Endurance, longevity in ministry, and life-long integrity seem to be characteristics of the few — not the many — in church ministry today. The public fall of church leaders due to long-concealed moral failings heightens the urgent need for Christ-like leaders who last. In a recent interview, Jeff Struecker, assistant professor of Christian leadership at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, shared about his most recent test of endurance and his reflections on developing a culture of Christian ministry and leadership that lasts.

GRIFFIN, Ga. – A soggy forecast won’t deter Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief chainsaw crews who are helping tornado victims remove trees from their homes and property. “It’s just rain, nothing severe,” said Jeff Carter, a crew leader who was among the first to arrive in the Griffin area where an EF-2 tornado did widespread damage.

ATLANTA – Southern Baptists make up the largest religious group in Georgia with nearly 1.6 million members in communities across the state, according to the U.S. Religion Census. Southern Baptists outnumber by far the second largest group, Catholics, by 1,584,393 to 898,162, according to the census conducted by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies.

GRIFFIN, Ga. – Chainsaw crews from Georgia Baptist churches expect to be busy for three weeks or more helping tornado victims remove trees from their homes and property in Griffin and other hard-hit communities. They began arriving within hours of the tornado outbreak that’s being blamed for two deaths and widespread property damage.

BRUNSWICK, Ga. – Chris Winford started last year with a prayer that the Lord would make him a man of deeper faith. “Little did I know I was about to become a living example,” the pastor at First Baptist Church in Brunswick said. A grim cancer diagnosis caused Winford to trust in the Lord more than ever before. His is an encouraging story of faith and courage amid uncertainty and of a gracious God who provided a happy ending.

TIFTON, Ga. – Penny Chesnut has seen some unusual sights during her four decades serving in Baptist Collegiate Ministries at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. She recalled the day she walked into the BCM building on the Tifton campus and saw a young man bathing his chicken in the kitchen sink to get it ready for a class project. Then there was the time a student thought the BCM a good place to bleach a deer’s head, again for a class project.

DULUTH, Ga. – Members of the Georgia Baptist Convention’s Administration Committee chose Milledgeville Pastor Tim Oliver as their chairman on Tuesday. “It’s an honor,” said Oliver, pastor at Lakeside Baptist Church. “I’ve never felt qualified in anything God called me to do, but He has always blessed.” Oliver, who had been serving as the committee’s vice chairman, was the unanimous choice for the top post. He has been serving in ministry for 34 years, the last 20 of which have been at Lakeside.

CARTERSVILLE, Ga. – A small church in north Georgia has begun the year in a big way, by baptizing nine new believers. “It’s amazing to see God moving in such a big way with everything we’ve been through in the past couple of years,” said Cassville Baptist Church Pastor Andrew Hackler. “There’s nothing else we can credit this to other than the moving of the Spirit and faithful obedience to what God has called us to.”

SANDERSVILLE, Ga. – The director of Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief said chainsaw crews have completed a deployment to Sandersville where a tornado touched down earlier in the week. Dwain Carter said more than 20 volunteers have been on the scene since Wednesday. “I look for Disaster Relief volunteers to be there for a couple more days,”  he said. A line of storms brought at least four tornados and heavy rain to much of Georgia on Tuesday and Wednesday.

DULUTH, Ga. – Registration has opened for the Georgia Baptist Evangelism Conference, one of the state Mission Board’s most popular events, having drawn more than 1,500 participants last year. Levi Skipper, the Georgia Baptist Mission Board strategist who oversees the evangelism conference, said two locations were chosen for this year's event in late February and early March to make it easier for people to attend from all areas of the state.

SANDERSVILLE, Ga. – Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief workers are in Sandersville where a suspected tornado caused localized property damage. “We have experienced, to this point, one tornado,” Dwain Carter, director of Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief, said Wednesday morning. “I have people on the ground currently and will deploy a recovery team there first thing in the morning.”

WASHINGTON — News that the Food and Drug Administration has finalized a rule change that makes abortion pills more widely available in pharmacies and via mail order has pro-life advocates alarmed. Mike Griffin, public affairs representative for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, called the FDA's action "terrible."

