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  • October 31, 2013

Archives For October 31, 2013

Illinois gay marriage vote may happen this week

Meredith Flynn —  November 5, 2013

Baptists and other clergy alert lawmakers to objections again

THE BRIEFING | Meredith Flynn

As Illinois lawmakers enter into the final week of their fall veto session, they haven’t yet tackled the most talked-about item on their agenda: marriage. But optimism from the sponsor of SB 10, the bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in Illinois, has advocates on both sides of the issue poised for a possible conclusion this week to several long months of debate.

Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago) told the Associated Press in late October, “I’m feeling good. Things are moving in the right direction.” Harris faced doubts from same-sex marriage supporters when he failed to call the bill for a vote on the House floor on the last day of session in May. After a relatively quiet summer, advocates for same-sex marriage and traditional marriage rallied at the Capitol on separate days as legislators returned for veto session.

In the first few days of veto session, pundits said legislators were showing a lack of urgency about marriage, based on their political prospects in the upcoming primary season. But Harris told the Illinois Observer last week, “I think my colleagues should be prepared next week to make history on marriage equality.”

Church leaders with different opinions on the issue weighed in amid the new buzz surrounding SB 10. A group of more than 300 clergy members and religious leaders sent a letter to House representatives encouraging them to approve the bill, noting that marriage equality is “morally just.” On the other side of the debate, African American religious leaders who support traditional marriage said candidates who vote yes on SB 10 won’t fair well with voters.

“I think that they will feel the crunch,” said Larry Trotter, pastor of Sweet Holy Spirit Baptist Church and a vocal advocate of traditional marriage throughout the debate in Illinois. “I think that they cannot take for granted that they can come to the church; and get the church’s sanction, and votes, and signatures; and then go to Springfield, and don’t speak what the people want them to speak. And so now, if that’s how we have to be heard, we will be heard,” Trotter told CBS Chicago.

Nate Adams, executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association, sent a letter urging representatives to defeat legislation like SB 10 that seeks to redefine marriage. “This legislation is actually discriminatory in that it declares Illinoisans who support traditional marriage to be bigoted and prejudicial,” Adams wrote. “Rather than promoting tolerance it risks legalizing intolerance.”

Adams’ letter also included the text of a resolution Illinois Baptists will consider at their annual meeting next week. The “Resolution on the Preservation of Biblical Marriage and Affirmation of Religious Liberty of Illinois Churches and Faith-based Organizations” is available online here. Messengers will vote on it and other resolutions when they meet in Springfield Nov. 13-14.

Other news:

Supreme Court considers legislative prayer case
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Nov. 6 on “Town of Greece vs. Galloway,” a case out of New York that questions the constitutionality of prayer before civic meetings. President Obama’s administration issued earlier this year a “friend of the court” brief that sides with Greece and their policy of prayer before town board meetings. Read Pew’s thorough explanation of the case here.

Obama advisor publishes ‘President’s Devotional’
Joshua DuBois, former executive director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships, is sharing daily devotional readings he wrote for the President in a new book. From the Amazon.com description: “Every day, DuBois provided President Obama with a morning devotional weaving together scripture, song, prayer, and reflections, motivated by the spirit of God and infused with joyful flair. The President’s Devotional contains the best of these devotionals, daily spiritual guidance that offer peace, comfort, and inspiration throughout the entire year.”

And The Christian Post has a story about one group questioning whether DuBois writing the devotionals was a violation of separation of church and state.

Journalist shares unlikely conversion story
Fox News commentator Kirsten Powers says, “Just seven years ago, if someone had told me that I’d be writing for Christianity Today magazine about how I came to believe in God, I would have laughed out loud.” But Powers does just that on CT’s website, detailing her conversion to a faith she “held in particular contempt.” Her encouraging, thoughtful testimony is online here.

Tunes for your Tuesday
Need some nostalgia in your life? Check out Relevant.com’s list of “10 CCM songs of the ’90s that still hold up.” The list has selections from almost every genre contemporary Christian music offered back then, and also includes links to YouTube videos. Read it here.

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I want you to know

Meredith Flynn —  November 4, 2013
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The IBSA Annual Meeting Nov. 13-14 will explore the theme “Mission Illinois: Churches Together Advancing the Gospel.”

HEARTLAND | Nate Adams

Opportunities for our entire Illinois Baptist family of churches to be together at once are all too rare.  But the IBSA Annual Meeting each November is one of those precious opportunities.  This year the meeting returns to the downtown Springfield Hilton for the first time since our 100th anniversary meeting in 2007. I hope to see you there November 13-14, or perhaps earlier at the Pastors Conference or one of the other related gatherings.

