LOS ANGELES—Southern California churches have been praying in the midst of the devastating fires in their area, and the answer to a specific Sunday evening prayer has been noticed and appreciated by others in the community.

Rand Jenkins, Texans on Mission’s chief strategy officer, participated in the Sunday evening prayer service at Highlands Church, north of downtown Los Angeles.

“On Sunday, the weather forecast anticipated winds topping 70 miles per hour through Wednesday,” he said. “The high winds never came, and forecasters canceled the warning.”

Pastor David Johnson shared about the prayer service on Instagram.

“On Sunday night we rebuked the wind in Jesus’ name,” the pastor said. “We contended for our city and its people. … While we aren’t out of the woods, … we are certainly praising God for his faithfulness.”

After the social media post, Johnson received a “thank you” text from a neighbor who doesn’t go to church.

‘Glimmers of hope rising from the ash’

“In the midst of this tragedy, people are noticing that Christians are both praying and working to help,” Jenkins said. “Prayer is our first job, but it’s also important for someone who is hurting to see we care about them.”

Johnson said the prayers and helpfulness are “so consistent with the gospel.”

“We’re just starting to see those glimmers of hope rising from the ash,” he said.

Los Angeles-area Christians believe “God is going to do an amazing work of calling the city back to himself,” he added.

Texans on Mission is partnering with churches to provide respite centers for fire victims. These are places where volunteers will do people’s laundry in special units provided by Texans on Mission.

“Volunteers are going to wash their clothes while the people, the homeowners, can sit and have a cup of coffee and their children will be entertained,” Jenkins said. “It will be time to breathe, to rest and to recover.”

‘Ash out’ ministry likely in weeks ahead

Fire recovery efforts—typically known as “ash out”—will follow in the weeks to come.

In that next stage of relief, volunteers will “sit down with a homeowner and find out what mementos they hope to recover,” Jenkins explained. “What are they trying to find that ties them back to their history?

“We sit next to them and scoop the ashes and then sift, hoping you find that memorabilia. It could be wedding bands. It could be photos. It could be Christmas ornaments, something that ties you back to your house. Those things don’t have a monetary value, but they have so much meaning to people. They connect you back to who you are.”

Texans on Mission shower/laundry units left Dallas for California Jan. 15. Other volunteer disaster relief leaders are expected to arrive in Los Angeles Jan. 19 to establish incident command centers for coordinating relief efforts.

In the meantime, Texans on Mission supporters are asked to pray and give toward the effort.

Chief Executive Officer Mickey Lenamon has asked people to pray specifically for:

• A swift end to the fires.
• Those who have been affected by the fires.
• Strength for the firefighters who are serving valiantly.
• The churches serving with Texans on Mission to minister to people impacted by the fires.
• The clear proclamation of the gospel.

To learn more about financially supporting the effort, visit TexansOnMission.org/wildfires or call (214) 275-1100.

APEX, N.C—Evangelist and author Daniel Ritchie will be nominated for first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention during the 2025 SBC annual meeting in Dallas.

Matt Capps, lead pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Apex, N.C., told the Biblical Recorder he plans to nominate Ritchie.

“Daniel Ritchie is among the most faithful, consistent, and passionate witnesses for Christ that Southern Baptists have seen raised up in this generation,” Capps said.

“I am eager to see our convention recognize this gospel servant and unapologetically champion the vital ministries of vocational evangelists like Daniel by electing him to serve as first vice president.”

A native of Greensboro, N.C., Ritchie previously served as a student pastor at churches in North Carolina and Arizona before answering a call to become a vocational evangelist and speaker.

For the past 20 years, Ritchie has traveled the country speaking to churches, schools, camps, conferences, colleges, corporations, sports teams and more, according to his website.

Ritchie also preached during the 2022 SBC Pastors’ Conference in Anaheim, Calif.

Ritchie has written two books—My Affliction for His Glory: Living Out Your Identity in Christ and Endure: Building Faith for the Long Run. He also has been a contributing writer to other online ministry outlets and publications.

In My Affliction for His Glory, Ritchie shares his life story, which includes being born without arms and struggling with a sense of value and worth while growing up. After placing his faith in Christ during a church youth event at age 15, Ritchie discovered God had a plan and purpose for his life.

“A man with no arms was never going to fit in a world where everyone has two arms,” Ritchie wrote. “But God had more in store for me than to be a victim of a life defined by the things that I was never going to be.”

Ritchie’s life story and testimony have been featured on Fox News, Focus on the Family and other media outlets.

Ritchie holds a bachelor’s degree in biblical studies from the College at Southeastern, now known as Judson College. He currently is pursuing a master of divinity degree from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Ritchie has been married to his wife, Heather, 18 years, and they have two children. The Ritchies reside in Raleigh, N.C., where they are members of The Summit Church, a multisite congregation in the Raleigh-Durham area.

According to the most recent data available, The Summit Church reported an average worship attendance of 7,891 and 448 baptisms in 2023. The church reported $810,000 (2.45 percent) given through the Cooperative Program based on $33,061,224 in undesignated receipts. The church also gave $368,500 to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and $154,000 to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering.

“As a model husband, father, ministry leader, and church member, Daniel Ritchie lives the gospel he preaches, calling hundreds of thousands every year to follow Jesus by both his life-changing testimony and his determination to make Christ known through a bold preaching ministry,” Capps added.

The 2025 SBC annual meeting is scheduled June 10-11 at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas.

DALLAS—Trucks and trailers rolled out of Texans on Mission headquarters in Dallas early on Jan. 15 to support California churches responding to devastating wildfires.

Shower/laundry units are on the way. A semi-truck load of supplies also left Dallas with masks, water filters, Tyvek suits, Bibles, cots and gloves.

A Texans on Mission team already is in California meeting with church partners to determine how best to respond.

The churches have asked Texans on Mission to help establish on-site services, thus “creating a respite for people that don’t have another place to go to get away from the stress, be encouraged and have someone pray with them,” said Chief Strategy Officer Rand Jenkins.

