From prison cell to pulpit: Louisiana Baptist pastor named ‘Replanter of the Year’
MARRERO, La. (BP) – When Troy Gause sat in the small, one-person suicide watch cell – with no windows or light from the outside world – at Plaquemines Parish Detention Center, he never could have imagined one day being a pastor of a thriving church.
Collegiate Week equips, mobilizes Southern Baptist college students
DAVIS, Okla. (BP) – For more than 1,700 college students and collegiate ministry leaders, last week marked a launching point for a school year full of Gospel conversations and ministry on campuses throughout North America and the world.
Law-enforcement chaplains needed on the front lines
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (BP)—As the police car headed out of an apartment complex and toward Main Street of a small Tennessee town, Pastor Michael Koontz looked out the window at the Halloween decorations in a small house on the corner.
NAMB luncheon encourages ‘normative-sized’ churches in their mission
INDIANAPOLIS (BP) —Though the title of the luncheon was the NAMB Small Church Pastors’ Luncheon, Mark Clifton called it a misnomer.
Messengers vote to refer sexual abuse reform priorities to SBC Executive Committee
INDIANAPOLIS (BP) – On Tuesday afternoon, June 11, messengers to the 2024 Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis overwhelmingly approved two recommendations brought forward by the SBC Abuse Reform and Implementation Task Force (ARITF).
Mac Lake encourages slow, intentional leadership development at SBCAL
INDIANAPOLIS (BP) – Southern Baptist associational leaders concluded their two-day annual conference on Monday (June 10) with a roundtable discussion from experienced peers and a plenary session led by Mac Lake, CEO of the Multiply Group.
More than 30 respond to the Gospel during Crossover Student Rally
CARMEL, Ind. (BP) – When Jared Barham brought students from his Indianapolis church to the first-ever Crossover Student Rally at Harvest Church in Carmel, Ind., he had big hopes. The associate pastor of youth at Northside Baptist Church in Indianapolis hoped they’d hear the Gospel from a different voice and learn about how to share it with their friends.
Sex abuse task force releases report, recommendations
NASHVILLE (BP) – On Tuesday (June 4) Southern Baptists’ Abuse Reform and Implementation Task Force (ARITF) released its final report and recommendations ahead of the 2024 SBC Annual Meeting in Indianapolis. The recommendations highlight the release of a new curriculum designed to help local churches of all sizes “establish or evaluate their abuse prevention and response plan.”
Memorial Day: Veteran reflects on sacrifices of fellow soldiers
TAMPA, Fla. (BP) – Chief Warrant Officer Anthony “Tony” Prescott can’t forget the evening of August 7, 2015. At 10:15 p.m., when a Taliban suicide bomber breached the gate of Camp Integrity, a small coalition base near Kabul, Afghanistan, Prescott was among the first on the scene.
NAMB training helps churches develop evangelistic culture
NAPLES, Florida (BP) – When Pastor Chris Butler took the helm at North Naples Baptist Church in 2016, he inherited a congregation on the brink of closure, dwindled to just 40 members. Just two weeks into his pastoral tenure, multiple outside ministries came to him and asked whether the church was selling its building.