WAKE FOREST, N.C. -- The College at Southeastern celebrated its first commencement at its Wake County Extension Center in 2022, recognizing the achievements of five incarcerated women who graduated with an associate's degree. That's one of the many ways Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and its affiliated college is helping to fulfill the Great Commission.

VALDOSTA, Ga. – Exhilaration is a certainty at the Wild Adventures amusement park in Valdosta. But salvation? That was the case for 20 students who attended the Georgia Baptist Mission Board’s MOVE Conference, a two-day Christian experience for middle and high school students at a venue billed as 170 acres of rides, slides and exotic animals. Another 73 said they felt called to become either ministers or missionaries.

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision that had legalized abortion nationwide some five decades ago. The ruling in June opened the way for Georgia to put an end to nearly all abortions. "God has heard and answered our prayers on behalf of the most helpless of human beings," said W. Thomas Hammond, executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.

DULUTH, Ga. – Some congregations have missed the initial deadline for completing what’s known as the Annual Church Report, a census of sorts for the Georgia Baptist Convention. But it’s not too late to complete the fill-in-the-blank report that can be completed in a matter of minutes.

Georgia Baptists were busy in 2022 sharing the gospel in communities throughout Georgia, across the country and around the world. Here is a look back at the year through images published in The Christian Index.

Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers were busy in 2022 responding to disasters around the state,  nation and world. From  Georgia to Kentucky, Florida to Colorado, and overseas to Poland,  they offered help, hope and healing to people impacted by catastrophes.

SWAINSBORO, Ga. – Revival arrived in Swainsboro in June when more than 50 people responded to an invitation to receive Christ during a four-night crusade in the city’s auditorium. “There was just an atmosphere that was ripe for salvation,” Joe Bedgood, the evangelism director in the Emanuel Missionary Baptist Association, said at the time. Similar instances of revival were reported across Georgia throughout 2022, netting thousands of salvation decisions in some of the state’s smallest communities and largest cities.

MARIETTA, GA – In A Charlie Brown Christmas Movie, Charlie said, “Rats. Nobody sent me a Christmas card today. I almost wish there weren’t a holiday season. I know nobody likes me. Why do we have a holiday season to emphasize it?” Unlike Charlie Brown there are millions of Christians who find themselves enmeshed in the spirit of Christmas, joined with their loved ones sharing centuries-old traditions and rejoicing in the amazing glory of the incarnation. For many families Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year.

ATLANTA – One of the nation’s most-sought-after Christian speakers will be at Georgia's Legislative Prayer Breakfast next month. Longtime college football coach Tommy Bowden will headline the event that draws most of Georgia’s lawmakers and a standing-room-only crowd of Christian leaders from across the state.

LaGRANGE, Ga. – Some 4,000 people turned out to watch Rosemont Baptist Church’s Christmas presentation, The One. The production, described as Disneyesque in its quality and scope, went beyond the Nativity of Christ by including scenes from the Old Testament that point forward to His birth.

DULUTH, Ga. – Mission Georgia has provided nearly $392,000 in grants to ministries that provide direct care to children, mothers-to-be, victims of human trafficking and international refugees. “Through the generous giving of Georgia Baptists through Mission Georgia, we are able to come alongside churches, associations, and specialized ministries to help make an impact on the needs of the most vulnerable in our state,” said Beth Ann Williams, lead strategist for Georgia Baptist Women.

DULUTH, Ga. – Several training events have been scheduled for Georgia Baptists who want to join Disaster Relief crews that minister to victims of hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, wildfires, and other natural calamities. Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief Director Dwain Carter said it’s important to have as many people as possible trained and certified to ensure the ministry has the manpower needed to offer help, hope and healing to people in need.

DULUTH, Ga. – Georgia lawmakers will see a renewed effort from the state’s largest religious group to protect biblical definitions of gender and to oppose efforts to expand gambling when they convene next month in Atlanta for the start of the 2023 legislative session. Messengers to the 1.4 million-member Georgia Baptist Convention approved a series of resolution last month, including one that reiterates their opposition to allowing male athletes to compete as females in sporting events.