Religious persecution continues in Venezuela despite Maduro’s capture, CSW reports

By / Mar 9

CARACAS, Venezuela (BP) – Religious persecution and human rights violations continue in Venezuela under a firmly entrenched authoritarian regime, CSW reported March 9 as captured President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores await trial in the U.S.

The Maduro regime under the Socialist Union of Venezuela Party has persecuted Christians there for more than a decade, religious freedom defenders have said.

“With or without Maduro at the helm, the Socialist Union of Venezuela Party remains responsible for widespread human rights violations, including the persecution of religious leaders, the consistent repression of independent civil society, and even the massacre and forced displacement of indigenous groups,” Anna Strang, CSW director of advocacy and Americas team leader, said in releasing the new report. said in releasing the report. “The international community must ensure that any discussions of Venezuela’s uncertain future set benchmarks for the measurable improvements in the protection of freedom of religion or belief, as well as for religious and humanitarian actors, and indigenous peoples and their spiritual rights.”

The Maduros have a March 17 court date on U.S. charges of federal drug trafficking and weapons offenses, and have pleaded not guilty.

CSW’s 16-page report, “Self-Censorship and Social Control: The Situation of Freedom of Religion or Belief in Venezuela,” echoes November 2025 findings from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF). Venezuela forms with Cuba and Nicaragua an authoritarian triad of religious persecution in Latin America, USCIRF found, and CSW said Venezuela’s model of persecution mimics that of Cuba.

Religious leaders are “routinely targeted for harassment, violence, arbitrary detention, and in some cases enforced disappearance,” CSW wrote in its report, citing concurrent and similar abuse of human rights defenders, prodemocracy groups and those politically opposed to Maduro’s regime.

Maduro established religious benefit programs and sponsored religious ceremonies to downplay criticism of the persecution, CSW said, while Venezuela’s constitutionally guaranteed religious freedoms are denied.

“While some religious groups have accepted preferential treatment in exchange for their loyalty,” CSW said, “others which have denounced the dictatorship and refused these incentives have faced discrimination and in some cases have been accused of ‘incitement to hatred’ or ‘threats to public order.’”

Among the benefit programs Maduro established to incentivize support from religious leaders is the Good Pastor Bonus, which as recently as May 2025 offered certain pastors a monthly bonus of roughly $2.60 (1,050 bolivars). Designed for pastors registered with the Homeland System and affiliated with the pro-Maduro Evangelical Christian Movement for Venezuela, the stipend is enough to buy about 2 lbs. of beef, which CSW described as “a not insignificant amount in extremely impoverished areas.” About 20,000 pastors received the stipend in 2025.

Early in his presidency that began in 2013, Maduro initiated a “combative relationship” with Roman Catholic leaders, CSW said, refusing to renew residential permits for religious personnel, and continuing to promote an “Our Chavez” prayer (started under former president Hugo Chávez) to replace the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:9-13.

Reports of Venezuela’s religious composition vary, but CSW cites a 2011 census describing the country as 71 percent Roman Catholic and 17 percent Protestant, with 8 percent citing no religion. Bahai’s, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jews, Muslims, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints and followers of folk religions are also present.

The U.S. government should add Venezuela to the Special Watchlist for religious freedom violations and add the National Liberation Army to the list of Entities of Particular Concern for severe religious freedom violations in both Colombia and Venezuela, CSW recommends, as well as actively address religious persecution in Venezuela.

USCIRF and the U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom should seek opportunities to tour Venezuela and meet freely with religious groups there, CSW said, and urged the U.S. State Department to “actively engage in and provide support” to international efforts to stop illegal and criminal groups there. 

“The US Congress and the State Department should provide support for efforts in Venezuela to move towards democracy and establish rule of law with respect for fundamental human rights, including FoRB (freedom of religion or belief,” CSW said, and also offered supportive recommendations for the governments of Venezuela, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the United Nations to speed the transformation.

Read the report here.



Texas/Ukraine church partnership grows

By / Mar 9

KAUFMAN, Texas – Pastors in Texas have begun connecting with Ukrainian partner churches, planning projects, trips and initiatives as part of the Healing Path Movement, a partnership establishing church-to-church connections between Texas and Ukrainian Baptist churches.

The movement launched Nov. 18, 2025, in Abilene, during a meeting between Baptist General Convention of Texas leadership and the Ukrainian Baptist Union.

In November, 36 Texas Baptist churches committed to the partnership. Today, 44 Texas churches are committed and 41 partnerships started.

“Four churches are in the onboarding process, [and] four more churches are pending,” said Hannah Polk, director of the executive office at First Baptist Church in Kaufman, which provides leadership for the movement under senior pastor Brent Gentzel.

“Over January and February, most of our churches got connected with their pastors. Many of the prayer teams have begun to meet, and plans are already underway for projects, local projects in Ukraine, and trips and initiatives that will launch after the war is over,” she continued.

Prayer teams for each partnership were established in January, with a goal of having three to five people commit to pray with their Ukrainian partners through the duration of the partnership.

A memorandum of understanding signed by Ukrainian Baptist Union President Valerii Antoniuk and BGCT Executive Director Julio Guarneri in November, establishes the key overview of the project and a pathway for church and pastor partnerships.

