Shannon Baker

ANAHEIM (BP) – Blindness must be really hard, Jennifer Rothschild said, repeating her future daughter-in-law’s words to her. “It is very hard,” Rothschild responded, “but earth is short, and heaven is long.”

ANAHEIM (BP) – Ministers’ wives awarded Kem Jackson, the wife of Al Jackson, pastor emeritus of Lakeview Baptist Church in Auburn, Ala., the 2022 Willie Dawson Turner award at the annual Ministers’ Wives Luncheon during the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Anaheim on June 14.

ANAHEIM (BP) – Three individuals closely tied to the recent Southern Baptist Convention Sexual Abuse Task Force report provided trauma-informed ministry training to nearly 60 people on June 14, immediately following the SBC’s afternoon business session.

ANAHEIM (BP) – More than 250 associational missional strategists (AMS), wives and guests had the opportunity to live out their annual meeting theme of “Pursuing Love and Good Works” (Hebrews 10:24), when they gathered to pray for Ray Gentry, the president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Leaders (SBCAL), during their June 12-13 meeting at the Sheraton Park Hotel in Anaheim.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (BP) -- Faced with more 14 million lost people across its region, the Baptist Resource Network (BRN) of Pennsylvania/South Jersey has partnered with the North American Mission Board (NAMB) for the past several years to plant churches in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Now, the Send Network partnership is extending to the entire Pennsylvania/South Jersey region, supporting church planting across its sprawling rural farmlands, mountains, coastland, urban centers and small towns.

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Messengers to the 2019 annual meeting of the Baptist Resource Network (BRN) of Pennsylvania/South Jersey heard a challenge for 2020, celebrated 2019 accomplishments, increased their Cooperative Program giving to SBC causes, and elected a new slate of officers, among other business. This year's meeting, attended by 189 messengers and 87 guests representing 107 of 311 active BRN churches (plus a combined reach of nearly 1,000 through its livestream), was held Nov. 7-8 at the Radisson Harrisburg Hotel in Camp Hill, Pa.

PITTSBURGH (BP) -- As Southern Baptist PrayerLink leaders gathered in Pittsburgh to pray for the next Great Awakening in America, a rising consensus among the participants was that American churches might not yet be ready for the harvest. "A part of what we need to be praying for is, 'Lord would you convict us, guide us, equip us to be ready for the harvest,' because when the harvest comes, if we're not ready, it's going to be too late," charged Claude King, discipleship and church health specialist for LifeWay Christian Resources.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP) -- Before recounting her experience in Turkey where she and her husband, pastor Andrew Brunson, were imprisoned, Norine Brunson expressed gratitude. "First of all, I just really need to thank you," she told the SBC Women's Session on June 10 preceding the SBC's annual meeting in Birmingham, Ala.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP) -- Donna Gaines was honored with the 2019 Willie Turner Dawson Award during the June 11 Ministers' Wives Luncheon at the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting in Birmingham, Ala. In presenting the award to Gaines, wife of Bellevue Baptist Church senior pastor Steve Gaines, Mary Cox described what the award represents: "It's about a woman who has godly character, who has served the Lord alongside her husband, and has been a great example as a minister's wife." Cox is the wife of Frank Cox, pastor of North Metro First Baptist Church in Lawrenceville, Ga.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (BP) -- Nearly 800 ministers' wives benefited from the quick thinking -- and prayer -- of this year's Ministers' Wives Luncheon president, Kim Hamm, and her team of officers. Just the day before, they were confronted with the news that, due to unforeseen circumstances, their planned speaker, Lauren Chandler, would not be present. Chandler is the wife of Matt Chandler, lead pastor at The Village Church in Dallas.