By Staff, Baptist Message BATON ROUGE/WEST MONROE – Two cities in Louisiana are among four across the nation in October to bring a fresh focus on East Asia. Louisiana Baptists across the state are invited to participate in one or both of the identical day-long conferences on how to impact East Asian Peoples with the Gospel: Oct. 18 at Zoar Baptist Church in Baton Rouge; Oct. 20 at First Baptist Church in West Monroe. “Worldwide there are 1.6 billion East Asian people, 1.3 billion of whom are still unreached with the Gospel,” said an East Asia worker with the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board. “IMB’s East Asian Peoples Affinity Group will be conducting two EA1Day gatherings in Louisiana for individuals and churches that desire to see those numbers change. “Special emphasis will be on how to impact China’s western cities, Japan’s unreached millions, Tibetans, Hui and Mongolians for Christ,” the IMB representative said. The event, to start at 9 a.m. and conclude by 4 p.m. are to include four workshops: n The unfinished task n Barriers and bridges to the Gospel n Engaging mega cities n Embracing … [Read more...]
Wright announces special task force to study possible SBC name chance
By Staff, Baptist Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) – Southern Baptist Convention President Bryant Wright has announced the appointment of a presidential task force to study the prospect of changing the 166-year-old convention’s name.[img_assist|nid=7641|title=Bryant Wright|desc=Southern Baptist Convention President Bryant Wright announced the appointment of a presidential task force to study the prospect of changing the 166-year-old convention’s name.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=482] Wright, who was re-elected to a second one-year term during the SBC annual meeting in Phoenix this past June, said he believes the study will be helpful for two main reasons. “First, the convention’s name is so regional,” he said. “With our focus on church planting, it is challenging in many parts of the country to lead churches to want to be part of a convention with such a regional name. Second, a name change could position us to maximize our effectiveness in reaching North America for Jesus Christ in the 21st century.” Wright announced the task force during the opening session of the SBC Executive Committee’s Sept. 19-20 meeting in Nashville, Tenn. Wright said Jimmy Draper, … [Read more...]
EMBRACE: ‘UUPG’ training gears up; IMB will hold 3 more conferences
By Don Graham, Baptist Press MARIETTA, Ga. (BP) – It’s a problem many pastors wish they had.[img_assist|nid=7643|title=EMBRACE|desc=Nearly 500 representatives from churches across the United States gathered at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, Ga., Sept. 7 for the International Mission Board’s Embrace equipping conference.|link=none|align=right|width=640|height=427] About a year ago Chris Roberts started Bridge Community Church in Blackshear, Ga., with just 36 people. The congregation has since swelled to an average of 280 in Sunday morning worship. The rapid growth has sent Roberts scrambling to lay groundwork for what he hopes will become one of Bridge Community’s hallmarks – missions. “We already have a heart to connect with an unreached people group,” Roberts said, explaining that his church has the passion but not the know-how. That’s what brought him to the International Mission Board’s first Embrace equipping conference Sept. 7 in Marietta, Ga. Roberts was one of nearly 500 pastors and church leaders who packed the Atlanta-area Johnson Ferry Baptist Church for the all-day event, a starting point for churches willing to explore the challenge of taking the Gospel to … [Read more...]