“Their children will have a place to play,” Jenkins said. “They’ll have their clothes washed for them. They’ll get a hot cup of coffee and be able to talk to some of our volunteers and some of the local pastors.”

While Texans on Mission focuses now on helping churches provide respite for weary residents, fire recovery efforts—commonly called “ash out”—likely will emerge in the coming weeks.

“As with the 2023 fires in Maui, authorities have to keep sites secure for a time,” said Texans on Mission Chief Mission Officer John Hall. “And, in this situation, fires are still blazing and battling the flames is a top priority.

“Recovery time will come, and Texans on Mission will continue to work with churches in how best to be of support. As we like to say, we’re bringing help, hope and healing now, and we will need to do so for quite some time.”

In a video for Texans on Mission supporters, Jenkins said: “Thank you for what you’re doing. Thank you for the prayers you’re sending this way. This is an amazing need, and you are an amazing group of people that come together every time.”

To give financially to support Texans on Mission disaster relief, click here.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (RNS)—Boise Kimber officially was installed as president of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc., during the midwinter board meeting of the predominantly Black denomination—which he hopes will become more inclusive of women and young leaders.

National Baptists and guests filled the 2,000-seat sanctuary of the historic Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., for a three-hour service Jan. 13. About 500 people planned to attend a sold-out inauguration ball on Tuesday.

Kimber, pastor of First Calvary Baptist Church in New Haven, Conn., was greeted by officers of other Black Christian organizations, including the Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention, the Conference of National Black Churches and Full Gospel Baptist Fellowship.

He was installed into his new role by his predecessor, Jerry Young, who reminded Kimber of the importance of having a strong spiritual life as a leader.

“You can’t lead Black Baptists without orders from Jehovah,” Young, who concluded two five-year terms, advised his successor. “That’s all I got to say. Just spend your time with God.”

The installation service was held in the church that was bombed by members of the Ku Klux Klan more than 60 years ago, resulting in the deaths of four girls readying for a Sunday church service. Kimber, 65, also chose the church as the location for his 2023 announcement to run for the top role of his denomination.

Kimber outlines goals

“My main goal now is, one, to restore our headquarters in Nashville, Tenn.; two, to focus on Christian education, which our convention was founded upon,” Kimber, the former president of the Connecticut State Missionary Baptist Convention, said in an interview hours before his installation.

“Three is to have a better and a greater relationship with our young people of our convention; four is to have women to become a part of the administrative parts of our convention.”

National Baptists gathered at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex for sessions to handle denominational business and participate in worship services and planned to conclude the gatherings Jan. 16 with a mental health workshop on “trauma-informed ministry.”

Kimber was elected in September in a contentious election process, where he was the sole candidate on the ballot after officials determined the Connecticut pastor had received the necessary 100 endorsements from member churches and other National Baptist entities to qualify to run for president.

He won 69 percent of the vote at the National Baptist Convention, USA, annual session in Baltimore, with 31 percent voting “no.”

Alvin Love, a Chicago-area pastor and one of the four other ministers who had wanted to be on the ballot, said his concern was with the election process and not Kimber.

“He’s a good guy. I have no issue with him,” said Love, joining others in welcoming Kimber’s emphasis on including younger and newer pastors and women leaders in positions in his administration.

“I don’t know if it’s moving as fast as it should or is going as high as it ought,” said Love, who would have liked to see a woman named vice president. “But he’s doing much more than anybody before him ever did in that area.”

‘We’re making progress’ regarding women in leadership

Asked about the lack of female vice presidents in the National Baptist Convention, USA, Kimber responded in the interview: “We will get to that. We’re making steps. We’re making progress, and so we will continue to work towards that goal.”

Michael Charles Durant, 64, the new chairman of the convention’s board of directors, said there has been an expansion in women’s leadership roles.

“In the past, there were areas of concentration, say in Christian ed, the women’s auxiliary, missions, but this will be far broader,” he said.

During the installation service, Valerie Thompson, pastor of a Columbus, Ga., church and a new member of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Executive Committee, said a prayer.

Nicole Guns, one of several people appointed as assistant secretaries, introduced the convention’s officers as they processed into the church. Shevalle T. Kimber, co-pastor of First Calvary Baptist Church in New Haven, sat next to her husband, the new president, not far from the pulpit where speakers took turns congratulating him during the installation service.

Guns, 43, said in an earlier interview she was enthusiastic about being part of Kimber’s cabinet, along with other millennials.

“In the Black Baptist church you can be 60 years old and considered young,” said Guns, who was one of the preachers at a young adult revival held on Sunday at the Birmingham church.

Be ‘intentional about creating space’ for young leaders

Christopher Davis, the new convention general secretary, said under Kimber’s leadership there are deliberate efforts to give younger clergy spaces to preach on the main stage of National Baptist meetings or teach in its workshops and classes.

“In a few years, they will ultimately transition into leadership as some of those of us who have been around for a while begin to age out,” said Davis, 52. “If you’re not intentional about creating space for them, then what incentive do they have to stay? And if they all leave, then there’s no one to lead the work after we’ve passed off the scene.”

Beyond choosing people for his administration and convention committees, Kimber issued a statement marking the death of former President Jimmy Carter, whom he cited as an example of “living one’s faith through action.”

He also announced the convention would send “10 truckloads of supplies to aid in the recovery efforts, a small but meaningful step to bring comfort and support to those in need” after the wildfires in California.

Talk about diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives

On the day of the installation, Kimber announced that he had created an economic development committee to meet with politicians and major corporations that have been rolling back their initiatives to address diversity, equity and inclusion.

“Many of our people buy from Walmart, Target, McDonald’s, and so those people certainly would have to come to the table to talk about the diversity and talk about the inclusion of Blacks in their business,” he said in the interview.

The committee will be led by Chicago philanthropist and businessman Willie Wilson, who began at McDonald’s as a custodian and later became a franchisee of the fast food restaurant.