Partnership strategy

The effort involves a four-phase partnership strategy. The first phase begins with 50 church-to-church and pastor-to-pastor partnerships. Two Texas churches are paired with two churches from each of Ukraine’s 25 oblasts (provinces). The goal is for four anchor churches to be established in each oblast to facilitate regional initiatives.

Phase 1 also involves extensive prayer and relationship building: “We are … in a season of prayerful preparation for the rebuilding that will come when the war ends,” Polk said.

“Across the state, we are putting the infrastructure in place now. Training dates are being scheduled, calendars are being built, experts in trauma care and healing are being enlisted, and strategies for things like sports camps and other ministry efforts are being developed, so that we are ready to serve well in the season ahead.”

As part of the four-phase initiative, leadership from each partnership will travel to Ukraine post-war, building connections with partner churches and communities there while pursuing a variety of church-to-church mission projects, including establishing sports and English camps, worship arts training, construction projects, church planting, mental health ministries and more.

Polk emphasized the movement’s current stage of relationship-building and development: “Right now, we are in a relationship-building stage, and there is a great deal of encouragement flowing back and forth across these partnerships.”

“Many Ukrainian pastors are deeply grateful for the time our pastors are giving to encourage them, pray for them and pray with them,” she said.

“From the beginning, our goal was to walk through this first year with a group of pilot churches. We are just now beginning that phase of the journey.”

The funding process

During the partnership launch event, Brent Genzel explained how BGCT churches would need to provide financial support to their Ukrainian partners beginning in January 2025.

Funds are sent through the BGCT, which in turn sends the funds to the Ukrainian Baptist Union to disburse to the respective churches. Churches are also asked to give $10,000 per year for the next three years to handle general expenses, such as ministry infrastructure and equipment.

Polk explained how the funding process operates: “Texas Baptist churches are funding this project through [giving] beyond their normal Cooperative Program dollars,” she said.

Texas Baptist church-to-church partnerships act as financial sponsorships to carry the Ukraine-Texas movement forward. Each Texas Baptist church is asked to contribute $500 per month toward agreed-upon advancement projects. The first support check was due in January.

Baptists serving into the future

Leaders of the effort hope to see continued growth through 2027, because the need is great.

“The breadth of ministry taking place through Ukrainian Baptist churches across the nation, even in the midst of war and constant bombing, is truly remarkable,” Polk said. “Ukraine is a large country, and some of the churches we are partnering with are literally just miles from the front lines.

“In those areas, much of their ministry involves caring for wounded soldiers and supporting their families in very immediate and personal ways. Other churches are focused on refugee care and responding to the growing homelessness crisis throughout the country.

“Yet, in every setting, the work of these Baptist churches in Ukraine is deeply inspiring. It reminds all of us that the local church truly is the hope of the world.

“That is true in Ukraine, and it is just as true in Texas. We serve the same God, and Ge calls our local churches here to respond with courage and compassion in the face of pain, suffering, and loss in our own communities. I’ve never been more proud to be a Texas Baptist.”

This article originally appeared in the Baptist Standard.



New missionaries share what surprised them most

By / Mar 9

Sometimes it takes two hours just to get groceries. A doctor’s visit will most likely require Google Translate at some point. Air pollution skyrockets during winter months. Language learning is not for the faint of heart.

And yet, showing up is more important than saying the right thing. Children are magnets for meeting people. And, even when it takes three hours of tea to get to a Gospel conversation, making Christ known is worth it.

These are just some of the hard-won pearls of wisdom International Mission Board missionaries Forrest and Paige mulled over one evening as they reflected on their first year overseas.

IMB missionaries Forrest and Paige recently reflected on their first year in Central Asia and expressed their joy and amazement seeing God work through the spiritual questions their Muslim friends are asking. IMB Photo

When they moved to Central Asia last year to work among Muslim people groups, Forrest and Paige knew being flexible was a requisite for the work of missions. But, they revealed one thing that surprised them most of all.

“In Central Asia, there is an expectation for you to have spiritual conversations if your faith is important to you,” said Paige, explaining how, unlike in the U.S., religion and spiritual matters are not taboo topics. “If you withhold your faith until later in the relationship, people are surprised that you waited so long to talk about it.”

One day, when a new, Central Asian friend brought up God early in their conversation, Paige was caught off guard but excited. Her friend remarked that someone had told her to read the Bible and asked Paige what she thought.

“And from there, the remainder of our conversation was spiritual,” Paige recalled. “We talked about the grand narrative of Scripture and the Gospel. We opened the Bible and read it together, and I asked her what she thought about it.”

She had a similar experience while meeting another new friend at a coffee shop. After Paige shared some of her testimony, the friend pressed for more information. “So, who is Jesus and why did He die?” They spent the rest of their conversation reading Scripture together and sharing deeply about the Gospel.

But even while social norms facilitate open conversations about faith, Forrest and Paige have found talking about Jesus often leads to loss of relationship. And, though the government isn’t openly hostile to Christianity, local believers, especially, face cultural and familial persecution when they share Christ.

Part of their work, Forrest explained, includes coming alongside the local church as they count the cost for sharing the Gospel with their friends and family, and empowering local believers to take the Gospel to places where missionaries can’t go.

Forrest recounted a recent conversation with one local believer who had never considered his access to regions and countries where missionaries are unable to gain entry.

“Sometimes it feels like I’ve had three hours of tea just so I could get to a five-minute conversation about the Gospel,” said IMB missionary Forrest, “but I’ve realized sometimes three hours of tea is the work.” IMB Photo

“He was like ‘Oh, I never even thought of that,’” Forrest said. “It does require casting vision and training people to catch that spark.”

