Thursday, June 25, 2020

• FIRST-PERSON: Is 2020 America's Babel?

  by Ryan Smith, posted Thursday, June 25, 2020 (3 years ago)

  

  Despite our advancements and opportunities, this year has shown us that we are still plagued by the same elementary sins that bared their teeth in Eden, Ryan Smith says. Read More

• California Southern Baptist Convention signs purchase agreement for Jenness Park

  by Terry Barone, posted Thursday, June 25, 2020 (3 years ago)

  

  Submitted photo

  FRESNO, Calif. (BP) -- The California Southern Baptist Convention (CSBC) signed a purchase agreement June 16 to sell Jenness Park Christian Camp to Gracepoint Fellowship Church of Berkeley for $1.5 million. The agreement is scheduled to close June 30.

  The sale was predicated on a CSBC Executive Board action in mid-May to sell the camp because of deficit spending, some $2 million in the past seven years, and a 2020 camping season devoid of revenue because of the coronavirus pandemic. Read More

• COVID-19 shifts, doesn't stop Navajo Nation mission

  by Kayla Rinker/The Pathway, posted Thursday, June 25, 2020 (3 years ago)

  

  River Bluff Fellowship photo

  OZARK, Mo. (BP) -- With the Navajo Nation on strict lockdown due to an extremely high per-capita coronavirus infection rate and resulting cases, Scott Watson, lead pastor of River Bluff Fellowship in Ozark, knew the decision to modify the church's annual mission trip to Kayenta, Ariz., was the right one.

  "We've been going there for 13 years and bringing 30-50 people each time we go and we love it," Watson said. "But we decided to change our plans for two reasons: First, we did not want to go there and increase their anxiety and make a terrible situation even more difficult for them, and second, healthcare on the reservation is limited under normal circumstances so we wouldn't want to put our people at risk and add to the medical strain." Read More

• Southern Baptists report growth among ethnic minorities despite declines in broader SBC

  by Diana Chandler, posted Thursday, June 25, 2020 (3 years ago)

  

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- The Southern Baptist Convention is growing in three key metrics among ethnic minority fellowships despite a continuing decline among the broader SBC, according to a report the Convention Advancement Advisory Council (CAAC) released June 24.

  Southern Baptists comprising six ethnic minority fellowships increased their churches, members, and worship attendance, but suffered declines in missions, baptisms and congregations (a category combining churches and missions), the CAAC said in its 2020 report to its membership and ethnic fellowship leaders. Read More

• Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, Mac Powell team up for drive-in concert tour

  by Tess Schoonhoven, posted Thursday, June 25, 2020 (3 years ago)

  

  NASHVILLE (BP) -- Most summers, Christian artists tour the country performing for packed audiences in churches, arenas and concert halls. This summer, restrictions brought about by the COVID-19 global pandemic make such crowds temporarily impossible.

  So three Christian music stars have found another way to reach their audience. And it's not a new technology platform. It's an old one. Read More