

Texan campaign invites churches, individuals to share testimonies

Scripture instructs “the redeemed of the Lord to say so” (Psalm 107:2). The Texan is giving Southern Baptists of Texas Convention churches and individuals a way to “say so” in a way that will be heard across the State of Texas and beyond.

The Texan has unveiled a campaign called “What’s your story?” on its digital and print platforms. Using a form on its website, the Texan is offering churches and individual followers of Christ a chance to share what God has done or is currently doing in their lives.

Texan Editor Jayson Larson, who joined the SBTC in September, said one of his mandates is to tell the stories of what God is doing throughout the convention’s nearly 2,700 churches. Yet the idea of sharing testimonies, he said, is often misunderstood and, in turn, becomes a major part of worship that goes missing in our conversations and gatherings.

“As a church member and, later, as a pastor, I’ve heard so many followers of Jesus say they don’t really have an ‘interesting’ testimony, so they simply don’t share them,” Larson said. “The truth is, if you are in Christ and he is in you, you have a story to tell. So it’s exciting that the Lord might use the Texan as a bullhorn for believers across Texas to tell their stories and shine a light on what he is doing in their lives and in their churches.”

Church leaders and individuals interested in sharing what God is doing are encouraged to click the “What’s your story?” logo on the homepage of Texan.Digital and fill out the form, including contact information. A Texan representative will follow up with each person who provides information, which could then be used in either the print or online editions of the Texan.

So what’s your story?

Mabank church goes from gift to giver for God’s glory

MABANK—Grace Community Church enthusiastically voted recently to forward 15 percent of a significant monetary gift to missions, demonstrating by faith that God is able to supply their needs when they are generous to others.

The giver? According to Pastor Michael Cooper, someone who occasionally attends the church but isn’t a member and who “believes in what God is doing at Grace Community Church” handed a large undesignated check to him after a worship service.

Cooper said he immediately recognized the gift as a “direct answer to prayer” because the church of about 150 people is at maximum capacity in its current worship space and has been praying about next steps.

Before considering a new building, though, the church was motivated by the principles of Scripture to give generously, Cooper said.

With 2 Corinthians 9:8-15 as their guide, the church voted—no questions asked—to forward 6 percent to the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, 5 percent to the Kauf Van Baptist Association, 2 percent to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for international missions, and 2 percent to other missions and ministries supported directly by the church.

The total amount forwarded is larger than the church’s annual budget was when Cooper became pastor eight years ago.

When Cooper placed the recommendation on the screen at the church business meeting, the “sheer excitement of our folks” was “palpable,” he said. “Before I could make the motion, people were already giving seconds and saying, ‘Let’s do this. What are we waiting for?’”

After being diligent to give to others, Grace Community’s building committee is researching the costs of constructing a new worship center, believing the gift is a “green light” from God to proceed. The church property straddles three counties, Cooper said, and is strategically located to serve a booming population.

“What was given was actually over the number that I had in mind to start our initial building project,” Cooper said. “We can legitimately right now start pouring concrete.”

The pastor chose to keep the gift amount confidential for publication and said, “Our people are still talking about it a few weeks after, saying they’ve never been part of a local church that loves missions to the extent that we do and actually puts that into practice.”

EC special called meeting set for Nov. 10

NASHVILLE (BP) – The trustees of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee are planning to meet in special session on Nov. 10, according to Chairman Rolland Slade. The announcement of the meeting was issued Wednesday (Nov. 3).

“We want to formally vote for our new officers and appoint vice chairs and secretaries for the committees,” Slade said. He also plans to give a general update on the work of the EC staff in Nashville.

“I will compliment the staff for carrying out their work truly as unto the Lord,” he said.

The meeting follows the resignations of Ronnie Floyd as president and CEO and Greg Addison as executive vice president.

It is also scheduled to take place within the 30-day window of a request by one-third of the members to address leadership and conduct issues related to the committee.

Ricardo Avila, a trustee from Georgia, resigned over the weekend dropping the total number of trustees to 71. Committee bylaws call for 86 trustees.

Other details concerning the meeting, including whether it will be livestreamed, are still being discussed.