Kimber signed a memorandum of understanding with Gamaliel National Network to support the National Baptists’ work on social justice.

Kimber said he was pleased to see the range of people in the halls of the convention center as the midwinter gathering began its four-day series of meetings on Monday.

He said the denomination is still recovering from the heights of the COVID-19 pandemic, which “really hurt the American fiber of business and religious institutions,” leading to losses in membership.

“We are rebuilding what we’ve lost and bringing people back to our denomination and to our local churches,” he said, as he headed to his next meeting.

“A lot of young people and pastors are here, and so we’re excited. A lot of women are here. A lot of seniors are here. There’s a variety of people here at our board meetings.”

LOS ANGELES—A four-person Texans on Mission team is in California working to multiply the ministry of churches and chart a long-term relief effort in the area devastated by raging fires.

“The situation here is heavy,” said Rand Jenkins, a team member and chief strategy officer for Texans on Mission. “We’re striving to find a way to multiply efforts to meet needs in the name of Christ.”

About 150,000 people have evacuated as a result of the fires already, and 50 mph to 65 mph winds are forecast in the area this week. More than 99 percent of those people have taken shelter with family or friends or are staying in hotels.

“Texans on Mission is partnering with local churches to meet needs,” Texans on Mission Chief Executive Officer Mickey Lenamon said in a letter to supporters. “As these families left their homes, they had no idea what they would return to. Even if their house isn’t burnt to the ground, it’s highly likely it will be so covered by ash that it will need rebuilding.

“Working through these church partners, the strike team is discovering ways to meet expanded physical, emotional and spiritual needs. The weight of the fire literally hangs in the air everywhere these families turn.”

Lenamon said the government has “designated regions that have been burned as hazardous areas and have significantly restricted access for safety.”

 “We expect our fire recovery teams will not get access to the area for at least four weeks. It may be longer. If you remember, there was a similar waiting period after the Maui fires,” he stated.

‘A beautiful image of the body of Christ’

Chief Mission Officer John Hall noted that Texans on Mission has been “working on these California church connections for over a year, thinking about how we could help them respond to a disaster. Now, the time has come.”

The local churches are saying: “We want you to train us how to do the fire recovery. We want to do this together” Hall said. “It’s a beautiful image of the body of Christ.”

Texans on Mission is focusing on an “area that is varied economically,” he said. “A lot of people, even more well-off ones, have had their fire insurance coverage dropped. Needs are and will be significant for a long time ahead.”

The Texans on Mission team now in California is working specifically on possible needs regarding water filters, meals, showers and laundry, and fire recovery.

“As we always do, we’re taking a step of faith,” Hall said.

Lenamon, in his note to Texans on Mission supporters, said: “We are early in this disaster. The situation is evolving each day.”

He asked people to pray specifically for:

• A swift end to the fires.
• Those who have been affected by the fires.
• Strength for the firefighters who are valiantly serving.
• The churches serving with Texans on Mission to minister to people impacted by the fires.
• The clear proclamation of the gospel.

To give financially to support Texans on Mission disaster relief, click here.

DALLAS—Leaders from the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the North American Mission Board agreed in principle to a clear path forward for providing church-starting resources and support for BGCT churches desiring access to NAMB resources.

The two-hour meeting at the BGCT’s Dallas office on Jan. 8 marked the culmination of numerous meetings and discussions between pastors and organizational leaders since Julio Guarneri, Texas Baptists’ executive director, initially reported on NAMB support for BGCT-sponsored church starts in Texas during his address to the May 2024 BGCT Executive Board meeting.

Representatives from NAMB and the BGCT previously came together on Aug. 15 in Dallas.

NAMB’s trustees and the BGCT’s executive board will review the arrangement at their respective February meetings.

While some details still are under discussion, the revised agreement emphasizes four areas:

• The use of “white label” Send Network church starting resources for BGCT churches who desire them. “White label” means taking the branding off of an item so another entity can affix its own branding to the product. Details of how this will happen in this context will be worked out between the two entities.

• The disposition of NAMB’s $300,000 annual church starting grant for BGCT-sponsored church starts.

• Access to church planter training events for BGCT churches.

• Improved communications with pastors, churches and associations who relate to the BGCT.

The agreement clarified Send Network planting, training and coaching materials will continue to be made available to BGCT churches that support the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 and desire to use them, bolstering the resources already on offer through the existing BGCT church starting process.

These resources will afford additional tools and assessment opportunities to BGCT churches that affirm the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 and want to start BGCT churches in Texas that affirm the Southern Baptist Convention’s statement of faith.

Agreement on new arrangement

While the BGCT will continue to receive an annual grant of $300,000 from NAMB, moving forward, the dollars—which previously were split with $200,000 for evangelism and $100,000 for church starting—will be allocated exclusively for church starting.

The BGCT will request the funds on an as-needed basis for each church start in accordance with BGCT’s and NAMB’s church starting funding policies and procedures.

The NAMB funds will be made available through the BGCT to church planters who complete either the Send Network or a similar church starting assessment. Only BGCT churches that align with the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 and have given to the SBC Cooperative Program and Annie Armstrong Easter Offering the previous year will be eligible for the NAMB funding. Churches planted through these funds will affirm the Baptist Faith & Message 2000.

Churches that do not meet NAMB’s criteria but do meet the BGCT’s criteria will continue to have access to the same BGCT funding they’ve previously received.

In September, the BGCT Executive Board passed a recommendation from the Missions Funding Council to increase the maximum amount that may be approved for any new church start from $75,000 to $125,000 to further resource new BGCT-sponsored church starts.

The $300,000 NAMB grant supplements the approximately $3 million given through the Texas Baptists Cooperative Program, Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions and donor-directed funds the BGCT annually invests in church starting.

The agreement also notes NAMB and BGCT leaders will “explore the possibility of conducting [Church] Planter Pathway training events” for BGCT churches and church starters and work together to ensure “pastors, churches and associations have reliable, true and updated information as to how BGCT churches can relate to NAMB.”

