Last Sunday, Aug. 28, I was privileged to be in attendance at Northminster Baptist Church in Jackson, Miss., as Pastor Chuck Poole gave his last sermon after 25 years of ministry and his final splash in the baptismal pool. The…
Rural church offers community development grants through Gratitude Project
Pastor Dennis Atwood concluded a sermon series focused on gratitude last fall by challenging his congregation at First Baptist Church of Mount Olive to seek systemic solutions to systemic poverty and food insecurity in their rural corner of eastern North…
Coker named to elite futurism cohort, benefiting Together for Hope
Jason Coker is setting the bar pretty high these days at Together for Hope, the rural poverty initiative launched by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship to serve impoverished Americans in 301 of the poorest counties in the nation. In fact, the…
Three-state merger hailed as transformative by CBF leaders
The planned merger of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship state groups in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi will benefit poverty, food insecurity and anti-racism ministries well beyond that region, CBF Executive Coordinator Paul Baxley said. “The oldest Together for Hope sites are in…
CBF state organizations in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi to merge
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship state organizations in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi have voted to merge into a single regional organization in a process facilitated by CBF leaders. “Our coordinating councils have all unanimously approved this and in each of our separate…
After Hurricane Ida, CBF churches urged to prepare to help when the time is right
Ministers and congregations eager to provide material assistance to Louisiana and Mississippi residents affected by Hurricane Ida are mostly going to have to wait before taking action, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship leaders and ministers said during an Aug. 30 Zoom call….
In Busia, Kenya, a rare look at what became of a mission project 15 years later
It’s a common scenario in church mission work: A congregation goes into an area and provides a much-needed ministry, and then they leave for whatever reason and never see the results that follow. But every now and then a chain…
If you want to help the poor, first understand their humanity
Humanizing the poor and hungry is a vital first step for individuals and churches called to combat poverty and hunger, a group of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship ministers and lay leaders learned during a recent webinar hosted by CBF Heartland. “It’s…
Together for Hope partnership steps up the drive for hunger relief in Mississippi
Together for Hope is venturing full force into the realm of proposing legislation and lobbying to finance an expansive anti-hunger initiative in Mississippi. “I’ve never participated in a grassroots campaign quite like this,” said Jason Coker, national director of Together…