An artist’s rendering of the to-be-constructed Ford plant, which will be called Blue Oval City, in Stanton.

HAYWOOD — “There’s not much between Jackson and Memphis, but there’s about to be.”

That observation was from Danny Sinquefield, coordinator of the Blue Oval City Partnership with the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, who emphasized that thousands of people will soon be moving to the area.

By 2025, Ford Motor Company is planning to open Blue Oval City, a 3,600-acre campus in Haywood County. The campus will create over 5,000 plant jobs in addition to tens of thousands of construction jobs. 

Already, construction workers, many of them from South Korea, are building temporary homes in the region and preparing to start work.

“Blue Oval City coming to West Tennessee and to the state of Tennessee is one of the biggest opportunities God has ever given Tennessee Baptists,” said Clay Hallmark, pastor of First Baptist Church, Lexington. [Read more…]

Scarlett Nokes, right, and Liz Evan recently shared their thoughts on the SBC’s Sexual Abuse Task Force at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Orlinda.

ORLINDA — Bivocational pastor Mark Carroll is the only paid staff member at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, a congregation of about 50 worshipers in the farming community of Orlinda in Robertson County, where less than 1,000 people live.

But the church is embracing its cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention in creating ministry spaces safe and free from sexual abuse, Carroll told Baptist Press.

Pleasant Hill invited longtime Southern Baptist laypersons Scarlett Nokes and Liz Evan to the July 31 worship service to update the church on the work the SBC has begun in fighting sexual abuse, receiving and responding to abuse accusations and ministering to victims.

While Nokes is an attorney with Bradley Legal, serving as interim legal counsel for the SBC Executive Committee, and Evan served on the SBC Sexual Abuse Task Force (SATF) that commissioned a lengthy investigation of the EC’s handling of sexual abuse complaints, neither spoke in those capacities, Carroll said. [Read more…]

The J.B. Warren Country Grocery is now The Fork Restaurant in Haywood County. Church groups meet for prayer services throughout the week. — Photos by Carolyn Tomlin

BROWNSVILLE — When two older gentlemen decided to open an abandoned country store (formerly the J.B. Warren & Son Grocery) and turn it into a community restaurant in July of 2021, a few people were surprised. 

After all, Turk Warren at age 98, and Ray Ellington, age 86 and a  member of Woodland Baptist Church in Haywood County had never owned or managed a restaurant. 

However, this didn’t stop these two entrepreneurs from establishing The Fork Restaurant. Warren is a Methodist whose late wife, Wayne, was a member of Woodland Baptist.

Located on the corner of Woodland Church Road and the Union-Mercer Road in Haywood County, about 10 miles east of Brownsville, the restaurant is not only thriving — it is doing exceptionally well. And instead of selling cheese and bologna sandwiches as first planned, The Fork Restaurant is now a full-fledged establishment open six days a week.   [Read more…]

SPRINGFIELD — It was only a minor change, but it had a major impact at Springfield Baptist Church. 

When the church hosted Vacation Bible School several weeks ago, pastor David Evans and the church leaders tweaked the program: They set up a system that allowed the teachers — instead of Evans — to talk directly to the children who had shown interest in making a profession of faith. 

In several instances, the teacher was able to guide the student through the decision and walk them through the sinner’s prayer. 

It was a life-changing moment for the student — and the teacher, too.

“Let me tell you, there was so much power behind that,” said Evans. “For some of our teachers, this was their first chance to lead someone to Jesus. And brother, it was just so exciting to hear them tell their stories. I’ll be honest, it just tore me up. I was in tears, and so were they.”  [Read more…]

Joshua MacLeod founded Instruments of Joy to offer hope to orphans all over the world.

FRANKLIN — Joshua MacLeod had to travel all the way to an AIDS orphanage in Malawi to learn a very valuable lesson — music offers hope in the midst of hopelessness.

MacLeod, founder of Instruments of Joy, shared his story during a recent webinar with Scott Shepherd, worship and music specialist and also partnership missions specialist with the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.

MacLeod visited the orphanage in Malawi in 2007 with an organization that trained African leaders. He described the scene when he arrived. 

“There was no electricity. There weren’t any generators, no (working) electricity. This is the worst of the worst scenario. They eat once a day. And so we’re going to this orphanage and the hopelessness was just palpable. All I could see was the darkness and the reality of the scenario.” [Read more…]

Ancel G. Presnell, pastor of Strong Tower Baptist Church in Johnson City, baptizes a new believer at the Washington County Detention Center. Strong Tower Baptist started a prison ministry six months ago, and has seen 19 professions of faith through the ministry.

JONESBOROUGH — In Biblical times, the Lord often used an unlikely setting — prison — to do powerful things.  

The same is true today. 

Over the past several weeks, the Holy Spirit has been at work at the Washington County Detention Center, where 19 inmates have made professions of faith while participating in a ministry hosted by Strong Tower Baptist Church, Johnson City. 

Ancel G. Presnell, Jr., pastor of Strong Tower, said the ministry started roughly six months ago, and has been making an impact since the beginning. 

“It’s beyond encouraging for both myself and our church to see these men and women responding to the clear cut gospel while incarcerated,” said Presnell. “We’ve heard from county staff that the services are beneficial to the (inmates) and have been productive.”

There are currently 10 members of Strong Tower who participate in the ministry, including Presnell and the church’s student and community outreach pastor, Jody Jenkins. Beth Arwood oversees the teaching and classes for the women inmates. [Read more…]