Baptist & Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

FAITH AT THE FOREFRONT: BESTER TRUSTS LORD’S PLAN

By David Dawson
ddawson@tnbaptist.org

Thomas Bester

FRANKLIN — It could be said that Thomas Bester is facing an uncertain future. 

Bester, however, would disagree. 

Even while dealing with many unknowns involving his health, Bester is standing firm in his faith. He said he knows how the story will end, even if he doesn’t know how the details will unfold. 

Bester, who serves with Tennessee Baptist Mission Board as a black church development specialist, has been dealing with kidney issues for several years, and the situation recently worsened. He is currently on dialysis and is waiting to be placed on the list to receive a kidney transplant — a procedure that is likely needed in order to save his life.  

And yet, despite this seemingly scary prospect, Bester said he takes comfort in knowing that the Lord has scripted the plans for him, both in this life and the next. [Read more…]

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DISASTER RELIEF CONTINUES TO MEET NEEDS LOCALLY, NATIONALLY

By Lonnie Wilkey
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org

Wes Jones, left, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, joins Butch Porch, right center, disaster relief unit leader for Woodland Baptist Church, Brownsville, and other DR volunteers from across West Tennessee at Philadelphia Baptist Church, Alexandria, La., prior to heading out to job sites in the area to clean up after Hurricane Laura. — Photos by Lonnie Wilkey

MOUNT JULIET — In September Wes Jones celebrated his fifth anniversary as disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.

To say the former Southern Baptist missionary (along with his wife Pam) and director of missions in Iowa has been busy over those five years would be an understatement.

The humorous part is that during the interview process for the position he was told that there were not that many callouts. Most of his time would be spent training DR volunteers and having them prepared when needed. “I was told things would be pretty mellow,” he recalled with a grin.

Instead, “hectic” best describes the last five years of Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief. 

When Hurricanes Laura and Sally struck in late  August and early September, it marked the 78th and 79th DR responses by Tennessee volunteers over the past five years. “What an adventure it has been.” [Read more…]

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FEW CHURCHES BACK TO PRE-COVID ATTENDANCE LEVELS

By Aaron Earls
LifeWay Research

NASHVILLE — The vast majority of U.S. Protestant churches say they are holding in-person services, but churchgoers have yet to attend in the numbers they did before the coronavirus pandemic struck.

According to the latest survey from Nashville-based LifeWay Research, 87 percent of Protestant pastors in the U.S. say their church met in person in September, while 13 percent did not hold physical gatherings.

Since the beginning of March, LifeWay Research has been tracking how COVID-19 is affecting churches. While few Protestant churches gathered physically in April, most began meeting in person again by May with more than 7 in 10 pastors saying they did so in July.

“More and more churches across the U.S. have found ways to meet again, but things are not back to normal,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research. “The impact of regulations, caution and hardships mean more than 1 in 10 churches are still not meeting in person for any type of worship service. Churches are living organisms, and when more than a third of their members are missing, they are not whole.”

A majority of African American Protestant pastors (60 percent) say their congregations did not meet in person last month.  [Read more…]

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BOY SCOUTS BANKRUPTCY COULD LEAVE CHURCHES LIABLE IN FUTURE SEX ABUSE CLAIMS

By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press

ORLANDO — Churches who chartered or have ever hosted a Boy Scouts of America (BSA) troop should seek legal counsel now in case they are named in future sex abuse claims against the BSA, a Southern Baptist legal representative told Baptist Press.

The BSA filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy and reorganization in February to establish a trust to pay sex abuse claims and to limit the BSA’s liability in such cases. As such, indemnification clauses would no longer apply, and liability could fall to churches associated with specific troops named in lawsuits, attorney James “Jaime” Jordan said.