Click here for more on the IBSA Annual Meeting.

But in case you can’t come, let me preview some highlights of the information that I plan to share during that meeting.

I want you to know that Illinois Baptists are going into their Acts 1:8 mission fields in dramatically increased numbers. After several years of our churches reporting around 20,000 missions volunteers, last year churches reported more than 27,000 volunteers, a 34% increase! And there is no indication of that rate slowing down this year.

I want you to know that 28 new churches were planted across our state last year, and through August of this year at least 19 more have been planted. During our Wednesday night worship session at the Annual Meeting we will be hearing from seven of those creative and hard-working planters, and you will be able to meet them and others in person during a dessert reception following the session.

Dr. Gary Frost of the North American Mission Board will bring a challenging message that evening, and you will also meet Dr. Gene Crume, Judson University’s new president, and hear about an exciting new church planting partnership we are working on together in Chicagoland.

I want you to know that our dedicated staff continues to crisscross the state helping churches, and that through September they have already delivered 17,000 trainings in strategic ministry and mission skills to IBSA church leaders and workers.  Baptisms in IBSA churches were up over 2% last year, and the continued momentum of evangelism strategies like “Choose 2” give us hope of another increase when all the 2013 Annual Church Profiles are tabulated.

Finally, in case you can’t come to the annual meeting, I want you to know that the IBSA Board is exploring the option of acquiring a new property in Springfield, a retreat-like facility devoted to leadership development and pastoral renewal. You can read more about that possibility in this issue of the Illinois Baptist, and there will be additional information on http://www.IBSA.org.

Last year when the IBSA Board was exploring this possibility, I invited feedback, both positive and cautionary, from IBSA churches.  The responses were relatively few, but were favorable toward the idea by about a two-to-one margin.

The cautionary and even negative responses were just as helpful as the supportive and enthusiastic ones, however. They helped lead me to recommend to the IBSA Board that we not make an offer on the property unless or until we had the cash in hand to acquire it, even though that probably meant missing the opportunity. And they helped me discover some concerns about developing our camp properties that I felt could be addressed in time.

To my surprise, the potential leadership center property we looked at last year is still available, now at a further reduced price. That doesn’t necessarily mean we should acquire it. In fact, I’ve been praying that someone else would, if it’s not God’s best for IBSA churches. But the IBSA Board and I believe it’s in our best interest to at least explore the option again, because leadership development and renewal among pastors and church leaders is such a strategic need, and we think this property might play a role in meeting that need.

So please let me hear from you again, certainly if you support the idea, because often we leave positive feedback unexpressed. But if you have cautions about the idea, please patiently express them as well. Either way, I want you to know I’m listening.  And I hope to see you soon.

Nate Adams is executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association.

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Illinois same-sex marriage vote may be near

Meredith Flynn —  November 1, 2013

NEWS | Lisa Sergent

Contrary to what we were hearing last week, the Illinois House may vote on the same-sex marriage bill next week. Recent news reports suggest the same-sex marriage bill, officially known as SB 10 or the “Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act,” will be called for a floor vote in the Illinois House of Representatives during the final week of the fall veto session, which begins November 5.

Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago), the bill’s main sponsor, told the Illinois Observer this week, “I think my colleagues should be prepared next week to make history on marriage equality.”

Southern Baptists in Illinois will meet November 13-14 in Springfield for the IBSA Annual Meeting and messengers will vote on a resolution affirming biblical marriage and religious liberty. “In just a few days, messengers from hundreds of churches representing more than 200,000 church members will gather in Springfield and vote on a strongly worded resolution supporting the ‘Preservation of Biblical Marriage and Affirmation of Religious Liberty of Illinois Churches and Faith-based Organizations,’” said Nate Adams, IBSA Executive Director.

“I hope Illinois legislators will hear and heed the voices of these concerned church members and citizens, and resist the pressures to redefine marriage here in Illinois.”

Rallies were held by advocates on each side of the issue during the first week of the fall veto session, which began October 22. The two rallies drew between 3,000 to 4,000 participants each hoping to persuade lawmakers to support their side of the issue.

Baptists in Illinois are actively opposed to same-sex marriage. “In every Baptist church I visit across the state of Illinois,” said Adams, “I find people uniformly opposed to same-sex marriage on biblical, moral, and societal grounds, and very frustrated with the legislators who support its establishment in Illinois.”

SB 10 was passed by the Illinois Senate on February 14.

Same-sex marriage is legal in 14 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

Lisa Sergent is director of communications for the Illinois Baptist State Association.

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