Katharine Barnwell the most effective missionary you’ve never heard of, new book muses

By / May 16

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (BP) – “Women marry,” was reportedly her father’s response when missionary and Bible translator Katharine “Katy” Barnwell told him she wanted to enroll in university in 1950s London.

But as her father relented, Barnwell defied convention. She studied linguistics and eventually forged a path to Nigeria where more than 520 languages are spoken. There, she devised a method of Bible translation that her biographer Jordan K. Monson told Baptist Press has led more people to Jesus than the crusades of the late Billy Graham.

“Lifeway (Research) estimates that Billy Graham had somewhere between 2.2 (million) and 3 million people in his entire life's ministry become Christians,” Monson said. “Now, of course, that's incredible, those are incredible numbers. That's like a small state in the United States that became Christians under his influence.”

To reach his comparative conclusion, he took into consideration that Barnwell’s translation methods are used in the Jesus Film project, which he said she rewrote “from the ground up.”

“And since she did that, 400 million people have become Christians after a viewing of the Jesus Film. And that was her side gig. That wasn't even her main career,” Monson said. “So when you compare that to Billy Graham's, let's say 3 million, we're looking at sometimes, somewhere around 100 or more times the influence in terms of global conversions or global people becoming Christians.”

But for Monson, who chronicles Barnwell’s work in the newly released B&H Publishing book, “Katherine Barnwell: How One Woman Revolutionized Modern Missions,” her influence doesn’t stop there.

Barnwell, now 86 and working remotely from her home in London, exudes humility. How does it feel to be featured in a biography?

“Rather embarrassing!” she emailed Baptist Press, exclamation included. But she considered Monson kind.

He “wrote about what was achieved, rather than the failures – the times when I missed an opportunity, or remained silent when I should have spoken up.”

At this stage of life, she points to teamwork as having been the greatest goal of her ministry.

“Recognizing that we need to work together as a team, sharing talents and abilities, trying to help others develop their gifts and abilities, working in partnership with friends of all nationalities and backgrounds,” she told Baptist Press.

She’s not done. From her home computer, she’s working with Mbembe translators in Southeast Nigeria, where she first began on the mission field with the Mbembe Language Project, interacting with local church leaders, training and encouraging translators.

Before she left for the mission field, she attended All Souls Langham Place, pastored by John Stott, and today attends the non-denominational Goring Free Church in Thames Valley, which has supported her throughout her ministry.

She longs for a time “when people of every language will have at least some, then more, Scripture in their own language.”

Monson tells Barnwell’s story of developing a translation method that valued and appreciated the knowledge and capabilities of the local populations she served, beginning in southeastern Nigeria.

“So she was really the one that opened up that gate to teach people how to see their own language more linguistically and from a translation sort of methodology that they would be able to translate Scripture faithfully into their own language,” Monson told Baptist Press. He compares it to the apostle Paul’s way of church planting on his missionary journeys, establishing churches, training local leaders who spoke the languages and knew the culture, and moving on.

Similar to Paul, Barnwell endured difficulties and trials on the mission field as she worked to translate the Bible.

“After half a century in missions, Katharine Barnwell was no stranger to peril. Six times she was robbed at gunpoint, twice stormed by armed robbers. She fled a civil war on foot and upriver without documentation,” Monson wrote in his book. On one occasion, she and a team of translators were robbed of several laptops at gunpoint by a group of marauders in Nigeria. “She endured constant threat from terrorists and constant danger from malaria. She was known to forego food and sleep so that others might eat and have a warm bed.”

When Monson considers Barnwell’s influence, he looks beyond her translation work on the Jesus Film project to Bible translations completed within the last four decades or so.

“Then if you were to go to any printed or recorded sort of mp3 Bible in the world that has either been partially or fully completed in the last 30 or 40 years,” he told Baptist Press, “virtually all of those are being done according to her training, her methods, her teaching, her disciples. And this is what makes her one of the most influential missionaries or Christians in all of history.”

As the global church shares the Gospel, they’re using Bibles and Scripture translated by methods developed by Barnwell, Monson said.

“So in terms of just numbers of people who say they're Christians,” he said, “(she) may be well over a hundred times more influential than Billy Graham.”



Bible App releases 21-day reading plan leading up to SBC Annual Meeting

By / May 15

DALLAS (BP) – A three-week reading plan associated with the upcoming Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting is now available through The Bible App.

Titled “SBC 25 – Hold Fast,” the plan is “focused on missions, cooperation, and holding fast to sound doctrine,” its description says. Each day brings a brief devotional and corresponding passage using the Christian Standard Bible translation. Users can also follow the Southern Baptist Convention in The Bible App.

“The Bible App is used by countless Southern Baptists every day. We are grateful for the opportunity to provide content focused on preparing messengers spiritually for this year’s SBC Annual Meeting and Pastors’ Conference,” said Jonathan Howe, SBC Executive Committee vice president for convention administration.

YouVersion, a digital ministry of Life.Church based in Edmond, Okla., launched The Bible App in 2008. It was one of the first 200 free apps available for the initial iPhone and received 83,000 downloads. According to a statement from YouVersion, the ministry’s family of apps that includes one for children and another for developing nations is projected to collectively reach 1 billion installs in November.

