SBC Life Articles by Kathie Chute

MILL VALLEY, Calif. (BP) -- Meeting for the last time on the Mill Valley campus, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary trustees approved five new faculty members, heard progress on the seminary's new campuses and prayed for personnel transitioning to Ontario in Southern California and Fremont in the Bay Area. In describing the faculty selection process, President Jeff Iorg emphasized the board's role in making high-quality faculty additions possible, including setting long-range goals for improvement in faculty compensation in 2010.

MILL VALLEY, Calif. (BP) -- Rick Durst of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, was reading 2 Corinthians 13 one day in 2005, which he had read many times before. This time, the Trinitarian benediction in the last verse caught his eye: "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all." Was there a reason for that particular order?

MILL VALLEY, Calif. (BP) -- Jeff Iorg, president of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, said he didn't lose sleep over the decision to build two new campuses and relocate the seminary. "What caused many sleepless nights was the personal changes I was asking you to make," Iorg told an audience of students, faculty, staff and seminary supporters Feb. 4.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (BP) -- It is important for pastors and churches to not turn their backs on people who identify as gay or transgender, says Ryan Blackwell, pastor of First Baptist Church in San Francisco. While the church seeks to welcome all persons, Blackwell believes it is important to preach clearly on all matters, including those that go contrary to prevailing cultural thought. "It is important that pastors not be nuanced," he said. "We have to be very clear what we ...

MILL VALLEY, Calif. (BP) -- Construction is progressing rapidly at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary's two new campuses, and more than 40 new jobs have been posted on the seminary's website, President Jeff Iorg reported in mid-January. Iorg, speaking to the seminary's staff and students, said the new campus in Ontario, Calif., is still on target for the June 2016 move from Mill Valley even though there have been minor setbacks.

MILL VALLEY, Calif. (BP) -- "I'm a deacon," the man told Jeff Iorg, president of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. "I've followed Jesus all my life, and so have my children. Now my granddaughter has come home and announced she is a lesbian and is going to marry another woman. What do I do?" The church deacon is among the many brokenhearted individuals Iorg has encountered at state and associational meetings across the nation in speaking about the book "Ministry in the New Marriage Culture."

MILL VALLEY, Calif. (BP) -- An academic year "like no other in the history of American seminaries" awaits faculty, staff and students of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, President Jeff Iorg said in a convocation address Aug. 27. "We are currently moving the primary campus of one of the 10 largest seminaries in the United States 400 miles to Southern California, while at the same time building a secondary campus in the Bay Area -- all while remaining fully operational," Iorg said in an address titled "A Great Adventure."

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (BP) -- FedEx Express has donated a Boeing 727-200F to California Baptist University for its new aviation science program.

  In the past twenty years, central China has been growing cities at a record pace. In fact, 223 villages and towns in central China have reached a population of more than 1 million each, with an additional 250 topping 400,000. The growth presents new opportunities for rural people, who are moving to urban areas […]

BEIJING (BP)–In the private dining room of a restaurant, chef Su Ning* sings a song from a new hymnal. Her face glows as she finds the melody, marking time by drumming her fingers on the table. Others around the table join her as she adds motions to the hymn, smiling as she remembers one gesture […]