Illinois Baptist
What I learned in prison Table Talk with Steve Hamrick P. 13
RA regatta P. 9
News journal of the Illinois Baptist State Association
JUNE 17, 2019
in focus
Vol. 113 No. 09
Women on stage
Online all the time IllinoisBaptist.org
P. 10
Baptists say,
IB
From the
Southern Baptist Convention
No more!
2019 Annual Meeting in Birmingham New policies for combating abuse, aiding survivors, and policing churches approved Women’s voices are heard, leadership roles considered State well represented in WMU celebrations Illinois couple among 26 new international missionaries
Denomination takes action on sexual abuse Nonprofit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID Peoria, Illinois Permit No. 325
IN FOCUS: Messengers lament failures, launch protection plan. Team coverage starts on page 5
right to life, morals
Losing ground in Illinois
How will Christians move forward after a discouraging season at the Capitol? BY MEREDITH FLYNN Springfield | Illinois lawmakers closed their Spring 2019 session with a series of decisions that dismayed conservative voters across the state. Several measures passed by the General Assembly were lauded as progressive by their proponents, while signaling precipitous moral decline to Christians. As other states in the South and Midwest approved bans on abortion, Gov. J.B. Pritzker celebrated passage of the Reproductive Health Act (RHA) by calling Illinois “the most progressive state in the nation for reproductive healthcare.” Meanwhile, pro-life advocates
grieved what they say is among the country’s most extreme abortion legislation. RHA repeals several long-standing restrictions on abortion and declares the choice to have an abortion a “fundamental right.” In addition to that measure, lawmakers voted to legalize recreational marijuana and sports betting in Illinois. Pritzker had campaigned on several issues of concern to conservative Christians, and Democratic majorities in both houses indicated the governor could make good on his promises sooner rather than later. But the P. 4