Free of charge to consumers, The Bible App’s content comes from more than 5,000 ministry partners connecting over 20,000 churches globally, the statement added.

“We are thrilled to expand our partnership with the SBC, united by a shared passion for equipping churches and believers to engage more deeply with God's Word,” said Justin Tarsiuk, YouVersion director of partnerships. “Together, we are creating pathways for life-changing discipleship, building vibrant, Christ-centered communities and inspiring a renewed love for Scripture. This collaboration is a powerful step forward in our shared mission to help people experience the transformative power of God's truth in their everyday lives."

The reading plan is a good reminder that when Southern Baptists gather next month, it “is more than just a business meeting,” said Howe.

“There is a spiritual component to it as well,” he said. “Our prayer is that the content here will be used to prepare the hearts of those coming to Dallas to celebrate our shared mission and to hold fast to our cooperative spirit and sound doctrine.”



Plenty of chances for SBC25 messengers to celebrate CP’s 100th birthday

By / May 14

DALLAS (BP) – As early as 1884, Southern Baptist mission leaders sensed a need for something other than “spasmodic” giving to fund denominational work at home and abroad.

“Our people must be taught to give by system,” Home Mission Board Secretary I.T. Tichenor put it at the time. “They must be taught that when each does his part, how easy it would be to supply all that is needed for the spread of the Gospel and how small a contribution from everyone will hush the cries of destitution and fill our own and distant lands with songs of joy.”

The idea of systematic giving gained momentum in the 20th century and, with the encouragement of Louisiana pastor M.E. Dodd, messengers to the 1925 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting adopted it.

Messengers to the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting June 10-11 in Dallas will have several opportunities to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the CP, including in the exhibit hall and during general sessions of the meeting.

Brandon Porter, SBC Executive Committee vice president for convention communications, said the celebration’s planning drew broad participation.

“It has been exciting to see state conventions begin to celebrate the Cooperative Program’s 100th anniversary,” Porter told Baptist Press. “We’re looking forward to Southern Baptists from across the convention joining together to thank God for His faithfulness and to recommit to our cooperative partnership.”

Exhibit hall

Learn more of CP’s history, view such historic artifacts as the pulpit used by M.E. Dodd and record a 30-second video of what CP means to you at the CP booth in the SBC Exhibit Hall in Dallas.

The Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives contributed to the exhibit in its display of historical artifacts and the compilation of a timeline of Southern Baptists’ journey to adopt the Cooperative Program and efforts to maintain it since 1925.

“We’ve been working for months to prepare the Cooperative Program 100 exhibit, and we’re happy to share it with Southern Baptists,” Porter said.

The Shreveport Baptist Association loaned the pulpit Dodd used at First Baptist Church of Shreveport, La., from 1925-1955, Porter said, as Dodd’s encouragement of the CP at the 1925 SBC Annual Meeting gained him the moniker “Father of the Cooperative Program.”

The CP booth will provide a special backdrop for messengers and guests to record short videos titled, “What does the Cooperative Program mean to me?” and post them on social media.

In the same booth, Kentucky Baptist Convention Communications Director Lawrence Smith will record podcasts with a series of guests, highlighting how CP is impacting missions, church planting, disaster relief and other Southern Baptist work.

CP 100 book

“Unity of Purpose,” a brand new book featuring Southern Baptist leaders’ stories of how the Cooperative Program was created and its impact over the past 100 years, will be available in the Lifeway Village. The book was edited by Tony Wolfe, executive director-treasurer of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, and W. Madison Grace, provost, vice president and dean at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

CP on the main stage

The SBC Annual Meeting will include a CP 100 celebration Tuesday, June 10, at 2:40 p.m. on the main meeting stage in Hall F of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas.

Jeff Iorg, SBC Executive Committee president, will lead messengers and leaders in prayer and reflection, thanking God for His faithfulness through cooperative partnership.

At 2:55 pm, the SBC Committee on Resolutions is scheduled to ask Southern Baptists to make a declaration of cooperation reaffirming commitment to the CP partnership.



SBC leaders gather for a Declaration of Cooperation to mark the Cooperative Program’s 100th anniversary

By / May 13

MEMPHIS (BP) – The Ellis Auditorium was brand new May 13, 1925, when Southern Baptists met on a spring afternoon and voted to begin the Cooperative Program. Today (May 13), though the auditorium is gone, Southern Baptists gathered a just few yards away from the original location to recommit to cooperative partnership.

“The Cooperative Program, while commonplace to us, was a never-before-attempted method of funding shared ministry and mission efforts,” SBC Executive Committee Jeff Iorg said in the keynote address to the group.

SBC Executive Committee President Jeff Iorg speaks to a group gathered to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Cooperative Program in Memphis, Tenn. May 13. Photo by Jim Veneman.

Dozens of Southern Baptist pastors and leaders gathered to sign a Declaration of Cooperation, just as SBC leaders did to mark the 50th anniversary in 1975.

“My appeal today is to reaffirm our commitment to cooperation and the Cooperative Program in its simplest form – a shared funding mechanism for state and regional conventions and the national Convention to substantially provide the funding needed for all our work,” Iorg said.

“We should do this for many biblical, theological and methodological reasons – but mostly for this very practical, proven reason – it works!”

