Illinois Baptist
5 hills worth dying on Nathan Carter’s test for church leaders Table Talk P. 13
This is
in focus
Us
Even for Baptists, growing lostness demands fresh commitment to evangelism Visit our new website IllinoisBaptist.org
IB
See page 3 for more addresses. News journal of the Illinois Baptist State Association
FEBRUARY 27, 2017 Nonprofit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID Peoria, Illinois Permit No. 325
Vol. 111 No. 03
SPECIAL REPORT on evangelism trends in Illinois • PLUS our top baptizing churches P. 7-10
CAPITOL WATCH
Pro-life centers file suit
Protect your church
Also, House mulls expanding abortion coverage
from spiritual vulnerability
BY MEREDITH FLYNN Springfield | Multiple pregnancy resource centers are suing Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner over a new law they say prohibits free speech and requires them to voice a message about abortion that is directly contrary to their mission. Pro-life advocates also are watching a pending bill that would expand abortion coverage for those on Medicaid and state workers’ health insurance plans. On Feb. 9, 18 pregnancy resource centers filed for an injunction to avoid being forced to comply with an amendment to the Health Care Right of Conscience Act that was approved by the Illinois General Assembly last year and went into effect January 1. The amendment requires pregnancy centers and pro-life physicians to discuss abortion as a legal treatment option, to talk about its “benefits,” and, if asked, to refer clients to abortion providers, said Attorney Thomas Olp of the Thomas More Society, RAUNER one of the legal organizations working with pregnancy care centers to fight enforcement of the new law. For the centers, Olp said, “It’s an interfering by the government with their ability to communicate feely about an important moral issue.” The law also constitutes “viewpoint discrimination,” he added, in that it only regulates the speech of people with a particular viewpoint. P. 3
Nate Adams P. 2 SBC NEWS
Mosque support raises ire Gaines on ERLC, IMB issues P. 5
MISSIONS
Last-chance conversion An ‘Annie Armstrong’ story P. 11
IBSA
Meet the team P. 14