Noe Treviño, director of the Texas Baptists Center for Missional Engagement, and George Ross, Send Relief’s regional director for the South Region, will work to discuss and plan future training opportunities and resource sharing.

NAMB president Kevin Ezell already is scheduled to host a series of information sessions with BGCT churches in areas including Dallas/Ft. Worth, Austin, Houston and West Texas to connect with pastors and association leaders and clarify partnership opportunities.

Guarneri expressed his appreciation for the collaborative effort and its importance for Texas Baptists churches.

“I’m so pleased with the outcome of this process and look forward to working under this renewed agreement in the days ahead,” he said. “While things have changed in the denominational landscape at multiple levels, what hasn’t changed is the need to work together to reach people with the gospel in Texas and North America. It is vital that Texas Baptists churches have clarity on how they can be supported in church starting.”

Support, he said, is available to any church affiliated with the BGCT that meets the appropriate requirements.

“The BGCT is a diverse family of churches that include those who align with the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message, those who align with the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message, or similar Baptist confession of faith,” Guarneri said.

“All of these have access to assessment, training, coaching and funding from the BGCT as long as they meet the criteria set forth [by the BGCT] and follow the process.”

Guarneri also pointed to the implications of the arrangement for churches singly aligned with the BGCT that desire to partner with NAMB.

“This agreement specifically addresses churches that desire to have access to NAMB resources, including assessment, training, coaching and funding through the BGCT,” Guarneri said.

“It ensures Texas Baptists churches who meet NAMB requirements and desire to start new congregations receive all the support available while remaining singly aligned with the BGCT.”

Ezell shared optimism about how the new arrangement can boost church planting efforts in Texas.

“NAMB exists to serve Southern Baptist churches, and I believe this updated agreement with the BGCT will strengthen those efforts in Texas. I appreciate the time Julio and his team have taken to work through these details,” Ezell said.

“This is a great example of Southern Baptists coming together and working together for the sake of the gospel.”

Participants in the agreement discussion

Guarneri and Ezell were joined by the following attendees: Rusty Shuler, NAMB’s church relations mobilizer; Jeff Williams, senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Denton; Pete Pawelek, senior pastor of Cowboy Fellowship of Atascosa County; Chad Edgington, senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Olney; Tom Howe, associate director of the Texas Baptists Center for Missional Engagement and director of the Texas Baptists Church Starting Team; Dan Newburg, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Devine; Noe Treviño, director of the Texas Baptists Center for Missional Engagement; Heath Kirkwood, Texas Baptists Executive Board chair and lead pastor of First Baptist Church in Lorena; Craig Christina, Texas Baptists associate executive director; Ronny Marriott, Texas Baptists president and pastor of First Baptist Church in Richardson; Ward Hayes, Texas Baptists treasurer/CFO; and Sergio Ramos, director of Texas Baptists GC2 Initiative.

NAMB’s trustees are scheduled to meet Feb. 3-4 in Long Beach, Calif. The BGCT Executive Board will hold its winter meeting on Feb. 17-18 in Dallas.

Ongoing partnerships

In addition to the church starting arrangement, BGCT and NAMB are continuing to partner to produce Crossover Dallas, the evangelistic effort held in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention taking place on June 8-11 in Dallas and the Send Relief Ministry Center in Laredo.

More than 1,000 individuals heard gospel presentations when Texas Baptists and NAMB partnered for Serve Tour Brownsville held Oct. 11-12 in the Brownsville area.

“The Texas population continues to grow at a fast rate, and the proportion of people in our state who do not know Christ as Savior and Lord is also growing,” Guarneri said. “We must urgently multiply our efforts in church starting as we seek to strengthen a multiplying movement of Great Commandment and Great Commission churches in Texas and beyond.”

Guarneri said the BGCT is “committed to doing our best to help churches plant churches so that we can win Texas for Christ.”

BGCT churches started more than 30 new churches through the BGCT’s church starting process in 2024.

NEW ORLEANS (BP)—In an eclectic New Orleans ministerial mix, a second line jazz band belted gospel favorites in the footsteps of pastors prayerwalking Bourbon Street hours after the carnage of a New Year’s Day terrorist attack was cleared.

Southern Baptist pastors and chaplaincy leaders were among clergy who joined city elected officials in the 10-block procession at noon Jan. 2, praying for New Orleans after an attacker drove a truck past barricades and into a crowd of predawn New Year’s celebrants, killing 14, injuring at least 30, and himself dying from police gunfire.

Vieux Carre’ Baptist Church, meeting at 433 Dauphine St., was one block over from the attacker’s path and perhaps only yards from where the truck came to rest after it barreled three blocks down Bourbon Street, an area packed with revelers in the city known for its ability to host large parties.

Police identified the attacker, now deceased, as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old U.S. citizen from Texas who served in the military and praised ISIS in advance of the attack.

Vieux Carre’ Baptist Church Pastor Alex Brian, who participated in the prayerwalk, was awaiting the opportunity to check on his church’s meeting location when he spoke with Baptist Press Jan. 2.

There’s no indication members of Vieux Carre’ were injured in the attack, Brian said of the congregation that serves the community that spans the homeless and the wealthy, but that could change.

“Thus far, no one in the ministry of the church has been affected, although our church has historically been deeply involved in work in the homeless community, and word there travels more slowly,” he said.

“And we’re trying to figure out who if anybody connected to the ministry of the church was affected by the attack, and of course praying and mourning for all those who were affected, even if they weren’t connected to the church.”

Supporting the ministry of chaplains

Brian is praying for and supporting chaplains in the locked-down area around the scene of the attack. They include those under the command of Col. Page Brooks, state command chaplain for the Louisiana National Guard and pastor of Canal Street Mosaic Community Church, a Southern Baptist congregation that collaborates with Brian on various ministry outreaches.