As they consider the remainder of their first term and beyond, Forrest pointed out the importance of steadfast missionary presence.

“I think something I'm learning is that it takes long-standing faithfulness to see fruit,” he said. “When you’re doing the work, consistently showing up in people’s lives and being there really, really matters.”

Though the work of missions hasn’t always looked like they expected, Forrest and Paige expressed their gratefulness to God for exposing the idols of convenience and control in their hearts and teaching them to go with the flow.

“Sometimes it feels like I’ve had three hours of tea just so I could get to a five-minute conversation about the Gospel,” Forrest said, “but I’ve realized sometimes three hours of tea is the work.”

“On the hard days,” Paige agreed, “all of it just points to the worthiness of Christ.”

Some names have been changed for security



Baker to chair 2026 Committee on Resolutions, portal opens March 15

By / Mar 9

ORLANDO (BP) – North Greenville University Provost and Dean of Faculty Hunter Baker will serve as chair of the Committee on Resolutions for the 2026 SBC Annual Meeting this summer.

SBC President Clint Pressley made the announcement in a statement to Baptist Press.

Hunter Baker

“I am so thankful for this group of joyful Southern Baptists who have agreed to serve on the Resolutions Committee this year,” said Pressley, senior pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, who will be completing his second one-year term as president. “Hunter Baker, one of the leading ethicists in the SBC, will do an outstanding job providing clear and biblical leadership. We hope to make resolutions that help the Convention speak to the issues of the day with a unified and clear voice.”

Baker began his role at North Greenville in October 2023. Previously a faculty member at Union University since 2010, he served there as dean of Arts and Sciences and professor of political science since 2018.

With 14 million Americans belonging to the country’s largest Protestant denomination, Southern Baptists “bear a large responsibility for the American Constitutional order,” Baker noted in a discussion with Jonathan Howe on this week’s release of “The Road to Orlando,” available on BP’s YouTube page.

“I think it’s basically malpractice, on our part, if we don’t seek to influence the culture for the good, to try to inculcate a kind of civic righteousness,” he said. “Not confusing church and state. Those need to be kept very distinct, and the Baptist commitment to religious liberty is ultra important.”

Baker anticipates this year’s slate of resolutions capable of covering several topics, including religious liberty, church and state, America’s Semiquincentennial celebration, governmental fraud, AI, proper bounds of civil disobedience, civic virtue and citizenship and immigration.

The 2026 resolution submission window opens March 15. Submitted resolutions must be typed, titled, dated and received by the committee no later than May 15.

Baker offered tips for considering and preparing a resolution, including studying past ones and discussing your ideas with others.

He also suggested looking at resolutions not only as statements for where Southern Baptists currently stand on an issue, but as tools for Gospel conversations.

“When you do a resolution, you’re moving yourself out of this process of emotional reaction and into a contemplative and thoughtful place so you can develop some kind of well-considered thoughts for other people to see and think about,” he said.

Others tapped to serve on the 2026 SBC Committee on Resolutions are:

  • David Crowther, senior pastor of Immanuel Baptist, Wichita, Kan.
  • Obbie Tyler Todd, pastor of teaching and theologian in residence at Cross Community Church, Beaufort, S.C.
  • Hank Garner, executive pastor at Lone Oak FBC, Ky.
  • Landon Dowden, lead pastor at Hebron Baptist, Dacula, Ga.
  • Neisha Grubaugh, layperson at Jersey Church in New Albany, Ohio
  • Ryan Helfenbein, vice president of communications, Liberty University, member of Thomas Road Baptist, Lynchburg, Va.
  • Jeremy Pierre, elder at Clifton Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., dean of the Billy Graham School of Evangelism, Missions and Ministry at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
  • Evan Lenow, assistant professor of Christian Studies at Mississippi College, member of Morrison Heights Baptist, Clinton, Miss.
  • Jeff Goodyear, executive pastor at Highview Baptist in Louisville, Ky.

The SBC Annual Meeting will take place June 9-10 in Orlando.



WMU search committee formed, seeking candidates for executive director

By / Mar 9

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Connie Dixon, WMU president, has formed a search committee to seek the organization’s next executive director-treasurer following Sandy Wisdom-Martin’s Dec. 10 announcement of her intentions to retire by January 2027. Wisdom-Martin has devoted more than 35 years serving in Southern Baptist leadership roles with the past nine and a half leading national WMU. 

Candace McIntosh, executive director of Alabama WMU, will serve as chair of the search committee. Serving along with McIntosh and Dixon are Linda Cooper, president of Kentucky WMU and president emerita of national WMU; Sandra Hughes, president of California WMU; Phyllis Rodgers, president of Louisiana WMU; and Odelle Cadwell, former president of WMU of Michigan.

“After a season of prayer and fasting, I am very excited about the group God led me to appoint to this committee,” Dixon said. “Each has already been praying about this process and the leadership of WMU. At times this task has seemed overwhelming, but we serve an awesome and faithful God Who I know is already preparing the next executive director. Please be in prayer for this committee and the task before us.”

McIntosh joins Dixon in asking Southern Baptists to pray for the next executive director.

