Baptist & Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

STATE CONVENTION HELPS CHURCHES REACH STATE, WORLD FOR CHRIST

By Dr. Paul Chitwood
President, International Mission Board

My first international mission trip took place on a farm in central Kentucky. 

As a new pastor in the community, I found myself interacting often with migrant workers from Central and South America. And I soon realized that most were spiritually lost. From conversations with farmers, I learned many of them were as concerned as I was about the eternal state of the souls of these (mostly) men who were so far away from their homes and families. As we began to pull together churches in our association and piece together a plan to begin a migrant ministry, we found an organization ready and eager to help us: our Baptist state convention. With the assistance of our state convention staff, we were soon seeing people from all over Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua come to Christ — though we never left Kentucky.  [Read more…]

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LABOR DAY: MORE THAN SUMMER’S END

By Todd E. Brady
Vice president for university ministries, Union University, Jackson

We celebrated our nation’s 243rd birthday in July, and now we celebrate those who have worked to build our nation into what it is.

While Labor Day may conjure good feelings of time off and laid back gatherings with friends and family at the end of summer, it actually is our country’s tribute to the American laborer and all that these workers have accomplished. [Read more…]

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MEMPHIS CHURCH FINDS WAY TO REACH ‘GAMERS’

By Ashley Perham
Baptist & Reflector intern

Enjoying fellowship are gamers from Level Up Church in Memphis. From left are Lee Rushing, pastor Jacob McAnally, Tucker Williams and associate pastor Travis Bradley.

MEMPHIS — Level Up Church, Memphis, like many churches, was started to reach the unreached in a region. However, pastor Jacob McAnally had a vision for more than just the city of Memphis. He had a vision for gamers.

McAnally said God gave him the vision for the church while he was virtually attending BlizzCon, a convention held by Blizzard Entertainment to promote its gaming franchises. McAnally was impressed by how many people were attending the convention in person, between 20,000 and 30,000. Then, he realized that over eight million were tuning in online like he was. [Read more…]

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CHURCH’S MISSIONS MINDSET ROOTED IN COOPERATIVE PROGRAM

By Karen Willoughby
Baptist Press

ARRINGTON — “We have a choir. We have an organ and piano,” pastor Reed Buntin said. “We’re just your traditional Southern Baptist church.”

For Triune Baptist Church, “traditional” also includes a missions mindset rooted in the Cooperative Program and discipleship rooted in Sunday School.

Located amid rolling hills and gated communities 30 miles southeast of Nashville, Triune Baptist has found a niche in a region where many Baptist churches worship with contemporary or blended music. [Read more…]

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TENNESSEE DR PLACED ON ALERT FOR HURRICANE DORIAN

Baptist and Reflector

MOUNT JULIET — Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers have been placed on alert status for possible deployment to Florida in response to Hurricane Dorian.

As of Aug. 29, Hurricane Dorian was a Category 1 storm but is on course to be an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm if it makes landfall on the eastern coast of Florida early next week, according to the National Hurricane Center. [Read more…]

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UNION ALUMNI COUPLE USES ‘FAME’ TO SHARE FAITH

By Sarah Goff
Union news office

Juliana and Ben Wilson have had a busy year as he has competed in the American Ninja Warrior TV show and she won the Mrs. Tennessee pageant in March and finished in the top 10 at the Mrs. United States pageant earlier this month.

JACKSON — For Union alumni couple Ben and Juliana Wilson, 2019 has been a year of unexpected opportunities, from Ben competing on the “American Ninja Warrior” TV show to Juliana winning the Mrs. Tennessee United States crown and earning a top 10 finish in the recent 2019 Mrs. United States National Pageant in Las Vegas. 

“This has been a crazy year, to kind of sum it all up,” Juliana said. “A year ago, neither one of us expected to be doing the things that we’re doing right now. It’s just cool that God’s just given us this opportunity, and we want to try to make the most if it, however long it lasts.”  [Read more…]

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SPORTS OFFER OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE GOSPEL WITH KIDS

By Ashley Perham
Baptist & Reflector intern

Jon Visser provides instruction to children attending a sports camp hosted earlier this summer by Shiloh Baptist Church, Nashville, at Donelson Christian Academy. — Photo by Tara Workman

NASHVILLE — As a boy, Jon Visser had dreamed of playing professional baseball. 

He got his opportunity in the early 2000s in the Texas-Louisiana League, now called the Central League. But while he was traveling through Texas, God gave him a different dream.

“While I was traveling around on the busses, I was thinking, ‘How can I serve God with my talents and how can I best do it?’ and that’s where Elevation Sports kind of (started),” said Visser, a member of First Baptist Church, Fairview. [Read more…]

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UNWAVERING COMMITMENT TO COOPERATIVE PROGRAM ENABLES TENNESSEE BAPTISTS TO REACH MONUMENTAL PLATEAU

By David Dawson
Baptist and Reflector
ddawson@tnbaptist.org

Celebrating a milestone moment
Tennessee Baptists recently reached a major plateau, surpassing the $500-million mark in all-time giving to the SBC for Cooperative Program allocated useage. In the photo to the right, Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, presents a check to Augie Boto of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.
– Photo by Royce DeGrie

FRANKLIN — The oversized check was just a prop. The significance of the moment, however, was very real.

During a recent ceremony at the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board’s Church Support Center in Franklin, TBMB president and executive director Randy C. Davis presented a Goliath-sized check to Augie Boto of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.

The amount was for $500,000,000, which represents the recent plateau that was reached by Tennessee Baptists in the category of Cooperative Program Allocation gifts to the SBC. Davis said the milestone speaks volumes about Tennessee Baptists’ commitment to sharing the gospel. [Read more…]

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BROWNSVILLE BAPTIST CHURCH — TWO PASTORS IN 60 YEARS

By Ashley Perham
Baptist & Reflector intern

BROWNSVILLE — Brownsville Baptist Church, Brownsville, has had only two pastors in the last 60 years: H. K. Sorrell and Bob Connerley, who is celebrating 30 years at the church at the end of the month.

“I don’t know how much that says about him and me, but it says a lot about the people here that they would put up with two guys for 60 years,” he said. “That’s kind of unusual.” [Read more…]

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KNOXVILLE CHURCH ‘DIES WITH DIGNITY’ TO HELP CHURCH PLANT

By Ashley Perham
Baptist and Reflector intern

A praise team leads worship at Hope Fellowship in Knoxville. The church is meeting in a facility provided by Centerpointe Church in Knoxville. Centerpointe sold its $4 million facility to Hope Fellowship for $1.

KNOXVILLE — Hope Fellowship, Knoxville, started in 2016 as a church plant from Shoreline Church, Knoxville, with a vision to be a Christ-centered, multi-ethnic and generational church, saved by Jesus and changed by Jesus, according to Dominique Lee, pastor of Hope Fellowship.

At the same time, Centerpointe Church, Knoxville, was making the difficult decision to “die with dignity,” said pastor Jim Millirons. [Read more…]

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