The National Guard deployed 100 soldiers and two chaplains in response to the attack, said Brian, who was walking the streets of the French Quarter to provide counseling and check on soldiers and first responders.

“It’s been tragic for them,” Brooks said. “Many of them live here in the New Orleans area, and so I think it’s the shock having an incident happen like this in New Orleans. We’re so focused on Mardi Gras and tourism … you wouldn’t think anything would happen like a terrorist event down here in the French Quarter. That’s been a lot of my conversation.”

Much of the chaplaincy ministry has been focused on the soldiers and police who have responded to the scene, he said.

“Most everyone kind of in the area is still in shock,” Brooks said. “I think people feel secure because there’s a lot of police presence down here, but I think people are still just in shock at what has happened.

“I try to tell them that God is still in control,” he said. “And, of course, none of this took him by surprise.”

Still, Brooks expressed surprise at the many tourists who still crowd the parts of the Quarter that remained open to traffic in advance of the Sugar Bowl, postponed until 3 p.m. Thursday from an original game time of 7:45 p.m. Jan. 1.

Brooks and Brian will hold a joint service Sunday at 10 a.m. at Canal Street Mosaic Church dedicated to healing in the aftermath of the tragedy.

Former Southern Baptist Convention President Fred Luter was among prayerwalkers, pleading for the peace of God to permeate the city.

 “We did not have any members directly impacted by this tragedy,” said Luter, senior pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church. “However, our entire city has been impacted because of this terrorist attack.

“New Orleans is used to hosting major events like the Super Bowl, Sugar Bowl and Mardi Gras, all without incident,” Luter said, lamenting the attack “where a number of people have been killed and injured. Therefore, prayers for our city and the families who lost loved ones are truly needed.

“This incident will only draw our public officials and citizens together to continue to make New Orleans a popular tourist destination for people from around the world.”

Brooks also participated in the prayerwalk, which together with the second line created a vibe he described as unique to New Orleans.

“We had a second line band behind us, that as we were praying they were singing, ‘I’ll Fly Away’ and ‘When the Saints (Go Marching In),’” he said. “In New Orleans, it’s that weird mixture of lament, but also joy in the middle of things like this.

“It’s the lament of the death that’s happened and the people that have passed. But it’s also the strength of coming together as a city that is symbolized in that very act of” prayer accompanied by a second line.

“This is part of the rhythm of New Orleans.”

Texans on Mission volunteers served more than 80,000 meals in Israel in 2024.

The Texas-based missions organization works in partnership with Israel’s Emergency Volunteer Project, which provided more than 800,000 using equipment and facilities Texans on Mission helped develop.

“We now have 10 feeding trailers/units, each with a generator, that can be deployed anywhere,” said John Travis Smith, Texans on Mission associate executive director. “We can house 40 volunteers in Israel and expand that number if we need to.”

Texans on Mission organizes disaster relief training trips to Israel throughout the year, and it deployed teams a year ago after Hamas attacked Israel. It held its last 2024 training session in November.

“We now have 165 people trained in kosher protocols” required for food service in Israel, said Gary Finley, Texans on Mission Israel volunteer coordinator. “This would staff all 10 kitchens for two weeks. We are continuing training in 2025.”

More trained volunteers are still needed, Finley added.

“If there were a major disaster, we would run short of trained volunteers. So we need more,” he said.

A ‘roller coaster year’ in Israel

Finley called 2024 a “roller coaster year” in Israel. The year began with the emergency response when multiple Texans on Mission teams served, which was followed by regular training trips, and then the entire team was placed on standby when the conflict in Lebanon escalated.

In a Dec. 18 email to trained volunteers he said: “For now we will remain on alert. I ask that you continue to pray for peace and safety for our partners over there.”

Monthly training trips will resume in March 2025 and then skip April as Jews worldwide observe Passover.

In November, the last training of 2024, Texans on Mission volunteer trainees prepared, cooked and served more than 3,000 meals alongside EVP workers. They trained to cook kosher meals to prepare for any future deployments to deliver relief when needed.

Texans on Mission volunteers said they also found the work in Israel inspiring.

It was “very humbling for me to serve a people who are fighting for their very existence,” said Texans on Mission volunteer Cheryl Terry.

“I absolutely feel that I receive a blessing each time I serve. Everyone that can physically go would see and experience the people of Israel and the resilience of spirit. They have been an inspiration to me personally.”

Volunteers also had opportunities to explore historic sites. “To be able to possibly walk where Jesus did is just inspiring to me,” said Texans on Mission volunteer Jerry Ickes.

Texans on Mission volunteer Kelton Gunter said: “You just have to see it and live it a bit to get any sense of it. I highly recommend people take this opportunity, not only to help during the training mission, but to be qualified to serve when the next emergency happens.”

The training efforts did not go unnoticed by the people of Israel. “When they see us working very hard, … they know we have traveled thousands of miles to help them and prove that we care,” Gunter said.

Taryn Johnson, Texans on Mission social media strategist, said it was a blessing to see “such humble servants eager to help those in need. A trip to Israel is one that requires flexibility and determination, and every volunteer exuded these traits with a smile. They highly recommended others volunteer for mass feeding in Israel, and for that we are grateful.”

A new registration process for Israel training trips has been implemented. Visit the Texans on Mission webpage, TexansOnMission.org/Israel, to learn more details about the trips and to register.

A life on mission must begin somewhere. For several University of Mary Hardin-Baylor students, it began this December with Texans on Mission in North Carolina.

“For a few years, I’ve wanted to go on a mission trip,” sophomore Dani Rye said. “When I saw the global outreach stuff at UMHB, this looked like an awesome opportunity. I wanted to go and serve people. It seemed like a good experience to get out of your comfort zone and help people who need it.”

Rye was one of several UMHB students who took their first mission trip this December. They served disaster survivors in North Carolina, which has been hit hard in recent years by flooding and most recently Hurricane Helene.

A few months ago, a group of UMHB students signed up to go on a mission trip through the school’s Global Outreach program. They learned later in the semester where they would go after an interview process and prayer.

