Robby Gallaty, senior pastor at Long Hollow (back row left), Bruce Raley, senior associate pastor at First Baptist Hendersonville (first row second from right), and pastor Danny Spano (second row, second from right) pictured with male inmates baptized at Sumner County Jail.

GALLATIN — When more than 50 people were baptized at the Sumner County Jail in early May, it was the culmination of many years of ministry from two neighboring churches.

“It was a beautiful thing, one of the highlights of my life,” said Danny Spano, a chaplain from the Sumner County Jail, of the 58 baptisms.

Spano serves as the pastor of member care and recovery at Long Hollow Church in Hendersonville, Tenn.

Hendersonville is one of several towns and cities which make up Sumner County, including Goodlettsville and Gallatin, where the jail is located.

In his ministry, Spano helps oversee the Celebrate Recovery ministry at Long Hollow, and also leads CR a group for male inmates at the jail. [Read more…]

Neal Hughes (right) of Alabama will chair the new presidential search team for the SBC Executive Committee. — Photo by Van Payne / The Baptist Paper

The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee presidential search team met June 1 to elect officers and establish organizational plans for the group.

Neal Hughes of Alabama was named chair and Nick Sandefur of Kentucky was named vice chair. Nancy Spaulding of Michigan will serve as secretary.

Other members of the search team are Corey Cain of Tennessee, Drew Landry of Virginia, Sarah Rogers of South Carolina and David Sons, who serves as an ex-officio voting member of the committee by nature of his role as chair of the full EC board of trustees. [Read more…]

Newly elected IMB trustee officers for 2023-24 are Keith Evans, chairman, Nate Bishop, first vice chair, Carol Pfeiffer, second vice chair, and Trudy Crittendon, recording secretary. — IMB photo

RICHMOND — International Mission Board trustees approved 92 fully funded missionaries for appointment during their May 17-18 meeting in Richmond, Va. Missionaries approved for appointment will be recognized during a Sending Celebration on Tuesday, June 13, at 9:50 a.m. CDT in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. The event will be livestreamed on sbcannualmeeting.net. 

Trustees gave a warm welcome to IMB president-emeritus Jerry Rankin, who was president for 17 years and served a total of 40 years with the IMB. Having traveled to 157 countries, Rankin said that his most notable impression was watching the “awesome providence of God moving to fulfill His mission.”

He challenged trustees by asking, “For what purpose are you a part of this group?” Noting the significant advances to sharing the gospel seen in present times, he urged trustees to lead with vision, focus and passion.  [Read more…]

NEW ORLEANS — Three churches that were deemed not to be in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention by the SBC Executive Committee at its February meeting will be appealing that decision, it was announced Tuesday (May 16).

In total, eight churches have been deemed not in friendly cooperation with the SBC since the 2022 SBC Annual Meeting in Anaheim – two at the SBC EC’s meeting last September and six in February of this year. Though the SBC has disfellowshipped churches for various reasons over the years, none has appealed that decision until this year.

“The Credentials Committee reports that it has received appeals from Fern Creek Baptist Church, Louisville, KY; Freedom Church, Vero Beach, Florida; and Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, California,” the Credentials Committee said in a statement May 16.

The deadline to file an appeal was May 15, and the Credentials Committee announced the next day that the three churches would be presenting their case June 13 at the SBC annual meeting in New Orleans. [Read more…]

Photo from Saddleback.com

LAKE FOREST, Calif. — Saddleback Church founder and former pastor Rick Warren has provided five reasons the megachurch will appeal the decision of the SBC Executive Committee to find the church “not in friendly cooperation” with the Southern Baptist Convention. The EC made the decision, based on a recommendation from the SBC Credentials Committee at its meeting in February.

The committee deemed the church not to be in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention’s statement of faith, the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, due to “the church continuing to have a female teaching pastor functioning in the office of a pastor.”

The committee specified the teaching pastor role of Stacie Wood, the wife of Warren’s successor, Andy Wood. Since then, Saddleback announced May 7 that Katie Edwards would become the new campus pastor for its Lake Forest campus. Edwards was among three women ordained with the title of pastor at Saddleback in May 2021. [Read more…]

Tommy Neiman uses his career as a first responder to minister to others. — BP / Submitted photo

FORT PIERCE, Fla. – For Tommy Neiman, an award-winning firefighter and paramedic, the theme for his vocational calling has become about challenging first responders to be believers, and believers to be first responders.

Neiman described being fascinated with the lights and sirens of emergency vehicles as he was growing up. His curiosity would soon lead him to this spiritual calling.

“I remember following firetrucks and any vehicle with lights and sirens going as best as I could to find out where they were going,” Neiman said. “That intrigue led to me going into that kind of work full-time after college. I really felt that God’s calling in my life was to see the Lord work through my responses, and He certainly gives us the desires of our hearts.

“God is still using me in a very powerful, spiritual way to share His Word and to encourage others, even despite the tragedies and the emergencies that they’re going through.” [Read more…]

Rummage

JACKSON — Stephen Rummage, pastor of Quail Springs Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, Okla., will be nominated for presidency of the 2024 Southern Baptist Convention Pastors’ Conference (SBCPC).

Adam Dooley, pastor of Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson, will nominate Rummage.

“I cannot imagine a better choice to lead next year’s SBC Pastors’ Conference than Stephen Rummage,” said Dooley. “From my perspective, he represents everything that is good about Southern Baptists.” [Read more…]