Seventy-three pastors, national SBC leaders, state convention leaders and ethnic leaders gathered to sign the document that thanked local churches for a century of generosity and commended “all who promote, support, and renew their commitment to the Cooperative Program among our family of churches, mission boards, seminaries, entities, local Baptist associations, and state conventions.”

Before 1925, Southern Baptist churches gave to missionary, evangelistic and educational endeavors based on individual pleas by organizational or societal representatives. Each church gave what it deemed best, leaving fundraisers constantly scrambling to make their pitch and churches feeling the pressure of constant requests.

In 1919, Southern Baptists agreed to a five-year campaign to raise $75 million dollars to fund these missionary endeavors. While the pledges came in at $92,630,923, the actual giving by 1924 fell short at $58,591,713.

It was the next year that a group led by Louisiana pastor M.E. Dodd brought the idea of the Cooperative Program to the annual meeting and messengers adopted it. Southern Baptist calls for a systematic method of giving date all the way back to 1888.

Dodd pastored First Baptist Church Shreveport, Louisiana, from 1912 until his retirement in 1950. He is known in Southern Baptist history as one of the greatest promoters of the Cooperative Program in its early years, rallying hundreds of churches to cooperate.

The pulpit Dodd preached from at FBC Shreveport from 1922-1950 was shared by the Northwest Louisiana Baptist Association for today’s gathering.

South Carolina Baptist Convention Executive Director Tony Wolfe signs a Declaration of Cooperation marking the 100th anniversary of the Cooperative Program in Memphis, Tenn. as Tennessee Baptist Mission Board Executive Director Randy Davis looks on. Photo by Jim Veneman.

To stand at Dodd’s pulpit was special for South Carolina Baptist Convention Executive Director Tony Wolfe, who spearheaded the event.

“It's very meaningful, not just for me, but I think for everybody who steps up to that pulpit and signs this Declaration of Cooperation,” Wolfe said. 

He hopes for a renewal of “unity and purpose” for Southern Baptists, as M.E. Dodd said in 1925.

SBC Registration Secretary Don Currence said he fought tears as he prepared to sign the declaration.

“It was a very humbling experience,” said Currence. “It’s a day I’ll never forget.”

Other platform guests included International Mission Board President Paul Chitwood, Texas pastor Caleb Turner and Baptist Convention of New England Executive Director Terry Dorsett.

Turner, pastor of Mesquite Friendship Baptist Church, told Baptist Press, “We are invested in the Cooperative Program because we wouldn't be where we are today without what we receive through the Cooperative Program.”

Mesquite started as a church plant in 1991.

“From the very beginning we understood the importance of receiving. And so therefore, because we've been blessed in such a way, we want to reciprocate that same thing,” he said.

Dorsett remembered the early days of the Cooperative Program and the challenges Southern Baptists faced in 1925.

He quoted South Carolina’s Charles E. Burts who spoke to messengers in 1925: “The difficulties we face are more than matched by the ability of our people to meet them if we approach them in faith, prayer, courage and sacrifice.”

A season of prayer for churches and pastors, SBC entities and state conventions was led by April Bunn, Chuck Lawless, Carolyn Fountain, Bruno Molina, Hoon Im and Hershael York.

Committed to the Great Commission

Sandy Wisdom-Martin, executive director-treasurer of the Woman’s Missionary Union, signed the declaration on behalf of the organization.

International Mission Board President Paul Chitwood talks to a participant in the Centennial Celebration of the Cooperative Program in Memphis, Tenn. May 13. Photo by Jim Veneman.

“You know, as Southern Baptists, we have one thing that unites us at the core, and that is our responsibility to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth,” she told Baptist Press. “The Great Commission is urgent, and its a priority for us as Southern Baptists.”

Through the Cooperative Program, Southern Baptists have 3,500 fully-funded missionaries across every continent, help support 600 church plants annually and help train thousands of seminary students for the purposes of spreading Jesus’ message and making disciples.

International Mission Board President Paul Chitwood pointed the gathering to another gathering found in Revelation 7 where God’s people from every tribe and nation will lift their voices in praise to God.

“Thank you, Lord, for letting us be a part of the vision coming to pass,” Chitwood prayed to close the event. “Thank you for a people called Southern Baptists, who for 180 years have worked together to steward that vision and who for 100 years have given generously through the Cooperative Program to steward that vision.

“Lord, might you find us, in our generation, faithful stewards of this vision, giving generously to see that missionaries are sent and supported, that the Gospel is preached and that the lost are saved.”

Committed to generosity

Since the inception of the Cooperative Program, Southern Baptists have given more than $20 billion nationally to support missions, seminary education, church planting, disaster relief, public policy work and more.

“The Great Commission is why we cooperate,” SBC President Clint Pressley told Baptist Press. “We have to cooperate to accomplish what we're all trying to do together.”

The celebration took place just weeks before the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting in Dallas June 10-11.

Watch the event at the Baptist Press YouTube Channel.



Fewer nominees announced thus far for this year’s SBC meeting

By / May 12

DALLAS (BP) – A month out from the 2025 SBC Annual Meeting, there is only one known candidate for each office of the Southern Baptist Convention and SBC Pastors’ Conference. This is a significant shift from recent annual meetings that frequently saw multiple candidates for each office.

Clint Pressley

Texas pastor Michael Criner has indicated he intends to nominate current SBC President Clint Pressley for a second term.