“We deeply covet your prayers as we move forward in dependence on the Lord,” McIntosh said. “I am honored to serve alongside the women who have been chosen for this important responsibility. As a committee, we are humbled by the task God has entrusted to us. We do not take lightly the role of seeking the ninth executive director-treasurer who will lead WMU, SBC with wisdom and vision.”

The search committee is refining a profile of characteristics, skills, and experience desired for the position of executive director-treasurer and is seeking further input from various audiences. A job description is posted at wmu.com/employment. Resumes and recommendations may be sent to [email protected] in March and April. 

McIntosh said there is not a specific timeline to present a candidate to the executive board of WMU, SBC, and that the committee is committed to prayerfully following the Lord’s leading and timing. 



Story of church replant includes uniting local couple in faith and marriage

By / Mar 7

Editor’s note: This year’s Week of Prayer for North American Missions is March 1-March 8 and is focused on the theme: More Than a Gift and the theme verse of Ephesians 3:20-21. The emphasis spotlights the spiritual needs and ministry taking place on the North American mission field leading up to the annual Annie Armstrong Easter Offering (AAEO) for North American Missions. All gifts given to the offering support missionaries and resources on the mission field. The AAEO provides half of the annual funding for the North American Mission Board. Gifts to the Annie offering can be given through local Southern Baptist churches or online at give.anniearmstrong.com. This year’s goal is $80 million.

MARRERO, La. – In almost every way possible, Leon and Javon Every of Marrero, La., looked like the heads of a traditional household.

Childhood sweethearts who were still very much in love – "Through thick and thin," Leon says, "Javon's always been there for me" – the Everys successfully raised four kids and, as they grew old together, would proudly show everyone photos of their 14 beautiful grandkids.

The Everys were remarkably traditional in every way – but one.

Racial diversity was not what Leon and Javon Every expected to see when they visited Cross Community Church. “But that’s the first thing we noticed,” Javon says. “There was White and Black and all different kinds of people there, and everybody treated everybody else like family. We really connected with that.” NAMB photo by Ben Rollins

"When we first met Leon and Javon," says Troy Gause, "they'd been together 39 years, but they'd never been married."

Gause is a church planting missionary who first came to Marrero because of a dying congregation's call for help. Coincidentally or not, that church’s building happened to be just around the corner from Leon and Javon Every's house.

As God began answering that church’s call for help, the Everys would experience transformation they did not know they needed.

"Ames Boulevard Baptist Church had been in this community for 60-something years," Gause says, "and at one time, they'd been really successful. But when the community started to change and they didn't, the church dwindled down to just a few elderly members. When I first became aware of them a couple of years ago, they were probably just a few months away from closing their doors.

"But they didn't want to leave this community without a Gospel witness."

The demise of Ames Boulevard Baptist Church is not an isolated occurrence.

"Churches all across America are dying," says Mark Clifton, senior director of replanting at the North American Mission Board (NAMB). "Among Southern Baptists, as many as 700-800 churches cease to exist every year. And every time that happens, it makes a statement to the community, and that statement is, 'Our God is unable to keep this church going, let alone transform your life.'

When church planter Troy Gause and the members of Cross Community Church discovered Leon and Javon Every had been together for 39 years, but had never gotten married, they decided to do something special. “Troy talked to us about marriage and what it symbolized,” Javon says, “and then the church gave us a beautiful wedding. Wow. That meant so much.” NAMB photo by Ben Rollins

"But the reality is, God is able, and churches don't have to die."

In 2023, Gause and his friends joined forces with the handful of people remaining at Ames Boulevard Baptist Church, and they replanted a new work – Cross Community Church – in Ames Boulevard's old facility.

"What happened next," Gause says, "was undeniably God."

The church's parking lot first got Leon and Javon's attention.

"We'd been driving by that old church for years, and nothing much ever seemed to be happening there," Javon says. "But then one day we passed by and noticed that the parking lot was full. There were cars everywhere. We'd been wanting to get into a church. And so, we said to each other, 'We should go visit there.' So, a couple of Sundays later, we went. And the rest is history."

It'd been years since the Everys had been to a church of any kind. Still, when they visited Cross Community, they liked what they found. They treated us just like we were family," Leon says.

"And not just that," Javon says. "We couldn't help but notice the diversity. There was White and Black and all different kinds of people there, and they all loved each other, and they were all learning about God together. It was beautiful, and we really connected with that."

Leon and Javon went that first Sunday, and then they went back the next Sunday, and the next Sunday. Pretty soon, they were faithful, never-miss-a-worship-service attendees – even when, after getting to know them better, Gause and his wife, Chanel, asked about their non-traditional living arrangements.

"They were like, ‘Why aren't you married?’" Leon says. "And I was like, 'I don't know. I guess we just got so busy trying to make ends meet that we never got around to it.'"

When Leon and Javon Every began bringing their family to the new church that’d just started in their neighborhood, seven of their grandkids gave their lives to Christ. “I always wanted us all to follow Jesus,” Javon says. “And this new church—this is how it happened.” NAMB photo by Ben Rollins

For Leon and Javon, first came love, then came Gospel conversations, then – finally – came marriage.

"Troy talked to us about marriage and what it symbolized, and then the church gave us a beautiful wedding," Javon says. "Wow. That meant so much. We started bringing our family to church, and what happened next was just crazy. Seven of our grandkids got saved. Seven. Can you believe that?

"I always wanted us all to follow Jesus, and this new church – this is how it happened."

Now, in a place where one church almost died, the Everys are an important part of a new church that is very much alive.

