Baptist & Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

A PLAN COMING TOGETHER: CP AND THE ACTS 2:17 INITIATIVE

By Randy C. Davis
President and executive director, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board

Randy C. Davis

George Peppard’s character Colonel John “Hannibal” Smith on the television show, The A-Team, exclaimed after each miraculous mission success: “I love it when a plan comes together.”

His sentiment encapsulates the story of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Cooperative Program and what lies ahead for us as Tennessee Baptists through the Acts 2:17 Initiative.

Nearly 100 years ago, Southern Baptist leaders devised a systematic financial plan built around a shared passion for domestic and global missions and called it the Cooperative Program (CP). It curtailed the constant solicitation from various missionary and benevolent organizations seeking funding. [Read more…]

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TBMB DIRECTORS RECOMMEND SAME CP BUDGET; CHANGE HOW FUNDS WILL BE ALLOCATED TO SBC

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist & Reflector

Daniel Jerkins, chair of the Budget and Ministry Committee and associate/executive pastor of Hickory Withe First Baptist Church, Eads, presents the budget at the board meeting on Sept. 10.

NASHVILLE — Tennessee Baptist Mission Board directors will recommend a Cooperative Program Allocation budget goal of $35 million for the sixth consecutive year.

During their meeting Sept. 10 at Forest Hills Baptist Church, Nashville, TBMB directors also approved a change in how CP gifts will be distributed between the Tennessee Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention.

Board members will recommend to messengers at the annual meeting during The Summit in November a percentage allocation of 55 percent for TBC, 40 percent for SBC and 5 percent for the International Mission Board. The budget requires approval of convention messengers.

In 2010, the TBC kept 60 percent of CP gifts for missions and ministries in Tennessee while forwarding 40 percent to the Southern Baptist Convention for national ministries, according to information provided to the directors. [Read more…]

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ACTS 2:17 INITIATIVE REPORT APPROVED BY BOARD

By David Dawson
Communications specialist, TBMB

NASHVILLE — The Acts 2:17 Initiative is back where it started: In the hands of Tennessee Baptists.

The overarching structure of the Initiative — including its order of priorities and early-stage implementation plan — was approved by directors of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board on Tuesday, Sept. 10, during the board of directors meeting at Forest Hills Baptist Church in Nashville.

The Initiative, which has been anchored by “grassroots input” since its inception, will next be presented to messengers for approval at The Summit (the Tennessee Baptist Convention’s annual meeting) in November.

Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the TBMB, said, “I believe we have heard from God and we’ve heard from Tennessee Baptists. We’ve been given an opportunity for a clear direction to see the foster-care crisis resolved in our state, to see parents discipling their own children, to see pastors encouraged and so many other things about the Acts 2:17 Initiative that are impactful. [Read more…]

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GOTM GIFTS TOP $3.1 MILLION; ANOTHER RECORD SET

By Baptist and Reflector

FRANKLIN — For the sixth time in eight years, Tennessee Baptists have set a new record for giving through the Golden Offering for Tennessee Missions with total gifts of $3,128,219.03.

The 2023-24 GOTM fiscal year ended Aug. 31.

The total includes $2,451,737.21 in gifts from churches and $676,481.82 in Golden Opportunity Projects, a fund established this year to allow donors to give money or in-kind gifts (such as property) to specific GOTM-funded ministries. [Read more…]

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TENNESSEE BAPTIST DR UNITS PLACED ON ALERT

By Baptist and Reflector

FRANKLIN — Wes Jones, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, has announced that “all (DR) units are being placed on alert for possible deployment” to the Gulf Coast Region.

In an email sent on on Monday, Sept. 9, Jones wrote, “With tropical storm Francine developing in the Gulf, we are asking volunteers to begin to plan for possible response as requested. As it looks now, the storm is predicted to develop into at least a Category 1 hurricane before making landfall Wednesday along the Louisiana, Texas Gulf Coast and then come northward through Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee.” [Read more…]

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SEPT. 15: THE TRUTH

By Darrell Nimmo
Retired Tennessee pastor

Focal Passage: Acts 14:11-23 

Sunday School Lessons explore the bibleSometimes we may find ourselves in a position of miscommunication. This is especially true when we have different languages, cultures and social practices. Years ago, we ministered at a church that was close to a large university. The university would close a number of dormitories during long holidays to conserve energy and costs since most of the students would return home during this time. 

