[1]Sons to nominate Finn for SBC recording secretary
By BP Staff
In light of Thursday’s (April 7) announcement that Texas pastor Bart Barber will be nominated [2] for Southern Baptist Convention president, he no longer plans to be the one to nominate Nathan Finn, provost at North Greenville University in Tigerville, S.C., for SBC recording secretary.
Barber had announced his intentions to nominate Finn [3] March 30. In the days that followed, Barber decided to allow his own name to be placed into the nominations for SBC president.
“When Bart decided to run for President, we agreed it would be best that he not nominate me for Recording Secretary,” Finn wrote in a tweet April 7. “While we are friends who think similarly about SBC life, we are not part of any partisan faction, nor do we want to be seen as some sort of political ticket.”
Finn went on to announce that David Sons, pastor of Lake Murray Baptist Church in Lexington, S.C., and member of the SBC Executive Committee, plans to nominate him.
[4]“I’m honored to nominate my friend and fellow @SCBaptist [5] @nathanafinn [6] for SBC Recording Secretary in Anaheim,” Sons tweeted. “I have no doubt, if elected, he will serve our convention of churches faithfully.”
The only other announced nominee for recording secretary is Georgia pastor Javier Chavez [7]. In addition to Barber, other presidential nominees include Florida pastor Tom Ascol [8] and Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary professor Robin Hadaway [9].
ERLC conference to help churches learn how to serve refugees
By BP Staff
The ERLC will host “How Christians Can Serve Refugees [10],” an online conference, April 19 at 12:30 p.m. CDT. Conference speakers will aim to answer questions like:
- Why should Christians care about refugees and migrants?
- What are some of the geopolitical factors that have led to an influx of refugees around the world?
- How does the refugee resettlement process work, both here in the U.S. and around the world?
- What are some policies that Congress and the Administration can work on to strengthen the refugee resettlement process?
- What are some misconceptions Christians might have about refugees?
- What are some practical ways Christians can serve refugees in their local communities?
Speakers include Bryant Wright, president of Send Relief, Southern Baptists’ compassion ministry; Matthew Soerens, U.S. Director of Church Mobilization for World Relief; Bri Stensrud, director of Women of Welcome, a non-partisan, advocacy group for immigrants and refugees; and acting ERLC President Brent Leatherwood.
“Over the past several years, the world has seen a significant increase in the number of refugees,” says a release about the event on the ERLC website. “Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians have been displaced by the war in Ukraine and are traveling into neighboring countries. In the Middle East, the U.S. departure from Afghanistan created an urgent humanitarian crisis as thousands of Afghans fearing persecution from the Taliban fled the country.
“In light of all this, how can Christians help with the global refugee crisis? What responsibility do we have to care for and serve refugees? And how can we get involved in practical ways in our local communities?”
Registration for the conference is available here [11].