When it comes to resources aimed at strengthening his church’s revitalization, Ohio pastor Fran Trascritti includes The Baptist Paper as a valuable ministry tool.
“Our church is a revitalization work,” explained Trascritti, lead pastor of Beacon Church in Cincinnati. “I knew that we needed some way to be able to understand a little bit more and recapture the heart for missions and also for discipleship. Those are non-negotiables in the work that we’re doing.
“I had heard about The Baptist Paper through our local association and we were given an opportunity to subscribe to it,” he added, “so I almost immediately subscribed most of our leaders to the paper.”
The results? “For starters, The Baptist Paper’s got great information about missions and what’s going on not just across the world, but across the street,” Trascritti affirmed. He said many of the paper’s ministry feature articles have helped “ignite a heart of missions for our own church.”
“Most of the time for me, I see churches that are doing something unusual helps us to get ideas,” he said. “If somebody’s doing something that might work in their context, it might work in our context.”
‘Calm, credible reporting style’
The Baptist Paper, a national publication launched in 2021 by TAB Media Group, includes such timely resources as an award-winning print publication and website (TheBaptistPaper.org) as well as an extensive social media presence, videos, podcasts and more.
The paper is designed “for believers in and followers of Christ and shares news and information from a calm, credible reporting style,” according to Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Rash.
“We’re grateful for Pastor Trascritti and other pastors and ministry leaders who embrace the vision and impact of The Baptist Paper,” Rash said. “Our goal is to provide a trusted communications resource that makes a positive ministry difference on the local church level and beyond.”
“The Baptist Paper is one of many tools, but it’s a great tool to give people something not just on Sundays and Wednesdays,” Trascritti emphasized. As church leaders and members receive the paper in their mailboxes every other week, he said it “just enhances what I do” in encouraging Beacon Church’s renewed passion for mission, evangelism and discipleship.
Practical tools
On a practical level, Trascritti noted that each issue of The Baptist Paper includes Sunday School lesson commentaries on the Bible Studies for Life and Explore the Bible series.
“Because we use both of those Bible studies, it was really helpful for our people to get a little feel for what was coming up and also get another summary, another perspective on the studies that we were doing,” he pointed out.
“Sometimes you need to get to the heart of the people” to help rekindle their ministry passion, Trascritti concluded. “There’s not too many tools like The Baptist Paper that would help them to be able to see what’s going on around the nation and around the world.”
To learn how to subscribe to The Baptist Paper for your church leaders and members at a special group rate, email subscribe@thebaptistpaper.org or call customer service toll-free at 1-800-803-5201. Also see special offer for members of partnering churches here.