"I love the story of Mr. Leon and Mrs. Javon," Gause says. "Seeing their family come to the Lord, seeing their kids and grandkids learning about Jesus, and then seeing all the other people we've been able to baptize since we replanted here – it says something to the community.

"It says that there's a God who's powerful enough to keep His church going. There's a God who can give life. And there's a God who isn't finished with Marrero, Louisiana."

When God called church planting missionary Troy Gause to do something he’d never done before—help revitalize a dying church in Marrero, Louisiana—he decided to do the only thing he knew how to do. “The gospel has this uncanny aspect to it,” he says. “People get saved when you preach it. So that’s what I did. And what’s happened since then—it’s undeniable that God is in this.” NAMB photo by Ben Rollins
Every year, hundreds of Southern Baptist churches close their doors for good. Not long ago, it looked like Ames Boulevard Baptist Church in Marrero, Louisiana, would be one of those. But God had other plans. NAMB photo by Ben Rollins
It had been years since Leon and Javon Every had been to a church of any kind. But they got curious when they noticed a suddenly full parking lot at the old church just down the street from their house. “We said to each other, ‘We should go visit there,’” Javon says. “So, a couple of Sundays later, we went. And the rest is history.” NAMB photo by Ben Rollins
https://youtu.be/eyGNI7I8iTM?si=o_bBsHqqQLgz0ew5


Former pastor works to encourage pastors to ‘stay the course’

By / Mar 6

DORA, Alabama – Every Monday at 7 a.m., Mike Ward, a former pastor himself, sends out a devotional email with a note of encouragement to hundreds of pastors across the United States, Guatemala, the Philippines and Africa. The email is provided as a free service, and new pastors are added to the list on a weekly basis.

For Ward, the time when the email gets sent out each week is intentional and important.

“There is an old saying that almost every pastor either quits or considers resigning on Monday morning, because of something that went wrong or didn’t go right on Sunday,” Ward said. “Many pastors will respond back to me throughout the day on Monday about how the message helped them.”

Instead of entering retirement, Ward embarked on a new journey focusing on “an intentional ministry of hope to every pastor, preacher and man.”

Desiring to encourage pastors to stay the course and to build them up, Ward created Hope Road Ministry.

"In contemporary ministry contexts, marked by increasing cultural complexity, congregational pressures, and widespread pastoral fatigue, the necessity of intentional pastoral encouragement cannot be overstated,” said Spencer Bell, who serves as an associate in the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions' office of evangelism and church revitalization.

“Like Aaron and Hur in the Old Testament, who upheld the weary arms of Moses to ensure victory, Mike Ward and Hope Road Ministries seek to offer steady, faithful support to those on the front lines of ministry. Their work embodies the exhortation of 1 Thessalonians 5:11 to encourage one another and build one another up. …

“During a season of transition in my own ministry, Mike proved to be a trusted confidant, a faithful partner in prayer, and a genuine source of encouragement. …”


Ward, a member of First Baptist Church in Dora, Ala., said the goal of Hope Road Ministry is two-fold.

“First, to encourage the pastor or preacher to stay the course and help build them up,” Ward explained, “and secondly, for those who have made a wrong turn in their Christian life or ministry, to let them know that we are here to help them get back on the right road, the road filled with hope to witness victory and restoration in Jesus.”

Ward was saved at age 18 and called to preach soon after, preaching his first sermon a few months later.


After his first sermon, “a young lady was saved, people came to Jesus and the altars were full,” Ward remembered. “I knew God was allowing me to know that He would use me if I would let Him. I stayed busy preaching every Sunday somewhere, as well as preaching in several revivals. When I was 22 years old, I began to pastor.”

Over the next 16 years he served churches in Mississippi, Tennessee and Alabama.

“I went through a struggle in my last pastorate,” Ward acknowledged. “God had blessed our church … but I was spiritually spent.”

He and his wife had a new baby, and he began to dabble in the business world to help financially. He also preached 15-20 revivals a year, but “learned the hard way that just because you’re busy, doesn’t mean you’re in the center of God’s will. … I found myself, as too many preachers do, studying my Bible for ‘something to preach to my congregation’ instead of studying my Bible so that Jesus and the Holy Spirit could preach to me, and that is dangerous.”

Ward admitted his mistakes in his desire to prevent other pastors from making the same ones.

“You cannot live a spiritual life without spiritual disciplines – never,” Ward declared. “Much prayer, fasting and time in the Word is the source of every preacher’s anointing. Trying to do spiritual things in the flesh will never work.

“I had made a promise that I would never become a reproach to a church or a community, so instead of staying where I was and with the people I loved at my church, and fighting the battle against temptation, I just quit. I left my church and lost my marriage.

“The Bible says in Matthew 16:26 that when a man will try to gain the world, he will lose his soul, and it is so true. I never lost my soul, but I lost everything else. I would still attend churches, but I was not doing what God had called me to do, which was preach the Gospel.”

He noted, “Guilt and shame that’s not dealt with will wreck a man’s life and the lives of those around him. I thought God could never use me again.”

Ward said he experienced hardship, “but God would never leave me alone, and my mother kept on praying.”

Then God changed his path and perspective.

“I remember the night God got my attention like it was yesterday,” Ward said. “[I was] so broken. I got down on my knees … and I said, ‘God, I’m tired of running, tired of living life this way. I need a word from you, and I don’t know where to start.’”

