Joint effort helps launch Hispanic churches in Gibson Co.

Luis Bruneau, far right, leads a Bible study at The Church at Sugar Creek in Humboldt. The Bible study is part of the outreach effort to Hispanic believers in the area.

HUMBOLDT — It took longer than originally intended but a joint effort to plant Hispanic churches in Gibson County by The Church at Sugar Creek in Humboldt, Gibson Baptist Association and Tennessee Baptist Mission Board is now underway with the help of a missionary couple from Panama.

The three entities began the process in 2021 but it stalled, said Mike Kemper, who joined the association as director of missions a year later.

The three partners tried again after Kemper arrived. “The demographics continued to indicate many Hispanics coming to live and work in Gibson County,” he recalled.

“Our churches wanted to have an outreach, but the language difference was a barrier.  We continued to search for a native Spanish speaker to lead,” Kemper said. [Read more…]

Are churches ready to embrace the AI Era? Should they?

FRANKLIN — Shiloh Baptist Church in Mount Juliet does not employ a graphic designer, social media manager, video producer or editor. What it does have, however, is a pastor who juggles these roles with the help of technology.

Stephen Young, the pastor, doesn’t have formal training in these specialties but has embraced artificial intelligence to expand his ministry capabilities.

“I asked a friend pastoring a small church by himself how he had such nice graphics on his church’s Facebook page,” Young said. “He uses AI to generate them. I started using Ideogram (ideogram.ai) to create graphics for church announcements and to promote events and upcoming sermon series. It doesn’t take a lot of effort or time to describe [to the AI] what you want and get a graphic.” [Read more…]

BCM leaders, students recall life-changing moments from their travels

Rodney Norvell (back row, fourth from right), collegiate ministry specialist at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, visits with a group of students during a trip to the Philippines.

KNOXVILLE — Rodney Norvell has been at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) for 11 years, leading students on journeys of faith and service.

One of his favorite things as a BCM minister is taking students on mission trips. Norvell first heard about ministry opportunities in the Philippines from missionaries connected to UT and Carson-Newman alumni. They spoke of their work in Batangas City, where they established a Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) for Batangas State University.

“One of my favorite things about being Baptist is we are a family and we are a big network that cooperates together,” Norvell said.

This connection grew personal when Norvell’s son, Jacob, chose Batangas City for his own mission work. Inspired by his son’s experience, Norvell felt called to take a team from UTK to the Philippines. [Read more…]

Billy Seeley, left, gives the thumbs up with kidney donor Jackie Edwards.

CEDAR HILL — Jackie Edwards and her husband Sterling have been friends and fellow church members with Billy and Dianne Seeley for years. Jackie has seen their heart for service and their love for the people at Cedar Hill Baptist Church.

When she found out last year that Billy was experiencing kidney failure, she knew that he was going to be OK.

“I said from the beginning, when I found out that Billy was going to need a kidney, that there were going to be people lined up around the block to give Billy Seeley a kidney,” Edwards said. “Because that’s the kind of person Billy is. He and Diane have spent their whole lives being givers and doing for other people, and they’ve just poured into people.

“So, I had no doubt that God was going to take care of this.”

She just didn’t know that she would be the donor. [Read more…]

Don Owen moves supplies in God’s Warehouse, a ministry of Nolachucky Baptist Association, based in Morristown. B&R file photo.

ELIZABETHTON  — The Tennessee Baptist Mission Board has established two warehouses in Elizabethton to help residents who lost their homes to Hurricane Helene as part of Arise and Build, the repair and new build arm of Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief.

Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of TBMB, established an Arise and Build task force in November the help homeowners and churches that were dramatically affected by the hurricane. More than 1,200 homes and 11 Tennessee Baptist churches were destroyed or significantly damaged.

The warehouses are being operated in conjunction with God’s Warehouse, a ministry of Nolachucky Baptist Association in Morristown that is led by Don Owen, the association’s disaster relief director.

[Read more…]

Students stand together during a worship song at the Youth Evangelism Conference. The 2025 YEC will once again be hosted at three regional sites, allowing students from East, West and Middle Tennessee to find a location to attend the event.

FRANKLIN — Despite some recent adjustments to the format, the ultimate goal of the Youth Evangelism Conference  (YEC) has not changed.

“It’s all about leading students to Christ,” said Jay Barbier, Harvest Field Three team leader and former youth ministry specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. “Seeing professions of faith, and seeing students be strengthened in their walk with Jesus, is the top priority. That’s why we do it. Period.”

Established in 1969, YEC is one of the longest-running faith-based youth events in the state. The yearly rally was traditionally held at one central location — normally a venue in downtown Nashville, including historic Memorial Gym (on the campus of Vanderbilt University) and Municipal Auditorium — until TBMB leadership elected in 2022 to move YEC to three regional sites across the state. [Read more…]