SBC EC meeting to be held in person as well as livestreamed
NASHVILLE (BP) – For the first time in a year, the SBC Executive Committee will meet in person next week, Feb. 22-23. Shortly after last year’s February meeting, the world began to shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The two subsequent EC meetings – in June and September – were held virtually.
Rather than hold the in-person gathering in its usual location – the auditorium in the SBC building in downtown Nashville – the meeting has been moved to a ballroom at the nearby Grand Hyatt hotel. The large space will allow for social distancing, and EC members and guests will be expected to wear masks throughout the meeting.
The meeting’s plenary sessions will be livestreamed to allow those who may still be unable to travel due to pandemic concerns to watch the proceedings. The livestream may be accessed here.
“We have a number of EC members that have underlying health conditions and would be at risk if they traveled,” EC Chairman Rolland Slade said. “By livestreaming the plenary session, they are able to be involved. The additional benefit is that the overall SBC will be able to see what we are doing. Transparency is one of the four goals that I set for my tenure as chairman.”
Slade added that he is “thankful for the EC staff making these accommodations for our members” and that it “is essential that we take care of each other to the best of our abilities.”
But he does not believe the virtual format is ideal.
“Though it could be used in the future, I believe the priority will remain on our in-person gatherings,” Slade said. “We need to be mindful of the important discussions and decisions that are made in our subcommittee meetings.”
New Español devotional Bible features women from 12 Latin American countries
By Lifeway Staff
NASHVILLE (BP) – Lifeway Christian Resources, the world’s largest provider of Spanish Bibles, is releasing its first women’s devotional Bible with B&H Español.
The new Bible called “Centrada en Cristo” (Centered in Christ) features 365 devotionals written by 25 Hispanic women representing a dozen countries in Latin America.
“After two years of intense planning and hard work, we are pleased to see this devotional Bible for women come to fruition,” said Giancarlo Montemayor, B&H Español publisher. “The publishing of this Bible continues to affirm Lifeway’s commitment to equip the church throughout the world with biblical truth.”
Montemayor said the goal of the devotional Bible is to direct people to Christ. “We wanted to help the reader understand that the message of the Gospel can be found in all of Scripture, and these women have done a fantastic job of that,” he said.
Edited by renowned authors Catherine Scheraldi and Patricia Namnún, “Centrada en Cristo” positions B&H Español and Lifeway as a publishing house that honors the voices of the church throughout the world.
“The Bible is the story of how a person is redeemed through the life and work of Jesus,” said Scheraldi, an author and physician in the Dominican Republic. “In this Bible, the reader will not only find Christ in familiar passages, but also in those places where it is not obvious at first glance.”
Scheraldi is author of “Revolución Sexual” (Sexual Revolution) and “El Ministerio de Mujeres” (Women´s Ministry in the Church) also published by B&H Español.
“Centrada en Cristo” will guard the reader from misinterpreting Scripture by allowing the text to show how Christ shines in it,” said Namnún, director of Women’s Initiatives at The Gospel Coalition Español. Her previous B&H Español titles include “Completas en Él” (Complete in Him), “Luz en las Tinieblas” (Light in Darkness) and “Una Fe Viva” (A Living Faith).
Montemayor worked closely with Schereldi and Namnún to identify established and respected evangelical voices throughout Latin America.
“Some of them are our own authors, like Aixa de López, Wendy Bello and Karla de Fernández,” said Montemayor. “But we also discovered new voices in the process by asking other ministry partners.”
Midwestern’s Spurgeon Library receives donation, releases latest Lost Sermons volume
By Michael S. Brooks
KANSAS CITIY (BP) – The Spurgeon Library at Midwestern Seminary recently added to its growing collection of resources courtesy of a generous donation from Leroy Cole, a former longtime pastor in the Flint, Mich., area.
The donation adds hundreds of new volumes and historical artifacts to the Spurgeon Library, including original editions of Spurgeon’s own publications and secondary sources written about the 19th century Baptist preacher.
Library curator Geoffrey Chang and the seminary were connected to the donor, Leroy Cole, through a longtime friend of MBTS, Gary Long. Long serves as pastor of Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Springfield, Mo., and as president of the Particular Baptist Press.
Through a series of phone calls and in-person meetings last fall, the two sides finalized the donation. The collection was transferred to the seminary’s campus located in Kansas City, Mo., in November 2020.
Cole’s contribution to the Spurgeon Library is unique, in part, because of his own background and passion for training future ministers.
Cole trained for ministry at Bible Baptist Seminary in Arlington, Texas, in the 1960s before beginning work as a bi-vocational church planter and pastor and as a toolmaker by trade. In 1967, he founded Cole’s Machine Inc., an automation and tooling service center, and subsequently planted Emmanuel Baptist Church in Otisville, Mich., along with a committed core group. The church in Otisville still meets for regular worship services, and the machine company’s operations are ongoing, managed now by members of the Cole family in nearby Davison, Mich.
Though different, Cole’s two career trajectories meshed in unexpected ways.
In his first year of seminary, Cole was introduced to several noteworthy theologians, among whom were figures such as John Calvin and Charles Spurgeon. The early exposure to Spurgeon’s writings began for Cole a lifelong fascination with the famed Baptist minister’s life and ministry. Cole estimated by the time he and his wife moved from Arlington, he had amassed a library of roughly 2,000 volumes, a large percentage of which were books written by or about Spurgeon.
New Lost Sermons publication released
Also in November 2020, Midwestern Seminary and B&H Academic announced the release of Volume 4 of The Lost Sermons of C.H. Spurgeon, an ongoing research project from the seminary’s Spurgeon Library.
The volume is the latest in a series of publications bringing to light previously unpublished sermon material from Charles Spurgeon’s early years in ministry. The Lost Sermons volumes include transcriptions of Spurgeon’s earliest sermons along with substantial introductory comments and annotations. The material is compiled by the staff and research team at the Spurgeon Library.
