Caring Well Sunday, Ministering to Mothers Who Have Miscarried & Potential Idols in My Life

Caring Well Sunday, Sept. 24, is on the SBC Calendar this year for the first time, giving churches an opportunity to acknowledge the emotional toll of sexual abuse and commit to ensuring congregations are safe places.

Heather Evans, an advisor to the SBC’s Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force, said Caring Well Sunday is a “practical, tangible” way that churches can acknowledge the problem of sexual abuse and demonstrate a commitment to handling the issue appropriately.

Evans pointed to sbcabuseprevention.com, where a ministry toolkit addresses five action steps: train, screen, protect, report and care. “Perhaps a church can look at that and say, ‘Let’s just take one of those for this Sunday and let’s talk about what we’re doing for training or what we hope to do for training in the next year,’” she said.
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A Mobile, Alabama woman knows the heartbreak of miscarriage. Madison Gardner and her husband lost twins on Christmas Eve back in 2020.

She said dealing with the grief gave her an idea for herself and how she could help other family as they face similar pain.

Soon after their loss, she began work at the Women’s Resource Center in Mobile where they developed a ministry to family dealing with miscarriage.

The goal of the group was to help the women know they were not alone, not broken and not less than anyone else, Gardner said. It aimed to help them find hope, encouragement and purpose.

Gardner said she spends a lot of time talking one on one with the ladies, and the ministry also provides them with a photo storage box like the one she bought for herself. She includes a personal note, as well as a necklace that says, “A piece of my heart is in heaven.”
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Good News for Today is made possible through our friends at The Voice of the Martyrs, a nonprofit organization that serves persecuted Christians around the world. Founded in 1967 by Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, VOM is dedicated to inspiring believers to deepen their commitment to Christ and to fulfill His Great Commission — no matter the cost. Find out more and sign up for their free monthly magazine at vom.org/goodnews.
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In a piece in the Baptist Press Toolbox, church leader Chuck Lawless says he wants to be regularly searching his heart for idols.

In the piece he says work, money, a desire for recognition are places he searches, but he also mentions some that might surprise you.

He say worry can become an idol…and anger as well…he writes, “Even when I express my anger only in my mind or under my breath, I’m choosing to do what David Powlison warns against: talking to myself rather than talking to God.”

He says his phone can be an idol. “It’s always near me. In fact, it’s almost hard to believe that we once lived without these things—and life was still okay,” he writes.

You can read the full piece and learn more about our daily emails at Baptist Press.com.