In that desperate moment, Ward said he voiced a prayer of hope and restoration not only for his own life, but for the lives of other men in pastoral ministry.

“I sensed the Holy Spirit speak to me: ‘If you will say yes, then I will bless the latter end of your life more than I ever did your beginning,’ Ward said.

God placed a burden on his heart for pastors who were struggling like he’d been.

“I want to be able to say, ‘Don’t go this way, the bridge is out at the bottom of the road you are on. Be careful with what you are dealing with.’ I have a compelling desire to encourage the man of God, so he doesn’t have to experience life on the broken road I traveled.” Ward left the business world a year and a half ago and says, “God made it clear that I was supposed to … totally commit my life 24 hours a day, seven days a week to this ministry of encouragement to pastors and churches.”

For pastors like Kevin Hamm, who serves as pastor of First Baptist Church in Gardendale, Ala., Ward’s ministry has provided an important outlet and investment of faithful support and encouragement.

“God has raised up Hope Road Ministries and Mike Ward for such a time as this,” Hamm said. “Loneliness and discouragement are overwhelming issues for every pastor and church leader. There has never been a ministry more needed to speak life and encouragement into the men of God who are struggling with so many challenging issues.”

At the beginning of this ministry, Ward found a senior living facility in Decatur, Ala., that allowed him to preach. “Over the next five months God would fill my calendar with over 34 preaching engagements and revival services in churches throughout Alabama and Mississippi,” he said.

Today, Hope Road Ministry offers a variety of resources and programs.

“However, there is no manual on this ministry of encouragement to pastors; it is ever-evolving as the Holy Spirit leads,” Ward acknowledged.

“I have seen pastors encouraged over a cup of coffee and a prayer,” he said. “I’ve also seen fallen pastors escape thoughts of suicide. Most don’t know that the statistic show that 40 percent struggle with low self-esteem, and 1 out of 10 pastors have had thoughts of suicide.”

Zac Bozeman, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dora, where Ward attends, said he is grateful for the ministry.

“Mike Ward with Hope Road Ministries has been one of the biggest encouragers to me during my ministry,” Bozeman said. “Whether it has been a Monday email, a phone call, or a face-to-face meeting, God has used Mike to give me the right word at the right time. The church needs people who prod the fire and who keep the embers burning, and God is using Mike to do just that.”



Oklahoma church adopts Acts 1:8 systematically

By / Mar 6

PONCA CITY, Okla. – An abundance of different kinds of food draws people to Northeast Baptist Church, where about 225 people participate in Sunday morning worship.

This is so the congregation is strengthened for its task, says Scott Melton, pastor since 2018 and on staff 11 years.

Pastor Scott Melton

“We’re not a large church but we want to make an impact for God’s kingdom,” Melton told Baptist Press. “Our theme verse is Psalm 96:3 – Declare His glory among the nations, His wonderful works among all people. We keep that on the front of our bulletin every week and regularly provide opportunities to get into missions all over the world.”

Physical sustenance in February: “breakfast with the King” men’s Bible study and fellowship Feb. 7; “Love your neighbor” and invite them to Sunday school, morning worship and cinnamon rolls Feb. 8; and an “All Church fried chicken lunch” with potluck side dishes Feb. 22. 

Spiritual sustenance: The February Bible verse memory challenge: “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good spirit lead me on level ground! Psalm 143:10 (ESV)

And in addition to children’s, youth, men’s and women’s ongoing Bible studies, the pastor is leading 18 members in a study of Systematic Theology, using Wayne Grudem’s book titled Systematic Theology.

“I want to make sure our church is holding true to the Scripture, and the best way, it seemed to me, was a systematic study of all the [doctrinal] topics. We want to make disciples and the best way of doing that is getting people in the Word,” Melton said. 

It’s a 40-week study that Melton is spreading over the 52 weeks in 2026.

In addition to physical and spiritual food, the church makes emotional food available, the nourishment that comes from looking outward, toward others and their needs. Northeast Baptist works at being an Acts 1:8 church, ministering at the same time in its Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth.

The church’s main local ministries include partnering with Living Hope pregnancy resource center, addressing the issue of abortion; and a once-monthly ministry to help another Ponca City church provide a “Friendship Feast” for area residents in need. Northeast members prepare, serve and clean up after the meal.

Northeast Baptist Church in Ponca City, Okla., describrs itself as an Acs 1:8 church.

There’s also a multi-faceted partnership with Roosevelt Elementary School, including for several years providing sack lunches for youngsters who otherwise might not have much to eat over the weekends. Northeast members this school year added a reading program ministry at the school.

“These are the key ministries we’re involved with locally,” Melton said. 

The youth over Spring Break, with other youth groups from all over Oklahoma, will be swarming across Tulsa to help where they see needs – including Bible studies at local trailer parks, supporting ministry partnerships around the area, and coming alongside to strengthen and encourage the local churches through an organization in Tulsa called Mobile Missions.

“We try to take at least one mission trip a year,” Melton said. “Missions can be supported through prayer and giving, but we grow in our heart for the lost and our ability to serve the needs of others when we choose to go on mission personally.

“Going on mission is a step of obedience to the Lord. He has called us to go make disciples of all nations. We grow in our relationship with the Lord as we serve Him by serving others. The call to be obedient to declare His glory among the nations has moved us as a church to aim to have an annual trip for the youth and an annual trip for the church as a whole.”

