Baptist

PHOENIX (RNS) Faced with continuing declines in membership and baptisms, Southern Baptist Convention President Steve Gaines implored delegates to the denomination's yearly meeting to turn to God and put their emphasis on evangelism.

“I want to encourage you to be a soul-winner. I want to encourage you to be evangelistic,” said Gaines, who plans to appoint a task force for more effective personal evangelism.

This year's Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting will be held in Arizona at the Phoenix Convention Center, June 13-14. The theme for 2017 is "Pray! For such a time as this." The meeting will open Tuesaday morning and conclude Wesdanesday afternoon.

NASHVILLE (BP) -- While Southern Baptists experienced growth in the number of churches that cooperate with the SBC in 2016, other key measures declined for the year, including membership, baptisms, average worship attendance and total giving, according to the ACP compiled by LifeWay Christian Resources in cooperation with Baptist state conventions.

Wendell Griffen recently made headlines as some state politicians seek to remove him from the bench. Griffen serves as pastor of New Millennium Church (a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship congregation in Little Rock, Ark.) and as a Pulaski County circuit judge.

Record Midwest flooding in late April and early May damaged multiple Baptist churches — while even more Baptist churches became key centers of aid for their flooded communities. At least eight Baptist churches in Missouri and two in Arkansas were flooded, along with an Arkansas Baptist campground.

In January, Republican Mike Parson took the oath of office as Missouri’s 47^th Lieutenant Governor. A member of First Baptist Church in Bolivar, Mo., his ascension makes him the highest-serving Baptist in Missouri’s government. Word&Way Editor Brian Kaylor sat down with Parson for an interview in the Lieutenant Governor’s office in the Capitol.

A decade ago, the Missouri Baptist Convention sought to remove moderate churches by adopting a policy requiring single alignment with the MBC and Southern Baptist Convention. Now MBC leaders appear to be violating those rules while accepting fundamentalist churches into membership.

Paul Msiza, a South African pastor serving as president of the Baptist World Alliance for 2015-2020, traveled to Jefferson City, Mo., in March. During his visit, he stopped by the Word&Way offices for an interview with Editor Brian Kaylor.

Last November, faculty and students at William Jewell College and Second Baptist Church in Liberty, Mo., made a commitment to “Get Stronger” by strengthening their global presence. Through this collaborative effort, they realized a need in Thailand and Myanmar to aid immigrants and refugees in southeast Asia. In January, five members of Second Baptist and two William Jewell students traveled to Thailand to take the next step.

In February, B&H Academic — a division of the Southern Baptist Convention’s publishing house — released the first in a 12-volume set of “The Lost Sermons of C. H. Spurgeon.” The books are edited by Christian George, who found the sermons a few years ago. George serves as curator of The Spurgeon Library and assistant professor of historical theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri.