ST LOUIS (BP)—Registration is open for preschool child care, as well as programs for children and youth during the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting, June 14-15 in St. Louis.

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief child care volunteers will care for preschoolers; Giant Cow Children’s Ministries will lead the 5- to 12-year-olds, and Woman’s Missionary Union will guide Youth on Mission curricula and activities.

All activities for children and youth will be housed at the America’s Center, the annual meeting site. Youth who have completed grades 7-12 will begin their days at the convention center with worship before going into the community for hands-on mission projects.

Preregistration is required and is available by clicking here and then looking under the “children/youth” tab. Deadline is May 6 or when the space limitation of 120 children is reached. Registrations will not be taken on site.

Preschool Child care

Volunteers will offer child care for newborns through 5-year-olds June 12-15, encompassing the SBC Pastors’ Conference June 12-13 and the annual meeting. The cost is $25 per child for the Pastors’ Conference and an additional $25 per children for the annual meeting. There is also a $10 nonrefundable registration fee per child.

Lunch for preschoolers will be available for $6 a day June 13–15. Parents should pay all related fees upon registration to ensure their child’s participation. The SBC will verify registrations with an emailed confirmation packet, including a parent’s handbook.

Every lesson and game for preschoolers will focus on the theme “Jonah and the Whale.”

Giant Cow Ministries

Giant Cow Ministries will be offered for staggered fees—$65 for June 12-15, $55 for June 13-15, $45 for June 14-15 and $25 for each individual day.

Registration deadline is May 30 or until available spaces are sold. WMU will provide missions education as part of the curriculum.

Registration is open here or here. 

Youth On Mission

Youth On Mission will engage students in hands-on missions projects June 14-15 for $55 per youth, plus a nonrefundable registration fee of $10 per youth.

“Youth on Mission will have the opportunity to study the Bible together, hear testimonies from North American and international missionaries, and gain a greater understanding of how God can use them in his work in the world,” said Jess Archer, Louisiana WMU children’s/youth missions education strategist and Youth on Mission coordinator.

Lunch and snacks will be provided both days.

ST. LOUIS (BP)—Registration for the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting, June 14-15 in St. Louis, has opened. “Awaken America: Reach the World” will be the theme for the event.

Online registration for messengers and local hotels can be accessed by clicking here. 

Through online messenger registration, each messenger will receive an eight-digit registration code to present at the annual meeting’s express registration lane in St. Louis, preferably as a printout for the church’s credential. After the code is entered into a computer at the SBC registration area, each registrant will receive a nametag. The appropriate church-authorized representative must complete all online registrations.

The SBC constitution and bylaws were amended last year to broaden messenger representation.

Each cooperating church that contributes to convention causes during the preceding fiscal year now automatically qualifies for two messengers; previous rules allowed for one messenger.

The convention will recognize 10 additional messengers from a cooperating church under one of the following options:

• One additional messenger for each full percent of the church’s undesignated receipts the church contributed during the preceding fiscal year through the Cooperative Program, and/or through the SBC Executive Committee for convention causes, and/or to any convention entity.
• One additional messenger for each $6,000 the church contributed in the preceding year through the normative combination of the Cooperative Program, designated gifts through the Executive Committee for convention causes or to any SBC entity.

SBC President Ronnie Floyd announced Stephen Rummage, senior pastor of Bell Shoals Baptist Church in Brandon, Fla., will chair the committee on resolutions, and Willy Rice, senior pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Clearwater, Fla., will chair the committee on committees.

NASHVILLE (BP)—The Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board announced 983 missionaries and 149 stateside staff have left the organization during the past six months as a result of its voluntary retirement and resignation programs.

IMB President David Platt told trustees the organization now expects to operate a balanced budget for 2017 due to its 2015-16 organizational “reset” processes and Southern Baptists’ generosity.

“The IMB is now in a much healthier financial position,” Platt said during the board’s Feb. 22-24 meeting near Richmond, Va. “Due to increased giving from Southern Baptist churches, Cooperative Program and Lottie Moon Christmas Offering giving are trending upward.”

The number of missionaries on the field now is around 3,800, according to IMB figures. The last time the number of missionaries dropped below 4,000 was in 1993, at 3,954, according to reports in the SBC Annual.

“While this news is disappointing to all of us, we know we have prayed for God’s leadership. Therefore, we will trust God in this season and with our future as Southern Baptists,” SBC President Ronnie Floyd said.

“This reset is not regress or retreat. Southern Baptist churches must see this as a fresh calling to reaching the world for Christ. Now is the time to go forward with a clear vision and an aggressive strategy to make disciples of all the nations for Christ.”

