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Archives For November 30, 1999

The Briefing: Platt on the value of cooperation, missionary-sending agencies

Meredith Flynn —  September 2, 2014

THE BRIEFING | Meredith Flynn

New International Mission Board President David Platt said his head was “still kind of spinning” the morning after his Aug. 27 election by IMB trustees. “It’s good, though,” he told IMB global correspondent Erich Bridges. Their interview touched on mobilizing the next generation of missionaries, and the value of traditional Christian institutions in penetrating spiritual lostness.

“That’s the beauty in what God has created, even in the Southern Baptist Convention on a large scale – 40,000-plus churches working together, and the IMB keeping that coalition focused on reaching unreached peoples with the Gospel. The key is [building] strategies and structures and systems that help fuel a movement, that don’t inhibit the movement or cause churches to abdicate their responsibility in mission.”

Chicagoland pastors, planters share ministry challenges with SBC leaders
Frank Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee, was in Chicago last month for two “listening sessions” with leaders where the discussions touched on church size, diversity, church planting, and the challenges of urban ministry. Read the story from the Illinois Baptist here.

Seminary eyes new campus, new name
Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary has signed a purchase agreement for its new campus in southern California, President Jeff Iorg announced in August. The school, currently located in Mill Valley near San Francisco, plans to relocate to the 153,000-sq.-foot building and adjoining property in Ontario, Ca., by June 2016.

Iorg also said the seminary will request that the Southern Baptist Convention approve a new name—Gateway Seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention. “The new name connects to our heritage, frees us from geographic designations, allows for developing a more global identity, and acknowledges our Baptist distinctive.”

Pastors call Driscoll to step down
Nine pastors at Mars Hills Church have called for Pastor Mark Driscoll to step down from ministry for a year in the wake of charges of verbal abuse and ungodly leadership. A 4,000-word letter from the pastors was circulated two days before Driscoll announced he would take a six-week leave of absence while the charges were investigated, Christianity Today reported.

In reponse to the letter, which was leaked online, a newly formed Board of Elders for Mars Hill responded with their own message to Mars Hill members, asking them not to “react in fear or anxiety” or “pronounce judgment before the time.” Read more at ChristianityToday.com.

Barna studies Christians and public schools
New research from Barna found 95% of Protestant pastors believe Christians should be involved in helping public schools, and more than 8-in-10 church-going Christians agree. While 65% of people who regularly volunteer at public schools are church attenders, Barna said, there are some factors holding Christians back. 44% say they don’t have children in public school, 18% don’t think public schools want religious people to help, and 17% are unsure how to help.

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Tuesday News Briefing: Church planters mobilize volunteers to help Ferguson

Meredith Flynn —  August 19, 2014

THE BRIEFING | A group of church planters worked together Aug. 13 to help clean up Ferguson, Mo., a St. Louis suburb rocked by rioting and protests since 18-year-old Michael Brown was killed by Police Officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9.

The_BriefingJoe Costephens pastors The Passage Church on the border of Ferguson and Florissant. “We bring in anywhere between 8 to 15 mission teams every summer to serve the cities of Florissant and Ferguson—putting on block parties and reaching out to the community,” he said. “So when this came up, I called some church planting buddies, and said, ‘Hey we want to bless our city, let’s do a cleanup day.’”

Costephens and other church planters mobilized between 100 and 200 people to pick up trash and clean up looted storefronts. The group also attended a citywide prayer service at First Baptist Church in Ferguson. According to a Baptist Press report, Pastor Stoney Shaw said the interracial prayer service exuded a spirit of reconciliation, with participants recognizing the need to love and understand one another. Read more at BPNews.net.

 

Nigerian cities threatened by terrorist group
A Nigerian relations expert said the crisis precipitated by the Boko Haram terrorist group has reached a “new dimension.” Adeniyi Ojutiku told Baptist Press the group has started using tactics associated with ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria), the militant group responsible for recent persecution of Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq. Boko Haram’s takeover of the town of Gwoza has resulted in nearly 1,000 deaths, rather than the 100 reported by some sources, Ojutiku said.

 

“They attack, they occupy, they hold the town,” he said. “Now that they have started adopting ISIS methodology, they should be receiving the type of treatment that ISIS is receiving.”

 

Read more about the persecuted church in the August 18 issue of the Illinois Baptist, online now.

