SARALAND, Ala. (BP)—Citing a growing desire to develop a strategy to “bridge our divides and bring about a Gospel-driven unity and reconciliation” and the need to lead as a “pastor rather than from the office of president,” SBC president Ed Litton announced Tuesday that he would not seek a second term as SBC president at the upcoming SBC Annual Meeting in Anaheim, Calif.

DULUTH, Ga. –  The incoming director of Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief describes the volunteers who serve in storm zones across the U.S. and beyond as modern-day heroes.

MACON, Ga. – Georgia Baptist pastors were challenged in a series of sermons on Sunday and Monday to ramp up their efforts to share the gospel, preaching more evangelistically than ever in the perilous times the world is facing today.

LVIV, Ukraine (SWBTS) — “We need a miracle from God,” Yaroslav Pyzh, president of the Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary in Lviv, Ukraine, said from his western Ukraine home in a Zoom interview with Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s news staff on the evening of Feb. 26. As he prays for the miracle, Pyzh is marshaling the people and resources of his school to help refugees of the war.

ATLANTA – Pro-gambling lawmakers continue to push for a constitutional amendment in Georgia that would lift a longstanding ban on horse racing, potentially opening the door to the kind of gargantuan gambling terminals that are popping up in Kentucky and other states that allow pari-mutuel wagering.

ATHENS, Ga. – A fledgling initiative that pairs young church leaders with seasoned veterans is proving successful a month into its launch. The Young Leaders initiative already has enlisted 220 people.

COVINGTON, Ga. – Members of a Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief team have returned from Colorado where they helped wildfire survivors sift through ashes where homes once stood.

ROME, Ga. – In what Shorter University President Donald Dowless described as “a mighty movement of God,” 24 students made decisions to follow Christ in a chapel service at the school on Wednesday.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. – A pioneering church planter who grew one of Georgia’s premier congregations from humble beginnings in a one-room plankboard building says the key was simply trusting the Lord.

GRIFFIN, Ga. – Frank Nuckolls served as a state missionary with the Georgia Baptist Mission Board from 1992 to 2019. At the conclusion of his ministry with the GBMB, God opened the door in July 2019 for him to become the Associational Mission Strategist for the Flint River Baptist Association. Nuckolls reported, “I am blessed to serve this association. It was founded in 1824 and will commemorate its bicentennial anniversary in two years. I am trusting the Lord to give me the privilege of being the AMS here when that milestone is celebrated.”

MACON, Ga. – Church leaders from across the state have been tapped to serve on a task force that will review the distribution of Georgia’s Cooperative Program funding.

DULUTH, Ga. – Daphne Harris Nicely understands the importance of providing the best possible medical care for expectant mothers and their unborn babies. As executive director of the Atlanta …

MARIETTA – According to Arthurian legend a “knight in shining armor” is a heroic rescuer. In medieval literature knights are depicted as individuals of courage, valor, heroic …

STRASBOURG, France – If there’s an upside to being a missionary in France, it’s that it’s easy to find unchurched people to share the gospel with. They’re everywhere.

The National Woman’s Missionary Union has named four young women, including one from Fayetteville, Ga., to the 2022 National Acteens Panel.

DULUTH, Ga. – One of the largest crowds in recent history has registered for this year’s multi-site Georgia Baptist Evangelism Conference set for late February and early March.

LOUISVILLE, Colo. – A team of Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers has been deployed to Colorado to help residents there sift through ashes in search of wedding bands, engagement rings and other valuables that might have survived wildfires that swept through Boulder County on Dec. 30, destroying nearly 1,100 homes.

THOMASVILLE – On October 17, 1989 the San Francisco Giants were hosting the Oakland Athletics for the third game of the World Series at Candlestick Park. Game was less than an hour away from …

VILLA RICA, Ga. – Georgia Baptist Convention President Kevin Williams will lead a group of pastors and other church leaders to Guatemala on Monday for a five-day trip that he hopes will result in new churches springing up in the Central American country.

FAYETTEVILLE – On January 31, Liberty Baptist Church welcomed their new pastor, James Oney. On Sunday, February 6, Oney was installed as the church’s pastor in an impressive ceremony. Ray Gentry, the Associational Mission Strategist for the Southside Baptist Network, presented a certificate of appreciation to Randy Wood, the man who served as senior pastor at Liberty for 18 years.

ACWORTH, Ga. – Responses vary when people hear that Summit Baptist Church Associate Pastor Jimmy Slick donated one of his kidneys to a church member.

NASHVILLE (BP) – In its most recent update, the Sex Abuse Task Force reported that Guidepost Solutions has interviewed approximately 32 current and former SBC Executive Committee staff, 54 current or former EC trustees and abuse survivors “who have affirmatively reached out to the Guidepost investigative team.”

DULUTH, Ga. (BP) – Established with a focus on supporting missionaries as well as presenting readers "a compendious summary of the passing tidings of the times,” Georgia’s The Christian Index launched a movement 200 years ago that predated all other Southern Baptist state papers and Baptist Press as a denominational news source.

DULUTH, Ga. – Studies show daily Bible reading not only nourishes the soul but also builds character.  And that’s why Scott Sullivan, discipleship catalyst on the Georgia Baptist Mission Board’s Church Strengthening team, is calling for people to get back to reading scripture every day.

NASHVILLE (BP) – The start of 2022 indicates a continuation of recent giving trends in the SBC as giving through the national Cooperative Program Allocation Budget has soared to more than 12 percent above budget for the fiscal year. January’s $21.1 million total is only the second time a monthly total has surpassed $21 million in the last decade (February 2019).