Illinois Baptist
They want to teach what? How churches can respond to LGBT curriculum vote Nate Adams
Named #1 Christian Newspaper by the Evangelical Press Association
News journal of the Illinois Baptist State Association
PREVIEW
MAY 28, 2018 Vol. 112 No. 7
IB Online all the time IllinoisBaptist.org
INSIDE: SBC in Dallas
Presidential election Abuse debate overshadows Greear-Hemphill race P. 4
Encouraging evangelism Munton comments on report due from task force P. 5
Reporter’s Notebook After the firestorm
Nonprofit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID Peoria, Illinois Permit No. 325
P. 6
Cross walk Pastor takes hope to the city
P. 2
Chicago | The idea came to him after preaching through the book of Jonah. If the prophet’s preaching judgment on Nineveh made the whole city repent and turn to God, Pastor Phil Nelson thought, what would happen if someone preached not just judgment, but hope? Nelson and a small team from his church, Lakeland Baptist in Carbondale, took hope to Chicago in May during a twoweek prayer walk through the city. Carrying a wooden cross, Nelson, his daughter, Hannah, and Steve and Trish Whitaker, walked through some of Chicago’s toughest neighborhoods, stopping to pray with people and share the gospel. During the first week of their “cross walk,” six people accepted Jesus as savior. “When we decide to go out and become public about our faith, not in an abrasive way, but when we decide to make Jesus known and make him famous, God sends people in our direction,” Nelson said. The team wore T-shirts with the words “Hope for the city.” On the back of their shirts, a paraphrase of Deut. 2:36: No city too difficult for God. The cross they carried was 10-feet tall and weighed 80 pounds. As they walked, people saw the cross and came over to talk about it. People called out to them from car windows, P. 3
SOUTHWESTERN SEMINARY
Patterson removed
mission
Named ‘president emeritus’ after trustees weigh abuse comments, interim president tapped Ft. Worth | The news broke just after 3 a.m. May 23: The trustees of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary had removed President Paige Patterson from his role and named him president emeritus, effective immediately. The action came at the end of a marathon called meeting to address Patterson’s controversial comments about women and domestic abuse. While trustees were meeting earlier in the day May PATTERSON 22, The Washington Post reported a former student at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary said she was raped in 2003 and reported it to school officials, including thenPresident Patterson. The rape wasn’t reported to local officials, and Patterson encouraged her not to report it, the woman told The Washington Post. He also urged her to forgive her attacker. Southeastern responded that the school is investigating how the alleged incident was handled. The new charges were yet another round for the embattled president, who is 75. In April, audio and video clips from 2000 and 2014 resurfaced, raising questions about Patterson’s views on women (see page 4). P. 4
We go together
Trips transform families P. 7
in focus
Revitalization
Recognizing the need for renewal P. 11