Church & Leader Development

During the weekend of Friday October 21st through Sunday October 23rd, members of Launch Campus Ministry at Purdue University were blessed with the opportunity to attend our annual Fall Retreat at Highland Lake Baptist Camp. Under the Direction of Will & Risha Evans, Launch members were given the chance to study together, pray, and bond […]

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Christmas is about hope. God sent His Son into our dark, broken world to reconcile us to Himself, and to give us the hope of a future with Him. Individuals need to be reminded of this message more than ever as we continue to struggle with the effects of COVID. Churches need that hope now […]

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This has been a challenging year for many of our Pastors, so during October’s Pastor Appreciation Month, we want to express gratitude for them in a variety of ways… First, we are encouraging our SCBI church leaders to do something special during Pastor Appreciation Month to honor the man of God who faithfully serves your […]

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“And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”  (Matthew 24:14) Jesus has commissioned our churches to proclaim the gospel throughout the world while we still have the opportunity. SCBI is committed to partnering with our churches to discover […]

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Missions is the heartbeat of God and of who we are as Indiana Baptists! SCBI will offer its annual Missions Lifeline event on Saturday, August 21 (8:30 am-3:30 pm) at Calvary Baptist Church in Greenfield. It’s designed for Pastors, mission-minded church members and children. The purpose is to help your church continue to pursue reaching […]

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As your new Interim Team Leader for Church and Leader Development, I work a lot with church revitalization in our State.  One of the best books I’ve read on this subject in the last year is Reclaimed Church by Pastor Bill Henard.  He defines church revitalization as the spiritual “process by which the church learns […]

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OK, I am officially old. I had cataract surgery last month. All my life, my vision has been somewhat of an issue. I got glasses at eight years old. I was unable to qualify in a night firing exercise in the Army after leading the way in the daylight. I had difficulty identifying one color […]

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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 […]

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If we thought that after the November Elections we would return to normal – we were wrong. If we thought the arrival of a new year was going to miraculously alter our circumstances and return us to normal – we were wrong.

I think it is time we begin to consider that waiting for normal is like waiting for a ship that has already sailed. Perhaps we need to accept, we are living in the “normal” right now.

So if the “Normal” looks like what we have then what do we have?

The church I serve as an Interim Pastor has about 50% of the people attending than they did PC (Pre Covid-19). Giving has remained strong. Does that sound familiar? Most reports I have received from pastors say the same.

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Now that the Covid-19 restrictions have been decreased, most of our SCBI churches have begun to meet in person once again. I heard it put this way, “We’re getting back to normal!” Sure, we can get back to normal – but should we?

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