Working through Texans on Mission, the team of eight built wheelchair ramps, stuffed backpacks for students and prepared food boxes for those in need. Winter weather made the service crucial. Temperatures hovered in the low 20s as the students ministered.

“These students are some of the hardest working individuals I have had the pleasure of working alongside,” said Sabrina Pinales, director of missions and discipleship with Texans on Mission.

“Despite freezing temperatures, they completed several outdoor projects and blessed multiple families. The impact they have made will bless families for years to come.”

Something as simple as a wheelchair ramp is life-changing, said Jonah Sizemore, UMHB’s resident director who led the team.

“It’s their way in and out of the home. If they don’t have it, they can’t leave. They have to have people carry them out. This helps them live their life better.”

Efforts like this help students see the impact they can have if they live out their faith, Sizemore said. Small and large acts of service transform lives and give people the opportunity to share their faith. Mission work takes a variety of forms.

“This is a good starting point for kids who want to get into missions but have never been on a trip before,” he said. “This takes pressure off them. It’s a good starting point for them to see the physical work we can do.”

“Missions aren’t necessarily going to third world countries to share the gospel with people who haven’t heard it,” Sizemore continued. “It’s working here with people who need help. That can be missions for us.”

The experience made Rye want to look for more ways she could live on mission.

“On the way back from the airport, I thought this was really such a great experience,” she said. “I’ve already applied for the spring break and the summer trips. I have an interview next week!”

The mission service in North Carolina, it appears, is just a start.

Mission trips often reveal contrasts—differences between things at home and those far away. Mikey Osborne and his family saw Christmas differently on a recent trip to Uganda.

“It was pretty humbling to see kids get excited over things I wouldn’t normally even buy,” Osborne said. “It’s an awakening to see a different perspective on gifts. It’s easy to think you’re going to Africa to fix things, but I feel like Africa was kind of fixing me.”

Osborne coordinates Texans on Mission’s discipleship and outreach efforts, which include writing materials for evangelism and personal Christian growth.

Some of those materials are used regularly in Uganda as part of Texans on Mission’s Water Impact ministry, but Osborne never had been there, and more materials were needed.

“Groups meet every week, and they’re using some older material that I think could be a little more strategic,” Osborne said. “Their teachers are brilliant and handle the materials well, but we need to put better materials in their hands.”

In Uganda, Texans on Mission works through its ministry partner, Texans and Ugandans on Mission, which has a number of employees focused on drilling water wells and strengthening communities. During Osborne’s trip, the ministry held a Christmas party for those employees and their families.

Mitch Chapman, director of Texans on Mission Water Impact, said he has been amazed at the quality of work and commitment to Christ exhibited by the workers.

“I had not, however, had the chance to interact much with their families,” he said. “The Christmas party gave us a chance to honor these workers before their families and to bless them in a way beyond their normal compensation.”

Simple requests for needs, not wants

The party lasted all day, with food being served throughout and gifts being given at the end of the day, Osborne said.

Angie Osborne said being part of the Christmas party was “one of the greatest blessings” of the trip.

“Seeing the requests some of these children had for Christmas—for needs rather than things for fun—was so touching, and it was amazing to see the joy they had when they received them.”

Mikey Osborne said the children “had been asked in advance what they would like for Christmas, but the most humbling thing was that multiple kids had asked for a goat or a pair of goats for their family.”

He found that strange until he learned a goat “actually gives the family another area for commerce. … Some of the kids specifically asked for a goat in hopes it would help them raise money to further their education.”

The Uganda ministry, supported by Texans on Mission, came through for the children, providing vouchers for the purchase of a number of goats.

The children also received other gifts.

“We gave out bicycles to almost every kid,” Osborne said. “The kids were overwhelmed.”

One of the fathers said his child “was so excited that he literally slept with their new bike, holding their new bike all night,” Osborne said. “And the bikes weren’t even new. They were used. Some of them were in good shape, but not great shape.”

The ministry also provided mattresses to families.

“I don’t remember how many mattresses we gave away, probably 35 to 40,” he said. “And the mattresses excited the kids because they didn’t have mattresses.”

Osborne contrasted this with his own Christmas shopping plans this year.

“I’m trying to figure out how to buy my son a new baseball bat, and he’s already got one, while the kids in Uganda want a mattress,” he said.

Access to clean water

Besides the Christmas gifts, Texans on Mission Water Impact is providing more substantial gifts for families—water wells, sanitation classes, micro-financing and, most importantly, spiritual nourishment.

“When we’re talking about Texans on Mission water ministry, we’re talking about total impact in a community,” Osborne said. “It’s everything from sanitation all the way to discipleship.

“You have to have water to survive, and these people haven’t had a good source of water at all.”

Angie Osborne noted the “most impactful part of the trip” for her came “when they took us to one village where a new well had just been installed.”

Leaders took the Osbornes to “the little creek” where the people had been getting their water before drilling of their new community well.

“It is a moment I will always remember and an image that will always stick in my mind,” Angie Osborne said.

“It was heart wrenching to think that people would walk over a mile to get water from this nasty source where animals also drink and do other things. It was then I realized how powerful and life-changing” Texans on Mission’s work is in Uganda.

“One well alone is providing clean water to over 400 people,” she said, adding Texans on Mission “put in over 60 wells this past year.”

“That is a huge impact, and thousands of people are being reached” because the Ugandan team does more than provide clean water, she noted.

Spreading the gopsel

“We witnessed the gospel being introduced at each well site to all these people who are flocking there for clean water,” she said. “A Bible study is led each morning while the well is being drilled for the local community, and then local people continue the Bible study weekly.

“Hundreds of people are now attending regular Bible study and have come to know Christ through the installation of these wells.”

The Texans on Mission-supported ministry does more than drill wells. Mikey Osborne said the work “goes well beyond giving people clean water, because not only are we giving people water, we’re teaching them sanitation.