China asserting more control over clergy through new rules

WASHINGTON (BP) – Regulations issued this year by China have intensified the communist government’s control of clergy among the five state-authorized religious groups and have effectively prohibited the work of pastors and leaders of unregistered churches and other entities, according to a new report.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a bipartisan panel appointed by the president and congressional leaders, released a fact sheet Oct. 29 on Chinese rules that have increased the government’s suppression of faith groups and their leaders since they took effect in May. The “Measures on the Management of Religious Clergy” serve as additions to 2018 regulations that already administered “an invasive and comprehensive system of control and surveillance on clergy,” USCIRF’s report said.

The new regulations include requirements that clergy back the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the socialist system, as well as refrain from ambiguous categories such as participating in “illegal religious activities” and adopting “religious extremist ideology,” USCIRF reported. The rules establish penalties for violations of a “complex web of state rules and policies” by clergy of the government-approved religious groups, according to the report. Those groups are the Protestant Three-self Patriotic Movement, Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, Buddhist Association of China, Chinese Taoist Association and Islamic Association of China.

“This latest report confirms what many of us suspect about Communist China: Ministry is incredibly challenging because of the country’s animosity towards religion,” said Brent Leatherwood, acting president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC).

Citing USCIRF’s report of “even tighter state control and surveillance,” Leatherwood said in written comments, “Given what we know about the Chinese Communist Party’s use of these technologies to conduct a genocide against the Uyghur people, this is not surprising. The reality is China is a dangerous and hostile environment for people of faith, and this should be deeply alarming for Christians who are concerned about standing up for human dignity and religious freedom wherever they are threatened.”

Leatherwood wrote an op-ed published Tuesday (Nov. 2) in The Tennessean regarding the approval by Southern Baptist messengers at this year’s annual meeting of a resolution that condemned what it described as China’s “genocide” of the Uyghur people, primarily Muslims in northwest China.

Isaac Six, senior director of advocacy for Open Doors USA, said in a written statement, “China is no friend to faith. USCIRF’s report reveals just how suffocating the Chinese Communist Party’s control over faith has become. Every aspect of a church’s leadership is subject to intense scrutiny. The slightest perceived violation of an almost endless list of restrictions could lead to fines, arrest and imprisonment.

“When you couple these regulations with a judicial system entirely dominated by the Party, it means in effect no pastor, priest or minister is allowed to say or do anything out of line with the Chinese government’s political ideology,” Six said. “This is why millions of Christians in China bravely worship in unsanctioned house churches, choosing to follow Jesus and worship freely, even though it comes at great risk to them and their families.”

Open Doors USA is a leading advocate for persecuted Christians overseas.

The U.S. government has consistently recognized China as a major persecutor of Christians and other faith groups since the enactment of the International Religious Freedom Act in 1998. In every report since then, the State Department has named China as one of its “countries of particular concern,” a designation reserved for the world’s most severe violators of religious liberty.

The Trump administration, before it left office, and the Biden administration both declared early this year that China’s repression of the Uyghurs is genocide. More than 1 million Uyghurs, and maybe as many as 3 million, have been detained in “re-education” camps. Coerced labor and forced sterilizations and abortions also have been widely reported.

Southern Baptists also have spoken out on China’s religious repression. The SBC resolution in June reportedly made it the first Christian group to denounce China’s campaign against the Uyghurs as genocide. In 2019, messengers to the SBC meeting passed a resolution condemning the CCP, as well as North Korea’s regime, for “extreme religious persecution and flagrant human rights violations.”

Chinese officials have apprehended and arrested scores of unregistered Protestant house church leaders and Catholic priests since the new rules were announced, USCIRF reported. According to the report, these included Zhang Chunlei of Ren’ai Reformed Church and Yang Hua of Living Stone Church of Guiyang city in Guizhou province, as well as Catholic Bishop Joseph Zhang Weizhu of Xixiang in Hebei province.

According to USCIRF, the new rules enable China to use the state-sanctioned religious groups and its religious affairs bureaus (RABs) in extending its authority over clergy who serve in those groups. The groups “vet, recognize, and ordain” clergy candidates, then provide their information to the RABs at multiple levels of government. The regulations also require a “clergy database” that is updated by the RABs.

Under the rules, government-authorized religious groups, partnering with RABs, may punish clergy for transgressing state regulations, and criminal prosecution may await more serious violations, USCIRF reported.

Tibetan Buddhist and Catholic clergy are particular targets of the rules because of the state’s “heightened political sensitivity toward these two religions with perceived foreign connections,” according to USCIRF.

