Illinois Baptist
Timely wisdom From an Illinois forefather Nate Adams P. 2
News journal of the Illinois Baptist State Association
IBSA Annual Meeting
OCTOBER 29, 2018
November 7-8
Vol. 112 No. 14
First Baptist Church, Maryville
IB
For more information about the Annual Meeting and the IBSA Pastors’ Conference, go to IBSAannualmeeting.org
Online all the time IllinoisBaptist.org
mission
Faith Encounter
November 4, 2018 Go to IBSA.org/Evangelism for more information
ILLINOIS HISTORY
Celebrating 200 years The legacy of bicentennial churches P. 4
TABLE TALK
Community works Even for skeptics P. 13
COOPERATIVE PROGRAM
Giving report card More than a drop in the bucket P. 10
Students meet Christ—some for the first time— at annual evangelism conference P. 5
PAT’S PLAYBOOK
Teamwork for the ages Multi-generational ministry P. 16
Nonprofit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID Peoria, Illinois Permit No. 325
CHURCH & POLITICS
in focus
The future of local associations P. 7
What voters value
Evangelicals choose issues over candidates Wheaton | With one week to go before the U.S. mid-term election, new research may shed light on how evangelicals will vote. The Billy Graham Center Institute at Wheaton College and LifeWay Research in Nashville, Tenn., released an extensive study in October on how evangelicals voted in 2016, and how they feel about their decisions today. The study explored the voting habits and political motivations of three groups of Americans: evangelicals by belief, self-identified evangelicals, and those who are not evangelical by belief or self-identity. (Evangelicals by belief are those who hold to four key theological statements developed by LifeWay Research and the National Association of Evangelicals.) P. 3