Pew: In 30 nations, specific religious affiliation is requirement for head of state
Analysis by Pew Research found that 15% of the world’s countries require their head of state to be affiliated with a certain religion. In 17 of those nations, the head of state must be a Muslim, while two countries (Lebanon and Andorra) require the person who holds the post to have a Christian affiliation. Interestingly, Lebanon also requires its prime minister to be a Sunni Muslim.

 

Gay songwriter urges church to rethink views on sexuality
Vicky Beeching, author of popular worship songs like “Glory to God Forever,” told culture writer Jonathan Merritt that “the church needs to become more comfortable with people not being on the same page about everything.” Beeching, who came out as gay in an interview with The Independent Aug. 13, told Merritt, “God loves us unconditionally, so we should aim to model that to those who see things from a different angle, even if that’s really hard to do. I’m trying my best to keep extending that love today to all the conservative Christians who are telling me I am ‘siding with the devil’ because they are still my brothers and sisters in Christ.”

 

Blogger and professor Denny Burk responded to Beeching’s comments, referencing Matthew 12:46-50. “Jesus draws a line between those who are his brothers and sisters and those who are not. The line runs between those who are allied to God’s will and those who are in open defiance against it.”

LifeWay exploring sale of corporate offices
LifeWay Christian Resources is studying the advantages and disadvantages of selling part or all of its property in downtown Nashville, President Thom Rainer told staff in an Aug. 1 letter. Citing demand for property in the area and fewer employees working at the downtown location, Rainer said, “…It would be poor stewardship for the organization not to explore the possibilities this situation could present for our ministry.” About 1,100 employees currently work at LifeWay’s corporate offices, Baptist Press reported. LifeWay spokesman Marty King estimated nearly one-third of the building is vacant or leased.

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Gospel is shared, received at teen’s funeral

Meredith Flynn —  August 5, 2014

THE BRIEFING | Dozens of people came to faith in Christ at the August 2 funeral for 15-year-old Braxton Caner, according to reports on social media.

“Dozens saved today @ Brax’s funeral. We wanted the Gospel given,” tweeted Braxton’s father, Ergun Caner, president of Brewton-Parker College in Georgia. Caner also re-tweeted a photo of his son’s football teammates kneeling and praying after the service for Braxton, whose death was reported July 29 as a suicide.

On July 30, Ergun Caner wrote, “No words. No sermon. No funny quotes. No answers. No note. Nothing but excruciating pain & the assurance that I’ll see him in Glory.” The next day, he posted a photo of himself baptizing then-6-year-old Braxton.

Pastor Rick Warren, who lost his 27-year-old son to suicide last year, was one of many Christian leaders who reached out to Caner and his wife over Twitter. “I am weeping with you @erguncaner and Jill.”

Read The Christian Post’s report here.

Other news:

The_Briefing‘Third way’ church could be removed from fellowship with Baptist association
The executive board of the Los Angeles Southern Baptist Association has recommended that messengers from New Heart Community Church not be seated at the association’s annual meeting in October. Danny Cortez, pastor of the La Mirada congregation, announced earlier this year that he no longer believes same-sex relationships are sinful. The church voted to become a “third way” church that neither condemns nor affirms homosexuality. Read more at BPNews.net.

Missionary doctor recovering from Ebola virus in U.S.
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Aug. 3 that Dr. Kent Brantley is “improving” after contracting the Ebola virus. Brantley, an aid worker in Liberia with Samaritan’s Purse, was flown to Atlanta for treatment Aug. 2. Fellow American Nancy Writebol is expected to join him today. Both doctors contracted the Ebola virus while treating patients in a region where hundreds have died from a recent outbreak. Read more at SamaritansPurse.org.

IMB worker reports on ‘invisible war’ with Ebola
The Southern Baptist International Mission Board says it is monitoring the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, and medical coordinators “have been in touch with Southern Baptist missionaries in the region to keep them informed of the changing situation,” Baptist Press reports. The IMB has personnel in Guinea and Liberia, two of the countries affected by the outbreak.

A Christian worker in Liberia shared her account of what it’s like to live in a country where people are fighting an “invisible” enemy like the virus. Read it at BPNews.net.

Praying for peace in Jerusalem
Southern Baptist Convention leader Roger S. Oldham gives several specific ways to pray for the conflict between Israel and Hamas. “On the political front, the ‘peace of Jerusalem’ seems to be an elusive dream,” Oldham wrote. “But on the spiritual front, those who know the Prince of Peace have learned that peace is a gift the Lord gives (John 14:27).”

