SBC Archives - Baptist & Reflector

AMERICANS MOST THANKFUL FOR AND TO FAMILY THIS THANKSGIVING

November 25, 2020

By Aaron Earls
Writer, LifeWay Christian Resources

NASHVILLE — Even though the pandemic may change Thanksgiving celebrations this year, Americans still express thankfulness for their family and friends.

According to a survey from Nashville-based LifeWay Research, more than 4 in 5 Americans (84 percent) say they are thankful for their family.

Sizable majorities also note being thankful for health (69 percent), friends (63 percent) and memories (63 percent).

Around half point to personal freedom (53 percent) and stability (47 percent). More than 2 in 5 are thankful for fun experiences (45 percent) and opportunities (42 percent).

A third of Americans will spend Thanksgiving being grateful for their achievements (33 percent), while 1 in 5 (21 percent) express thankfulness for their wealth. [Read more…]

COURT PERMITS TENNESSEE TO ENFORCE DISABILITY ABORTION BAN

November 24, 2020

By Tom Strode
Baptist Press

NASHVILLE — Southern Baptist and government pro-life supporters welcomed a federal appeals court ruling that enables the state of Tennessee to enforce its ban of abortions based on disability, ethnicity or sex.

The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati reversed Friday (Nov. 20) a federal judge’s order that had blocked enforcement of the “reasons ban,” as it is known. The measure – which prohibits an abortion when a doctor knows the request for the procedure is driven by the unborn child’s ethnicity, sex or a diagnosis of Down syndrome – was part of a pro-life package enacted in July and enjoined immediately in federal court.

The state requested the Sixth Circuit Court permit the “reasons ban” section only to be enforced while the case works its way through the courts, and a panel of judges agreed in a 2-1 decision. [Read more…]

AMERICANS MOST THANKFUL FOR FAMILY AND FRIENDS THIS THANKSGIVING

November 24, 2020

By Aaron Earls
Writer, LifeWay Research

NASHVILLE — Even though the pandemic may change Thanksgiving celebrations this year, Americans still express thankfulness for their family and friends.

According to a survey from Nashville-based LifeWay Research, more than 4 in 5 Americans (84 percent) say they are thankful for their family.

Sizable majorities also note being thankful for health (69 percent), friends (63 percent) and memories (63 percent).

Around half point to personal freedom (53 percent) and stability (47 percent). More than 2 in 5 are thankful for fun experiences (45 percent) and opportunities (42 percent).

A third of Americans will spend Thanksgiving being grateful for their achievements (33 percent), while 1 in 5 (21 percent) express thankfulness for their wealth.

The average person chose five things on the list for which they are thankful. [Read more…]

SOUTHERN BAPTISTS CELEBRATE SENDING 79 NEW MISSIONARIES

November 19, 2020

By Caroline Anderson
Writer, International Mission Board

The International Mission Board celebrated the appointment of 79 new missionaries on Nov. 18 in a virtual Sending Celebration streamed on Facebook and through the IMB: Advance the Kingdom app. The missionaries were previously approved by IMB trustees. The missionaries come from 21 states and will serve in eight of IMB’s nine affinities.

The Sending Celebration was scheduled to be held in Alabama at the annual Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions meeting. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the celebration was held virtually.

The Alabama Singing Men and Women and the choir from Shades Mountain Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, provided the pre-service music through a pre-recorded conference call. The Alabama Singing Men and Women performed “No More Night,” and Shades Mountain Baptist Church performed “Total Praise.” [Read more…]

SOUTHERN BAPTIST RESPONSE CONTINUES AS RECORD-BREAKING STORM SEASON PERSISTS

November 18, 2020

By Brandon Elrod
Baptist Press

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Hurricane Iota has sights set on Central America, making it the second major hurricane to hit the region following Hurricane Eta’s Nov. 3 landfall. Iota is the 13th hurricane and record-breaking 30th named storm during an historic 2020 hurricane season.

Eta took the lives of dozens of people after generating landslides and flooding, and Iota arrived in northern Nicaragua Monday night (Nov. 16) as a category 4. The National Hurricane Center warned that the storm would likely wreak further havoc given the destruction wrought by Eta.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Eta, Send Relief, the compassion ministry arm of Southern Baptists, partnered with local churches and field personnel to prepare and distribute meals in Nicaragua and Honduras.