Frank Page, president of the SBC Executive Committee, expressed grief over the staff cutbacks.

“My heart is broken to hear of the large number of missionaries and staff who are leaving the IMB. My prayers are with them as they transition,” Page said.

“However, most of all, my prayers are focused on the fact of the massive lostness in our world. May God bless Dr. Platt as he leads us in a new strategy to see a new day of intentional evangelism around our world.”

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Three of the four teens named to Woman’s Missionary Union’s 2016 National Acteens Panel are from Texas.

Hannah HuttonThe panel is composed of teen girls who exemplify a missions lifestyle, demonstrate leadership in their Acteens group and excel in their school and community. Acteens is a church-based Baptist missions program for girls in grades 7 to 12.

Jemima LouisHannah Hutton of Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin, Jemima Louis of Tallowood Baptist Church in Houston and Ana Sandoval of Freeman Heights Baptist Church in Garland—along with Sarah Golden of Eastern Hills Baptist Church in Pike Road, Ala.—were chosen from a competitive pool of applicants for their outstanding character and commitment to missions.

Ana Sandoval“Acteens truly opens your eyes to see that missions is all around us, all around the globe, not just happening in Texas,” Sandoval said. “It continues to show me what my responsibilities as a Christian are and how I can be doing that at my age.”

All three Texans have been involved in Acteens for six years and have missions experience both locally and outside the state.

“Our Acteens group learned about the persecuted church in Nepal,” Hutton said. “We had a visit from a pastor of a local Nepalese congregation of refugees and then visited their church. What amazes me about Acteens is the opportunity to engage with other cultures.”

Serving with Acteens not only has broadened her worldview, but also strengthened her character as she looks ahead to college, Louis said.

“Missions has shaped me into the individual God wants me to be,” she explained. “I have been taught the importance of integrity, servitude and the attitude towards each situation I face in my daily encounters.”

The panelists will be featured during the WMU Missions Celebration and Annual Meeting in St. Louis, June 12-13. They will meet national and international missionaries and interact with missions leaders from across the country. The girls also may be invited to share their experiences through speaking engagements at church, associational and state Acteens and WMU meetings and events. 

“We are thrilled to have these gifted young women as ambassadors for Acteens, because the call to make disciples amongst their generation is so great,” said Kym Mitchell, Student Resource Team leader for national WMU. “We know this panel will influence young women across the country as the Lord shapes them into the next generation of leaders.”

Hutton considers the opportunity to be a missions influencer one of the biggest blessings of her life.

“Acteens has given me amazing opportunities to serve God and others,” she said. “As a National Panelist, I will be able to encourage other churches to start an Acteens group to get teenage girls involved in learning about other cultures and organizing missions projects.”

The panelists also will write articles for The Mag, the Acteens mission magazine, and the Acteens website, wmu.com/acteens. They will serve through Dec. 31 and each receive $1,000 from the Jessica Powell Loftis Scholarship for Acteens from the WMU Foundation. 

Applications for the 2017 National Acteens Panel are available by clicking here. and in the fall issue of Acteens Leader. All applications must be submitted to National WMU by Nov. 1.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Woman’s Missionary Union, the national missions-support organization for the Southern Baptist Convention, has launched its search to replace retiring Executive Director Wanda Lee.

National WMU President Linda Cooper issued a call to prayer for the search committee charged with identifying the successor to Lee, who has led the organization since 2000.

Search committee members are Chair Joy Bolton, executive director of Kentucky WMU; Debby Akerman, national WMU president, 2010-15; Jill McNicol, president of Illinois WMU; Kathy Sheldon, president of Pennsylvania/South Jersey WMU; and June Tate, president of Colorado WMU.

“Above all, I am confident these women will take this task very seriously, seeking the Lord’s guidance in all they do in every step of this process,” Cooper said. “I encourage every Southern Baptist to pray intentionally and daily for the committee, for me and for the one whom God already has selected who will lead WMU forward.

“I also ask you pray for Wanda, who will continue to lead WMU in the meantime. She has given her all to lead us for the past 16 years and is committed to a seamless transition in leadership. I thank God for her and for other strong missions leaders in our churches who know firsthand how God uses missions discipleship through WMU to change lives.”

Including Lee, national WMU has had seven leaders since its inception in 1888: Annie Armstrong, 1888-1906; Edith Campbell Crane, 1907-1911; Kathleen Mallory, 1912-1948; Alma Hunt, 1948-1974; Carolyn Weatherford Crumpler, 1974-1989; and Dellanna O’Brien, 1989-1999.