The nine-member USCIRF tracks the status of religious liberty worldwide and issues reports to Congress, the president and the State Department. Mingzhi Chen, a USCIRF policy analyst, wrote the report on China’s new regulations.

In McAllen, pastor sees image of God in every person

MCALLEN—First Baptist Church in McAllen has a closeup look at the border crisis, and Steven Gaither, the church’s pastor, said despite the challenges, “we are still called to see the image of God in every person.

“How do you help hold the line for what is right and legal, and how do you also love your neighbor as yourself? How do you function as the Good Samaritan?” Gaither said. “I think that’s part of the unique challenge that’s here on the border.”

In some churches in the Rio Grande Valley, border patrol agents worship alongside first generation immigrants, Gaither said. Some immigrants in a congregation may have gone through the proper channels, he said, while others may not have.

“It’s really heartbreaking because we know the rules of our country, and we are for them, and we want things to be done in an organized manner, but we also know there’s a face of desperation that is the immigration crisis and that many people are fleeing from horrific situations, and they’re looking for help,” Gaither told the TEXAN.

On a recent flight to Dallas-Fort Worth, Gaither estimated 60 percent of his plane was filled with people seeking asylum being flown to different locations.

“What I noticed on that flight was a lot of young families with young children, and everyone looked scared—like they’d never been on a plane before, and they didn’t know where they were going,” Gaither said.

The pastor felt compassion for the people on the plane and couldn’t imagine their stories.

“It’s really easy to lump everybody into the same category and demonize people and their motives, but it’s different when you look into a child’s face, when you look into a scared mama’s face, when you look into a young man’s eyes and you realize this guy is desperate and he doesn’t know what to do,” Gaither said.

First Baptist McAllen, which began in 1908, has a long history of strong Cooperative Program support and has sent countless missionaries throughout the world through the years, Gaither said. They have also worked with missionaries just across the Mexican border to minister to people hoping to enter the United States.

“You’ll have groups of people who have kind of migrated toward the border from southern Mexico, and they’re right here at the Texas border, but for whatever reason, in a sense they get stuck there and they kind of form their own communities,” Gaither said.

Missionaries and churches are able to provide food, clothing and education to people in those groups, whereas once they’ve crossed the border into McAllen, many are in holding facilities that aren’t as easily accessible for ministry.

As believers follow the border crisis in the media, Gaither hopes they’ll consider that only a partial picture is conveyed.

“These are complex situations, and real people are involved in them on both sides—those who are trying to enforce the laws and those who are sometimes even completely unaware of the laws,” Gaither said.

“Just understand that we should be stirred up to love and good works. We should be stirred up to pray for these situations. When you’re in your community—it doesn’t matter where you are in the U.S. or across Texas—as you watch people, it’s probably not a long shot that you’re interacting with somebody who is a first generation American or may be in your community for the very first time, and there may be an opportunity to share the gospel with them,” Gaither said.

Sometimes people lose the ability to see others as humans, the pastor said, but most people have the same emotions, the same concerns for their families and for their well-being, no matter what country they’re from, what their heart language is or what color of skin they have.

“A bottle of water goes a long way,” Gaither said, offering an idea for how to start a connection.

Despite the border crisis, despite COVID and despite a revitalization period at the church, the Great Commission, the great commandment and the great challenge of Acts 1:8 have remained pillars at First Baptist McAllen, Gaither said.

“We understand the deep history of Cooperative Program giving here at this church. To me, knowing its history, this church has said, ‘No matter what has changed in the world, we absolutely believe that cooperating together to spread the gospel to the nations is a high priority, if not the highest priority.’

“… I think there’s a long history of this church saying, ‘We can’t do this by ourselves, but as we cooperate with other churches from all over the place that we may never interact with, we believe that we’re investing in the gospel, and that’s an investment we want to make until Jesus comes back.’”

41 U.S. cities ban abortion as Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn

LONGVIEW, Texas (BP) – There are 41 local governments across the United States that have adopted ordinances banning abortions and declaring themselves Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn since the grassroots movement launched in 2019, movement founder Mark Lee Dickson said.

Dickson was on hand when Mason, Ohio, a town of about 33,000 people 30 minutes northeast of Cincinnati, became the latest city to declare itself a sanctuary for the unborn. The Mason City Council adopted the ordinance by a 4-3 vote Oct. 25.