“During his first year, Clint Pressley has displayed clarity, conviction and courage,” Criner wrote. “One of the most admirable qualities of Clint is that in every environment where he has represented the SBC, he has joyfully pointed us to the very best of who we are and what we do: our confession and our cooperation for/towards the Great Commission.”

Pressley is senior pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C.

According to Annual Church Profile data and Baptist State Convention of North Carolina records, Hickory Grove reported 77 baptisms and averaged 2,790 in worship attendance in 2024. The church reported $9,880,859 in total undesignated receipts in 2024, with $274,056 (2.77 percent) given through the Cooperative Program. Hickory Grove also gave $259,963 to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions and $75,685 to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions in 2024.

First Vice President

Daniel Ritchie

Evangelist and author Daniel Ritchie will be nominated for first vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention during annual meeting in Dallas.

Matt Capps, lead pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Apex, N.C., told the Biblical Recorder of his 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 told the BR in written comments. “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.”

Ritchie is a member of The Summit Church in Durham, N.C.

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.

Second Vice President

Tommy Mann

Jim Gatliff, associational missionary for the Hunt (Texas) Baptist Association said Tommy Mann’s, “…refreshingly strong expository preaching, positive ‘can do’ leadership style … (and) his amazing ability to cast compelling vision,” has helped Highland Terrace Baptist Church in Greenville, Texas, in its revitalization process and it’s why he plans to nominate Mann to serve as SBC second vice president.

In its 2024 Annual Church Profile, Highland Terrace reported 28 baptisms and undesignated receipts of $1,599,789, of which $182,750 (11.42 percent) was given through the Cooperative Program. The church also reported $64,218 given to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and $13,805 to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering as well as 467 people in average worship attendance.

Registration Secretary

Don Currence

Ozark, Mo., mayor and FBC Ozark executive pastor Don Currence will be nominated for his seventh term as registration secretary.

Currence “continues to serve our convention with dedication and integrity,” said Larry Craig, a member of White Baptist Fellowship in Whitehouse, Texas. “He works tirelessly to make your registration a smoother and more efficient process as you attend our annual convention.”

Registering thousands of messengers is no small task, Craig told Baptist Press.

“Bro. Don oversees each aspect of the position with great leadership,” he said. “We have only to look at the most recent years of our annual meetings to see the continued improvements in the registration process.”

According to the Annual Church Profile 2024 database, FBCO reported six baptisms and averaged 485 in weekly worship last year. The congregation contributed $1,645,291 total undesignated receipts, with $95,971 (5.83 percent) given through the Cooperative Program. Members also gave $46,229 to the 2024 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and $20,063 to the 2024 Annie Armstrong Easter Offering.

Recording Secretary

Nathan Finn

Louisiana pastor Jay Adkins said he plans to nominate current SBC Recording Secretary Nathan Finn for another term.

“Dr. Finn is imminently qualified to serve in this area. He is a published scholar and church history professor who is also a faithful servant of the local church,” Adkins told Baptist Press.

Finn has served three terms in the role. Keeping the record of proceedings at the SBC Annual Meeting and finalizing the Convention’s Book of Reports and Annual are the primary responsibilities of the position.

He serves as a professor and the executive director of the Institute for Faith and Culture at North Greenville University in South Carolina, is a teaching pastor at Taylors FBC in Taylors, S.C., and is a senior fellow with the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

During the 2024 ACP year, Taylors FBC received $5,346,248 in total undesignated receipts and gave $447,066 (8.36 percent) through the Cooperative Program. The church gave $59,020 to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering and $166,492 to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. It reported 1,394 in average worship attendance and 32 baptisms, according to the SBC Workspace and information provided by the church.

SBC Pastors’ Conference President

Family Church pastor Jimmy Scroggins plans to nominate fellow Florida pastor Aaron Burgner for SBC Pastors’ Conference president during the 2025 SBC Pastors’ Conference in Dallas. Burgner is senior pastor of Lakes Church in Lakeland, Fla.

“Aaron Burgner is a faithful pastor. He is a soul winner, a Bible preacher, and a committed Southern Baptist leader,” Scroggins told Baptist Press. 

According to 2024 church data, Lakes Church averaged 3,400 people and received $8,122,716 in undesignated funds. The church gave $265,000 (3.3 percent) through the Cooperative Program, $30,662 to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and $10,159 to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering.

Burgner is in his third term as president of the Florida Baptist State Board of Missions and is a past president of the Florida Baptist Pastors’ Conference.

Election Schedule

The SBC Pastors’ Conference election is scheduled for the beginning of the final session of the Pastors’ Conference on Monday evening, June 9.

The 2025 Committee on Order of Business has released the following election schedule for SBC constitutional officers:

Tuesday, June 10, 2:15 pm – Election of Recording Secretary

Tuesday, June 10, 2:20 pm – Election of Registration Secretary

Tuesday, June 10, 2:25 pm – Election of President

Tuesday, June 10, 2:30 pm – Election of First Vice President

Tuesday, June 10, 3:40 pm – Election of Second Vice President

Nominations are not required to be announced in advance, and others may be made during these times.



ERLC gathers SBC fellowship leaders for meetings with elected officials in D.C.

