ERLC Presents Policy Priorities, Online Scammers Steal from Church & Beauty Queen Earns Wrestling Title

The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission will address four categories of priorities in what it acknowledged will be a challenging year for legislating and governing, the Southern Baptist entity announced Monday (Jan. 30).

The ERLC issued its 2023 Public Policy Agenda, which is divided into four general sections: Religious liberty; sanctity of human life; family and marriage; and human dignity.

The federal government and the commission are each entering “a new season,” ERLC President Brent Leatherwood and Policy Manager Hannah Daniel wrote in the 16-page document.
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A North Carolina church near the Piedmont Triad has haulted plans to move into a new worship center this spring after cyber criminals stole more than $793,000 from the church in an online scam.

Elkin Valley Baptist Church broke ground on a new sanctuary last September, but about half of the funds that had been raised by the church and earmarked for the project were stolen by scammers through a fraudulent email in early November.

The pastor of the church said they received an email from Landmark Construction, the company overseeing the project, that included an invoice. He said moments later they received another email with payment instructions.

However, the second email – and the one through which the church submitted payment – was fraudulent.

Church officials didn’t discover that they had been the victims of a scam until about a week later when the construction company followed up to inquire about the payment.

A number of folks have reached out to help. The church has established a Go Fund Me page for those interested in making a contribution to help replace the stolen funds.
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2022 was quite a year for Kat Grigsby…a student at Hewitt High School near Trussville, Alabama. Not only did she work with her mom to raise more than $20,000 for needy children, but she also won the Miss Junior Teen United States pageant. And, oh yeah, she became first wrestler to win a match for the school’s girl’s wrestling team and led them to win a state championship.

Grigsby told Baptist Press she credits all of her success to God. She says her spiritual growth is nourished by family dinner discussions and prayer and is evident in the mirror – as she regularly writes Bible verses in lipstick on the bathroom mirror and post them around her room.

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