New Season Church senior pastor Dwayne Lewis (right), shown here with his wife Alexis, was extending a Gospel invitation during a funeral Saturday (Nov. 26) when gunshots could be heard outside. — Screen capture from WZTVScreen capture from WZTV

NASHVILLE — New Season Church senior pastor Dwayne Lewis was inviting mourners to follow Jesus at the funeral of Terriana Johnson when the gun battle began Nov. 26.

The 200 or so mourners were largely unchurched, Lewis told Baptist Press Nov. 28, but they called on the name of the Lord in the melee.

“People were responding for Jesus to help them. They were responding for God to help them,” Lewis said of the mourners. “‘Lord please; Lord help. Jesus, Jesus. Where are my children? Help us God. Please don’t let me get shot.”

Lewis, a part-time church starter strategist with Nashville Baptist Association, didn’t yet know the origin of the shots.

“We didn’t know in the beginning what was happening. Standing in the pulpit and all of the people running this way,” Lewis said, “I didn’t know if (the shooters) were coming in the building. The active shooter training went into effect with our ministers there.” [Read more…]

Tennessee pastor Mike Dawson, far right, joins with Ryan Michael, center, Marty Shadoan, far left, and his wife, Becky Shadoan, for a time of prayer for the Acts 2:17 initiative during Summit at Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova. Shadoan is senior pastor at First Baptist Church, Columbia, and Ryan Michael is the student pastor at FBC, Columbia. Dawson, currently serving as transitional interim pastor at Dalewood Baptist Church, Nashville, was senior pastor at FBC, Columbia, from 1996-2004 and is now pastor emeritus. — Photo by James Wilson

CORDOVA —  The Acts 2:17 Initiative was officially launched during the Tuesday afternoon session (Nov. 15) of the annual meeting of the Tennessee Baptist Convention held during The Summit at Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova.

The Acts 2:17 Initiative will provide Tennessee Baptists across the state the opportunity to speak into future priorities of the state convention. Messengers gathered in small groups to begin the process and 24 other listening sessions are scheduled across Tennessee beginning in January of 2023. See list of meeting locations to the right and visit tnbaptist.org/Acts217 for regular updated information.

Prior to the Summit, Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, wrote in a Clarity column (see Oct. 26 issue of the Baptist and Reflector) that the initiative “could become the most consequential process in the TBC’s recent history and at its heart is us working together in seeking God’s preferable future for our network of churches. [Read more…]

Bob Parikh, of Transformation Ministries of Memphis, speaks about a resolution during the business session at Summit at Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova. — Photo by James Wilson 

CORDOVA — Messengers to the Tennessee Baptist Convention approved five resolutions, including the traditional resolution of gratitude and a resolution on “Avowing Opposition to Casinos in Tennessee” during last week’s annual meeting at Bellevue Baptist Church.

Most of the resolutions were passed without opposition or debate except for one.

The resolution on casinos noted that during the 2022 session of the Tennessee Legislature, “House Bill 1642 and Senate Bill 1656, before being withdrawn, if passed and signed by the Governor, would have set into motion the process to allow any federally recognized Indian tribe residing on tribal lands held in trust by the United States government with Tennessee to obtain a license from the National Indian Gaming Commission to conduct gaming operations (casinos, bingo, etc.) within Tennessee.”  [Read more…]

Editor’s note: This article provides highlights of the business sessions. See separate articles on the launch of the Acts 2:17 Initiative, election of officers, messages and more Summit coverage in the coming days at baptistandreflector.org. Additional articles also will be published in the Dec. 7 print issue and online. 

Messengers at Summit raise their ballots during Tuesday’s business session at Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova.

CORDOVA — Tennessee Baptist Convention messengers adopted a $35 million budget for 2022-23, approved a constitutional amendment on second reading, renewed a missions partnership with Guatemala and dealt with a variety of resolutions among a myriad of business conducted Nov. 15-16 during their annual meeting at Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova.

The theme of the meeting was “Across the Streets, the States and the Seas.”

Messengers also received a final report from the Tennessee Baptist Sexual Abuse Task Force and received a resource entitled “Ministering Well: Best Practices and Resources Related to Sexual Abuse Prevention and Response.”

The convention drew 843 messengers and 104 visitors from 444 churches. Last year’s annual meeting at Brentwood Baptist Church, Brentwood, drew 943 messengers. The last annual meeting held in West Tennessee (2018, West Jackson Baptist Church, Jackson) drew 934 messengers). [Read more…]

The Southern Baptist Convention is a big house. It’s the largest association of evangelicals in the world. 

The Cooperative Program brings home the bacon! The Cooperative Program is so far reaching, it’s often difficult to wrap our brains around all God is doing through our giving. 

A book could be written about all that has been accomplished here in Tennessee and around the world, but 10 things are all I have room for in this article. When you think about the Cooperative Program, I hope you will remember these wonderful impacts! [Read more…]