FRANKLIN — The 2024 Summit: The Gathering of Tennessee Baptists is just around the corner and it promises to be one of the most unique annual meetings in recent years.
Summit will take place Nov. 10-12 at Embassy Suites in Murfreesboro, the city in which the Tennessee Baptist Convention was established in 1874.
The annual meeting will be unique in several ways, acknowledged Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. “It is our 150th anniversary and rather than just acknowledging it, we have made it a big deal,” he said.
Davis also noted another unique aspect of this year’s meeting is that Summit will end on Tuesday night rather than its traditional conclusion at midday on Wednesday.
During the business sessions on Monday night and Tuesday, messengers will have the opportunity to vote on recommendations on the Acts 2:17 Initiative that will provide direction and clarity for the future direction of the ministry of Tennessee and how Cooperative Program funds will be allocated.
Summit will kick off on Sunday, Nov. 10, at New Vision Baptist Church in Murfreesboro with an International Mission Board commissioning service led by IMB president and Tennessee native Paul Chitwood.
Churches from all over the state, but especially around Murfreesboro and surrounding areas, are encouraged to bring their members to join in the celebration, Davis said.
“I really believe that we can pack out New Vision Baptist,” Davis said.
Randy C. Davis
“It’s just going to be a good fun night after the service,” Davis said. “There’ll be a time of fellowship where you can meet the missionaries who are being appointed. That has always been a highlight for my children and my grandchildren, and it’s going to be a very special moment for Tennessee Baptists.”
The Tennessee Baptist Pastors Conference will be held the following day at Embassy Suites. Normally an afternoon-evening event, this year’s conference will begin on Monday morning and conclude that afternoon.
Current conference president Grant Gaines of Belle Aire Baptist Church in Murfreesboro will preside over the program which includes his father, Steve Gaines, a former Southern Baptist Convention president who has announced he plans to retire as pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova. Other speakers include Derrick DeLain, pastor, Proclamation Church, Nashville; Bartholomew Orr, pastor, Brown Missionary Baptist Church, Southaven, Miss.; Gary Snuffin, pastor, Calvary Baptist Church, Jackson; Kevin Ezell, president, North American Mission Board; and H.B. Charles, pastor, Shiloh Metropolitan Church, Jacksonville, Fla. Channing Gillespie of Belle Aire Baptist will lead worship.
Monday night, Nov. 11
The annual meeting begins on Monday night with keynote speaker David Dockery, former president of Union University in Jackson and current president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.
“Dr. Dockery is beloved here in Tennessee and there are very few in Southern Baptist life who are better historians. With his competency in history and his ability to communicate, he is going to be a lot of fun and a real blessing on Monday evening,” Davis said.
Tuesday sessions, Nov. 12
All three sessions on Tuesday will have an emphasis on the 150th anniversary, Davis said. The anniversary logo has a tulip poplar (the state tree of Tennessee) in the center. “It is a beautiful tree, but the reason we like the imagery of the tree is because it represents stability, it represents growth,” Davis said.
“If you ever been out on a hot day and you go and you find the shade of a large tree, you understand the difference it makes and how it can just help you out. Well, the unique thing about the 150th anniversary, is that we are looking back and celebrating all that God has done, and our faith is not blind.
“We look back and see what He’s done, and we have hope for what He’s going to be doing. So what we want to do that for our future generation. We want to plant some trees that our grandchildren are going to be enjoying the shade of.”
This year’s convention signals the conclusion of The Five Objectives, a 10-year strategic plan for the convention that began in 2014. “It gives us an opportunity to thank God for the progress we’ve made,” Davis said.
One of the major items of business to be considered will be the report from the Acts 2:17 Initiative team.
The Acts 2:17 Initiative “one of the most satisfying things I’ve been a part of in ministry,” Davis said. “Grassroots Tennessee Baptists that have spoken into this process and been a part of the process since listening sessions began in 2022 and Tennessee Baptists spoke into what they saw was the greatest needs and opportunities in their communities,” he continued.
Out of that same process, some priorities were adopted by the messengers at last year’s Summit in Chattanooga as they affirmed a new vision is that we would be a network of collaborating, healthy churches that are going to advance the kingdom in Tennessee and around the globe,” Davis said.
“I love and appreciate the vision and the direction that we’re going this year. The messengers will have an opportunity to see that a little more fleshed out, and if they affirm it, then it’ll give us, as the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, the opportunity to transition to where we’re aligning all of our resources around these brand-new priorities.”
The other major business item involves allocations through the Cooperative Program. For several years the Tennessee Baptist Convention has been moving toward a 50-50 distribution of funds with the SBC after a messenger brought a motion in 2007 to consider giving more funds to the SBC, Davis said.
“The intent of moving to 50-50, was the ability to send more resources on to the International Mission Board,” he noted.
“This year’s proposal is very unique in that it is calling for 40 percent to be passed on to the Southern Baptist Convention, but then 5 percent allocated directly to the International Mission Board, and 55 percent to be utilized here in Tennessee for ministries,” Davis continued.
If the CP recommendation is approved by convention messengers, the IMB would get the same amount of dollars it would have received if the convention continued with a 50-50 distribution, Davis stressed.
The CP proposal satisfies the original intent of the 50-50 proposal but recognizes the current reality that Cooperative Program giving has remained stagnant over the past decade, he noted (see Davis’ Clarity column).
“We must seize the opportunities we have right here in Tennessee now. I believe that as cooperative program grows, I think we can look again at allocating toward 50-50 in the future.”
Resolutions
In efforts to keep the focus of the 2024 annual meeting on celebrating the Tennessee Baptist Convention’s 150th anniversary, the TBC Resolutions Committee recently affirmed the following three recommendations for the 2024 Summit:
• A request that resolutions come to the committee no later than 15 days before the meeting.
• A request that only resolutions regarding thanks and appreciation be submitted.
The Committee also notes a limited time in the business session when resolutions might be considered. For more on the resolutions committee’s recommendations, see story HERE.
Registration for Summit is currently underway. Visit TBCsummit.org to register. B&R
