BCI Annual Update – Video
Watch this video and find out what God has been doing among the churches of the Baptist Convention of Iowa, and what the BCI is doing to support our churches.
Adios Achucarros
By John L. Shaull, BCI Field Staff for Western Iowa After nearly six years of church planting work in Iowa, including churches in Des Moines, Ottumwa and Fort Dodge; Arnaldo and Mabel Achucarro and their three children; Alexandra, Ezekiel and Rebecca, are moving to...
Fewer SBC Churches Growing, More SBC Churches Declining
By Ronnie W. Floyd From 1978-1983, 30.5% of churches in the Southern Baptist Convention were seeing at least a 10% increase in total membership over a five-year period of time. During this same time, 51.9% of our SBC churches were plateaued and 17.6% were in decline....
Being Gospel-Centered Is A Bloody Mess
By Mike Leake I still remember my white-knuckled pew grabbing. When I really wanted to go forward at service and give my life to Christ. Maybe it was a rededication—maybe it was coming to Christ for the first time. I don’t know, but I know that at that time the gospel...
Advisory council voices needs of small Southern Baptist churches
By Meredith Flynn In two out of three Southern Baptist congregations, fewer than 100 people gather for worship on Sunday morning. Megachurches may get more attention, but small churches are the backbone of the SBC, Frank Page has said. Still, small church...
New addition to Van Arkel family and Living Hope Community Church
Ryan and Rebecca Van Arkel, pastor and wife of Living Hope Community Church in Des Moines, with their four sons. Their newest addition, Cole Van Arkel, was born on 9/18/14. His brothers are, oldest to youngest, Gabe, Eben and Caleb.
Simple ways your church can keep and reach Millennials
By Dean Inserra It seems that everywhere we look in the pop Christian blogosphere, someone is talking about Millennials. The conversation is usually focused on what these Millennials want and how the local church can reach them. For example, in a September article on...
5 Facts About the Cooperative Program
By Joe Carter Southern Baptists comprise a fellowship of nearly 16 million members in more than 45,000 churches in the United States and Canada. These churches work together through approximately 1,174 associations, 42 state conventions, and the Southern Baptist...
Passion for ministry embraced by pastor
by Marc Ira Hooks VIENNA (BP) -- One Southern Baptist pastor has found a renewed vision and passion for ministry through embracing one of Europe's unengaged, unreached people groups. "This is more than an opportunity to do missions," Keeney Dickenson, pastor of First...
What You Believe Matters
by Ed Stetzer , Trevin Wax Read this excerpt from Saved: Life in the Face of Death, a Bible study from The Gospel Project. There are plenty of people in our society who believe in a God of some sort. Perhaps their view of God is close to the Bible's portrayal....
