C-N football team sees 18 new believers baptized in Mossy Creek

Carson-Newman football player Andrew Victory of Morristown, center, has a special moment following his decision to be baptized in Mossy Creek. He’s joined by Drew Eudy, left, congregation pastor at Mossy Creek Fellowship and FCA area director Marty Blakely. Victory was one of 18 Eagles football players baptized in the Creek on Aug. 20. Many of his teammates and members of the C-N community attended the baptisms, which have become an annual tradition for the school.

JEFFERSON CITY — Members of the Carson-Newman University campus community gathered on the banks of Mossy Creek after 18 Eagles football players made decisions to be baptized in the historic waters.

Officiating the Aug. 20 event was Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ (FCA) area director Marty Blakely and FCA’s Lakeway Ambassador Alan Duncan, as well as Drew Eudy, congregation pastor at Mossy Creek Fellowship.

A host of C-N football players, and other members of the university’s community, lined the waterway in support of the new believers. [Read more…]

KINGSPORT — Baptist churches across Upper East Tennessee will gather on Sept. 14 for a special rally aimed at reigniting passion for evangelism and prayer.

The “Who’s Your One?” Rally, scheduled for 6 p.m. at Sullivan Baptist Church in Kingsport, incorporates elements from Project 2026, a national prayer and evangelism initiative.

John Butler, pastor of East Rogersville Baptist Church and one of the event organizers, said the rally emerged from conversations with denominational leaders and a broader multi-denominational prayer movement focused on reaching one million people for Christ.

“We’ve been so distracted,” Butler said, referring to recent divisions within Southern Baptist circles. [Read more…]

Foster & Adoption event at Broadway Baptist includes stories of families overcoming seemingly impossible circumstances

Laura West, founder of Blind Faith Ministries, speaks to attendees at a recent Foster and Adoption event at Broadway Baptist Church in Maryville. West and her husband, John, have fostered more than 100 children and have an adopted daughter, Maleka, who was burned as a child. The photo being shown to the attendees depicts Maleka in the hospital.

MARYVILLE — Laura West can never be accused of failing to practice what she preaches.

West, the founder of Blind Faith Ministries, is a relentless advocate for foster care and adoption, having championed the cause all across the country. She has also lived out her mission in her daily life, fostering more than 100 children over a 12-year span.

West was the keynote speaker at the recent “Embrace Foster and Adoptive Event of Blount County” at Broadway Baptist Church in Maryville. The event was sponsored by the Blount County Foster Parent Association, Isaiah117, Tennessee Kids Belong, Omni Family of Services, the Department of Children’s Services and the Smoky Mountain Children’s Home. [Read more…]

Annual event, hosted by New Salem Baptist Association, has new site each night

CARTHAGE — For five years the New Salem Baptist Association has been fostering something increasingly rare in today’s world: genuine, face-to-face fellowship among churches.

The annual Fellowship Revival held Aug. 3-6 across the Carthage area, brought together multiple congregations for what director of missions Marty Dodge described as both spiritual renewal and community building.

“The one reason we call it a fellowship is we take time and fellowship,” Dodge explained. The event’s structure reflects this purpose, combining traditional revival services with intentional opportunities for people to connect across church lines.

A rotating format

What began as a suggestion during a Tuesday pastors’ conference evolved into an annual tradition that serves churches throughout the New Salem Baptist Association.

The Fellowship Revival employs a rotating format designed to strengthen inter-church relationships.

This year, nine churches participated, organized into three clusters of three churches each.

“Each pastor does not preach in his own church. He will preach in somebody else’s church,” Dodge noted, describing how the format encourages pastors and congregations to step outside their comfort zones.

The clusters rotate through different host churches from Sunday through Tuesday, with each night featuring a different pastor from within that cluster.

The week culminates on Wednesday night when all participating churches gather at the county agriculture center for a joint service featuring a guest speaker. This year’s Wednesday service drew around 200 people, representing congregations from across the association.

The association also organizes a combined choir featuring singers from participating churches.

“It’s just a great time,” Dodge said.

The revival welcomes participants from infants to seniors.

“We had one crying Wednesday night, so I don’t think he was one year old yet,” Dodge recalled with a chuckle, emphasizing that there’s “never too young to go” and “never too old, either.”

Lingering fellowship

The sight of congregants lingering to talk struck Dodge as something special in today’s hurried world.

