NEW ORLEANS — Southern Baptists have adopted a groundbreaking resolution on artificial intelligence that will serve as a guide to church leaders as well as their government lobbyists. “We must proactively engage and shape these emerging technologies rather than simply respond to the challenges of AI and other emerging technologies after they have already affected our churches and communities,” the resolution said.

NEW ORLEANS — Two churches expelled from the Southern Baptist Convention earlier this year because they have women serving as pastors will not be allowed to return to the fold. Messengers to the SBC annual meeting in New Orleans voted 9,432 to 1,212 to uphold a decision by the Executive Committee to oust Saddleback Church in California and 9,700 to 806 to uphold the decision removing Fern Creek Baptist Church in Kentucky. The results were announced Wednesday morning.

We are leaving on vacation in a few days. I have never enjoyed packing my suitcase. I always overpack. I am forever worried that I “might need” something that I don’t have. It doesn’t matter there are usually department stores everywhere we vacation. I think in my head my motto is “be prepared.” I tend to overpack on vacation situations but I also seem to overpack in circumstances I face in my life as well.

NEW OREANS — Southern Baptist messengers got their first look Wednesday at a website that provides resources to help churches prevent sexual abuse and that will eventually include an online sexual abuse registry of abusers. The registry currently has no names because its creators still are vetting people for potential inclusion.

NEW ORLEANS — Two churches expelled from the Southern Baptist Convention earlier this year because they have women serving as pastors are expected to learn Wednesday morning whether they’ll be allowed to return to the fold. Messengers to the SBC annual meeting in New Orleans held a vote Tuesday afternoon to decide whether to reverse a decision by the Executive Committee to oust Saddleback Church in California and Fern Creek Baptist Church in Kentucky.

NEW ORLEANS — Texas pastor Bart Barber has won election to a second term as president of the Southern Baptist Convention, fending off a challenge by Georgia pastor Mike Stone. With 11,014 ballots cast, Barber received 7,531 votes to Stone’s 3,458 votes. The election coincided with other significant issues that pushed up attendance at the SBC annual meeting in New Orleans. Chief among those was whether to back the ouster of churches that have women serving as pastors.

NEW ORLEANS — Southern Baptists commissioned 79 newly appointed missionaries on Tuesday in New Orleans where the SBC annual meeting is underway. Nearly 12,000 messengers watched as the fledgling International Mission Board missionaries crossed the stage in the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, some silhouetted behind screens to conceal their identities because they're deploying to countries hostile to the gospel.

NEW ORLEANS — A young mother saw a group of Southern Baptists who were sharing the gospel in New Orleans, so she yelled to them. “I need to be saved.” Tim Dowdy, former pastor of Eagle’s Landing Baptist Church in Georgia now serving with the North American Mission Board, said they went over to her and explained the plan of salvation. “That young mom came to know Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior,” he said

ALBANY, Ga. — Georgia pastor Michael Catt who showed Hollywood that wholesome family films can still be huge box office successes has died, his church announced on Monday. Catt, executive producer of the Christian movies Flywheel, Facing the Giants, Fireproof and Courageous, had been battling prostate cancer and had taken a turn for the worse in May.

NEW ORLEANS — Freddy Gardner made his way Monday through a crowded Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in downtown New Orleans where Southern Baptists will decide a contested presidential election and to determine the fate of a couple of churches that have women serving as pastors. Gardner, missions strategist in the Tuttnall Evans Baptist Association, said one of the key reasons he comes to the SBC annual meeting is to be able to report the goings-on back to his churches that are unable to send messengers.

At the 2023 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, International Mission Board leadership and staff used every opportunity to draw attention to the reality that lostness is growing every day. The solution to the problem of lostness is the gospel. Through public reports, personal conversations and the exhibit booth, IMB called Southern Baptists to renew their commitment to reaching every nation.  

ROME, Ga. — Student ministers in Georgia are reporting a growing spiritual awareness among school-aged kids, the latest evidence seen last week when 73 middle and high schoolers made salvation decisions at an IMPACT camp at Shorter University. “God is clearly doing something in this next generation,” said Chris Trent, Next Gen catalyst for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.

