CLARKESVILLE, Ga. – Pastor Chuck Johnson Jr. is thanking God that he and his family escaped a pre-dawn fire Monday that heavily damaged the Hollywood Baptist Church parsonage where they lived. Johnson, his wife, and their five children were sleeping when he awoke shortly after 6 a.m. to a strange noise and the smell of smoke. He looked out his bedroom window and saw the yellowish glow of fire reflecting against trees in the backyard.

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. - Most churchgoers say tithing is a biblical command and give at least 10% of their income. But they have more diverse opinions on the “where” and “how” of tithing.

WAYCROSS, Ga. — For aspiring math major Bree Howard, it just didn’t add up that South Georgia State College’s Waycross campus had no Baptist Collegiate Ministry. So the sophomore from Blackshear did something about it. She started one. “I’m trying to graduate with a 4.0, and that’s important to me,” Howard said. “But this is way more important. This is eternal.”

ATLANTA, GA — Christian leaders from across the country arrived in Atlanta on Sunday to honor the late Charles Stanley, founder of Atlanta-based In Touch Ministries, calling him a friend, a dedicated pastor, an incredible Bible teacher, a humble servant, a giant in God’s service, and a great example for others to follow.

DULUTH, Ga. – One Sunday morning about three months ago, Greg Teffertiller encountered George, a homeless man who was living in his car at a fast-food restaurant. He was asking for money to buy food and gasoline. Greg explained, “It was an inconvenient time and place for me because I was in a hurry headed for church. I had a choice to make, ‘Was I going to be Jesus or Greg to that homeless man?’ I decided I would help him; and I gave him what he requested. I then invited him to follow me to our church.”

CLAYTON, Ga. — It’s obvious from the moment Pastor Joey Thompson walks into the pulpit at Clayton Baptist Church on Sunday mornings that he has a passion for preaching. He delivers high-energy, gospel-focused sermons, the kind that keep members of his congregation on the edges of their seats as he declares their need to rely on the righteousness of Christ — not their own — to get to heaven.

WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Mary Ann Wilson made her way along a row of tables, picking out children’s books destined for elementary students who have fallen behind in reading. Wilson, a member of Bethel Baptist Church in Sycamore, tucked her selections into a backpack, and, just like that, she has potentially changed the trajectory of a young life.

Dr. Lytle Stephen Bingham, age 72, of Watkinsville, Georgia passed away on April 17, 2023. He was born on January 3, 1951, in Saint Louis, Mo., the son of the late Lytle Brooks Bingham and Betty Sue Scott. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his stepfather, Harold Dale Harrison of Savannah, Tenn., and his stepmother, Helen Fern Bingham of Charleston, Mo.

Adopting an island sounds like something a millionaire or movie star might do, but that’s exactly what nine Southern Baptist Associations in Missouri did. In partnership with Filipino Southern Baptist churches in North America, the associations adopted the island of Camiguin in the Philippines in a commitment to seeing the gospel permeate the island.  

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Spurgeon Library, located on Midwestern Seminary’s campus, celebrated the recent donation of a collection of 35 handwritten letters and notes from Charles Spurgeon at the second annual Spurgeon Library Conference on Wednesday. “It brings me great joy to accept this donation of some of Charles Spurgeon’s unpublished letters on behalf of the Spurgeon Library at Midwestern Seminary,” said President Jason Allen.

Have you ever felt like God was trying to tell you something by putting the same things in front of you over and over again? Well, these past few weeks I have felt like everything I have heard, read, or seen has been about plans. It has made me stop and think about what are “my” plans and what is God’s plan.

My beloved has been planning on going turkey hunting for months.  Being totally ignorant about the whole thing, I hadn’t realized all that went into it.  There’s  lot of …

The pandemic further complicated the already challenging lives of many disabled, elderly and ill South Africans. Those battling poverty and seeking affordable healthcare encountered the worst of the country’s lockdowns, with nurses and hospitals facing a nationwide shortage of gloves, masks and other medical necessities.

