The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina was one of six state conventions to receive a Psalm 139 Partner for Life Award from the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) of the Southern Baptist Convention for demonstrating an exceptional commitment to valuing life.

The brand new award was presented to N.C. Baptists during the annual state convention meeting held this past November in Greensboro. State convention president Quintell Hill, lead pastor of Multiply Community Church in Monroe, accepted the award on behalf of N.C. Baptists.

“We are honored to give this Partner for Life Award to the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina for your commitment to valuing life and supporting those on the front lines of this essential ministry work,” said Miles Mullin, vice president and chief of staff of the ERLC, when presenting the award to Hill.

Since 2022, N.C. Baptist leaders have worked with the Psalm 139 Project, a pro-life ministry of the ERLC, to place five ultrasound machines in pregnancy resource centers across the state. The Psalm 139 Project also helped place an additional machine at another pregnancy resource center in the state through the contributions of an anonymous donor.

The locations of those placements were: Brevard, Concord, Elizabeth City, Franklin, Raleigh and Roxboro.

ERLC and N.C. Baptist officials said more ultrasound machine placements are planned for the future.

 Mullin said that through the work of the Psalm 139 Project, the ERLC helps pregnancy centers minister to abortion-vulnerable women by helping provide ultrasound equipment and training medical staff in their use. Mullin praised the work of staff members serving in these centers and local churches that support them.

“The heroes of the pro-life movement are the men and women working in pregnancy care centers across this nation day after day, meeting women with unplanned pregnancies at the point of their need and educating and empowering them to choose life, saving baby after baby after baby after baby after baby,” Mullin said. “These centers would not be able to do their work without the support of local churches.

“And our Psalm 139 Project would not be able to provide these ultrasound machines without the generosity of Southern Baptists and partnerships with state conventions like yours.”

Mullin said N.C. Baptists were the first state convention to be formally presented with the Partner for Life Award, which was also given to the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, the Louisiana Baptist Convention, the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention of Virginia.

(EDITOR’S NOTE – This article originally appeared in the January/February 2024 issue of the Biblical Recorder magazine.)