SBC Voices

I recently engaged an old friend on several questions related to how the Coronavirus has changed the way our church (Memorial Baptist Church, New Castle, Indiana) is currently doing ministry. This informal Q&A amongst friends helped me process what I am learning as I lead our church through some valleys. What I Have Learned. 1. […]

Hearty credit to GuideStone for their fast action, research, and simple explanation of how the COVID-19 Pandemic Phase III Stimulus Package might affect you and your church or ministry. Great work also by Baptist Press (which carried GuideStone’s Q&A Friday and a FB live event yesterday with Jonathan Howe asking questions of  GuideStone Chief Legal […]

Social distancing? Hey, I got this. I was born for this, brethren and sistren (“Hey doc, back off a bit would you? You’re in my space”). Six feet, you say. How about sixty? I DNA tested at four percent Neanderthal. Is it necessary to point out that the socially obtuse Neanderthals died out. This requires […]

Been a while since I’ve been to a drive-in theatre and I’ve never been to one in the daytime but we had drive-in worship this morning. It was novel. Pretty good. I commend my pastor and staff for setting up this addition to live streaming a sermon. The design of our building is such that […]

This is a time of uncertainty. COVID-19 has swept through our nation, with the total number of cases in the United States exceeding 100,000 today. Schools have been shut down. Businesses have closed. Many of those who still have a job are working from home. The President just signed a 2.2 trillion dollar economic relief […]

I gather that some people are hoarding items. My stash of frozen Mrs. Callendar’s Chicken Pot Pies is down to just a couple (my wife says they are inedible anyway, so they are mine! All mine! I like the KFC chicken pie, heavy on bread, fat, and salt but I’m not all that keen on […]

My apologies! I posted this for Mark Terry and forgot to change the author from Dave to Mark! You can color me surprised. Last Sunday, by the order of the governor of Texas, we had to cancel our public worship service. We did have our men’s prayer meeting at 8:00 a.m., assuming we would not […]

1. Calling off Orlando was 100% the right thing. I love the annual meeting and look forward to it. Calling this one off was the right call. Even if we are blessed and the COVID-19 virus crisis fades quickly, we need to be spending the next couple of months ministering in our communities, not preparing […]

My simple opinion: “No.” Seems like just last year we were agonizing over the fact that no one wanted to attend the annual meeting any more. Attendance was down. Interest was flagging. God has a sense of humor and the SBC provides plenty of occasions for a good laugh. We’ve had this covered for 175 […]

Our constitutional right to religious liberty stands on two legs. One of them, the “Establishment Clause,” is the opening phrase of the First Amendment, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” The other leg, the “Free Exercise Clause,” follows with, “or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Because of the Establishment Clause, you […]

Baptist Press has just released a statement informing us that the SBC annual meeting in Orlando has been canceled. The EC voted 77-0 to take this action. This has been expected for a couple of weeks but is now final. Key information: 1. The elected officers will continue for another year. J.D. Greear remains president […]