“Send Relief has been able to connect with our partners on the ground in Central America to provide emergency feed to thousands of families in Nicaragua and Honduras following Hurricane Eta,” Send Relief President Bryant Wright said. “As the people there prepare for the landfall of yet another major hurricane, we are praying for further peace and protection for a region that was just beginning to recover. [Read more…]

MANY PASTORS SEEING NEGATIVE ECONOMIC TRENDS IN 2020

November 18, 2020

By Aaron Earls
LifeWay News Office

-LifeWay Research

NASHVILLE — After a few years of economic optimism, pastors say the 2020 economy is hurting their congregation.

According to a new survey from Nashville-based LifeWay Research, almost half of U.S. Protestant pastors (48 percent) say the current economy is negatively impacting their church, including 5 percent who say the impact is very negative.

Around 1 in 6 (15 percent) believe the economy has had a positive effect, including 4 percent saying it is having a very positive impact. More than a third of pastors (35 percent) say there’s been no impact. [Read more…]

OREGON DECRIMINALIZES OPIOIDS; MARIJUANA, GAMBLING LEGALIZED IN OTHER STATES

November 6, 2020

By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press

SALEM, Ore. — Oregon will become the first state in the nation to decriminalize possession of small amounts of drugs including Oxycodone, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine beginning in February 2021.

Voters approved the measure on Election Day by a margin of 58.6-41.4 percent and concurrently approved by 66.7-33.3 percent a new tax on tobacco and E-cigarettes to fund treatment programs in place of incarceration for drug users. Several other states passed measures legalizing only marijuana.

Voters in several other states passed measures legalizing marijuana. And several states saw gambling measures approved. Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission executive Travis Wussow said the changes in the “predatory drug and gambling industries” are alarming. [Read more…]

NOW DEBT FREE, MARYVILLE CHURCH DOUBLES CP GIVING TO 10 PERCENT

November 3, 2020

By Diana Chandler
Senior Writer, Baptist Press

Scott Linginfelter, pastor of Mount Carmel Baptist Church, Maryville, recently preached during the opening night of a tent revival. The church recently voted to double its giving through the Cooperative Program from 5 to 10 percent. — Submitted photo

MARYVILLE — Pastor Scott Linginfelter had just preached the opening night of a tent revival on a farm field in rural Greenback when he told Baptist Press of his commitment to the Southern Baptist Convention’s Cooperative Program.

“Somebody found treasure in a field,” he said of his sermon based on Matthew 13:44. “To find treasure, it means you don’t just get saved, but you become part of kingdom theology, and you work with other believers to reach people who also want to be a part of that kingdom, and also find that treasure. It’s something that we work together toward as a church and as Southern Baptists. We cooperate toward missions.”

Linginfelter is pastor of Maryville’s Mount Carmel Baptist Church, which in October voted to begin giving 10 percent of undesignated receipts to the Cooperative Program, doubling the longtime annual contribution of 5 percent. [Read more…]

MOHLER TO BE NOMINATED FOR SBC PRESIDENCY

October 30, 2020

By George Schroeder
Baptist Press

Al Mohler

ORLANDO — Citing a desire to serve as a uniter amid turbulent times, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. said he has agreed to accept a nomination to serve as SBC president at the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting.

Mohler is expected to be nominated by H.B. Charles, senior pastor of Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla. Almost a year ago, Charles announced his intention to nominate Mohler for president at the 2020 Annual Meeting, which was canceled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s basically just a year’s delay,” Mohler said, adding that his reasons for agreeing to be nominated in 2021 remained largely the same.

“My entire life has been in the Southern Baptist Convention,” Mohler told Baptist Press. “I’ve spent my entire adult life trying to help Southern Baptists. And I hope to do that, if allowed by the convention, in order to bring together Southern Baptists – associations, state conventions and at the national level, and pastors and churches – into a deeper commitment to what Southern Baptists believe and our cooperative mission together.” [Read more…]

NAMB TRUSTEES CELEBRATE AAEO; REDUCE BUDGET

October 29, 2020

Baptist Press

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Trustees of the North American Mission Board (NAMB) gathered Oct. 5-6 to celebrate God’s provision and Southern Baptist faithfulness during a year marked by a pandemic, economic uncertainty and social unrest. Most trustees attended the meeting in person with social distancing at NAMB’s building in Alpharetta while some participated online.

At the group’s Monday evening celebration dinner, NAMB president Kevin Ezell noted that after the COVID-19 virus sent the United States into a lockdown just as most churches normally would raise funds for the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering, NAMB stopped promoting giving to the offering. But giving continued nonetheless as churches found creative ways to continue to promote and collect the offering.

“But 2020 was the greatest Annie Armstrong Offering in the history of the North American Mission Board,” Ezell said. “It was not the largest. But it was the greatest.” [Read more…]

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