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Mom, daughter connect through letters from Haiti

Meredith Flynn —  August 4, 2014
Volunteers from Illinois are serving this week near Port-au-Prince, Haiti. One team member is Alison Howell, whose daughter, Mackenzie, wrote a children's book to raise money to help re-build the country.

Many mission teams from Illinois have served in Haiti since the January 2010 earthquake. This photo was taken during a one-week trip to the country last summer; read stories and see more photos here.


HEARTLAND | Mackenzie Howell was just five years old when she saw a TV program about the massive earthquake that destroyed parts of Haiti in January 2010. The young Texan decided immediately she needed to do something to help.

Mackenzie_Howell_blog

Volunteers from Illinois are serving this week near Port-au-Prince, Haiti. One team member is Alison Howell, whose daughter, Mackenzie, wrote a children’s book to raise money to help re-build the country.

Since then, she’s raised thousands of dollars for re-building efforts in the country through several different enterprises, including a book about a courageous Haitian girl named Leila.

Mackenzie’s projects connected her with IBSA’s Bob Elmore, who facilitates mission trips to Haiti. Mackenzie’s mom is on one of those trips this week, writing letters to her daughter every day from Haiti. Alison Howell hopes to learn more about the country this week, in preparation for when Mackenzie is ready to go herself.

In her first letter Aug. 3, Alison talked about how God sometimes calls people to do hard things.

“Remember last week in Sunday School when we talked about how God asked Paul and Barnabas to do some difficult things, but they always obeyed Him because they knew that they could trust Him. You and I can trust Him too.

“I can trust Him to take care of me in Haiti, and even more importantly to take care of you, brother and Daddy while I’m gone. You can trust Him to give you the courage to do what He is asking you to do too.”

Follow Alison Howell’s mission trip at her blog, “Letters to my daughter from Haiti.”

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More photos from Streator

Meredith Flynn —  July 25, 2014

SUMMER | Check out these great photos from Tim Starner of IBSA’s co-ed missions camp in northern Illinois.

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The SBC’s big event (It’s not what you think.)

Meredith Flynn —  June 23, 2014

Nate_Adams_blog_callout_JuneHEARTLAND | Nate Adams

One big event that pulls many of us together each June is the annual Southern Baptist Convention. This year’s gathering in Baltimore was filled with inspirational music, messages and reports. But at its core, the annual SBC is a business meeting where messengers from autonomous churches gather to affirm or determine how they will cooperate.

Those messengers elect board and committee members. They agree on how to invest shared resources in missions and ministry. And they declare to one another and to many onlookers the biblical truths on which they will continue to stand.

It’s a big event with big consequences. But the reality is that there are relatively few messengers at the annual meeting compared to the number of churches and church members that cooperate as the Southern Baptist Convention. Most of us trust a few of us to determine which leaders, strategies, and priorities should direct the resources that we all have shared.

That’s why I would argue that the real big event for Southern Baptists does not take place in a convention center, or in a single city, or even on the same day. The real big event that determines at least the financial strength of our Great Commission cooperation happens in multiple locations at multiple times. It’s called the local church business meeting. That is where each church determines the percentage of its budget that will go through the Cooperative Program to support Southern Baptist missions and ministries. And that is the “big event” that really determines the degree to which we will cooperate in fulfilling our shared, Great Commission purpose.

For more than 20 years now, the percentage given by all SBC churches through the Cooperative Program as a percentage of undesignated giving has ever so slowly declined. It’s only been a fraction of a percent each year. But over time, national CP giving as a percentage of churches’ undesignated giving has declined to 5.4%, when it used to be almost 11%.

Here in Illinois, our churches are doing a little better than the national average. IBSA churches’ CP giving is about 7% of their undesignated gifts. But that is still well below the level being given 20 years ago.

There are some indications, however, that the trend in CP giving may be on the verge of a reversal. Annual Church Profile data for 2013 was recently released, revealing a second consecutive year of uptick rather than decline in national CP giving. The “One Percent Challenge” that Dr. Frank Page has been championing for 2-3 years now appears to be gaining traction, and numerous churches are accepting that challenge to intentionally increase the percentage of their CP giving.

Other churches are starting to give a percentage of their offerings, rather than a flat amount. It’s only two years, but it’s enough to encourage optimism that churches may be recapturing their vision for the power and effectiveness of cooperative missions giving.