By / May 9

NASHVILLE (BP) – The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) convened a diverse group of leaders from various Southern Baptist fellowships in Washington, D.C., for crucial discussions with members of Congress on Wednesday (May 7).

Topics discussed with elected officials included the dignity of all human life, which encompassed the ERLC’s ongoing efforts to advocate for the defunding of Planned Parenthood and concerns SBC fellowship leaders have regarding the nation’s current immigration systems.

Leaders joining ERLC President Brent Leatherwood (fourth from right) and ERLC Chief of Staff Miles Mullen (far right) on an ERLC-hosted trip to Washington included (left to right) Bruno Molina, executive director of the National Hispanic Baptist Network; Carter Tan, leader with the SBC's Asian Collective; Greg Perkins, president of the National African American Fellowship; John Voltaire, Haitian church catalyst for the Florida Baptist Convention; Keny Felix, president of the Haitian Baptist Fellowship and Eddie Lopez, SBC second vice president.

“At the heart of these meetings was our unwavering commitment to the dignity of all human life and our continued advocacy for defunding Planned Parenthood – an issue that remains central to our mission,” ERLC President Brent Leatherwood told Baptist Press.

Human Dignity is one of the ERLC’s four areas of focus, alongside life, religious liberty and marriage and family.

“Additionally, we had constructive conversations with lawmakers about the ways some of our churches, many of which were represented by these fellowships, have been affected by the ambiguity surrounding some of our nation’s immigration laws,” Leatherwood continued.

“We shared the SBC’s long-established view that critical border security and immigration reforms can be accomplished together. As the ERLC fulfills its ministry assignment given by the churches of our convention, we will continue to serve on the front lines where policy and culture intersect, while being a champion for policies that uphold life, religious liberty, marriage and family and human dignity – ensuring that Southern Baptists have a strong voice in the halls of government.

“I am grateful for the leaders who joined us in this important effort, and I look forward to continuing this work in the days ahead.”

The group of ethnic leaders and ERLC staff met with congressional offices from each of the leaders’ states, which included California, Virginia, Texas and Florida. The group met with House offices from all four states and Senate offices from Texas and Florida.

In addition to expressing their desire for Planned Parenthood to be defunded, the ethnic leaders also discussed their concerns regarding immigration, asking for more clarity regarding enforcement and describing how the nation’s current system impacts their ability to do Gospel ministry in their context.

The gathering served as a way for the ERLC to continue strengthening church engagement, as the ethnic fellowships represent thousands of the Convention’s churches.

Among the SBC fellowships represented was the National Hispanic Baptist Network, led by Executive Director Bruno Molina.

"It was an honor to represent the National Hispanic Baptist Network and work with Brent Leatherwood, his staff and other ethnic leaders,” Molina said.

ERLC staff and SBC ethnic leaders pray on a sidewalk in Washington, D.C.

“We met with congressional leaders and were able to discuss our concerns related to immigration policy, advocating for reforms that provide greater clarity, treat everyone with dignity, and protect our ability to share the Gospel with the people the Lord has placed in our communities.

“This experience instilled in all of the participants a greater appreciation for the ERLC's diligent work in promoting our Southern Baptist biblical values in the public square."

Leatherwood and other ERLC staff members had additional meetings with Brett Guthrie, chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, related to defunding Planned Parenthood as well as with domestic policy staff in the White House concerning Southern Baptists’ moral and ethical concerns with in vitro fertilization (IVF).

The Trump administration is expected to issue policy recommendations in the coming weeks on IVF at the directive of an executive order.

Defunding Planned Parenthood is the ERLC’s highest current priority, as Congress is going through a budget reconciliation process which may allow such changes in federal funding to occur more easily.

The ERLC launched a campaign to defund Planned Parenthood in February which has been signed by more than 25,000 Southern Baptists and other pro-lifers. The budget reconciliation process is expected to last into the summer months.



Memphis event marks Cooperative Program’s 100th anniversary, calls for renewed cooperation

By / May 9

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (BP) – Tony Wolfe hopes the 100th anniversary of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Cooperative Program will remind members of the world’s largest protestant movement how interdependent they are. Wolfe is leading a celebration to mark the anniversary May 13.

“The event will be held exactly 100 years after and within a few hundred yards of the exact location as the presentation and adoption of the Cooperative Program by messengers to the 1925 convention,” Wolfe, South Carolina Baptist Convention executive director, told Baptist Press.

It was mid-afternoon May 13, 1925, when messengers adopted the Cooperative Program based on a recommendation from the SBC Committee on Future Program led by Louisiana pastor M.E. Dodd.

In the mid 1920s, Southern Baptists were deciding where to go after the $75 Million Campaign raised momentum but fell short of the finances needed for home and international mission efforts.

Dodd rallied messengers to adopt the Cooperative Program for sustained giving.

In a 2010 Baptist Press story, Dodd’s granddaughter Virginia Joyner recalled, “He would say, ‘Keep up the Cooperative Program. Do not let it break off and do missions out of part of it,'” Joyner said of her grandfather. “He would say, ‘Keep it all together. Do the missions. Do all of the work. Do the relief and everything out of the Cooperative Program.'”

Since 1925, Southern Baptists have given more than $20 billion through the Cooperative Program, which is the primary financial engine for missions, church planting, disaster relief, public policy work and more.

