Tim Palmer

JONESBORO, Ga. (BP) -- The life of Truett Cathy was celebrated by 2,000 people who packed the auditorium of First Baptist Church in Jonesboro, Ga., and hundreds more in an overflow room Wednesday (Sept. 10). The memorial service encompassed stirring music and humor -- and an overriding testimony to a patriarchal faith in Jesus Christ.

EDITORS' NOTE: Mental health professionals recognize that mental illness -- defined by the American Psychiatric Association as "an illness that affects or is manifested in a person's brain" -- can be treated with medication and/or therapy. But society has lagged behind in that recognition, and many times the stigma that accompanies a person and family affected by a mental illness can be hurtful. And just as Christians can have cancer, Christians can be mentally ill. Here are two stories from Missouri Baptists' Word & Way newsjournal about Baptist families tied together by the fact that they each love someone who suffers from a mental illness.

BOLIVAR, Mo. (BP)--As a 16-year-old musical prodigy, Adam Lynch was the subject of a 1997 profile in his hometown newspaper, the Bolivar (Mo.) Herald-Free Press. His skill on the violin, which he began playing at age 4, had earned him a place in the nearby Springfield Symphony.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP)--Fifteen years ago a family was born. It's a different kind of family, but a family nonetheless.

OSAGE BEACH, Mo., (BP)–An electric sign on the side of the huge houseboat moored at the entrance to Party Cove advertises “free ice and eternal life.” When the weather heats up, the ice goes fast. Then Mark Hott tells boaters, “We’re out of ice, but we have plenty of eternal life left.” Hott and his […]

CALI, Colombia (BP)--Saving souls with soap operas? It's happening. Spanish speakers throughout North and South America are coming to Christ through "En Familia" -- a video series produced and directed by a Southern Baptist missionary.

ST. LOUIS (BP)--Randy Windham knew God wanted someone to share the gospel with people who sport tattoos, ride motorcycles and hang out in "biker" bars. He just didn't know it was him.

McGIRK, Mo. (BP)–The church’s Fourth of July worship was shaping up to be special anyway, but when God, a caring pastor and a loving wife teamed up to reunite two Vietnam combat veterans who hadn’t seen each other in 30 years, it was memorable indeed. Frank Whitney, pastor of Lebanon Baptist Church, McGirk, Mo., noticed […]

CAMDENTON, Mo. (BP)–Jay Strack could be forgiven if he gave a few stock answers during a recent interview at the Stoneridge Amphitheater on Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks. At 1 a.m. that day, he had arrived in Orlando, Fla., from Jerusalem, where he was working on Southern Baptists’ “YouthLink 2000” New Year’s extravaganza. His older […]

HORSESHOE BEND, Mo. (BP)–When Missouri pastor Clyde Leonard introduced his cousin Ted Blaylock to the congregation of Horseshoe Bend Baptist Church recently, Clyde recalled how the family thought Ted would never amount to much. “All he wanted to do was doodle and draw.” Doodling and drawing have taken Blaylock to a successful career as a […]

MARSHFIELD, Mo. (BP)–Messengers to the annual meeting of Missouri’s Webster County Baptist Association voted to withdraw fellowship from Calvary Baptist Church, Marshfield, over the issue of charismatic worship. The church split 10 months ago after conflict about practices such as speaking in tongues and being slain in the Spirit. The state Baptist newsjournal Word & […]