Fla. Baptist Conv. to reduce staff by 47%
LEESBURG, Fla. (BP) -- A reorganization of the Florida Baptist Convention staff that reduces the number of employees statewide by 47 percent -- from the 115 currently employed to 61 employees -- was approved by the State Board of Missions, Friday (Sept. 18) at Lake Yale Baptist Conference Center. The reorganization and downsizing was the fulfillment of a promise made by Executive Director-Treasurer Tommy Green on May 29 after being elected to the post.
Increases proposed for SBC, Fla. ministry
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP) -- Saying "we can impact the world" by sending 51 percent of Florida's Cooperative Program receipts to the Southern Baptist Convention while simultaneously increasing funds to reach Florida, Executive Director-Treasurer Tommy Green presented a $29 million budget for 2016 to the State Board of Missions' Budget-Allocations Committee. The committee unanimously approved the proposed 2016 Cooperative Program budget Aug. 13 to send $14,790,000 -- or 51 percent -- to the SBC and retain ...
Fla. presidents affirm nat’l marriage statement
KEYSTONE HEIGHTS, Fla. (BP) -- The current president and 18 former presidents of the Florida Baptist State Convention have affirmed a statement on biblical marriage and the national implications of same-sex marriage released June 17 by the Southern Baptist Convention's current president, Ronnie Floyd, and 16 of the SBC's presidents since 1980.
Thomas Green to lead Florida Baptist Convention
LEESBURG, Fla. (BP) -- J. Thomas Green has been elected to lead the 1-million-member Florida Baptist State Convention as executive director-treasurer of the Florida Baptist Convention. Green, pastor of First Baptist Church in Brandon, was tapped by the State Board of Missions during its May 29 meeting at Lake Yale Conference Center in Leesburg. He will assume his new role effective June 8.
A frigid spring break amid superstorm’s ruins
LONG ISLAND, N.Y. (BP) -- Braving temperatures that barely reached 20 degrees, a team of Florida collegians formed a human chain to haul moldy and mildewed personal belongings from Caren FitzPatrick's cramped basement. When Superstorm Sandy hit her Long Island home in 2012, the storm surge left three feet of rancid salt water in the basement of the family's home located two blocks from the ocean.
80,000-plus Bibles shipped to Cuba for churches
MIAMI (BP) -- Three 40-foot containers packed with 83,723 Spanish-speaking Bibles to be distributed among Baptist churches in both Western and Eastern Cuba are expected to arrive in Havana March 25. The shipment, slated to leave South Florida during the week of March 15, is the third Southern Baptists have sent to the island nation since 1999. This latest effort brings the total number of Bibles sent to nearly half a million, said Kurt Urbanek, IMB strategy leader for Cuba since 1997.
Fla., Cuban Baptists ‘offer hope to each other’
HAVANA (BP) -- As the United States turns its attention to restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba, Florida Baptists continue to work alongside its neighbors 90 miles to the south maintaining relationships built during the past 18 years. "We offer hope to each other," said David Gonzales, director of volunteer teams ministry with the Western Cuba Baptist Convention, referring to the partnership between the Florida Baptist Convention and its sister convention in Cuba.
5 years later, Haitian pastors say quake opened doors
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (BP) -- As the earth began to buckle Jan. 12, 2010, Youdel Azor recalled, "The ground was moving like someone bouncing on a trampoline." In 35 seconds on that scary, sad and dreadful day in Haiti five years ago, more than 230,000 people were dead from the earthquake measuring 7.0 magnitude on the Richter scale. People trapped by massive slabs of concrete cried for relief, said Azor and a group of Haitian Baptist pastors meeting in Port-au-Prince this past December.
Fla. & Cuban Baptists thank John Sullivan
LAKELAND, Fla. (BP) -- Florida Baptists said farewell to John Sullivan, the ninth executive director–treasurer of the state convention for the past 26 years, during the 153rd annual meeting of the Florida Baptist State Convention, Nov. 10-11 at First Baptist Church at the Mall in Lakeland. Sullivan, in his final sermon to the convention as the state exec, preached on "'An Attitude of Gratitude"' from Colossians 1:9-15. ...
John Sullivan, 26 years with Florida Baptists, to retire in February
LEESBURG, Fla. (BP) -- John Sullivan has announced his retirement after serving Florida Baptists as executive director-treasurer for a quarter of a century.
