pastors

215 Baptist Churches Planted in Haiti

by MT on October 19, 2010 · 0 comments

New fellowships will ‘preserve the harvest’ of new Christians.

Interview by Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra | posted 10/18/2010 09:40AM

Craig Culbreth, the director of partnership missions for the Florida Baptist Convention, has been visiting Haiti for the past 12 years and working with the country’s more than 1,000 Baptist churches. After his most recent visit, Culbreth spoke with reporter Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra about his work.

  • Countless churches lost property in the January earthquake.  How many new churches have been started since January 12?

Since January, 215 brand-new Baptist churches have been started. None of these churches meet in a building. I wouldn’t even call them

Many churches were destroyed by the January earthquake that hit Haiti.

tents. There are no walls. A piece of plastic has been put up over wood or frames to get them out of the sun and rain.

  • What are the long-term prospects for these congregations?

Very good. Our plan involves Bible training, working with established pastors for encouragement, and small salary supplements for pastors. We believe everything rises and falls on leadership.

  • Why should planting new churches be a priority over housing or education?

You have to be on similar tracks that run together. You have to provide for them spiritually, or we’ve become just another relief agency.

  • Has there been a net gain in Baptist churches?

Yes. We had 891 before the earthquake, and now we have about 1,105.

  • Were many people in these congregations previously active in a church?

No, just the opposite, in fact. We are finding many new converts from the earthquake experience. We have records of 162,314 conversions since the earthquake. We believe our new churches are made up of these converts. We are after a relationship with Jesus Christ, not a nation that has religious people.

  • What are the differences between these new churches and the ones that existed before the quake?

All are under plastic tarps versus fixed buildings and full of new believers, so all are eager to learn. Their pastors are leaning heavily on God for everything. The pastors have no American supporters, which is not so bad.

  • How do church-planting methods change in times of disaster?

The church-planting movement in Haiti is a result of the harvest of believers. We did not seek to start church plants to reach people, but to start churches to preserve the harvest. Big difference. During a disaster, we push for people to come to Christ. When that happens, we seek to start a church with new believers.

Copyright © 2010 Christianity Today.

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Barton: No Need for Pastors to Fear IRS

by MT on October 15, 2010 · 0 comments

Becky Yeh – OneNewsNow California correspondent – 10/14/2010 4:00:00 AM

A Christian constitutional expert thinks the Internal Revenue Service’s lack of response to a recent initiative shows there is no longer any reason for pastors to be silent on political issues when standing behind the pulpit. (See earlier story)

Current law prohibits pastors from speaking on politics or endorsing a political candidate, but David Barton of WallBuilders says the IRS’s intimidation of removing a church’s tax exemption status is unconstitutional. Even though some pastors have intentionally crossed the line, Barton does not think the IRS wants to take them to court because it may lose.

“The IRS doesn’t have any interest in doing this because if they do, I believe they know they are going to lose. And if they lose, you have 370,000 pastors in America who suddenly find out that there’s no restriction on them,” Barton suggests.

David Barton - WallBuilders

The WallBuilders president explains that churches are guaranteed tax exemption status under the Constitution, but he believes many pastors are afraid to speak about politics because they fear they will lose their letter of tax exemption.

“You cannot lose your tax exemption as a church because as a church, you have a constitutional standing for tax exemption,” he points out. “So with that basis, losing your letter means absolutely nothing — and that’s something pastors are now figuring out.”

Barton argues that the pulpit was and should continue to be the news perspective for America, so he encourages all pastors to speak out and stand for truth.

Read more at One News Now…..

Pastors Hope IRS Will Take The Bait

by MT on October 15, 2010 · 1 comment

Becky Yeh – OneNewsNow California correspondent – 10/12/2010 3:50:00 AM

By participating in a recent pulpit initiative, pastors across the nation are begging the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to take them to court.

Nearly 100 pastors, backed by the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), participated in “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” September 26 and challenged the IRS by speaking about politics in church. David Barton, founder and president of WallBuilders, believes it is necessary for outspoken pastors to speak out in order to prove that the IRS is prohibiting their First Amendment rights. (See related story)

“The IRS regulation, which was added in the 1950s and 1960s, is probably blatantly unconstitutional on its face, but we’ll never be able to prove that if we don’t have an instance whereby to take them into court and have it really adjudicated,” Barton explains.

David Barton - WallBuilders

He says the list of pastors who respond to the call grows every year — and includes one Iowa pastor who has essentially challenged the IRS to sue him. Barton likes the trend he is seeing.

“For the last three years, we have clearly had dozens and dozens…of pastors intentionally step across the line and…turn themselves into the IRS and say, ‘Ok — we’ve stepped across your line; come after us,’” the WallBuilders founder shares. “The IRS has refused to do that for three years, and that pretty much validates what we knew — that this restriction is blatantly unconstitutional.”

Barton points out that the church used to be the news source for the public during the days of the Founding Fathers, but the regulation brought on by the IRS has had a major role in changing that.

Read more at One News Now…..

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