Church leaders several years ago contacted the North American Mission Board for church plant partnership suggestions and were directed to southeast Portland, Ore. Northeast members have helped with VBS, community prayer walking, organized a baseball clinic, and have plans for Spring of 2027 to spend a week helping the church focusing on youth ministry, all to help strengthen Portland’s Woodstock Community Church.

In addition to Northeast Baptist’s “Jerusalem” – Ponca City’s 25,000 residents – plus its Judea, (at this time the Metro Tulsa spring break trip); and its Samaria, Portland, Ore., (and previously in Alaska), the church has a long history of commitment to international missions, including in Belize and Bangladesh.

Northeast Ponca ministers in its Samaria -- Portland, Ore. -- with summertime VBS ministries. 

Last year Melton went to Slovakia in Eastern Europe to see about a new partnership.

“I’m excited to get over there and do the work we’re developing,” Melton said. He has stayed in contact with the pastors and International Mission Board leaders he met there, dream-casting and making initial plans. “I’m excited to see how that goes. We want to have Slovakia be an ongoing partnership for the next several years. 

“It’s better to develop relationships long-term,” the Ponca City pastor continued. “You can make a small impact with one trip but it’s more productive over time to develop relationships with pastors and people in the community. ‘One and done’ is kind of like a hit and run.”

Northeast Baptist allocates 10 percent of undesignated income to missions through the Cooperative Program, a commitment made stronger by connections with NAMB, IMB and the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, informally known as “Oklahoma Baptists.”

“My dad, Ron Melton, was a pastor in small churches,” the Northeast Baptist pastor said. “I firmly believe we can do more together than apart. I love the idea when we give to the Cooperative Program we get to be involved in Southern Baptist work all across the world, even though we can’t always physically be there. 

“We try to do partnerships and ministry together, but week-to-week giving to missions through the Cooperative Program is something we can participate in and with that can make an impact throughout the world, even as we are strengthened to do more and be better equipped for what God wants us to do in our own community.” 



FIRST-PERSON: Free to serve

By / Mar 6

You’ve put in a long day.
Your body is tired.
Your mind is already set on what comes next.

Then someone asks for your help.
It changes your plans.
It costs you time.
It feels like an interruption.

Your guard goes up.
That’s normal.

Every one feels that pull.
The instinct to protect what’s “mine.”
My time. My energy. My plans.

Those who love God feel it too.
But he doesn’t have to live by it.

Thinking of yourself comes naturally.
Putting yourself aside does not.
That takes strength most men don’t have on their own.

A man who finds his identity in Christ does.
Because his life isn’t built on comfort or control.
It’s built on something stronger.

In 1 Corinthians 10:24–30, Paul gets very practical.
After pages of teaching, he brings it home.

He says one of the clearest ways to show faith in Christ
is to seek the good of someone else.

Not your own advantage.
Theirs.

That word “good” means advantage.
Their win.
Their benefit.
Even when it costs you.

That cuts against everything in us.

I want the bigger slice.
I want the raise.
I want the credit.
I want my name called.

Choosing to give that away is not natural.
It’s Christlike.

That’s how Jesus lived.
He didn’t protect His schedule.
He didn’t guard His energy.

He taught when He was tired.
He healed when He could have rested.
He fed people who had nothing
instead of sending them away.

He put others first.
Again and again.

So who is my neighbor?

Paul’s word for “neighbor” simply means “the other.”
The person right in front of you.

Your spouse.
Your child.
Your coworker.
Your church member.
The person next door.

The one affected by the decision you’re making.

Someone once said humility isn’t thinking less of yourself.
It’s thinking of yourself less.

Because your identity is rooted in Christ,
and your strength comes from Him,
you are free.

Free to serve.
Free to be interrupted.
Free to lay down your plans
for the good of someone else.

That’s not weakness.
That’s power.



Safer Churches event gives practical steps for creating safe ministry environments

By / Mar 6

Editor's note: This story was updated after initial publication to provide clarity surrounding the discussion of restoration to ministry leadership of those who have committed abuse.

ATLANTA – Individuals from several states gathered March 5 at Christ Covenant Church in Atlanta for the Safer Churches workshop designed to equip leaders in creating ministry environments that protect the vulnerable from abuse as well as respond biblically when abuse does occur.

Jodi Domangue leads a breakout session on fighting sexual exploitation and human trafficking at the Safer Churches workshop at Christ Covenant Church in Atlanta on Thursday. (Index/Henry Durand)

The full-day workshop, organized collaboratively by Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention, Christ Covenant Church, Rehoboth Church Family in metro Atlanta and the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, included two main sessions, two breakout session blocks that focused on a total of 15 topics, and three lunch programming options. Each facet of the workshop was designed to provide practical guidance in abuse prevention and response for specific Christian leadership roles, including pastors and other ministry leaders, Woman’s Missionary Union and women’s ministry leaders, and associational mission strategists and other associational leaders.

In the opening session, Jason Dees, senior pastor, Christ Covenant Church, focused on 2 Chronicles 26, in which King Uzziah, in the first years of his reign “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.” However, after he became powerful, “his pride led to his downfall.”

The downfall of King Uzziah can be likened to the downfall of churches and ministers if they allow power to lead to sin, particularly the sin of abuse, he said, as he recalled a once-respected Christian leader who became ensnared in sin as a sexual predator.

