“Wake up!” That is the cry of the latest Southern Baptist Convention statistics released from LifeWay Research. NASHVILLE – “Wake up!” That is the cry of the latest Southern Baptist Convention statistics released from LifeWay Research. In 2007, baptisms in the denomination’s 44,696 churches declined to the lowest level since 1987. Since this is the third straight year of decline in baptisms and since baptisms declined in seven of the last eight years, this is not new news. What is new is a decline in membership in SBC churches. The 2007 statistics show total SBC church membership to be 16,266,920 – a decline of .24 percent from the 2006 figure of 16,306,246. The last recorded decline in SBC church membership was in 1998. Before that it was 1926. The SBC has long been one of the few Protestant denominations that could claim nearly constant growth over its history (see chart). Blip or Trend? Is the decline a blip or a new trend? It may be a one- time blip, like the 1998 decline. An “integrity in membership resolution” encouraging SBC churches to be more realistic and honest in their statistical reporting failed at the 2007 Southern Baptist Convention. However, some churches may be following the suggestion of the … [Read more...]

Vacation Bible School is huge. How huge? Almost 1 in 16 children ages 5-12 in America was enrolled in a Southern Baptist VBS, according to figures from 2006.  NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) – Vacation Bible School is huge. How huge? Almost 1 in 16 children ages 5-12 in America was enrolled in a Southern Baptist VBS, according to figures from 2006. “The evangelism potential for VBS is unbelievable,” said Ken Marler, network partnership specialist with LifeWay Christian Resources, who led a session on the importance of VBS follow-up during the VBS Preview Jan. 31-Feb. 2 at LifeWay’s offices in Nashville, Tenn. Vacation Bible School is a ministry of the Southern Baptist Convention entity. “We enrolled more than 2.9 million people in VBS [in 2006] and about 2 million of those were ages 5-12,” Marler said. “When you realize that there are 32 million children in America who are between ages 5-12, it’s staggering to think about 1 in 16 children in that age group was enrolled in a LifeWay VBS in a Southern Baptist church.” Such numbers require VBS leaders to take responsibility for keeping up with the kids after the week’s VBS. Marler offered these suggestions: -1. Set goals. Plan to follow up. First, decide quickly to make … [Read more...]

Does living together before marriage increase the chances for a successful marriage? The answer may surprise some.  WASHINGTON (BP) – Does living together before marriage increase the chances for a successful marriage? The answer may surprise some. Between 50 and 60 percent of all marriages begin with the two partners cohabitating, and many of those couples no doubt believe they are making a wise move up front. But living together before marriage actually increases the chances of divorce in a first marriage – 67 percent of cohabitating couples who marry eventually divorce, compared to 45 percent of all first marriages. That and other myth-busting facts form the core of a new book by Mike and Harriet McManus, “Living Together: Myths, Risks & Answers” (Howard Books), with a foreword by Chuck Colson. Co-founders of the organization Marriage Savers, the couple have invested much of their lives trying to help strengthen marriages and push down the divorce rate. The biblical warnings against cohabitation, the book says, are affirmed by statistics showing it’s a bad idea. “Men and woman cohabitate for different reasons,” Mike McManus said in a conference call discussing the book. “Women see it as a step toward … [Read more...]

A new iLiveValues.com initiative of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is calling Baptists and other evangelicals to apply their faith-informed convictions in all areas of life, not just at the ballot box. NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) – A new iLiveValues.com initiative of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is calling Baptists and other evangelicals to apply their faith-informed convictions in all areas of life, not just at the ballot box. So with another presidential election on the horizon, the ERLC has retooled its iVoteValues.com website as part of the new iLiveValues.com effort. iVoteValues.com still has features that made it popular with voters in 2004 and 2006, ERLC President Richard Land said, while noting the site has expanded to include interactive features. Launched in 2004, iVoteValues.com energized people of faith to fulfill their civic duty, prompting thousands to register to vote -- some for the first time -- and hundreds of thousands, as Land put it, to connect “one’s personal values, beliefs and convictions with their decisions on which candidates to support.” Citing the ERLC’s ongoing emphasis on active and principled civic involvement by Christians, … [Read more...]

The inmate, seeing a visitor’s Southern Baptist nametag, said, “Thank you, thank you, please tell Southern Baptists thank you.  ANGOLA, La. (BP) – The inmate, seeing a visitor’s Southern Baptist nametag, said, “Thank you, thank you, please tell Southern Baptists thank you. “When I see the hands of men raised in worship, I know these are the same hands that held a rape victim, the same hands that held stolen goods, the same hands that held the murderous gun,” the inmate continued. “Now these are empty hands – holy hands lifted in praise to God. We could not experience that miracle of hope without the Southern Baptist seminary in New Orleans. Thank you,” said the inmate, a 2005 graduate of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary’s course of study at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. The occasion was a Pastor’s Appreciation Day at Angola. More than 400 pastors from across the state gathered at the infamous penitentiary where inmates, chaplains and administrators expressed appreciation for churches and individual Christians who have been used of God to help facilitate a spiritual transformation at Angola. Babby Mason, a recording artist from Atlanta, and Jim Cymbala, senior pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle in … [Read more...]

