SBC

2021 SBC ANNUAL MEETING MOVED TO THE NASHVILLE MUSIC CITY CENTER

Baptist and Reflector NASHVILLE — The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee announced Thursday that the 2021 Annual Meeting and Send Conference are being moved to the Nashville Music City Center. The annual meeting was originally scheduled to be held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center. Ronnie Floyd, president of the SBC Executive Committee, announced the change in a press release on Thursday. “I want to thank the city

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LOTTIE MOON CHRISTMAS OFFERING HITS CUMULATIVE $5 BILLION

By Myriah Snyder IMB senior writer/editor International Mission Board leaders are celebrating a monumental milestone in Southern Baptist life: On March 31, 2021, the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering® surpassed $5 billion total gifts since collection to send missionaries to China began in 1888.  The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is an annual offering collected by believers around the world to support international missions. The offering is unique because 100 percent of

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PASTORS, CHURCHGOERS TIRED BUT HOPEFUL FOR EASTER 2021

By Aaron Earls LifeWay Christian Resources writer NASHVILLE — Working through a time of grief. Exhausted from what they’ve been through. Excited about what’s to come. As pastors prepare for Easter this year, they may have more insight on how Jesus’ followers felt leading up to the first Resurrection Sunday. And much like those early gatherings of believers, Easter celebrations at church services may not be full of people but will

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U.S. PROTESTANT PASTORS SEE GENDER CHANGE AS IMMORAL

By Aaron Earls LifeWay Christian Resources NASHVILLE — As legislatures in Washington, D.C. and across the country discuss issues surrounding individuals who identify as a gender different from their biological sex, a clear majority of U.S. Protestant pastors see such gender fluidity as morally wrong. In a study from Nashville-based Lifeway Research, around 3 in 4 Protestant pastors say identifying as a gender different from one’s biological birth gender is

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IMB NEHEMIAH TEAMS LAUNCH GAP YEAR PROGRAM

Baptist Press RICHMOND — The International Mission Board’s Nehemiah Teams program is providing opportunities for students to do something eternal with their “gap year.” More and more students are choosing to take a year to pursue other interests – travel, experiencing new cultures, gaining life experience, volunteering – before starting college. Nehemiah Teams offers summer missions opportunities for students to serve among unreached people groups, and this fall a new

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COVID’S IMPACT STRETCHES INTO 2021

By Aaron Earls LifeWay news office NASHVILLE — Most churches have found a way to continue meeting despite the ongoing pandemic, but statistics from January revealed that — as COVID-19 cases spiked across the country — many churches elected not to meet in person during the month. A new study from Nashville based LifeWay Research found 76 percent of U.S. Protestant pastors say their churches met in person in January, down

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BETH MOORE ANNOUNCES DEPARTURE FROM LIFEWAY, SBC

By Scott Barkley Baptist Press NASHVILLE — Longtime Bible study leader Beth Moore has publicly announced that she is ending her affiliation with the Southern Baptist Convention and Lifeway Christian Resources, relationships stretching back more than three decades. Moore made the announcement through an interview with Religion News Service (RNS) today (March 9). “I am still a Baptist, but I can no longer identify with Southern Baptists,” she told RNS.

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‘BIBLICAL DIVERSITY DISCUSSION AT IMB WILL CONTINUE,’ CHITWOOD SAYS

By Catherine Finch Baptist Press RICHMOND – As part of its February emphasis on racial diversity in missions, the International Mission Board hosted a panel discussion called “The Future of Missions: Why Biblical Diversity Matters” Feb. 25. The conversation, which was streamed on Facebook and through the IMB: Advance the Kingdom app, will be ongoing, as it is vital to IMB’s vision, IMB President Paul Chitwood said. “The diversity discussion

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CONSERVATIVE BAPTIST NETWORK RESPONDS TO SBC PRESIDENT’S REMARKS

Editor’s note: Coverage of Southern Baptist Convention president J.D. Greear’s speech — which is referred to by the CBN in the story below — can be found HERE. From the Conservative Baptist Network: Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear’s needlessly divisive speech to the Executive Committee meeting, Feb. 22, makes painfully clear that the mission of the Conservative Baptist Network is more important now than ever. We join President Greear in

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GREEAR DECRIES DIVISION, REPUDIATES PHARISAICAL SPIRIT IN SBC EC ADDRESS

By Timothy Cockes Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) – Saying the global pandemic didn’t cause the crisis in the Southern Baptist Convention, but revealed “a deeper, more insidious crisis,” SBC President J.D. Greear challenged members of the SBC Executive Committee to “repudiate” a pharisaical spirit and unite for the sake of the Gospel. “The last year has revealed areas of weakness in our beloved convention of churches,” Greear said Monday (Feb.

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