Indiana Baptist Magazine
Greg Cooper | Apr 13, 2021
Revitalization is a deliberate, dedicated and protracted effort to reverse the decline or death of an existing church. For many of us the attendance pendulum has swung back. The highs of Easter Weekend have yielded all too quickly to the lows of the week after. The trend we are on is clearer now. The indicators, […]
Greg Cooper | Apr 05, 2021
Resurrection Day is almost here. On Easter, your crowd will increase and your emotions and optimism will rise as you think, “We are doing pretty good after all. We are on the uptick!” Years ago, when I was pastoring my first church, I set an attendance goal of 100 people for our Easter service. Our […]
Greg Cooper | Mar 10, 2021
What do you do when you’re stuck? I grew up in the Snowbelt that formed every winter in the southeast corner of Lake Erie. In fact, I passed my driver’s license test in the middle of a snowstorm driving my sister’s beat-up 1967 Volkswagen Beatle by the name of “Tub-tub”. Tub-tub could go seemingly anywhere […]
Greg Cooper | Feb 09, 2021
It’s time to start thinking about VBS! With the year that we have had you may be thinking should we even do VBS? Kids and parents are ready for some normal and VBS is a perfect outreach to bring back some of that “normal”. Whether you will do a traditional VBS, backyard Bible VBS, or […]
Greg Cooper | Jan 29, 2021
We all have seen the reports. The American Evangelical Church is in decline. Aubrey Malphurs reports that 80-85% of Churches are plateaued or declining. Tom Rainer suggests the number is 84%. Here in Indiana we did an informal survey of about half of our Associations and they have indicated that 75% of their churches were […]
Bob Weeks | Jan 26, 2021
Yes! We are having Camp in 2021! Here are a few things to know about camp this year. Most importantly, our camps will be limited to 125 campers and counselors, so it is very important that your children, students and leaders sign up early to save your spot at camp. We are offering GROUP HOLD […]
Greg Cooper | Nov 10, 2020
Pastor this is just for you today. Across our State Convention pastors are saying a single thing, ‘I’m tired’. Some of it is from working long days. Some of it is because they have not taken a vacation. And some of it is the stress of being at the point of the spear for their […]
Greg Cooper | Nov 10, 2020
How do we continue the pursuit of reaching the world for Christ, when the world looks so different right now? Missional engagement can still be a central focus for you and your local church. Our annual Missions Lifeline Conference has moved to an online virtual format, but it is still loaded with practical and timely […]
Greg Cooper | Oct 06, 2020
OneDay·OneFocus is an exciting new virtual training event for women in ministry made possible by the unique circumstances of 2020! As colleagues from several state conventions discussed the challenge presented by having to cancel in-person training this fall, the idea for OneDay·OneFocus was born. Based on Ephesians 4:1-16, the goal of OneDay·OneFocus is to help […]
Bob Weeks | May 05, 2020
Now that the Governor has initiated the plan to get Indiana back on track all of us are working toward the glorious day when the church gathers together once again. As you begin to do this I have some concerns I would like to share. If You Don’t Have A Plan Don’t Proceed. A plan […]