So whether you were able to attend the big event of the Southern Baptist Convention this year or not, I hope you will consider attending the big event of your church’s business meetings, especially the one where the annual budget is discussed. Challenge your church to be one that’s helping reverse the trend by increasing your commitment to SBC missions and ministries through the Cooperative Program.

The Big Event of all history, of course, will be that day when Jesus returns and our Great Commission task as His church draws to a close. All our churches’ big events should anticipate and point to that one. And our churches’ business meetings are a good place to start, because that’s where we can choose priorities that demonstrate we believe He’s coming back soon.

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

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Where there’s a will

Meredith Flynn —  May 23, 2014

Nate_AdamsCOMMENTARY | Nate Adams

Just a few days ago, my wife, Beth, and I finally got around to doing something we had promised ourselves we would do for years. We updated our wills.

It’s only the second time in our married life that we have drawn up wills, and this time around it was quite different. For one thing, our young adult sons are now old enough to play significant, legal roles in matters such as our future healthcare decisions and finances. Frankly, it felt a little sobering this time around to assign those responsibilities to our children rather than our parents.

We also discovered that the people and causes to which we wish to entrust our earthly possessions at life’s end have, at least in some cases, evolved. Our confidence in the effectiveness of some ministries has increased, while in others it has decreased. Even within the ministries we have always planned to support with our estate, we now have more specific causes we want to empower.

But by far the biggest difference in updating our estate plan this time around was in the help we had doing it. This time we had a wonderful tool from the Baptist Foundation of Illinois called the “Life Stewardship Navigator.” And we had the expert help of our friend and BFI Executive Director Doug Morrow.

The Life Stewardship Navigator is simply a do-ityourself document that walks you through the different types of assets and decisions you need to consider as you form your estate plan. It helped us pull together our records and documents, and talk through key decisions we needed to make as a couple.

With that information in hand, we were ready to sit down with Doug and discuss the best ways to both
take care of our family and invest in Christian causes well beyond our lifetimes. Doug called it “taking
care of both the kids and the Kingdom.”

With Doug’s office here in Springfield where we live, having that conversation with him personally was easiest for us. But the Foundation also has qualified attorneys all over the state who make it relatively
easy for any Illinois Baptist to have that same helpful conversation.

Frankly, the hardest part of the entire process was not filling out the Life Stewardship Navigator, or
walking through the paperwork with Doug. The hardest part was simply sitting down as a couple and
making some of the biggest decisions of our lives about our life stewardship as disciples of Jesus
Christ.

Though we are lifelong tithers and seek to be generous with Kingdom causes beyond our tithe, we realized during this process that our estate plan would far exceed even our lifetimes of weekly giving
through our church. What we chose to do with the accumulated wealth of our lives, however large or
small that might be, would be our largest single opportunity ever to contribute financially to God’s
Kingdom on earth. So prayerfully, thoughtfully, we wrote out a plan that will care for our family, and that will support ministries that advance the Gospel and support Baptist churches and ministries, especially here in our Illinois mission field.

I realize now that the day I sat down with my spouse to outline our estate plan was, in effect, my own personal Memorial Day. It was the day I was able to intentionally choose the values that I want to
memorialize my life, and to stand the tests of time and eternity.

I know that my life is about far more than my material possessions. But I also know that where my
treasure is, there my heart is also. So I chose to communicate to God that the biggest giving opportunity of my life places His Kingdom as the top priority. We can all do that. After all, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

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

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God’s call is not a destination

Meredith Flynn —  April 28, 2014

Erich_Bridges_blog_calloutHEARTLAND | Erich Bridges

She wants desperately to return to the hurting people she loves.

Laura Miles* is a missionary on hold. At least, she sometimes feels that way.

Miles spent two terms overseas with her husband, in places where the people she served are experiencing hard times and the threat of worse. It tears her up inside to watch from a distance their suffering. But for now she’s back home, where she and her husband minister to young adults in a local church.

“We really felt like it was a lifetime calling,” Miles said of the first stint abroad. “We went over and just loved the people, loved the ministry. We have a definite heart for Muslims. We felt like we really connected, but about halfway through the Lord was telling us we needed to go back and [prepare] for long-term career ministry.”

They thought God would lead them back to the same place, “but it wasn’t long after leaving that we felt that door kind of shut,” Miles said. “We prayed and prayed. We were very impatient with the Lord. We wanted to know where and what was next. We realized we weren’t trusting in Him, so we committed to resting in serving where we were until He revealed the next location.”