“When I meet people who are interested in outlawing abortion in their city I always ask them if their community is ready for such a task. I ask them about what resources they have in their community to help women who find themselves in an unexpected pregnancy and I ask them if the area churches are involved in supporting those local efforts,” Dickson said Tuesday (Nov. 2). “If they do not have that in line, then they have some work to do.”

Several people have approached Dickson about the initiative, he said, since Waskom, a small Texas town, became the first to adopt such an ordinance in 2019. The director of the grassroots Right to Life of East Texas was senior pastor of Sovereign Love Church in Longview when he initiated Sanctuary Cities for Life. He currently describes himself as more of a church missionary.

“Most of the time when I go to cities, I am meeting with pastors and elders and deacons and speaking at churches about the importance of being involved in our communities; not just on the abortion issue, but on a whole variety of issues,” he said. “This isn’t just about loving our unborn neighbor, but loving our born neighbor as well.”

He sees value in working through local governments to fight abortion.

“I would hope that all of our cities would consider what they do and do not want taking place within their city gates. If a city does not want an abortion facility in their city then I think they need to consider passing an ordinance which would state, very clearly, that abortion is not allowed within the city limits,” he said, quoting Amos 5:15.

“For too long we have expressed our hatred for evil and our love for what is good, but we have neglected that part of Scripture which speaks of establishing justice in our city,” Dickson said. “I believe all of our cities need to have laws which protect pregnant women and their unborn children from the horrors of abortion.”

Lubbock, the only city among the 41 sanctuaries for the unborn that has an actual abortion clinic, survived a legal challenge in June when a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit from Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas and the American Civil Liberties Union. In Lubbock, residents approved the ordinance by 62 percent in May after the local government declined to enact the measure.

Similar to a statewide Texas abortion ban the U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing, Lubbock’s ordinance allows relatives of unborn children to see abortion providers.

"I would hope that all of our cities would consider what they do and do not want taking place within their city gates."

Mark Lee Dickson Tweet

The only other lawsuit filed in response to sanctuary cities is a 2020 challenge by the ACLU against seven local ordinances in February 2020, but the lawsuit was dropped after the cities amended their measures to decriminalize the organizations that brought the lawsuit, with both sides viewing it as a victory, Forbes reported in June.

“To this day,” Dickson said, “abortion remains banned in every city which was sued.”

Sanctuary city ordinances vary. Most cities declaring themselves such sanctuaries don’t have abortion clinics within their city limits and are substantially smaller than Lubbock, where population exceeds 250,000.

Mason’s ordinance does not penalize abortion seekers, but makes it illegal to knowingly “aid or abet” an abortion and to possess or distribute “abortion-inducing drugs.” The latter is considered a first-degree misdemeanors punishable by Ohio law with up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, The Enquirer reported.

Mason allows exceptions for “accidental miscarriages,” ectopic pregnancies and abortions to save the life or protect the health of mothers threatened by “death or a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function.”

Mason’s ordinance is the second such ordinance adopted in Ohio after Lebanon, a town of 20,000 people adopted an ordinance in May. Other Ohio cities considering such bans have included Celina and London, both towns of about 10,000 people, The Enquirer reported. The ordinance is set to become effective 30 days from passage, but its enforcement is not certain in light of Roe v. Wade’s national legalization of abortion.

Most sanctuary cities for the unborn are in Texas. In addition to Waskom and Lubbock, Texas sanctuaries for the unborn are, according to Dickson, Joaquin, Tenaha, Gilmer, Westbrook, Rusk, Colorado City, Gary City, Big Spring, Wells, Whiteface, East Mountain, New Home, Morton, Ackerly, Grapeland, Goldsmith, Carbon, Gorman, Abernathy, Poynor, Murchison, Latexo, Levelland, Sundown, Sterling City, Centerville, Eastland, Leona, Crawford, Brownsboro, Impact, Nazareth and Cisco. Omaha adopted an ordinance in September 2019, but replaced it with a resolution the following month.

Other sanctuary cities include Hayes Center and Blue Hill, both in Nebraska.

This article originally appeared in Baptist Press.

Almost all churches and most churchgoers are now gathering in person

NASHVILLE (BP) – More U.S. Protestant churches are gathering in person since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and pastors say most churchgoers have returned as well.

Almost all U.S. Protestant pastors (98 percent) say their church met in person in August, according to a new Lifeway Research study. This marks the highest percentage of churches holding in-person services since March 2020, when COVID-19 became a national health issue.

