Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835
By Willie McLaurin
Special assistant to the executive director, TBMB
Decades ago, Martin Luther King Jr. called the 11 a.m. hour on Sunday morning “the most segregated hour in America.”
Statistics show that it still is. A vast majority of American churches have congregations that are primarily made up of one racial group, rather than the diverse ethnicity of the general population. People still worship in white churches, black churches, Asian churches and Latino churches. [Read more…]
EDITOR’S NOTE: In the latest Radio B&R podcast, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board administrative director William Maxwell and childhood ministry specialist Vicki Hulsey addressed the crucial steps that churches need to take in order to ensure the safety and protection of children. The podcast can be found here.
Baptist and Reflector
FRANKLIN — Churches must do all they can to protect minors and others from sexual abuse, said two experts from the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, who noted some practical steps churches can take immediately that will deter prospective predators.
The comments were made during a recent Radio B&R podcast titled, “Protecting Children from Sexual Abuse” (available here). During the podcast, TBMB administrative director William Maxwell and childhood ministry specialist Vicki Hulsey, discuss a TBMB document titled, “12 Things Churches Can Do to Protect Children.” [Read more…]
Editor’s Note: New IMB President Paul Chitwood spoke to Baptist editors during their meeting last week in Charleston, S.C. Following his presentation, the Tennessee native sat down for an interview with the Baptist and Reflector.
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org
Paul Chitwood, seen here during a recent press conference, was elected president of the IMB last November. Chitwood is a Tennessee native and was reared in First Baptist Church, Jellico.
CHARLESTON, S.C. — It’s been quite awhile since Paul Chitwood left Tennessee, but his roots still run deep.
Chitwood, who became president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board in November, was born in LaFollette in 1970.
At the age of 2, his parents divorced and Thomas Chitwood and his three sons moved to Jellico to live with his grandparents for awhile. Later, his dad found a nearby place for him and his sons to live.
Jellico, located on the state line of Kentucky and Tennessee, was home to Chitwood until he moved to Louisville, Ky., to attend seminary. [Read more…]
TBMB Administrative Director William Maxwell and Childhood Ministry Specialist Vicki Hulsey discuss 12 things churches can do to protect children and others in the church from sexual predators and sexual abuse. The pair also cover the legal responsibilities churches and everyone has when it comes to reporting suspected abuse.
Chris Turner: Hello and welcome in to this edition of Radio B&R. I’m your host, Chris Turner, director of communications for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. And today my two guests are William Maxwell, our administration director here at the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, and then also Vicki Hulsey, who is childhood ministry specialist. Both of them have been working in Tennessee for quite some time. [Read more…]
By Randy C. Davis
TBMB President & Executive Director
It is a heavy blow when God determines to bring to light that which is hidden in the shadows. Sometimes the Body of Christ must bear the weight of His judgment when He does.
Such a blow was delivered yesterday morning in an article that appeared in the Houston Chronicle. The headline was, “Abuse of Faith.” The extremely thorough story reported 20 years of sexual abuse in Southern Baptist churches that affected at least 700 victims. Far and away the majority of the victims were children or youth; and far and away the perpetrators were ministers. Just in the past decade, at least 250 people who worked for or volunteered in a Southern Baptist church have been charged with sex crimes. [Read more…]
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org
Pastor David Mackens stands outside the current sanctuary of Lone Oak Baptist Church in Cumberland Furnace. Under his leadership the church has grown from about 45 to more than 450. The church is in the process of building a new facility in the nearby Cunningham community of Montgomery County.
CUNNINGHAM — David Mackens is well aware there are not many openings for former Pentecostal pastors in Southern Baptist life.
But nearly 12 years ago, there was an opening at Lone Oak Baptist Church in Cumberland Furnace and Mackens was asked to preach one Sunday. Though he was, indeed, a former Pentecostal pastor, they asked him to come back and serve on an interim basis until the church found a pastor.
Mackens agreed, but made it clear the pastor would not be him. He was wrong. In December of 2007, the church called him as pastor and he accepted. [Read more…]
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org
PIGEON FORGE — They’re machinists, salesmen, police officers, bankers, teachers, college professors, retirees, electricians, plumbers and the list goes on, but they all have one thing in common — they are dedicated servants of God devoted to spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.
One hundred and twenty-one bivocational ministers from across Tennessee, along with their spouses and two other family members, gathered Jan. 26-28 in Pigeon Forge for the 2019 Bivocational Ministers and Wives Retreat sponsored by the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. [Read more…]
By Art Toalston
Baptist Press
Jeanette Henry shares in a celebration of her husband Jim’s 28 years as pastor of First Baptist Church in Orlando, Fla., prior to his retirement there in 2006. — BP file photo
ORLANDO, Fla. — In five days, Jim Henry has witnessed the homegoing of his wife Jeanette and mother Kathryn.
Jeanette, 79, died Feb. 4 in the early morning hours in Orlando, Fla.; Kathryn, 100, died Thursday, Jan. 31, in Nashville.
Jim Henry was president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1994-1996; pastor of First Baptist Church in Orlando from 1977 until his retirement in 2006, or what he called his “redeployment”; and pastor of Downtown Baptist Church in Orlando from 2015 until recently. Henry is a Nashville native and former pastor of Two Rivers Baptist Church, Nashville. [Read more…]
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org
FRANKLIN — In an effort to keep Tennessee Baptists better informed, Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, will do a monthly podcast on Radio B&R.
It will be a monthly “retrospective” of what is happening not only in the TBMB but with churches across Tennessee, said Chris Turner, director of communications for the TBMB and host of Radio B&R. [Read more…]
TBMB leader Randy Davis looks back at Jan 2019 to discuss bivocational ministers, Baptist Collegiate Ministries on mission through disaster relief, Cooperative Program and GOTM giving and prayer.
Chris: Hello and welcome in to this special edition of Radio B&R. I’m your host Chris Turner, and we’re joined here with Randy Davis, our state exec. Randy, welcome in. [Read more…]
