SBC

IMB ADDRESSES BAPTISM NUMBERS

By David Roach Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) — Decreases in the number of baptisms and new churches reported by International Mission Board missionaries during the past decade reflect changes in data-reporting methods and missions strategy, not a lack of evangelistic ministry. That’s the conclusion of a March 21 IMB news release issued in response to observations that overseas baptisms for 2015 are at their lowest level since 1969 — 54,762,

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CHURCHES CONTINUE TO FACE BUDGET SHORTFALLS

By Bob Smietana LifeWay Research NASHVILLE, Tenn. — When it comes to finances, the new normal for American churches seems to be “just getting by.” A third of Protestant senior pastors say their church’s giving was under budget in 2015, according to LifeWay Research. One in five saw their finances decline. Overall, about half of pastors say the economy negatively affected their churches this year. Scott McConnell, associate director of

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NEARLY 1,000 MISSIONARIES RETURN HOME

IMB ‘reset’ will allow missions agency to have balanced budget for 2016-17 By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector RICHMOND — Trustees of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board were told Feb. 24 that 988 missionaries are leaving the missions field along with 149 stateside staff members. Last August IMB President David Platt announced that for financial reasons, the IMB needed to cut 600-800 missionary/staff positions. Over recent years the

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IMB’S PLATT LOOKS FORWARD AFTER ‘RESET’

Baptist Press RICHMOND, Va. (BP) — Following an “organizational reset” that saw more than 1,100 International Mission Board personnel transition away from the board, President David Platt told a March 3 live stream audience he is ready to focus on the future. “I really want to shift the conversation from talking about numbers and finances to talking about how this army of brothers and sisters going out specifically from Southern

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J.D. GREEAR TO BE SBC PRESIDENT NOMINEE

Baptist Press ST. LOUIS (BP) — North Carolina pastor J.D. Greear will be nominated for president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Florida pastor Jimmy Scroggins announced today (March 2). Greear, 42, “is leading his generation to live out a passion for the SBC, missions and the local church,” Scroggins, pastor of Family Church in West Palm Beach, Fla., wrote in a news release stating his intention to nominate Greear during

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PLATT ANNOUNCES LIVE STREAMED Q&A

Baptist Press RICHMOND, Va. (BP) — International Mission Board President David Platt will host a one-hour live streamed video session on the entity’s future at 11 a.m. Eastern Time March 3, answering questions and responding to comments submitted via Twitter under #IMBLive. Platt has expressed a desire to move the conversation beyond discussion of the 983 missionaries and 149 stateside staff members leaving IMB through a Voluntary Retirement Incentive (VRI)

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EC WRAP-UP: SMALL-STATE REPRESENTATION CONSIDERED

By Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) — After nearly an hour of discussion, the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee’s officers withdrew a recommendation to propose granting representation on three key SBC committees to Baptists in pioneer regions. EC leadership promised, however, to make an alternate proposal with the same goal but addressing logistical concerns raised by EC members. In other business during the EC’s Feb. 22-23 meeting Nashville, the committee recommended

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IMB ANNOUNCES MISSIONARY VOLUNTARY RETIREMENT TOTALS

Editor’s Note: A more complete story with responses from Tennesseans who serve on the IMB trustee board will be posted later and will appear in the March 2 print issue of the Baptist and Reflector By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector RICHMOND – Trustees of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board were told Feb. 24 that 988 missionaries will be leaving the mission field along with 149 stateside staff

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TRAFFICKING HOTLINE CALLS RISE IN 2015

By Baptist Press NEW YORK CITY — Human trafficking victims are reaching out for help in increasing numbers, according to an advocacy group that operates a national text and phone call center. More than 1,600 survivors of human trafficking reached out for help in 2015 — a 24 percent increase over 2014, according to the nonprofit anti-trafficking organization Polaris.

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PLATT ASKS STATE PAPERS TO ENCOURAGE UNITY

Baptist Press PONCE, Puerto Rico (BP) — International Mission Board President David Platt has asked Baptist state papers to encourage unity among Southern Baptists following the announcement next week of how many IMB personnel have left the board through a series of voluntary resignation programs. Addressing a gathering of Baptist state paper leaders Feb. 16 in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Platt also detailed what he deemed some of the most exciting

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