The committee will begin its work immediately. Recommendations and resumes may be sent to WMU Search Committee, c/o Joy Bolton, Kentucky WMU, 13420 Eastpoint Centre Drive, Louisville, 40223; or by email to Joy.Bolton@kybaptist.org, to be received no later than May 1.

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Governing Board will ask members attending the June 20-24 gathering in Greensboro, N.C., to sign off on a new funding model that will be the centerpiece to a new vision for global missions.

Read it at Baptist News Global.

NASHVILLE (BP)—Trustees of LifeWay Christian Resources authorized the purchase of land and construction of a building in downtown Nashville for its corporate headquarters.

“This property is not just a location. It’s a new community in which we can invest ourselves for the future,” President and CEO Thom Rainer told trustees.

The property is five blocks north of LifeWay’s current headquarters with frontage on Interstate 40/65. LifeWay administration will continue its due diligence on the 2.7 acres of land in Capitol View, a new mixed-use development site in Nashville’s central business district.

Rainer told trustees the Capitol View development would be a great location for employees and provide convenient access to hotels, restaurants and meeting space for LifeWay visitors and conference participants.

Trustees also approved a recommendation for the construction of a new corporate headquarters. The recommendation included the authorization to enter into a contract with Gresham, Smith and Partners for the design of the facility and “to execute other contracts and documents as necessary for LifeWay to complete the new campus.”

“We are designing a building that will reflect LifeWay’s culture, both now and for the future,” Rainer told trustees. “It will be a building conducive to collaboration, innovation and fun.”

During a Feb. 4 news conference, Nashville Mayor Megan Barry joined Rainer to announce LifeWay’s decision to remain downtown.

“I know LifeWay had many options, and we are excited they have chosen to remain a part of the fabric of Nashville,” Barry said.

About 1,100 LifeWay employees are based in the downtown offices and will move into the new building. Rainer estimated its completion could be as early as November 2017.

In his report to trustees, Rainer talked about the many changes that have occurred at LifeWay over the last 10 years.

“We have faced headwinds again and again. But God has worked through these times. It is amazing to see what God has done through LifeWay,” he said. “We are here for such a time as this. And it’s time to move forward.”

In other business, LifeWay trustees elected officers—Kent Dacus, vice president for enrollment and student services at California Baptist University, chairman; Bruce Moseley, pastor of Zion Baptist Church in Mobile, Ala., vice chairman; and Darron Edwards, senior pastor of United Believers Community Church in Kansas City, Mo., recording secretary.

DALLAS—A new law will benefit operators and participants in church retirement plans, according to leaders of GuideStone Financial Services, the Baptist clergy benefits agency.

Provisions of the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015, called the PATH Act, will allow church retirement plans to include automatic enrollment features in their retirement programs, regardless of state wage withholding laws. It also will allow for some transfers and mergers between accounts of the same employer.

Additionally, provisions that regulate how employees are counted for benefit purposes will help distinguish between different kinds of church and denominational governance structures.

The legislation—sought by a coalition of denominational retirement plan providers—took three Congresses to consider before being tacked onto the PATH Act in December 2015. President Barack Obama signed the bill into law Dec. 18.

“This bill has been a long-awaited and hard-fought bill to pass,” GuideStone President O.S. Hawkins said. “We appreciate all who made this bill a reality.”

A major “win” in this new legislation is leveling the playing field between secular employers’ plans and church-related employers’ plans regarding automatic enrollment. A component in the law pre-empts state laws that interfere with the ability of a church plan to offer automatic enrollment programs. Under such programs, employees automatically enroll in the retirement plans at a preset level of deferrals. Employees have the option to opt out or make changes to the amount deferred, and some notice requirements must be met.

Congress made a similar provision affecting for-profit organizations’ 401(k) employer-sponsored plans in the Pension Protection Act of 2006. But it had not expressly included non-profits’ 403(b) plans, leading some to believe state wage-garnishment laws might impact the ability to enroll workers automatically into a 403(b) plan.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, up to 30 percent of eligible workers choose not to participate in an employer’s retirement plan. Less than 15 percent of eligible workers opt out of an automatic enrollment plan.

“Benefit decisions can be overwhelming,” said Joy Roberts, executive director of retirement relationship management at GuideStone. “New employees are asked to make impactful decisions about their retirement plan at the same time they are starting a new job. Many delay getting started or don’t contribute adequately.