NASHVILLE, N.C. – The College at Southeastern celebrated the spring commencement ceremony for its North Carolina Field Minister Program last week, commissioning 14 incarcerated graduates to serve in field ministry throughout the North Carolina prison system.

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — The evangelism team at the North American Mission Board announced the development of a new resource designed to help pastors create a culture of evangelism in their churches. “This new kit is designed to assist pastors and ministry leaders in creating a lasting, evangelistic culture in their churches,” said Tim Dowdy, vice president of evangelism at NAMB.

ROCK SPRINGS, Ga. — Since 2016 Peavine Baptist Church has experienced extraordinary growth by almost every metric used by churches. The growth coincides with Joel Southerland’s call to become interim pastor, which evolved into his call as the church’s senior pastor. Southerland explained, “When I arrived as interim pastor the church was averaging about 800 per week, had plateaued, and was in a slight decline. In 2017 we were the 52nd fastest-growing church in America according to Outreach Magazine."

COLUMBUS, GA – On Sunday, David Mills preached a sermon in view of a call to Beallwood Baptist Church in Columbus, and the congregation voted unanimously for him to be their senior pastor beginning next Sunday. Mills will succeed Billy Duncan who served as the church’s pastor for 21 years.

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — We are living in a cultural moment where the definition of “woman” eludes the keenest of thinkers and brightest of scientists. In her debut trade book, To Be a Woman: The Confusion Over Female Identity and How Christians Can Respond releasing June 6, 2023, author and women’s ministry director Katie J. McCoy PhD addresses a topic that is seemingly everywhere in the news—gender identity.

Former Georgia Tech coach W.A. Alexander, reflecting on his days as a player in the early 1900s, said the “the meanest and toughest guy I ever ran across on a gridiron was a fellow by the name of Grice, who is now a Baptist preacher.” “Every time I snapped the ball, this Baptist preacher-to-be would come charging in and hit me like a ton of bricks, growling imprecations as he did so,” Alexander said in the book Gridiron Glory Days.

LOCUST GROVE, Ga. —Bob Howard didn’t set out to be a pastor. Bob, an insurance agent who owned an eponymous agency, spent much of his free time working with the Gideons International ministry, best known for its Bible distribution in hotel rooms and schools.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — A local official has backed off threats to fine Flat Creek Baptist Church for hosting an evangelistic outreach that he claimed violated zoning regulations. The outreach involved a car show that attracted more than 1,200 people to Flat Creek Baptist Church on Saturday.

Next summer, students from Truett McConnell University will travel to London, Oxford, and Canterbury to explore the roots of their mother tongue in a new course designed by TMU’s Chair of the School of Communication, Dr. Barry McCarty. English Life, Letters, and Language will explore the key people and places that have shaped English-speaking culture.

Decisions made in haste or on emotions don’t usually turn out as planned.  I can attest to that. One morning in 8th grade, I did something very, very, very not smart.  It seemed like such a cool idea at the time.  Trendy even.  No one had ever done it before. I would be the very first.

NEW ORLEANS — More than 12,000 people, including pastors and other church leaders from across Georgia, will be making the trek to New Orleans for a potentially contentious Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting next Tuesday and Wednesday. Interim SBC Executive Committee President Willie McLauren is pitching the annual meeting as “the largest family reunion in North America” with brothers and sisters in Christ coming together to handle business matters.

DALLAS, Ga. — For Haley Grimm, a stop at a “drive-thru prayer” event last November led to church membership and baptism. Now, she is excited about sharing that experience with others. Haley, 20, who lives in Douglasville, had been going through a rough patch in her personal life when a friend suggested she come to New Hope First Baptist Church for their quarterly community outreach event.

I had my annual eye exam a couple of weeks ago. Needless to say, it seems that every year my eyesight gets a little worse than the year before. This requires me to get a new prescription for contacts and glasses.  The funny thing is I don’t realize that my eyesight is not as clear as it should be until I have that eye exam. You know the one, where they say, “Which picture is clearer? One? Or two?" Then two or three, etc.