By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org
NASHVILLE — James Porch, who served as executive director of the Executive Board of the Tennessee Baptist Convention (now Tennessee Baptist Mission Board) for 18 years (1992-2010) died Aug. 3 at the age of 81.
A native of Pelahatchie, Miss., Porch was elected to succeed D.L. Lowrie as executive director in September of 1992. He came to the position from the pastorate of First Baptist Church, Tullahoma, where he had served since 1977.
Porch was known for his strong support of the Cooperative Program. When he retired in 2010, he noted in an interview with the Baptist and Reflector that he made it clear at the beginning of his tenure that the Tennessee Baptist Convention would only support the Cooperative Program. When he was elected, there was turmoil in the Southern Baptist Convention and some state conventions offered multiple giving options and some even formed other state conventions.
At his retirement, Porch said, “One of the things I take great joy in is that there is only one Tennessee Baptist Convention today,” he said. [Read more…]