Tony Beam, of South Carolina, serving in his short-term role as interim board chair, leads the Sept. 10–11 annual meeting of the ERLC board of trustees. — Photo by Jennifer Davis Rash / The Baptist Paper

NASHVILLE — The staff of the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission heard an official word of affirmation on Sept. 11 with the release of a statement approved by the full board of trustees in a two-hour executive session yesterday during the annual meeting in Nashville.

The full statement (available here Statement-of-Affirmation-Encouragement) affirms the work of ERLC president Brent Leatherwood and the 17 other staff members, noting the importance of “bringing light and hope to the public square.”

The statement also emphasizes how ERLC’s role is to keep the churches informed about the pressing moral issues and urges staff “to be cautious when addressing controversial political issues by allowing [Leatherwood’s advocacy assessment filter] to serve as the guide in choosing the wording of the response.” [Read more…]

The Andersons were among the last families to adopt a girl from China before the country announced the end of its program. — Lifeline Children’s Services photo

BEIJING — The Chinese government has officially ended its international adoption program, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning announced Sept. 5, ending hopes for hundreds of U.S. families who were matched with children before the COVID-19 pandemic but had adoptions put on hold in 2020.

Karla Thrasher, senior director of international adoptions at Lifeline Children’s Services based in Birmingham, Ala., said the announcement was shocking to the adoption agency and to the 48 families it serves who were matched with Chinese orphans before the pandemic.

“They were definitely in shock. This came very suddenly,” Thrasher told Baptist Press. “We actually had thought things were moving in a more positive direction over the past couple of weeks, and then received this email out of the blue regarding China no longer carrying out the foreign adoptions.”

Lifeline was serving more than 100 matched families when China suspended adoptions in 2020, Thrasher said, but the number dwindled due to various family circumstances. [Read more…]

Floyd Craig

FRANKLIN — Longtime Baptist communicator Floyd Craig died Aug. 30 at the age of 91.

A native of Oklahoma, Craig and his wife, Anne, formed Craig Communications in 1981. Clients included a number of Southern Baptist organizations. Prior to establishing their firm, Craig served as director of communications with the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma and as director of communications for the Southern Baptist Christian Life Communications (now Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission).

When Baptist Press editors Dan Martin and Al Shackleford were fired by the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee in 1990, Craig, along with other Southern Baptists and several Baptist state paper editors, was instrumental in establishing Associated Baptist Press (now Baptist News Global). [Read more…]

Jason Harris, team leader for Paris team with the International Mission Board, shares God’s Word with the volunteers during Sunday worship service in Paris, France. Hundreds of volunteers from the US came to Paris to share the gospel during the Paris Olympics 2024. — IMB photo

FRANKLIN — “We can’t control the results, but we can measure our faithfulness,” said Jason Harris, team leader for the International Mission Board’s Paris team, explaining their strategy for gospel outreach during the 2024 Summer Olympic Games.

Part of that strategy includes facilitating and mobilizing more than 300 short-term volunteers to hit the streets of Paris sharing the gospel. 

The team Harris leads in Paris is young and growing. No team members have been there longer than a few years. They are united around a common vision to make Christ known among Europeans and a long-term goal to plant five churches in Paris over the next five years. 

Harris explained that short-term volunteers are vital to sharing the gospel broadly and making connections that will catalyze their local church-planting strategy and lead to longevity.  [Read more…]

Lifeway president and CEO Ben Mandrell. — Photo from Lifeway

BRENTWOOD — Highlighting Lifeway’s vision statement, President and CEO Ben Mandrell provided trustees with practical steps the organization is taking to serve 300,000 church leaders by 2030.

“While we want to serve as many Christians across the globe as possible, we know our central goal is to listen to the key ministry leaders in the local churches and to build impactful resources to make their jobs easier,” he said. “Ministry is rewarding work, but it’s also hard work, and having the right tools makes all the difference.”

To demonstrate the renewed focus on church leaders, Mandrell highlighted challenges identified by Lifeway Research for four key ministry leaders and resources the organization is producing to help address those areas. [Read more…]

Former SBC president J.D. Greear addressing the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting. — Photo by Karen McCutcheon

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in The Baptist Paper and is reprinted with permission.

Amid an ongoing — and at times heated — debate on social media, former Southern Baptist Convention president J.D. Greear is among several dozen individuals named in a contentious new book, “Shepherds for Sale” by author Megan Basham

Greear, in a lengthy response to the book, noted, “… we serve a God of truth and if the errors regarding me in this book are any indication of its broader accuracy, then the reader should be cautious about taking her claims at face value.”

“How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for a Leftist Agenda” is the subtitle of Basham’s book, published by the Broadside Books imprint of HarperCollins on July 30.

Reflecting the “wokeism” debate in contemporary culture, Basham writes in the hardbound book’s dust jacket that “in recent decades … well-funded forces from outside the church have been sowing seeds of discord from behind the scenes … to co-opt the church for political purposes.” [Read more…]

BRENTWOOD — Not only are churchgoers watching Christian movies, but some find them useful as an evangelistic and discipleship tool.

A recent study by Lifeway Research finds 68 percent of American Protestant churchgoers have watched a Christian movie in the last year. Around 4 in 5 (81 percent) say Christian movies are effective evangelism tools.

“The Forge,” the latest film from the Kendrick brothers, releases in theaters nationwide on August 23, 2024. The movie focuses on issues central to evangelism and discipleship. Stephen Kendrick, co-producer of “The Forge,” believes Christian movies can play a role in those fundamental aspects of the Christian walk.

“We live in a visual, video-driven generation. Movies can be great tools to reach people where they are and share biblical truth in the context of an emotional and memorial story,” Kendrick said. “Countless people have come to Christ through watching a Christian movie. The Holy Spirit continues to use art to point to the glory of Christ and the gospel.” [Read more…]

Brent Leatherwood — Photo by Van Payne / The Baptist Paper

NASHVILLE — The following statement was released early evening July 23 to provide an explanation and clarity about the recent announcements related to ERLC president Brent Leatherwood. It came from the executive committee of the board of trustees (essentially the officers of the board) for ERLC following a special-called informational meeting via Zoom with the full board. Tony Beam of South Carolina is now chair of the board. He previously served as vice chair.

Full statement from ERLC

“As the executive committee of the trustees of the ERLC, we take seriously the obligation given to us to ensure the execution of the ministry assignment of this institution that’s over 100 years old. In recent days, we have failed to fulfill that trust in ways that ensure the stability of this organization. Over the past 24 hours, we have experienced a flurry of activity which has been destabilizing. To that end, it is incumbent on us to clearly address concerns. [Read more…]