Barbara Denman/Florida Baptist Convention

BARTOW, Fla. (BP) – The scorched remains of the sanctuary, buckled roof and blackened pews serve as a backdrop for the sign outside of Main Street Baptist Church in Bartow that reads, “God is Still God and God is Still Good.”

OCALA, Fla. (BP) - Enseñar inglés como segundo idioma es algo personal para Natalie Prim, residente de Ocala. Su padre era un inmigrante que llegó a Estados Unidos a fines de la década de 1940 y se casó con su madre estadounidense. La hija observó mientras él trabajaba durante el día para mantener a su familia y luego pasaba horas por la noche aprendiendo a leer y escribir en inglés. Sus luchas fueron reales, pero también lo fueron las recompensas cuando terminó la escuela preparatoria, la universidad y comenzó un negocio.

OCALA –Teaching others English as a second language is personal to Natalie Prim of Ocala. Her father was an immigrant who came to America in the late 1940’s and married her American mother. The daughter watched as he worked during the day to support his family and then spent hours at night learning to read and write English. His struggles were real, but so were the rewards as he finished high school, college and started a business.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP) – Rather than a message of retreat, the State Board of Missions heard how the Florida Baptist Convention and its churches are moving forward, celebrating new opportunities to seize God’s blessings in the midst of a pandemic.

CLEARWATER, Fla. (BP) -- Messengers attending the 2016 Florida Baptist State Convention elected Brandon pastor Stephen Rummage as president and approved a $30 million Cooperative Program budget for 2017 that continues to send 51 percent to the Southern Baptist Convention while retaining 49 percent for missions and ministries in the state. The meeting, held Nov. 14-15 at Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater, focused on the theme: "Gathering to Exhort, Stir Up and Send Out."

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. (BP) -- When David Hughes was called as pastor of Church by the Glades in 1998, 470 was the average weekly attendance. Now nearly 18 years later in just one weekend, the Florida church stirred the baptismal waters with 470 new believers in Christ. The correlation of numbers was "catalytic," Hughes said. "It was very organic. It was one of these 'trust God moments and see God at work.'" Leading the baptismal candidates was a child, as Hughes baptized his 7-year-old son Zane, ...

SARASOTA, Fla. (BP) -- Wearing bright blue T-shirts proclaiming "I love Sarasota," nearly 500 members of Sarasota Baptist Church -- from children to octogenarians -- fanned out across the area to show the love of Christ during the first week of February. "We challenged our people to take a one-week mission trip to Sarasota," pastor Mike Landry said. "We are on mission to our community, and to just love on our city."

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP) -- The Florida Baptist Convention sent an additional $500,000 in Cooperative Program funds to the Southern Baptist Convention Jan. 25. The funds represented 51 percent of the $970,924 in budget overages from Florida Baptist churches to the state convention's 2015 budget of $28.8 million. "What a tremendous blessing from God for Florida Baptists to express our commitment to the Great Commission in our work together as Southern Baptists through this budget ...

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (BP) -- Messengers to the Florida Baptist State Convention approved a 2016 Cooperative Program budget of $29 million that will send 51 percent to the Southern Baptist Convention and retain 49 percent for missions and ministries in the state.  "This epic, pacesetting decision will set a precedent in the Southern Baptist Convention," said Michael Tatem, president of ...

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (BP) -- Sitting beside South Carolina's swift-flowing Edisto River, Joyce Grooms watched as Florida Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers dumped all of her ruined earthly belongings from her flood-damaged home.  Although she had lived on her scenic piece of riverfront property all of her life, Grooms, 81,  saw nearly four decades of life in her own home lost to floodwater. Memories flooded back.