Illinois Baptist
Break through the noise Daniel Kim
P. 11
Healing
in focus
Remembering P. 6
SCOTT FOSHIE
All about kids Our view of summer P. 3
SBC PREVIEW
Defining moments Mohler urges pastor bylaw P. 5
MEREDITH FLYNN
How help comes from hurts
Posting verses Faith-builders at eye level
Highlights from Priority 2026 ● P. 7
P. 13
PLUS: Good counsel from the Priority Now podcast team P. 9
IllinoisBaptist.org
News journal of the Illinois Baptist State Association
MAY 1, 2026
Nonprofit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID Peoria, Illinois Permit No. 964
Vol. 120 No. 5
IB ERLC PRESIDENT
Trustees elect Lenow
Foshie concludes as trustee chair Nashville, Tenn. | Evan Lenow was elected President and CEO of the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) April 13. The unanimous vote by the ERLC Board of Trustees culminates a years-long effort to secure leadership that may stabilize support for the denomination’s voice in the public square. “We are overjoyed that he has answered God’s call to use his keen intellect and shepherd’s heart to lead the ERLC,” said IBSA Executive Director and outgoing ERLC Chair Scott Foshie. Foshie has led efforts to clarify communications between the ERLC trustees and LENOW its paid leadership, and to assure that the incoming president addresses issues on which Southern Baptists have broad consensus. Lenow is a Mississippi College professor, writer, and ethicist who in the month since his nomination garnered endorsements from some of the top leaders who sought to abolish the ERLC over the past two years. “Evan Lenow is a man of substance and conviction and long Southern Baptist pedigree who will serve well in this P. 4
Slide rules P. 10
Emmy, Oscar... Wilmer? P. 14