When the time was right, they went to a different country and ministered there for three years. “We left everything, sold everything, and we thought it was going to be long-term,” she recalled.

Once again, however, they sensed the Lord drawing them home — this time to reach out to American millennials searching for God’s purpose for their lives. Young women who look to Miles for guidance and inspiration confirm that she’s doing a pretty good job.

Still, a hurting, darkness-enveloped world calls to her.

“Honestly, my heart is on the field somewhere,” she admitted. “So I’m trying to seek out, ‘Lord, who do You want me to be right now while I’m here? Whenever You want to send me back somewhere, I’m ready.’ But until then, it’s about trying to be faithful where you’re at, with whom you’re given.”

The missionary call of God is as clear as glass. He called Abraham to leave his home for a place yet to be revealed (Genesis 12). Abraham obeyed, setting in motion a divine plan that would bless all nations. Jesus called His followers to make disciples among all peoples (Matthew 28:19-20), a command to His church that still stands. The New Testament refers 195 times to a “calling.”

But God’s specific calling to individuals is more mysterious. It arrives in His time, not ours. It might be dramatic or quiet. It might come gradually or in a single, powerful moment. It is personal, tailored to one’s gifts and experiences. It might involve traditional avenues of mission service, or using your professional skills to share the Gospel in the secular marketplace.

“God’s call involves a personal response to the witness of the Holy Spirit within us,” according to “Exploring your Personal Call,” an IMB document shared with potential missionary candidates. “In this sense, the call of God is inward, personal and even secret. People accurately say, ‘God has laid this on my heart.’ There is a sense of ‘oughtness’ or divine compulsion toward a task or occupation. This kind of conviction led Isaiah to utter [in Isaiah 6:8] the memorable words, ‘Here am I. Send me!'”

“This inward call can come in a variety of ways: through reading Scripture, through concentrated prayer, through special events or a special person, or through life’s experiences,” the IMB document reads. “However this personal call comes, it must be followed by a commitment to do that which God intends.”

Obedience, then, is the key. God calls us first to Him, not to a place or a people. Location comes later, and it may change. Abraham didn’t know where he was going; he only knew the One who was calling.

“No one, in other words, has a call to a particular place,” writes author and speaker Joan Chittister. “The call of God is to the will of God.”

Day by day, Laura Miles is learning that truth. What about you?

*Name changed. Erich Bridges is an International Mission Board global correspondent. He blogs at Worldview Conversation.

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The Briefing: Christians urged to pray for Hobby Lobby

Meredith Flynn —  March 25, 2014

Hobby_Lobby_prayerTHE BRIEFING | Meredith Flynn

The Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission is calling Christians to pray for Hobby Lobby as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments this week in the government’s case against the craft retailer and another company, Conestoga Wood Specialties Corporation.

At issue is the businesses’ refusal to cover abortion-inducing drugs for its employees, a measure required of for-profit companies by the Obama administration’s healthcare plan.

“This case will set the tone for the next hundred years of church/state jurisprudence in this country,” ERLC President Russell Moore wrote in a blog post March 23.
“One of the reasons we oppose this sort of incursion into free exercise is that we want neither to be oppressed nor to oppress others,” Moore wrote. “We do not ask the government to bless our doctrinal convictions, or to impose them on others. We simply ask the government not to set itself up as lord of our consciences.”
The ERLC has created a “Pray for Hobby Lobby” avatar for use on social media, and is asking Twitter users to post with the hashtag #PrayForHobbyLobby. Read the ERLC’s news release about the Hobby Lobby case here.
Other news:
Southern Baptist Convention First VP candidate named
North Carolina pastor Clint Pressley will be nominated for the office of first vice president at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting this June in Baltimore. Pressley pastors Charlotte’s Hickory Grove Baptist Church and currently is vice president of the SBC Pastor’s Conference.

“I love the Southern Baptist Convention,” Pressley told North Carolina’s Bibilical Recorder newspaper. “I’m thankful for the work of NAMB and IMB, and I want to keep supporting the convention. I want to see more younger guys getting excited about the work of our convention and how we do missions – whether it’s in North America or around the world.” Read the full story at BPNews.net.