“The entire world lies open before us. We have never possessed more resources, more intelligence, more technology or more access than right now,” Wolfe said.

The event, beginning at 1:30 p.m. Central time, will be livestreamed at SBC.net/CP100. During the service, 72 people are scheduled to sign a Declaration of Cooperation.

The declaration is “a public statement, both to ourselves and to the watching world, that we joyfully depend upon one another and commit ourselves to one another, as a Southern Baptist people on a global mission – and that our Cooperative Program is an effective and cherished resource to be celebrated and perpetuated.”

While event space limits the gathering to a small group, Wolfe hopes “that each cooperating Southern Baptist might see himself or herself in at least one of these signatures and that each cooperating Southern Baptist may feel so inclined to digitally sign the Declaration when the opportunity is presented.”

Among the signers will be representatives from every SBC entity, state convention and affinity group.

Jeff Iorg, SBC Executive Committee president, is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at Tuesday’s event. A time of worship through music and a season of prayer are also on the agenda.

The declaration is being shared with the SBC Committee on Resolutions for consideration to be presented to messengers at the SBC Annual Meeting in Dallas June 10-11.

“In our world that is deeply and desperately scarred by sin, many are the occasions for open displays of division; rare and special are those for open displays of unity,” Wolfe said.

“My prayer is that this Cooperative Program Centennial event might reawaken that ‘unity of purpose and consecration’ which has been evident among our Southern Baptist people in generations past, enlivening us toward a more joyfully sacrificial and missionally effective future.”



Mohler questions ERLC’s ‘utility,’ draws pushback from Commission’s defenders

By / May 8

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect that according to SBC Bylaw Article 25, the discontinuation of an SBC entity requires "a majority vote at two (2) successive annual sessions of the Convention."

NASHVILLE (BP) – An SBC entity president has expressed “grave doubts” about the usefulness of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) in Southern Baptist life. The ERLC and its advocates followed those comments with a flurry of defense for the Convention’s public policy Commission.

Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said he “has grave doubts about the utility of the ERLC. And it’s not just about the current moment.” He made his comments on an April 30 episode of the Baptist 21 podcast, adding, “It would be wrong for me to lead any such effort” to abolish or defund the ERLC.

ERLC trustee chairman Scott Foshie said in a statement this week, “For over 100 years, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission has played a pivotal role in shaping culture and equipping pastors by bringing a distinctively Baptist voice to the public square,” Foshie said. “The board of trustees is steadfast in its commitment to advancing the future of the invaluable service the ERLC provides to its Convention of churches.”

ERLC President Brent Leatherwood said the ERLC is gaining ground in Washington.

“Our focus is on the work Southern Baptists have assigned to us, ” he said. “We are gaining ground with our allies on the Hill to finally and permanently defund Planned Parenthood. We’re taking aim at banning pornography. At every opportunity, we’re equipping our churches to stand firm against the pervasive transgender ideology that so defines the spirit of the age.

The back-and-forth followed at least three consecutive SBC Annual Meetings with attempts to close or defund the ERLC. Last year, a motion to abolish the ERLC failed to gain the first of two required majority votes. The following month saw leadership turmoil at the ERLC, with the entity announcing President Brent Leatherwood’s removal in July and retracting that announcement a day later.

In 2023 a motion to reallocate the ERLC’s budget to fund the Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force was ruled out of order. In 2022, messengers also voted down a motion to abolish the Commission.

Such attempts at shuttering the ERLC and its predecessor organizations are nothing new. In the 1960s and 1970s, for example, the Christian Life Commission fended off multiple efforts to close or defund it.

One unique facet of this year’s discussion is that an SBC entity leader has questioned the ERLC in a public forum. On the Baptist 21 podcast, Mohler gave two reasons for his concerns about the ERLC, noting, “I love Brent Leatherwood, and so this is not all about him as president. It is about the viability of a particular Commission at a particular time.”

First, Mohler said it is a “risky proposition” to have “an entity that is assigned to represent the SBC in a formal sense on so many of the hottest issues of the day.” It “makes perfect sense” for hierarchical denominations like the Roman Catholic Church to have an “official representative” in Washington. But “for the SBC, it’s always a bit more difficult.”

Mohler conceded that “there are clear Baptist principles, biblical principles we want to advertise as loudly to the world as we can.” But “the question is how do we best do that.”

Mohler also suggested a “commission” might not be as useful to the SBC as its “boards” and “institutions.” He claimed “that commissions are different than the boards and the institutions, primarily because they have a particular function. And you know, we have eliminated most of the commissions, and it’s largely because other entities and the churches themselves and the state conventions have taken up this task.”

Mohler did not explain the distinction he was drawing between different types of Convention entities. Articles 6 and 7 of the SBC Constitution appear to place “commissions” on equal footing with “boards” and “institutions” in the SBC’s policies and procedures.

The SBC eliminated multiple commissions in the late 1990s, including the Education Commission, the Stewardship Commission and the Historical Commission, at the recommendation of a study committee on which Mohler served. Other commissions, like the Brotherhood Commission, were subsumed into new Convention entities.

Foshie said the ERLC’s current work is vital to the Convention’s churches.