“Not only are we teaching them sanitation, we’re teaching them how to save money,” he continued. “Not only are we teaching them how to save, we’re teaching them how to care for one another. Not only are we teaching them how to care for one another, we’re sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, the living water, and teaching them how to raise up disciples in their own community among their own people.”

The recent trip will help Texans on Mission know how to produce more evangelism and discipleship resources. And Osborne was impressed with the ability of ministry leaders in Uganda. He talked about one leader, Moses.

“I got to see a guy named Moses, who, by the way, one of the best speakers I’ve seen,” he said. “He was unbelievably engaging. He spoke in the local language. The Spirit of God was on that man in such a way. He spoke with authority but also in an engaging manner. It was humbling to watch.

“Moses gave you the sense that he has been given the great responsibility of sharing the greatest gift in the world, and he was full of joy in getting to hand it out for you.”

The entire experience deeply moved the Osbornes.

“To say we were overwhelmed is an understatement,” Angie Osborne said. “We went to help change Uganda, but Uganda changed me.

“It is hard to wrap my mind around the fact that in 2024 people are still living in those conditions. It was eye-opening to see that there are thousands of people who live out in the middle of nowhere in little huts with no water, electricity, plumbing or any conveniences we have.

“We got to see the work that Texans on Mission is doing and were blown away.”

NASHVILLE (BP)—The Southern Baptist Convention’s Cooperative Program stands at a crossroads as its 100th birthday approaches.

Messengers to the Tennessee Baptist Convention’s Summit felt that reality this fall. They voted reluctantly to decrease the SBC percentage of the Tennessee convention’s Cooperative Program allocation from 47.5 percent to 45 percent and retain 55 percent for Tennessee ministries.

“When we started moving toward 50/50 distribution of Cooperative Program giving, that was overwhelmingly approved by our messengers,” said Randy Davis, president of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.

However, Cooperative Program giving “over the past decade has remained flat” in Tennessee, he noted.

“When you couple that with an inflation rate over the last decade of 24 percent, you can see the dilemma we’re in” to fund Tennessee ministries, Davis said.

Originally, the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board recommended allocating 40 percent of the 2025 Cooperative Program budget for SBC causes, 55 percent for Tennessee ministries and 5 percent directly to the International Mission Board.

The proposal was intended to funnel the same percentage of Cooperative Program dollars to the IMB that it would have received through a 50/50 split of receipts.

But Tennessee messengers amended the distribution to a straight 45/55 split, fearing a 5 percent gift directly to IMB would hurt other SBC entities by decreasing their allocations.

State conventions face funding dilemma

Tennessee isn’t the only state Baptist convention facing a funding dilemma. Multiple state and regional conventions this fall sought to cope with a stark reality. They cannot keep giving more to SBC causes when they are receiving less from churches.

“Giving to the Cooperative Program is impacted by many factors—including economic pressures on churches and conventions—as well as competing funding requests from many other Christian organizations,” said Jeff Iorg, president of the SBC Executive Committee.

“Southern Baptists still believe in cooperation, and a new generation must decide how to prioritize Cooperative Program giving to assure the long-term stability and fiscal health of our global efforts.”

The Cooperative Program is Southern Baptists’ unified mechanism for funding missions and ministries in North America and around the world. A local church gives through the Cooperative Program by sending money to its state Baptist convention. The state convention, in turn, decides a percentage of Cooperative Program receipts to use for in-state ministries and a percentage to forward to the Executive Committee for distribution among SBC causes.

All appears well with the Cooperative Program when considering funds forwarded from state conventions to the SBC. Twenty years ago, state conventions forwarded $175.5 million to SBC ministries. Ten years ago, the figure climbed to $183.4 million. For 2022-23, the most recent year for which complete statistics are available, it was $187.4 million.

No longer sustainable

But state conventions have been forwarding more money to the SBC even as they receive less from churches. Twenty years ago, churches gave a total of just over $501 million through the Cooperative Program.

It dropped to $482 million 10 years ago and $449 million last year. That means state conventions forwarded $12 million more to CP last year than they did two decades ago, even though they received $52 million less.

Southern Baptist leaders have wondered for years how long that trajectory can be sustained. For some state conventions, the answer is not any longer.

The California Southern Baptist Convention voted this fall to restructure its formula for distributing Cooperative Program funds. The convention adopted an in-state Cooperative Program budget of $3.85 million and a “CP gifts objective” of $5 million.

That means from the first $5 million given through the Cooperative Program next year, 2 percent will go to California Baptist University, 1 percent to the Baptist Foundation of California and $3.85 million will be used for budgeted California ministries. The rest will go to SBC causes. All Cooperative Program receipts over $5 million will go fully to SBC causes.

If California Cooperative Program receipts come in at $5 million, that would mean 20 percent forwarded to SBC causes. Cooperative Program receipts of $5.2 million would mean 25 percent to SBC causes, and $5.4 million in receipts would mean 30 percent to SBC causes. The California convention’s 2024 budget of $6 million allocated 35 percent to SBC causes.

As Cooperative Program receipts from churches decreased from $5.85 million in 2022 to a projected $5.1 million this year, “we have been doing budget cuts and cutting staff,” California Baptist convention executive director Pete Ramirez said.

“Our executive board had been discussing this new [Cooperative Program] formula for a couple of years. They finally said: ‘We don’t want you to continue to be cutting staff. We want you to be able to continue to do the ministry in California.’”

Leaders of SBC entities have been sympathetic about the California Baptists’ budget adjustment, Ramirez said, because everyone understands the real challenge of the Cooperative Program is inspiring churches to give more.

“We are at a crossroads where the Cooperative Program might not be what it was in the past,” Ramirez said. “The way this younger generation gives to missions is different than the previous generations. We’re going to have to figure out how do we do things different in our states to continue to do the great work we do as Southern Baptists.”