“When the last prayer was said, not many of them were moving. They were just standing out, just talking and clusters and bunches and just having a big old time,” said Dodge.

“It’s almost a rare sight nowadays, seeing people actually talk in person and commune with each other outside of designated areas.”

Dodge emphasizes that the spiritual component is equally important. The revival aims to “help our churches” and “encourage them” while helping congregants “regain a fire that they’ve lost.”

“We’re trying not to just have a revival to have a revival,” Dodge said. “We try to do it to stir us up, get us going again. We need that encouragement.”

Their approach emphasizes renewing the existing believers in churches first before reaching out to others.

“They may have gotten discouraged along the way, but a preacher may say something, and they just get revived again,” Dodge said. “And that’s what revival’s all about. It has to start with the churches, and then after when the churches get right, souls will be saved.”

“Our unity is a megaphone for the gospel,” said Daryl Crouch, strengthening healthy churches team lead for the TBMB. “When local churches unite to make Jesus known, souls are saved, communities are transformed, and the kingdom advances. I’m grateful to the churches of New Salem for leading the way.”

Plans are already underway for next year’s event, with Jeff Iorg, president/CEO of the SBC Executive Committee scheduled to speak, according to Dodge. B&R

Dan Spencer is senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Sevierville. — Photo credit: BP

FRANKLIN — Dan Spencer, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Sevierville, will be nominated for the presidency of the Tennessee Baptist Convention when the annual meeting convenes at West Jackson Baptist Church on Nov. 10-11.

Chris Kendall, senior pastor of Oak City Baptist Church, Seymour, informed the Baptist and Reflector on Aug. 14 of his intention to nominate Spencer, who has been the pastor at First Baptist since 2011.

“Dan is the right man to lead our incredible network of Tennessee Baptist churches onward toward Great Commission cooperation and collaboration,” said Kendall. “His heart beats for reaching our neighbors and the nations with the gospel of Jesus. With years of state convention experience coupled with his pastor’s heart, Dan brings the leadership necessary to champion the convention’s strategic initiatives.” [Read more…]

Corey Buckner

FAYETTEVILLE — God gave Corey Buckner a battle cry in 2013 when he was fighting cancer: always endure.

Little did Buckner know that diagnosis would spark a mission that has grown into a multifaceted nonprofit helping children and families overcome barriers to adoption, medical care, and foster care.

“Everything we do comes from our story,” said Buckner. “The support we received during my cancer journey made a huge difference, and we wanted to reciprocate that blessing to others.”

Buckner was diagnosed with Stage 2A Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at age 27, and the community rallied to help cover his medical expenses not covered by insurance and to meet other needs. People delivered home-cooked meals, mowed his grass, and even took him to work when he was unable to drive himself during treatment weeks. [Read more…]

A rare glimpse of Maple Grove Missionary Baptist Church’s early days, though much of their history has largely been erased by fire and time.

DICKSON — Maple Grove Missionary Baptist Church has stood the test of time through nearly 150 years of American history.

Founded in 1875 in the Sylvia area outside Charlotte (Tenn.), the church took root during Ulysses S. Grant’s presidency, the same year the Civil Rights Act was signed and Alexander Graham Bell made breakthroughs in sound transmission. It was also the year that produced beloved hymns like Fanny Crosby’s “To God Be the Glory.”

“Some folks got together and decided they wanted to form a Baptist affiliated church while the Cumberland Presbyterian Church system was being established there,” explains pastor Parks Chastain, who has led the congregation since 2020. [Read more…]

Powell’s Chapel Baptist Church then and now: The church has undergone many changes since 1940. “It is such a blessing to be part of a church that has prevailed for 150 years,” said Cindy Phillips, whose great-great-grandmother, Callie Hood Jones, was among the 10 charter members of the church in 1875.

MURFREESBORO — The words of “How Great Thou Art” rose to the rafters of Powell’s Chapel Baptist Church on a hot Sunday morning as about 200 congregants celebrated a milestone 150 years in the making on July 27.

Women fanned themselves, children squirmed in wooden pews, and men shook hands as the small church overflowed with members marking the sesquicentennial of their beloved congregation.

“It is such a blessing to be part of a church that has prevailed for 150 years,” said Cindy Phillips, whose great-great-grandmother, Callie Hood Jones, was among the 10 charter members who established the church in 1875. [Read more…]