“The ERLC has been actively engaging with pastors and state convention leaders across the country, listening to their invaluable insights as they navigate complex issues within their ministries,” he said. “This commitment to meaningful dialogue isn’t just a one-time effort – it’s an ongoing mission that will continue in the years ahead. This Baptist institution gets real work done on issues that Southern Baptists care about.”

Leatherwood said he and the ERLC stand “in solidarity” with other SBC entities in support of their work in missions, church planting and seminary training.

“The ERLC has stood in the gap towards faithful engagement in the public square, bolstered by research and wisdom from leading Southern Baptist ethicists,” he said. “There has never been a greater need for the ERLC, and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to serve Southern Baptists at such a pivotal time.”

Former ERLC President Richard Land also advocated for the Commission’s continued existence in a May 7 first-person article published by BP.

“As we prepare for our annual meeting next month, it appears that messengers will once again be asked whether they want an established, Convention-approved voice that speaks up on complex issues of life and religious liberty in our nation’s capital and helps our churches navigate the ethical conundrums of our day,” Land wrote. “In short: do we still need the ERLC? In a word: yes! It would be a terrible mistake for the Convention to shutter the ERLC, whatever mechanism they may use to accomplish such an end.”

The SBC Annual Meeting is June 10-11 in Dallas.



SBC entities help Ethnic Research Network in wake of Minh Ha’s death

By / May 7

DALLAS – Minh Ha Nguyen was among the 2 million mostly nameless and faceless Vietnamese “boat people” who between 1975 and 1992 made their way from a war-ravaged country to new life in America and elsewhere.

Nguyen, son of a Vietnamese church planter, stands out. He had a name and a face to many – see this video – because before he died last summer, he had left a legacy. He gave his life to Jesus crossing the South China Sea when he was 12. He was 57 and had worked in technical roles at the International Mission Board for 24 years at the time he died, but his passion was research on ethnics in the Southern Baptist Convention.

Minh Ha Nguyen

“Minh Ha was an incredibly gifted colleague who served for 24 years in key roles with the IMB to support our work and workers around the world,” IMB President Paul Chitwood told Baptist Press in an article posted last July. “He helped shape our stewardship strategies and our efforts to evangelize the largest cities in the world, but also served our SBC family in ethnic ministry in the U.S.”

Nguyen developed the BaptistResearch.com website in 2022 to track the development of ethnic ministry across the SBC. The following year he founded the SBC’s ERN, it’s Ethnic Research Network. Baptist Press last June reported on that group’s – Nguyen’s, mostly – findings to date: Almost 23 percent of Southern Baptist churches are non-Anglo; 60 percent of all church plants in the last five years worship in a non-Anglo cultural context; and nearly 100 languages are heard in Southern Baptist churches across the nation every Sunday.

The research specialist had gathered a few people to the group, those who had an interest in research, but mostly ERN reflected Nguyen’s work.

“The Ethnic Research Network (ERN) suffered a devastating loss with the sudden passing of Dr. Minh Ha Nguyen July 2024, our founder, primary researcher, and visionary leader,” Acting President Carter Tan told Baptist Press in mid-April. “Minh Ha was the heart and soul of our mission, providing crucial insights that shaped ethnic representation across SBC life.

“His work was foundational, building platforms like baptistresearch.com that made ethnic data transparent and actionable for church leaders, churches, local Baptist associations, state conventions and SBC entities,” Tan continued. “He was also critical in providing data and visualization for the SBC Book of Reports related to ethnic data. He had a unique gift to tell the story of SBC diversity.”

Tan spoke of the last 10 months as “deeply challenging. Accessing Minh Ha’s accounts, data and systems has been slow and difficult, but even in the chaos, the hand of God has been evident.

Carter Tan addresses a group during the 2024 SBC Annual Meeting in Indianapolis. BP file photo

“The response from SBC leaders and entities has been extraordinary. People didn’t wait to be asked, they offered,” Tan continued. “Charles Grant from the SBC Executive Committee and Scott McConnell from Lifeway Research have been critical partners, guiding us, offering resources and helping carry Minh Ha’s vision forward. Leaders from SBC Asian Collective, IMB, NAMB, GuideStone and ERLC have also leaned in to help continue our shared mission.”

The Ethnic Research Network no longer is a one-person operation; it’s now a shared effort across multiple SBC entities.

“We’ve moved from isolation to collaboration: strengthening partnerships, sharing data and planning together for the 2025 Book of Reports and beyond,” the acting president said.

“Scott McConnell from Lifeway Research is actively helping us recreate missing data visualizations and statistical reporting. What began as a network has now become a community of collaborators,” Tan said. “The loss was great, but so is the resolve to continue. We’ve been overwhelmed by the offers from others to assist with expanding our team – analysts, strategists, academic contributors – and building infrastructure for the future: website, data access, funding strategies.”

Ethnic research isn’t about numbers, Tan explained. “It’s about people, visibility and honoring the image of God in every culture and community in the SBC. Accurate data helps decision-makers, encourages belonging and ensures that the SBC reflects the diversity of God’s kingdom.

“This work validates ethnic churches and ministries across the country and brings needed clarity to our progress and challenges in the SBC.”

The SBC umbrella provides a sense of belonging to at least 10 Asian fellowships, plus Hispanic, Brazilian, Haitian, Ghanan, Slavic (Russian and Ukrainian), African-American, Native American and several more are organizing. Attesting to the sense of belonging, translation is to be provided at the SBC annual meeting main sessions this year in five languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, Cantonese and Mandarin.