During the first week of March last year, 99 percent of Protestant churches met in person. By the end of the month, only 7 percent did so, according to a previous Lifeway Research study. A majority of churches didn’t start holding in-person services again until June 2020. By September 2020, 87 percent met physically, but that dropped to 76 percent in January 2021, according to Lifeway Research studies conducted at the time. In August 2021, however, only 2 percent of churches did not meet in person at all.

“Every church’s path has been different during the pandemic, and each stage of resuming specific aspects of ministry is significant,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “Worshiping together as a physical assembly of believers in Jesus Christ is an important element of the Christian faith. For almost all Protestant churches, this stage of ministry is now active again, though other aspects of ministry may not be.”

Return of the churchgoer?

Earlier this year, even as fewer churches held in-person services, 91 percent of churchgoers told Lifeway Research they planned on attending church services as much as they did prior to the pandemic or even more once COVID-19 was no longer an active threat to people’s health.

By September 2020, U.S. Protestant pastors reported most churchgoers had returned. The average church drew 63 percent of their pre-pandemic attendance levels. That dipped slightly in January 2021 to 60 percent. By August, the average pastor saw 73 percent of their church members in person on Sunday morning.

“Many pastors and church leaders are anxious for the whole congregation to gather physically together,” McConnell said. “Worship attendance is improving, but there is still a large gap between today’s in-person attendance and pre-COVID levels.”

While some churches are still below 50 percent of their January 2020 attendance levels, others report growing during the pandemic. Almost 1 in 8 (13 percent) say they had less than half of their pre-COVID-19 crowd in August. That percentage is down substantially from earlier in the pandemic. In both September 2020 and January 2021, more than 1 in 4 churches had less than half their normal Sunday morning crowds.

A plurality of pastors (35 percent) report attendance between 50 percent and 70 percent in August 2021. For 30 percent of pastors, late summer congregations were 70 percent to less than 90 percent. Another 1 in 8 (13 percent) were 90 percent to 100 percent of their previous levels, while 9 percent say they had more people in attendance in August than they did prior to COVID-19. Only 2 percent of pastors reported growth in January this year.

Some pastors are finding it harder to bring back their pre-pandemic churchgoers. While African American Protestant pastors were only slightly less likely than their white counterparts to say they met in person in August (95 percent to 98 percent), African American pastors were 12.5 times as likely as white pastors to say their attendance was less than 30 percent what it was before COVID-19 (25 percent to 2 percent).

Almost 3 in 4 pastors (73 percent) say their worship service attendance in August was fewer than 100 people, with 40 percent drawing fewer than 50 on an average weekend. More than 1 in 5 pastors (22 percent) report crowds of 100 to 249, while 6 percent say they reached 250 or more.

The small church, however, has had an advantage in the pandemic recovery period. Pastors of churches with pre-COVID-19 attendance levels of fewer than 50 people are more likely to report August 2021 attendance back to or exceeding their previous levels. Almost 1 in 4 small church pastors (23 percent) say they had 90 percent to 100 percent of their pre-pandemic attendance in August, while 1 in 5 (19 percent) report higher attendance compared to January 2020.

“Most small churches are still not back to pre-pandemic attendance, but far more of them are reaching this point than larger churches,” McConnell said. “It’s possible small churches are aided by perceived safety of a naturally smaller gathering, differences in technology options for gathering online, or the strength of relational connections. But regardless of the reasons why, in-person worship attendance trends currently look promising for small churches.”

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

Methodology

The phone survey of 1,000 Protestant pastors was conducted Sept. 1-29, 2021. The calling list was a stratified random sample, drawn from a list of all Protestant churches. Quotas were used for church size. Each interview was completed by the senior or sole pastor or a minister at the church. Responses were weighted by region and church size to more accurately reflect the population. The completed sample is 1,000 surveys. The sample provides 95 percent confidence that the sampling error does not exceed plus or minus 3.2 percent. This margin of error accounts for the effect of weighting. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups. Comparisons are made to the following Lifeway Research surveys that each used probability sampling: a mixed mode survey of 1,007 Protestant pastors Sept. 2-Oct. 1, 2020, an online survey of 430 Protestant pastors February 1-11, 2021, an online survey of 443 Protestant pastors July 20-22, 2020, an online survey of 470 Protestant pastors April 27-29, 2020, and an online survey of 400 Protestant pastors March 30-31, 2020.