Reverend Hershel Sizemore gained his Heavenly reward when he met his Savior face to face and heard the words he longed for the most, “Well done, thy good and faithful servant,” on the afternoon of June 5, 2022. He was 74 years old.

DULUTH, Ga. – A group of Georgia’s top scholars have been awarded scholarships by the Georgia Baptist Education Commission. The Student Achievement Awards go to a select group of incoming freshmen who will be attending either Brewton-Parker College, Shorter University or Truett McConnell University.

FRANKLIN, Tenn. — In response to a tweet by Guidepost Solutions supporting the LGBTQ+ community, Southern Baptists should “immediately break ties with Guidepost Solutions,” said Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Most Americans are open to a variety of denominations of Christian churches, including many people of other faiths or no faith at all. Americans have a wide range of opinions and impressions about Christian denominations, but most won’t rule out a church based on its denomination, according to a new study from Lifeway Research.

HOUSTON (BP) – Three days after a grandfather and four of his grandsons were found murdered at the family ranch, family members stood before Houston Northwest Church and encouraged others not to lose hope or forget that God is gracious.

MARIETTA – Please meet Hazel Howard, who was born in Rayle, Georgia, was saved at Inman Park Baptist Church in Atlanta when she was 11 years old (Dr. Sam Lowe was pastor), later joined the First Baptist Church in Avondale Estates where she was a member for 56 years, and recently moved to a senior living facility in Cobb County to be nearer her nephew, Dr. Walter McBride and his wife, Beverly.

DULUTH, Ga. – A new television program will remind Southern Baptists of the positive impact their work is having across the nation. The first episodes of SBC Coast to Coast will premiere on ACTS2 next week during its livestream of the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif.

He was elderly, frail, blind, and barely able to speak, but out of his weakness, he cast a giant shadow across the Baptist denomination. John Leadley Dagg was a native of Virginia who spent most of his life and ministry in Georgia.

NASHVILLE (BP) – Giving through the National Cooperative Program Allocation Budget was once again above budget in May, bringing the fiscal year total to nearly $139 million – more than $11.2 million over year-to-date projected giving.

TULSA, Okla. (BP) – South Tulsa Baptist Church paid off its $2.2 million dollar debt in 18 months so it could focus on missions. “I felt it was really important to start off on the right foot,” Eric Costanzo told Baptist Press. He’s been South Tulsa Baptist’s pastor since 2016.

Many have heard of the “square peg in a round hole” problem — perhaps because they’re old enough to remember or maybe because they saw the movie “Apollo 13” from 1995. But for Gilroy Chow that problem is personal, and he remembers it vividly. He was one of the men present in 1970 when finding a solution was a life-or-death matter.

NASHVILLE -- The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee’s proposals for funding abuse reform efforts in the denomination will cost the International Mission Board roughly $4.5 million during the next 15 months, IMB President Paul Chitwood told The Pathway newspaper in Missouri.

TULSA, Okla. (BP) – Deron Spoo, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Tulsa, was visiting church members at St. Francis Hospital June 1 when police and emergency workers began lockdown procedures. It was only after he made it to his car and turned on the radio that he learned a gunman had killed four people in a hospital building before taking his own life.

William Winfield “Bill” Price was born in LaGrange, Ga. on April 4, 1935, the second of five children to the late Lewis and Pearl G. Price, Sr.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. – Pastor Rhys Stenner recalls the day a small tree in his yard got crushed. A crew of tree cutters had been called in to remove a fallen oak that was leaning precariously against an ash, creating a hazard that had to be dealt with. “I told them, ‘watch out for that little tree; It’s my wife’s favorite,’” said Stenner, pastor of New Hope Baptist Church in Fayetteville. “Well, a branch smashed that little tree, reducing it to basically a stump, a trunk.

DULUTH, Ga. – One candidate would challenge churches to provide the financial support needed to take the gospel to the nations. Another would try to restore civility within the Southern Baptist Convention. And yet another wants to make SBC entities more responsive to churches. Those are some of the reasons the three contenders for the SBC presidency gave for being willing to accept nominations for the voluntary position of leadership in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.

She was a living, breathing miracle standing right in front of me. The last time I had seen Janice (not her real name) at the jail a few years ago, I didn’t know if she would make it.  She had been found naked and unconscious in a ditch.  She had been raped and left for dead.  Her arm was broken.  An addiction to drugs had often drawn her to evil people.

MAGEE, Miss. (BP) – A Mississippi pastor has announced plans to nominate a fellow Mississippi pastor who is a sexual abuse survivor to serve in the role of SBC first vice president. Adam Wyatt announced his intentions to nominate Brad Eubank, senior pastor of Petal First Baptist Church in Petal, Miss., to serve in the role.

NASHVILLE (BP) – A report issued Wednesday from the Sexual Abuse Task Force (SATF) includes “challenges” for Southern Baptist groups toward better abuse prevention policies as well as two recommendations, including the formation of a website to maintain a record of those credibly accused or convicted of sexual abuse.

SWAINSBORO, Ga. – Revival arrived in another Georgia town last week when more than 50 people responded to an invitation to receive Christ as their Savior at a four-night crusade in Swainsboro. “There was just an atmosphere that was ripe for salvation,” said Joe Bedgood, the evangelism director in the Emanuel Missionary Baptist Association who helped spearhead the event. “God was glorified; Jesus was exalted, and people were able to hear the word clearly.”

DULUTH, Ga. – The Southern Baptist Convention isn’t as fractured as talking heads on social media might make it appear but, instead, is a family of churches strongly bound together by biblical truth. That’s the combined opinion of the three announced candidates for the SBC presidency.

NEWNAN, Ga. (BP) – Former National Football League player Benjamin Watson and his wife have collaborated for the third time with the Southern Baptist Convention’s ethics entity to provide an ultrasound machine for the benefit of women in crisis pregnancies.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Not all pro-life Americans are religious, but religious Americans are more likely to be pro-life.

DULUTH, Ga. – The Southern Baptist Convention’s network of associations plays an important role in the nation’s largest protestant denomination, the three announced candidates for the SBC presidency say. In a Q&A with The Christian Index, they described associations as the entities that help congregations fulfill their missions, create closer ties between sister churches, and provide important training for Christian leaders.

DULUTH, Ga. – All three announced candidates for president of the Southern Baptist Convention want to see the nation’s largest protestant denomination return to its soul-winning roots. In a Q&A with The Christian Index, they spoke of the need for Southern Baptists to resolve scandals that serve as distractions, to return to a healthy fear of God, and to “do something concrete and demonstrative to promote evangelism.” “The president of the SBC can, with God’s help, steer us away from creating new divisive controversies and toward resolution of old scandals,” said Bart Barber, pastor of First Baptist Church in Farmersville, Texas. “By doing so, he can eliminate distractions and obstacles that compete with revival for our prayers and affections."