The international students, however would either have to move to another dorm or go somewhere else if they could not go home. My wife and I thought it would be a wonderful way to share the love of God and the gospel message on a global venue. If you cannot go to the world, bring the world to you. We contacted the university’s international student relations department and offered to host a student, who could not return home for the holidays. It was a wonderful experience and we enjoyed doing it for many years.   [Read more…]

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SEPT. 15: PURPOSE RESTORED

By Joshua Moore
Pastor, First Baptist Church, Sharon

Focal Passages: Acts 3:14-26 

Sunday School Lesson Bible Studies For LifeWe have learned in the previous two lessons that humanity’s purpose has been tarnished to the degree that we cannot restore it ourselves. In this lesson we learn that only through the gospel of Jesus can that purpose be restored forever.    

Restoration comes through Jesus alone. Peter’s sermon in Acts 3 occurs after Peter and John encounter a beggar at the temple gate called Beautiful who has been lame since birth. Peter and John enter through a beautiful gate but witness a grotesque sight. The imagery here is unmistakable. The world that focuses on beauty, strength and power often overlooks weakness, infirmity and the ugliness of life.   [Read more…]

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SUMMER INTERNSHIP SPARKS SPIRITUAL GROWTH FOR UNION JUNIOR

By Tim Ellsworth
Union University news office

Union student Henry Piercey, back left, with coworkers from the culinary department at Dollywood Splash Country.

JACKSON — Union University junior Henry Piercey completed a summer internship with YoungLife and Dollywood Splash Country in Pigeon Forge that he says was life changing.

“This summer really taught me to actually hand things over to the Lord,” Piercey said. “Truly, apart from Christ, I really can’t do anything, because I’ve tried it before. Anything I try on my own, it crumbles, ultimately.”

Piercey is a Christian ministry and missions major from Jackson and a member of West Jackson Baptist Church. He spent the summer going through “Discovery: God’s Answers to Our Deepest Questions,” a nine-week discipleship study with Union alumnus Ray Pettigrew, who serves as camp manager for discipleship focus with YoungLife. [Read more…]

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TENNESSEE PASTOR, WIFE DIE AFTER CAR CRASH

By Grace Thornton
The Baptist Paper

Tennessee pastor Bobby Mullins was killed in a car accident Sept. 4, and his wife, Wanda, died from injuries the following day.

PIPERTON — Over the past few days, Kirk Baptist Church in Piperton, Tennessee, has had to post words they never wanted to post — that their pastor, Bobby Mullins, was killed in a car accident Sept. 4, and his wife, Wanda, died in the hospital the following day from her injuries.

But over the past few days, the congregation along with the family have also expressed other words, words they’ve heard the couple say in the past. On the latest Facebook post, person after person shared their memories of the Mullinses and their faith.

“I know when he passed thru heavens gate, in Brother Bobby’s own words: WELL GLORY!,” one poster wrote. [Read more…]

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SHOCK, ANGER AS CHINA ENDS ADOPTIONS IMPACTING HUNDREDS OF U.S. FAMILIES

By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press

The Andersons were among the last families to adopt a girl from China before the country announced the end of its program. — Lifeline Children’s Services photo

BEIJING — The Chinese government has officially ended its international adoption program, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning announced Sept. 5, ending hopes for hundreds of U.S. families who were matched with children before the COVID-19 pandemic but had adoptions put on hold in 2020.

Karla Thrasher, senior director of international adoptions at Lifeline Children’s Services based in Birmingham, Ala., said the announcement was shocking to the adoption agency and to the 48 families it serves who were matched with Chinese orphans before the pandemic.

“They were definitely in shock. This came very suddenly,” Thrasher told Baptist Press. “We actually had thought things were moving in a more positive direction over the past couple of weeks, and then received this email out of the blue regarding China no longer carrying out the foreign adoptions.”

Lifeline was serving more than 100 matched families when China suspended adoptions in 2020, Thrasher said, but the number dwindled due to various family circumstances. [Read more…]

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