First, Dees said, “Great success can lead to great pride which can lead to sin. Pride can lead to self-reliance, and a false sense of self and low sense of God.”

Sandy Wisdom-Martin, president of national Woman’s Missionary Union, speaks during a lunch presentation at the Safer Churches workshop at Christ Covenant Church in Atlanta on Thursday. (Index/Henry Durand)

Next, he said, “Confronting sin is always hard. Vigilance against sin is not a one-person job.” Such vigilance, he said, requires courage, conversations “we’d rather not have” and risks.

Finally, Dees emphasized, “Where there is sin, there is always a cost.” Just as the hypocrisy of King Uzziah resulted in corruption, the hypocrisy of Christian leaders today can result in corruption.

Next, Troy Bush, senior pastor, Rehoboth Church Family, led in a five-person panel discussion. As the discussion brought attention to numerous facets of abuse prevention and a biblical response, panelists shared personal experiences and wise counsel.

Pastor Ken Rucker, lead pastor of New Branch Community Church in Dacula, Ga., said, “I shouldn’t be surprised by the depths of depravity” in today’s culture. But he admitted he has been “surprised and disappointed” by the response of churches “not being transparent, siding with the offender and quickly restoring the offender” when abuse occurs. He called on attendees to take a more active stance in preventing abuse as well as taking a more biblical perspective when confronting offenders and responding to survivors.

Discussion included whether sexual offenders should be disqualified from any ministry role permanently, even if the ministry role is something as simple as setting up chairs for a church event. While panelists agreed that Christians are called to show grace and to acknowledge that God can restore spiritually an individual who has sinned, churches must demand accountability and realize that restoration is a lengthy process, noting that restoration of sexual offenders to ministry leadership roles is excluded.

Panelist Craig Mosgrove, co-pastor of Dwelling Place Church in Woodstock, Ga., focused on vulnerable children, saying, “How we treat our children will be what unravels us as a nation. We are not about self-preservation; we are there to serve people.”

Jason Dees, senior pastor at Christ Covenant, speaks at the Safer Churches workshop in Atlanta on Thursday. (Index/Henry Durand)

In protecting children, panelist Camila Zolfaghari, vice president of government affairs for Street Grace, stated, “Demand fuels trafficking,” and urged adult leaders to be aware of pornography and even sextortion that children can be drawn into unknowingly.

Author, speaker and counselor Julie Lowe agreed, saying, that while she has always said, “There is nothing new under the sun. There are new avenues of this (sexual exploitation) under the sun. Kids are often inundated with it before parents know.”

Churches must stand together to combat abuse, believes panelist Jimmy Baughcum, executive director, Atlanta Metro Baptist Association, and he shared that to be a member church of the Metro Atlanta Association, churches must sign a document, stating that they “shall not protect predators.”

As one of the women’s ministry lunchtime programming leaders, Sandy Wisdom-Martin, executive director-treasurer of national Woman’s Missionary Union, emphasized, “It’s critically important that those of us who work with small groups, especially involving children, are equipped and prepared to ensure that our churches and ministry settings are safe spaces.”

Attendee Dan Adams, lead pastor, RiverTown Church in Jacksonville, Fla., agreed, “As we disciple the next generation, we must have safe and welcoming environments to facilitate that discipleship.”

Leading an associational leaders lunchtime discussion, Ray Gentry, president/CEO of the Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Leaders, said, “We recommend associations, at least annually, emphasize the importance of making our churches as safe as possible for children and all who are vulnerable to sexual abuse as well as direct pastors and church leaders to resources such as sbcabuseprevention.org.” He said such emphasis could be as simple as a brief announcement at an annual meeting and a reference in the program.

Troy Bush, lead pastor of Rehoboth Church Family, speaks at the Safer Churches workshop at Christ Covenant Church in Atlanta on Thursday. (Index/Henry Durand)

Pastor Bush led the Safer Churches event with an afternoon message from 1 Peter 5:1-4 about shepherding the flock of God. After he became senior pastor of Rehoboth Church Family in 2012, he was “horrified and broken” to learn that a serial child abuser had assaulted five middle school boys in his church in the 1980s. He briefly described the steps he led his church to take in the aftermath of this abuse.

He then outlined 10 lessons learned through the “horrific” experience. One, many churchgoers, and perhaps most churchgoing women, have been sexually abused. Two, a multilayered abuse prevention plan, including public discussions, is necessary. Three, “Sometimes, calling the police is not enough.” Four, “Survivors should not have to carry the weight of justice.” Five, “Survivors carry lifelong scars.”

Six, one of the fastest areas of abuse today is youth-on-youth abuse and child-on-child abuse. Seven, “Little things can make an enormous difference.” Eight, based on circumstances, church leaders often must decide between what is biblically righteous or legally advisable. Nine, false allegations do occur, but all accusations must be taken seriously. Ten, assumptions must not be made that leaders know about the abuse or allegation.

In closing, Jeff Dalrymple, who has served as director of abuse prevention and response for the SBC Executive Committee since January 2025, said, “I pray that you will take away hope, not fear, from what you've learned today.” He called on attendees to assess where their church or ministry is in terms of creating a safe environment for the vulnerable, assign someone to take the ministry assignment of protecting the vulnerable, and identify next steps.

Partners for the event included Anchored Virtual, YSO Academy, Compass Abuse Prevention Services, Street Grace, Bitner Henry Insurance Group and the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.