PANDEMIC BRINGS POSSIBILITIES
By Paul Fries DOM, Salem Baptist Association, Liberty In Enterprise, Ala,, at the corner of College and Main Streets, stands a 13-foot tall monument to the Boll Weevil. This monument was placed their on Dec. 11, 1919 with the following inscription: “In profound appreciation of the Boll Weevil and what it has done as the […]
MEMPHIS CHURCH THRIVES DURING COVID-19
Online attendance, giving have surged; on-campus gatherings to resume in 2021 By Diana Chandler Baptist Press MEMPHIS — Impact Baptist Church & Ministries of Memphis has so thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic that pastor Michael Ellis Sr. sees no reason to resume onsite worship before 2021. “I get this call from pastors all the time […]
PANDEMIC PROMPTS CHURCHES TO CONSIDER PERMANENT CHANGES
By Tess Schoonhoven Baptist Press HENDERSONVILLE — Every church has adjusted some aspects of ministry since the onset of the COVID-19 global pandemic. But even as the effects of COVID-19 continue to press into the modern landscape of the evangelical church, some congregations are already turning from the question of how to shift from the […]
CALIFORNIA DISASTER RELIEF STYMIED DURING FIRES AS COVID-19 IMPACTS RESPONSE PROTOCOL
By Diana Chandler Baptist Press SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, Calif. — As monster fires displace tens of thousands of Californians, Southern Baptist disaster relief volunteers are stymied by changes in response protocols necessitated by COVID-19. Before the pandemic, volunteers in relief efforts were able to provide food and chaplains’ assistance to displaced residents housed at […]
MEMPHIS CHURCH THRIVES DURING COVID-19, EYES 2021 FOR ONSITE WORSHIP
By Diana Chandler Baptist Press MEMPHIS — Impact Baptist Church & Ministries of Memphis has so thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic that Pastor Michael Ellis Sr. sees no reason to resume onsite worship before 2021. “I get this call from pastors all the time asking me what we’re going to do, and I say, ‘Hey […]
TIDINGS OF COMFORT AND JOY
Nashville FBC spreads happiness with ‘COVID Caroling’ ministry By David Dawson [email protected] NASHVILLE — Nashville First Baptist Church is getting an early jump on caroling season. Minus the hot chocolate and mittens, of course. Hoping to spread some cheer — and create some socially distanced fellowship — during the pandemic, FBC recently started a ministry […]
WMU ANNOUNCES VOLUNTARY RETIREMENT PLAN AMID COVID FINANCIAL CRISIS
By Julie Walters National WMU news office BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — In response to a decline in sales due to COVID-19, national Woman’s Missionary Union announced Aug. 5 it is offering a voluntary retirement plan to staff. “We have worked incredibly hard over the past several years to ‘right size’ our organization based on revenue projections,” […]
SMALL GROUP OPTIONS
By Bruce Chesser President of the Tennessee Baptist Convention Pastor, First Baptist Church, Hendersonville. One of the more difficult challenges that we are all facing these days is in the issue of figuring out how to re-gather in our small groups and maintain social distancing. A classroom that normally holds 50 people would only accommodate […]
COVID OUTBREAK OF MORE THAN 40 CASES TIED TO REVIVAL AT RURAL ALABAMA CHURCH
By Grace Thornton Baptist Press STRAWBERRY, Ala. — James Carson has watched the church he loves go through a lot in the past two years. When its building went up in flames in August 2018, he saw the smoke from his house across the cow pasture. It was a long process, but they rebuilt. And […]
PANDEMIC HAS FORCED MISSIONARIES, CHURCHES TO ADAPT
By Lonnie Wilkey [email protected] FRANKLIN — “Flexible” has always been the watchword for mission volunteers no matter whether they were preparing for an international trip, a trip to another state or a mission project just down the road. In a world turned upside down by the COVID-19 virus, the ability to be flexible and to […]