Westboro pastor Fred Phelps dies
Fred Phelps, whose Kansas church made headlines for years with their incendiary protests, died March 19. LifeWay’s Ed Stetzer suggests how Christians should respond to Phelps’ death, including taking the opportunity for some self-examination.

“Let’s be careful to avoid our own self-deception,” Stetzer wrote on his blog, The Exchange. “The Phelps family, and the Westboro clan they started, are full of people that need Jesus. Let’s not get Pharisaical here – the Phelps family and the people they lead in worship of a false god are sinners, but so are we. The people who spew the hateful words of Phelps’s hateful god need the love of Jesus just like you and me. Pray for them to find peace in Jesus and love as he has loved.”

Former Haitian prisoner tells his storyA Baptist volunteer recounts his experience in a Haitian jail four years ago in this story on BPNews.net. “They were difficult and perplexing and complex days, but God ordained them,” Paul Thompson, pastor of Eastside Baptist Church in Twin Falls, Idaho, told BP. In 2010, he and nine other Baptist volunteers were detained and charged with kidnapping after trying to move children to safety in post-earthquake Haiti.

Barna: Who’s watching what at the movies
Sequels were big in 2013, according to data compiled by Barna Research, although the average American only saw 3.3 movies at the theater. The study also found 11% of people saw a movie in the last two years that made them think seriously about religion or spirituality. Read more at Barna.org.

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An old song made new again

Meredith Flynn —  March 24, 2014

Baptist_hymnalHEARTLAND | Nate Adams

Our youngest son, Ethan, recently mentioned to his mom and me that he had heard a couple of great new Christian songs he really liked. We asked what they were, hoping that we had been listening to enough Christian radio to perhaps recognize them.

Imagine our surprise when the songs he named were 100-year-old hymns.
We couldn’t help but show our disbelief. “Have you never heard those hymns before?” we asked. “Have you not been in churches that sang either of those?”

Perhaps he had, we decided, but apparently not often, or not at a time that he remembered. As we then reviewed the churches our family attended since Ethan was born, we realized that each of those churches had a contemporary worship style, or at least a blend of contemporary music and hymns. Therefore, hymns that I know by heart, sometimes even by page number, have become almost lost treasures to my son.

Music is just one example of the things in church life that sometimes need to change or evolve over time in order to stay relevant to new generations. But as my son’s new love for old hymns illustrates, sometimes we let treasures that have lasting value slip away simply because we have not properly maintained them, or passed them along effectively.

Nate_Adams_blog_callout_4Cooperative missions giving is one of those time-proven treasures that I fear we risk losing in the next generation if we do not more intentionally teach its value and practice its power. As with hymns, we may be assuming that what we have known so well by heart will always be with us, even if we’re not rehearsing it regularly with new church leaders and members.

That’s one reason many Southern Baptist churches set aside one special Sunday in April to inform and educate their church members on the incredible, week-after-week power of our ongoing missions support system known as the Cooperative Program. This year the national Cooperative Program promotion Sunday is April 13, but since that happens to fall on Palm Sunday, many churches may choose another nearby date for this emphasis.

Whether it’s April 13 or some other time, intentionally educating everyone in the church about Cooperative Program missions is extremely important. Church members need to understand that the Cooperative Program portion of their church budget provides
foundational support for thousands of faithful Baptist missionaries, throughout North America and around the world. They need to know that hundreds of people groups in more than 150 countries are receiving the Gospel through these missionaries, and that thousands of new churches are being planted as a result. Right here in North America, more than 900 new churches are being established each year, and coordinated ministries such as Disaster Relief help place thousands of Southern Baptist volunteers and chaplains right in the middle of people’s deepest physical and spiritual needs.

Cooperative Program giving helps make theological training at six world-class seminaries affordable for tomorrow’s pastors, church staff, and missionaries. And it gives us an important voice in the culture through the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and the SBC Executive Committee. Right here in Illinois, CP helps train more than 23,000 leaders each year, and start 25 new churches.

There are lots of good resources at http://www.IBSA.org/CP and http://www.sbc.net to help church members understand how the CP works, and, more importantly, how many lives are being transformed through it as the Great Commission is advanced. There are short videos to use in worship services or small groups, and well-designed print pieces ranging from bulletin inserts to multiple-page articles.

Many of us may assume that, like a treasured hymn, the Cooperative Program will always be there, always fueling the most effective and far-reaching missionary system in history. But that will only happen if we consistently and continually teach new
generations of church leaders to carry the tune.

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

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