Inflation continues to fall since peaking last June but remains well above the preferred level of the Federal Reserve. According to statistics released last week, core inflation — the rate monitored by the Fed — was up 5.6% year-over-year. Core inflation excludes food and energy prices, which are more volatile, providing a more nuanced picture that makes trends easier to spot.

PORT WENTWORTH, Ga. — For the past 200 years, North Salem Baptist Church has been a constant in coastal Georgia, ministering to area residents through hard times that have included hurricanes, yellow fever, and the Civil War. The congregation held a  bicentennial celebration on Sunday, looking back at a rich history while preparing for what the congregation hopes will be a bright future.

CUMMING, Ga. — A Michigan businessman who died more than a decade ago is helping a Georgia congregation with the cost of a new church building. Construction crews were at the future site of Hope Fellowship on Monday, preparing to pour foundations for what will be the first permanent home for the 5-year-old church plant.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary's Board of Trustees convened on Monday for their annual spring meeting to discuss the budget, faculty elections, and conduct regular board business. The board also honored Dr. Albert Mohler on his 30th anniversary as president of the seminary. President Mohler was able to attend a rescheduled work session, where he updated the board on his health after being hospitalized for bilateral pulmonary emboli

FORT WORTH, Texas (SWBTS) — Christian higher education leader David S. Dockery was elected 10th president and Southern Baptist leader O.S. Hawkins was elected to the new role of chancellor on Wednesday during the spring meeting of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary board of trustees. The unanimous elections of Dockery and Hawkins to their new roles come nearly seven months after their elections as interim president and senior advisor and ambassador-at-large, respectively, in a special-called trustee meeting following the resignation of Adam W. Greenway.

ATLANTA, Ga. — Charles Stanley, the beloved Atlanta preacher whose In Touch Ministries reaches millions of people each day via television and radio, is being remembered as a man of prayer and faithfulness and an unyielding follower of Christ. Stanley died on Tuesday at his home. He was 90. “His legacy is going to continue to touch lives for generations,” said Georgia Baptist Convention President Josh Saefkow, pastor of Flat Creek Baptist Church in Fayetteville.

ROME, Ga.  — Shorter University Choirs will present a Masterworks Concert on April 22, 2023, at 730pm.  The concert will be held in Brookes Chapel at Shorter University’s main campus.  There is no charge and the event is open to the public.

ATLANTA, Ga. — In Touch Ministries has announced that beloved pastor Dr. Charles Frazier Stanley passed away at 7:30 a.m. this  morning at age 90. Known to audiences around the world through his wide-reaching TV and radio broadcasts, Stanley modeled his 65 years of ministry after the apostle Paul’s message in Acts 20:24: “Life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about God’s mighty kindness and love.”

The announcement of the passing of Dr. Charles F. Stanley ushered in a season of mourning across the width and breadth of the Southern Baptist Convention and among countless other Christians around the world. Few men have made a greater contribution to the cause of Christ in the last century than this humble servant of God who served as pastor of First Baptist Church Atlanta for nearly fifty years and launched “In Touch”, a worldwide Christian ministry, that has significantly impacted millions of people in the occident and the orient.

SUWANEE, Ga. — In a culture where restlessness is the norm, the Barna Group’s latest survey provides some good news for church leaders: Nearly seven in 10 Christians say it is “mostly true” or “very true” that they are satisfied with their churches. Barna, a research organization that monitors cultural and religious trends in America, called that "an encouraging finding."

NEW ORLEANS — Wearing jeans and a tee-shirt reading “From the Parishes to All People,” Jamie Dew, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary president, welcomed SBC president Bart Barber as speaker in chapel last week for the seminary's Serve Day, when students go out to serve and minister around the city. At least three professions of faith resulted as 185 students, staff, faculty members and trustees—joined by Barber, his wife and daughter—shared the gospel and served in the community.

Longtime Alabama Baptist Peggy Darby, who has spent nearly 25 years in fundraising and development, was unanimously elected as president-elect of the national WMU Foundation on Monday morning during the board of trustees spring meeting in Birmingham. Current president David George announced his plans to retire on June 30, 2023, last summer and a national search began with the goal of having a transition period between the two.