Nguyen was nearing completion, he told Baptist Press last summer, on a book recounting the stories of some of the earliest Asian ethnic leaders in the U.S., most of whom are now in their 70s, 80s and 90s. “They sacrificed their lives in commitment to God’s call,” Nguyen said at the SBC annual meeting in Indianapolis. From his time as one of the “boat people,” he knew firsthand something of their struggles to reach America so they could tell other Vietnamese of God’s unconditional love.

The Ethnic Research Network will not have a separate meeting at this year’s annual meeting, Tan said, but will participate in meetings of the Asian Collective, NextGen Pastor’s Network and Asian fellowship gatherings.



‘A Faith Under Siege’ documents Russia’s persecution of Christians in Ukraine

By / May 6

WASHINGTON (BP) – Christian faith threatens Russian President Vladimir Putin because it is out of his control. As such, his war on Ukraine has centered on the systematic persecution of Christians, their families and their churches.

That is a central message of “A Faith Under Siege: Russia’s Hidden War on Ukraine’s Christians,” a documentary premiering May 10 on CBN, and following on TBN, Newsmax and several screening platforms.

“If you find faithful believers, they have just one allegiance, and that's to Jesus Christ,” Colby Barrett, the film’s producer, told Baptist Press in explaining Putin’s fear. “It's hard to control people when they only report to God.”

The documentary is spearheaded by Steven Moore of Ukraine Freedom Project, who went to Ukraine five days after Putin invaded the smaller country in February 2022. Moore, the documentary’s co-executive producer with Ukrainian journalist Anna Shvetsova, teamed with Barrett, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, entrepreneur and farmer; Ukrainian film crews and a New York post-production crew in the project that officially began in July 2024 but also drew on connections Moore had made since arriving in Ukraine.

The persecution of Ukrainian Christians is a story Moore believes is not being told as loudly and as frequently as needed, as least for American Christians to understand the impact.

“This story is getting out because I'm going to make it get out,” Moore decided. “So that's what Colby and I and our team are doing. We're bringing light to these very dark stories and we are letting Ukrainian believers tell their own story.”

Moore hopes the documentary brings to light for Christians in the U.S. the true picture of Vladimir Putin and his war on Ukraine, he told Baptist Press.

Moore had already interviewed pastors who had suffered torture at the hands of Russian soldiers. But he and Barrett suited themselves in body armor and drove 1,500 miles around the perimeters of Russian occupied territories of Ukraine, interviewing pastors, mothers, children and other believers who had suffered persecution under Russian occupation, or who had endured a Russian invasion, the two told Baptist Press.

They encountered a young boy who had only just escaped.

“He was the son of a pastor, and he was being forced to join the Russian military to fight against Ukraine in order to put pressure on his father, who was a pastor,” Barrett said. “We talked to fathers that had lost their families in drone strikes where the Russians had sent Iranian drones over and killed their families. We talked to chaplains that were serving on the front lines.”

There were escaped children and mothers who had smuggled their children out of occupied territories.

“But I can tell you, everybody there is suffering in one way or the other. Obviously, some lived under occupation. Some are still living under occupation. All of them are suffering under constant threat of drone and missile attack because the way Putin is waging this war is really against Ukraine as a group of Ukrainians, as a group of people,” Barrett said. “And so there's not a military or civilian target. It's just any Ukrainians that can be killed or terrorized or brutalized. That's kind of the approach. So everybody's suffering. This is absolute, you know, it's total war over there.”

By the numbers, Russia has killed at least 47 Ukrainian pastors, priests and other faith leaders since the war began; has shelled, looted or destroyed at least 650 churches; has killed, injured or kidnapped some 22,000 Ukrainian children since February 2022, according to multiple sources cited by A Faith Under Siege researchers including Mission Eurasia, Newsweek, the Institute for Religious Freedom and others.

Authoritarian leaders have historically feared faith communities, Barrett said.

“That was one of the refrain that we heard there from Ukrainian Christians that the Russians are actually afraid of faith because they really see it as a powerful force. And it's even, you see this in their laws,” he said. “In 2016, Russia passed the Yarovaya law, which made it illegal to preach the Gospel publicly.

“This is something that doesn't get much reporting, but I think Baptists have been arrested and prosecuted under this law for just simply telling the person sitting next to you on a bus bench about Jesus. That's illegal in Russia. And the reason is, is that's how you control a population, is by absolutely suppressing their faith.”

Watch A Faith Under Siege May 10 at 8 p.m. EDT on CBN, with rebroadcasts scheduled May 10 at 11 p.m., May 11 at noon and 8 p. m. and May 12 at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m., all EDT. Additional viewing opportunities will be announced at faithunderseige.com.

Moore and Barrett are hosting a screening tonight (May 6) at 6 p.m. EDT at the Museum of the Bible in Washington.

Moore encourages churches to access to educational materials related to the documentary at faithunderseige.com, including a prayer guide, information on hosting a free documentary screening, contacting respective congressional representatives, connecting with ministries including Ukraine Freedom Project, Samaritan’s Purse and Save Ukraine and inviting Moore and Barrett to church events.