The Georgia Baptist Mission Board, once the largest Southern Baptist state convention east of the Mississippi River, has sold its headquarters building for half its original $42.3 million cost. The state convention announced the sale on Jan. 4 without disclosing…
Georgia Baptist retirees relieved to learn Health Care Foundation will cover their benefits again in 2024
“Yes!” That is the overwhelming response from Georgia Baptist Mission Board retirees whose health care benefits are being extended another year. The benefits were cancelled by the largest Southern Baptist state convention east of the Mississippi River in late 2021…
At Salem, a reminder the Puritans were Christian nationalists too
Last year my wife and I, on a trip to Maine, included our annual detour to Salem, Mass. It’s a fascinating city just outside Boston, filled with literary and pre-Colonial history. Quite an industry has grown up around the historic…
Nathan Porter called a generation of Baptists to serve Christ and love the poor
A prince of a guy who loved challenging youth to consider a call to ministry and, on the other hand, someone who was the conscience of many Southern Baptists on poverty and race relations. That’s how friends are remembering Nathan…
Annie’s Link keeps those cards and letters coming
When Jenny Nethery sat at her desk and pondered ways to keep in touch with employees of the former Home Mission Board, she never envisioned a communications tool that would eventually span nearly 1,000 individuals from multiple agencies. In 1997,…
Six days after BNG report, Georgia convention finds new funds for retiree health benefits
Less than a week after a Baptist News Global report about Georgia Baptist retirees unexpectedly losing promised lifetime medical benefits, the head of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board announced a reversal of plans. During an inspirational rally Sunday night, Nov….
Georgia Baptists eliminate retiree benefits, citing budget concerns
Cheerful-looking envelopes from the Georgia Baptist Mission Board that dropped in the mailboxes of nearly 200 retirees in mid-September appeared to contain good news. They depicted a senior-adult couple sitting on a park bench. The envelopes presented an assumed message:…
How one Vietnamese convert sparked a church-planting movement that defied the odds
The afternoon Bible study in what was then called Saigon began as most others, with a group of curious Vietnamese nationals walking into a small, nondescript home. They attended for a variety of reasons, but primarily to learn English and…
State conventions beyond the South question SBC North American Mission Board’s spending and accountability for church planting
A decade-long disagreement over how Southern Baptists fund church planting and missions in North America is coming to a head and threatens the sanctity of the denomination’s spirit of cooperative giving. The result: State conventions outside the South are reducing…