Six convention decreased CP percentage to SBC

California was one of six state and regional conventions this fall that decreased the percentage of Cooperative Program receipts allocated to SBC causes. Five state conventions increased their percentage to SBC causes, with the biggest jumps coming in at 1 percent in Indiana and the Baptist Resource Network of Pennsylvania-South Jersey. Twenty-seven conventions kept their SBC allocations the same.

The Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Baptist General Association of Virginia offer churches various giving plans for supporting out-of-state ministries, with the Cooperative Program among the options.

Ten years ago, the picture was different. In 2014, 23 state conventions increased their percentage of Cooperative Program receipts to SBC causes.

Nevada was among the states to reduce its SBC allocation this fall, going from 50 percent in 2024 to 25 percent in 2025. But Nevada Baptists have a plan to boost giving from local churches and money forwarded to SBC missions and ministries.

“We had a 10-year stint of being a 50/50 state and were proud of that,” said Damian Cirincione, executive director of the Nevada Baptist Convention. But when he assumed his current role three years ago, “we had already been operating in a deficit and pulling out of reserves.”

The 75/25 allocation adopted this year will both fund increased efforts to assist Nevada churches and facilitate the work of a task force to strengthen Cooperative Program giving.

About five years ago, transitions at the state convention and in local churches resulted in hundreds of thousands fewer dollars coming into Nevada’s Cooperative Program. Cirincione is optimistic giving can increase again.

“Though we’ve had to pivot slightly, we remain confident,” he said, noting Nevada Baptists continue to enjoy a warm relationship with all the SBC entities. “We are working with our churches to build out a strategy that will strengthen our giving in the coming days and our generosity in our contributions to CP as we engage and educate.”

For state convention leaders, the present state of Cooperative Program giving marks an opportunity rather than a discouragement. Over the past 20 years, undesignated giving to Southern Baptist churches has increased by nearly $3 billion, according to SBC Annuals. That’s a huge pool of potential money that could be given through CP.

“We must cast a vision for what’s needed and the difference 2 or 3 percent could make in Cooperative Program giving,” Davis said.

Iorg agrees. As he attended more than a dozen state convention annual meetings this fall, he witnessed an enthusiasm for Southern Baptist ministries that stands ready to be channeled into CP giving.

“My core message has been ‘Southern Baptists are a force for good,’” Iorg said. “And the response to that message has been very positive, including standing ovations in a few places, which was more about resonating with the message than applauding my presentation.”

(RNS)—Tony Campolo, an American Baptist minister and sociologist who spent decades trying to convince evangelicals and other Christians that their faith should motivate them to address social ills like poverty and racism, has died. He was 89.

A native of Philadelphia, Campolo was known for his charismatic preaching and sense of humor, which made him a popular speaker at college campuses, churches and Christian conferences—and equally at home giving an altar call or social commentary.

“Putting religion and politics together is like mixing ice cream with horse manure,” he told the comedian and television host Stephen Colbert in 2006. “It doesn’t hurt the horse manure; it ruins the ice cream. And I think that this merger of church and state has done great harm to religion.”

The author of 35 books, Campolo held degrees from Eastern University, Palmer Theological Seminary and Temple University. He taught sociology first at the University of Pennsylvania and then for decades at Eastern Christian College, where he was named professor emeritus.

He also served as an associate pastor at Mount Carmel Baptist, a predominantly Black church in Philadelphia, and in 2019 was named a co-pastor of St. John’s Baptist.

Inspired young people to be world changers

Starting in the 1980s, with books such as It’s Friday but Sunday’s Comin’, A Reasonable Faith, Who Switched the Price Tags and The Kingdom of God Is a Party, Campolo showed a knack for reaching young people with the Christian gospel and then inspiring them to go out and work to change the world. In the process, he often challenged the religious right.

In 1985, he lost a speaking gig at Youth Congress, a national event in Washington, D.C., after critics complained his book A Reasonable Faith was heretical. A panel of evangelical theologians then “determined that Tony Campolo cannot rightly be called a heretic,” according to Christianity Today.

He eventually became a spiritual adviser to then-President Bill Clinton in the 1990s. Campolo also founded a nonprofit called the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education, which worked in several countries, including Haiti, from the early 1970s to 2014.

Ryan Burge, a former American Baptist pastor and an associate professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University, said Campolo carried forward the legacy of the social gospel.

“Tony Campolo was one of the most talented and sought-after preachers in the United States for several decades. He was able to speak to audiences from all corners of American Christianity—reminding them of the radical grace and forgiveness that is found in the gospel,” Burge said.

Passion for justice rooted in early family life

The child of Italian American immigrants, Campolo said his belief that Christianity could change lives in this world—as well as saving people’s souls—grew out of his childhood.

In a 2016 online interview, he told the story of how a Baptist mission changed the course of his family’s life.

“My father couldn’t find a job and they were totally impoverished, and a Baptist mission in South Philadelphia reached out to them, got my father a job, got them a place to stay, put their feet on solid ground and really saved them from despair and destitution,” he recalled.

“People often ask me: ‘Where did you get your social consciousness? Where did you get your commitment to the poor, before it was ever fashionable?’ My mother and father saw in the way they were treated by a group of Baptists that this is what Christianity is about. It’s not about getting a ticket to heaven, it’s about becoming an instrument of God to transform this world.”

In 2007, Campolo, along with author and activist Shane Claiborne, founded Red Letter Christians, a challenge to the conservative evangelical voting bloc. The name came from the practice of Bible publishers printing the words of Jesus in red ink and highlighted the social and ethical teachings of Jesus. In 2012, Campolo was given a lifetime award from the National Youth Workers Convention for his work inspiring young people.

“As a result of Tony’s life of ministry and leadership he has left a legacy of encouragement and hope to youth workers and students everywhere,” the award read, according to an official bio of Campolo.

Campolo suffered a stoke in 2020, which partially paralyzed his left side. He suffered a previous stroke in 2002.

“You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who has influenced evangelicalism more than Tony Campolo in the last 50 years,” Claiborne told RNS at the time.

Campolo is survived by his wife Peggy, son Bart and daughter Lisa.