It’s been 105 years since the hospital on Third and Scott opened its doors for business. ALEXANDRIA – It’s been 105 years since the hospital on Third and Scott opened its doors for business. It’s been 90 years since it was donated to the Louisiana Baptist Convention, 38 years since the LBC released the hospital back to its trustees, and 37 years ago its name was changed to Rapides General Hospital. For many, though, this medical landmark will forever be known as the Baptist Hospital in Alexandria. On May 13, Rapides Regional Medical Center will begin a new chapter in its storied history when it unveils a $50 million, 138,000-square-foot expansion to the public. It is bigger, better, and more technologically advanced than anything those six physicians who started it could have ever imagined. It will feature a state-of-the-art emergency room and ICU, 72 new patient beds, dialysis center, medical library and art gallery. And with the new addition, which sits on the site of the old parking lot, the medical complex encompasses 21 blocks of downtown Alexandria. Of the many who will come to marvel at this impressive complex will be 87-year-old Mike Bozeman, M.D., who still refers to the facility as the old Baptist … [Read more...]

Louisiana’s governor known as “Bobby” Jindal was able to separate church and state when he came to Winnfield one recent Sunday, delivering a powerful message through his personal testimony at the First Baptist Church morning service and another to stay in touch with local business, industrial and elected leaders at a lunch that followed at the Sheriff’s Office shooting range. WINNFIELD – Louisiana’s governor known as “Bobby” Jindal was able to separate church and state when he came to Winnfield one recent Sunday, delivering a powerful message through his personal testimony at the First Baptist Church morning service and another to stay in touch with local business, industrial and elected leaders at a lunch that followed at the Sheriff’s Office shooting range. First Winnfield was one of several visits the governor is making to churches across the state. Deliberately downplaying his attendance, he requests that churches do not announce his upcoming visit to the local news media, but only to the congregation – and they also are asked to not spread the word, to ensure the Sunday morning service maintain its sense of being a time of worship rather than a media circus, the governor’s staff explained. Gov. Jindal encouraged the … [Read more...]

From the Arkansas border to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the Mississippi border to the Texas state line, Southern Baptists in Louisiana are “at work in the fields of the Lord.” STATEWIDE – From the Arkansas border to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the Mississippi border to the Texas state line, Southern Baptists in Louisiana are “at work in the fields of the Lord.” Churches are reaching out in their communities and around the world, as are associations and, for that matter, the Louisiana Baptist Convention. New opportunities for service continually emerge and at the same time, several ongoing needs require attention. “I believe across Louisiana we are seeing the Spirit of God move in unusual ways,” said LBC Executive Director David Hankins at the spring meeting of LBC’s executive board. Hankins included Jena in his remarks – noting that God has opened the door there for responsive action from the people of God – as well as New Orleans and the I-20 corridor. “We are to be conveyors of well-being,” Hankins said. “Every person we meet is a potential recipient of the peace of God.” In Louisiana, “conveyors” come in a variety of guises. Bill McCullin, who lives in Pineville and works at a fitness center, buys … [Read more...]

You can’t tell a thing from the road. It looks like just one more house on Hickory Grove Road in Holloway, just off Highway 28, east of Pineville. HOLLOWAY – You can’t tell a thing from the road. It looks like just one more house on Hickory Grove Road in Holloway, just off Highway 28, east of Pineville.  You can’t really tell anything as you drive closer. But drive on around the house to where the backyard ought to be and that’s when you realize there’s something special going on. The 12 acres that used to be cropland have been transformed.   It’s part RV park – with spots for 219 units – and part outdoor music stage with a covered performance area that can seat hundreds.  It’s called the Hickory Grove Music Park and it’s all about bluegrass music. “Bluegrass is a style of acoustic music that originated in the 1940s when Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs combined elements of country/western, gospel and blues music with the British, Irish, and Scottish music of their Appalachian mountain heritage,” explains Elizabeth Burkett on an internet site about the musical genre. “It is played most commonly on the mandolin, fiddle, five-string banjo, six-string guitar, and upright bass, but the resonator guitar … [Read more...]

How did it happen that Louisiana’s Gov. Bobby Jindal spoke recently at a Sunday morning worship service at First Baptist Church in Winnfield, as well as many other churches across the state? WINNFIELD – How did it happen that Louisiana’s Gov. Bobby Jindal spoke recently at a Sunday morning worship service at First Baptist Church in Winnfield, as well as many other churches across the state? Rev. Jerold McBride, pastor of First Winnfield, explained that he received a call from the governor’s assistant who said that the governor wished to worship at the Winnfield church and would welcome the opportunity to share his faith. “I replied we’d be thrilled,” McBride said. “The governor will use the time the normal sermon would be. That will be tremendous because we’re starting the Winn for Jesus Crusade and to kick it off, the governor of the whole state will be here, sharing his experience of coming to know Christ as his savior.” The First Winnfield pastor said he first heard Jindal’s testimony during a governor’s prayer breakfast last November with about 1,200 other participants.  He said that during the last interview of the recent campaign, he was asked about the single most important event in his life, McBride … [Read more...]