“This new legislation will give employers the option to automatically enroll their employees, giving their employees greater financial security in their retirement and making sure that their employees are accessing the full scope of benefits that help retain great employees.”

The PATH Act was known as the “taxibus” bill Congress passed to keep the government running through the 2016 budget year. Sens. Ben Cardin, D-Md., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, along with Reps. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio, and Richard E. Neal, D-Mass., cosponsored the church retirement plan portion of the PATH Act.

William D. Shiell, pastor of First Baptist Church in Tallahassee, Fla., and former pastor of churches in San Angelo and McGregor,  will become president of the century-old Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard, Ill., on March 1.

Read it at Baptist News Global.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—This Valentine’s Day, the Woman’s Missionary Union Foundation hopes to spread love and warmth to Syrian refugees living in Jordan—and to nearby people in need.

As part of its “#WarmOurWorld” campaign, the WMU Foundation is asking individuals for a $25 donation to supply a blanket to a refugee family. They are also encouraging people to donate blankets in their communities to help meet local needs.

“We want to do everything we can to meet the physical and spiritual needs of refugees in Jordan, but we also can’t forget about those in our backyard,” said David George, president of the WMU Foundation. “There have been many cold nights in Birmingham this winter, and we want to make sure no family is without warmth.”

The WMU Foundation is working in partnership with Arab Woman Today, a Christian ministry in Jordan.

“We’ve had three snowstorms in Jordan this season. It’s been very cold,” said Ruba Abbassi, founder and director of Arab Woman Today. “Because of the increase in the number of refugees from Syria, we are seeing many families who are not being taken care of and have nowhere to turn.”

A $25 gift to the WMU Foundation’s AWT Fund will provide a blanket to a refugee family and also will help Arab Woman Today meet spiritual needs in Jordan.

The WMU Foundation also is asking people to donate new blankets to a local ministry or homeless shelter.

“Whether it’s a blanket given to a refugee or to someone in need in your community, it’s a small way to show the love of Christ,” George said. “It’s also a fun and affordable way to involve your family in local and international missions.”

The WMU Foundation is encouraging people to make their blanket donations by Valentine’s Day, so they can be used while it is still cold outside. A tax-deductible donation of $25 can be made online here or by mailing a check to the WMU Foundation at 100 Missionary Ridge, Birmingham, AL 35242.

To serve the Birmingham area, the WMU Foundation is collecting blankets at its office until Feb. 12. The donated blankets will be given to The WellHouse, a Birmingham-based shelter for victims of human trafficking.

TUXPAN DE BOLANOS, Mexico—A town assembly in Tuxpan de Bolanos—a community in Jalisco, Mexico—expelled 10 Baptist families from their community when they refused to recant their faith.

Citizens loaded the 28 Baptists—18 adults and 10 children—into a pickup truck and abandoned them in the nearby mountains, according to a report from International Christian Concern.

Daniel Rangel, director of Texas Baptists’ River Ministry, confirmed the report. Rangel noted he had communicated by text messages with Regional Baptist Convention Emmanuel officials throughout the week in regard to the situation.

The general secretary of the National Baptist Convention of Mexico forwarded a message to the Baptist World Alliance from the Regional Baptist Convention Emanuel in Guadalajara, saying Baptist families had been “stripped of their property and expelled from their community for being Christians.”

“We have been looking for the intervention of the authorities in this problem, but as a solution has not yet been found to the conflict, our brothers are unprotected,” the message said.

The message appealed to other Baptists in Mexico to take a love offering to provide for the needs of the families.

International Christian Concern—a human rights organization in Washington, D.C., that focuses on persecuted Christians worldwide—called the situation in Jalisco “the latest in a decades-long system of persecution of evangelical Christians in rural Mexico.”

The organization estimated more than 70 open cases of religious persecution against minority Christian communities in five other Mexican states—Chiapas, Hidalgo, Oaxaca, Puebla and Guerrero.

“ICC is disturbed to learn of another instance of religious minorities being expelled by local governments on the basis of their faith,” said Nate Lance, advocacy manager for the human rights group.

“It is equally disturbing that despite being notified of multiple cases of persecution throughout rural Mexico, the state and federal governments refuse to protect their religious minorities or prosecute perpetrators. As a result, these families are now religious refugees in their own country.

“In the strongest terms, we demand that the government of Mexico intervene and reinstate the freedom of worship that their constitution is meant to guarantee.”

A federal appeals court has appointed a pro bono attorney to represent an Arkansas couple challenging LifeWay Christian Resource’s 2013 sale of Glorieta Conference Center near Santa Fe, N.M.

Read it at Baptist News Global.