By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org

SBC president J.D. Greear adresses the crowd at the 2019 SBC annual meeting in Birmingham.
— Photo by Kathleen Murray

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Tennessee Baptists were well represented among the 8,183 messengers who registered for the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, held June 11-12, in Birmingham.

The Tennessee Baptist Convention ranked third among Baptist state conventions with 738 messengers. The Alabama Baptist Convention had 1,366 messengers while the Georgia Baptist Convention was represented with 834 messengers.

Prior to the start of the annual meeting, Southern Baptists knocked on the doors of 10,409 homes, had 1,817 gospel conversations, prayed with 2,251 people and saw 364 people place their faith in Jesus, according to organizers of the annual Crossover evangelism outreach. [Read more…]

By Carol Pipes
LifeWay Christian Resources

Ben Mandrell, 42, will be nominated by LifeWay Christian Resources trustees’ presidential search committee as the entity’s 10th president. The vote is scheduled for a June 28, 2019 board meeting in Atlanta. —Photo courtesy of Storyline Fellowship

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The presidential search committee of LifeWay Christian Resources’ trustees has unanimously recommended Ben Mandrell become the entity’s next president and CEO. LifeWay’s board of trustees will vote on the recommendation during a special-called session Friday, June 28, in Atlanta. Mandrell is a former Tennessee Baptist pastor. 

If elected, Mandrell will become the 10th president of the 128-year-old organization.

Mandrell, 42, serves as lead pastor of Storyline Fellowship in Arvada, Colo. He and his family moved to the Denver area in 2014 to plant Storyline Fellowship in partnership with the North American Mission Board and First Baptist Church Orlando. The church launched in February 2015 with 250 people and has grown to 1,600 in weekly attendance, with over 2,800 this past Easter.  [Read more…]

By Shannon Baker
Baptist Press

Donna Gaines, a pastor’s wife, author and Bible teacher, receives the Willie Turner Dawson Award June 11 at the Ministers’ Wives Luncheon during the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. — Photo by Adam Covington

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Donna Gaines was honored with the 2019 Willie Turner Dawson Award during the June 11 Ministers’ Wives Luncheon at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Birmingham, Ala.

In presenting the award to Gaines, wife of Bellevue Baptist Church senior pastor Steve Gaines, Mary Cox described what the award represents: “It’s about a woman who has godly character, who has served the Lord alongside her husband, and has been a great example as a minister’s wife.” Cox is the wife of Frank Cox, pastor of North Metro First Baptist Church in Lawrenceville, Ga. [Read more…]

University of Memphis baseball coach relies on his faith, develops close bonds with players 

By Bill Sorrell
Contributing writer, B&R

Coach Daron Schoenrock of the University of Memphis confers with his players during a visit to the mound. — Photo courtesy of the University of Memphis.

MEMPHIS — On April 3, 2012, Clayton Gant, a senior pitcher at the University of Memphis, heard that his 19-year old brother Stephen Gant, who was going to pitch at Vanderbilt with potential to be a high Major League draft pick, had taken his own life.

“I had to counsel Clayton and I literally grabbed him and hugged him on this turf room floor when he got the word of what had just happened,” said University of Memphis head baseball coach Daron Schoenrock. “The one thing that impacted me at that moment was  Clayton said, ‘Coach I am thankful you are my coach right now.’ ” [Read more…]

Adamsville pastor keeps ministering while awaiting transplant 

By Lonnie Wilkey
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org

Chad Ball, pastor of First Baptist Church, Adamsville, finds strength from God behind the pulpit. Ball is awaiting a kidney transplant.

ADAMSVILLE — It took a while, but Chad Ball has learned to say two words that aren’t in the vocabulary of most Southern Baptist pastors, “I can’t.”

The 42-year-old pastor of First Baptist Church, Adamsville, was diagnosed in 2006 with FSGS, a leading cause of kidney failure. He further learned that his kidneys had been damaged by undiagnosed high blood pressure. [Read more…]