“If a church five years from now gets sued by a former Boy Scout who was molested or claims to have been molested in that church’s troop, normally the church would turn to the Boy Scouts and say, ‘You guys said you would hold us harmless and insure us, so do that,’” Jordan said. “And the Boy Scouts will say, ‘Sorry, we went through a bankruptcy reorganization and we no longer have any responsibility to do that.’” [Read more…]

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POLL SHOWS SUPPORT FOR PRESIDENT DIPS AMONG WHITE CHRISTIANS

Baptist Press

WASHINGTON — Support for President Donald Trump has slipped by single digits among white Christians of all religious affiliations, although 78 percent of white evangelical Protestants still plan to vote for him in November, according to Pew Research Center polling.

Support among white evangelical Protestants is down from 83 percent in the poll conducted after the Sept. 29 presidential debate and during Trump’s bout with COVID-19.  [Read more…]

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UNION TRUSTEES KEEP STRATEGIC PLAN IN PLACE

Union University

JACKSON — Union University trustees extended the university’s strategic plan during their Sept. 11 meeting on the Union campus.

“Our trustees provide consistently strong leadership, and they have continued to do so in the midst of a global pandemic that has disrupted so many lives, plans and activities,” said Union president Samuel W. “Dub” Oliver said. 

Originally adopted by trustees in 2015, Union’s “United in Spirit. Grounded in Truth.” plan emphasizes seven strategic themes that have guided the work of the university over the past five years. [Read more…]

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JUDGE STRIKES DOWN TENNESSEE ABORTION WAITING-PERIOD LAW

By Tom Strode
Baptist Press

DETROIT — Pro-life advocates and the state expressed their disappointment with a federal court decision Oct. 14 that invalidated a Tennessee law requiring a 48-hour waiting period before an abortion.

Senior federal judge Bernard Friedman ruled from Detroit, Mich., the law is unconstitutional and permanently blocked the state from enforcing a waiting period. The 2015 law “substantially burdens” women who want an abortion in Tennessee and is “gratuitously demeaning” to those who have decided to undergo the procedure, Friedman wrote.

The state legislature approved the waiting period after a 2014 referendum granted power to the law-making body to act on abortion.

Friedman’s ruling marked the second time in three months a federal court has prevented enforcement of a Tennessee pro-life law. In late July, federal judge William Campbell issued a preliminary injunction against a new law that prohibits an abortion when a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which can be as early as six weeks. The measure also bans an abortion when the doctor knows the request for the procedure is driven by the race, sex or health/disability diagnosis of a child. [Read more…]

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REFLECTING ON THE PRAYER MARCH IN D.C.

Baptist Press

Thousands of Christians gathered Sept. 26 at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to pray and cry out to God for the nation in a prayer march organized by evangelist Franklin Graham. See story and a perspective from Tennessee Baptist pastor James Rogers on page 6. — Photo by James Rogers

WASHINGTON — Tens of thousands packed the National Mall in Washington on Sept. 26 to cry out to God and repent.

The gathering stretched from the Lincoln Memorial to the U.S. Capitol.

Christians from all over the country participated in the prayer march, which was organized by evangelist Franklin Graham.

Gene Harston, a member of Eastwood Baptist in Bowling Green, Ky., traveled with a group of prayer partners to participate.

“When I see the violent conflict, the fear and isolation of the pandemic, and the importance of the upcoming election, I know the only hope for our nation is God’s intervention,” he said. “I was convicted to make the sacrifice of time and expense to meet with like-minded Christians from all over the country to dedicate to prayer and repentance.” [Read more…]

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‘LAKE CHARLES GRIT’ TESTED BY TWO HURRICANES IN WEEKS

By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press

Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers planned to prepare 3,500 meals for distribution Monday at The Bayou Church in Lafayette to serve those impacted by Hurricane Delta. — Submitted photo

LAKE CHARLES, La. — Trinity Baptist Church senior pastor Steve James calls it “Lake Charles grit,” an ability to persevere during hardship on top of hardship. “Grit up” is the local rallying cry after Hurricanes Laura and Delta hit western Louisiana just weeks apart.

“We had one hand tied behind our back, and now somebody blindsided us,” James said on Oct. 12 after Hurricane Delta, a Category 2 storm, hit Louisiana’s western Gulf coast Oct. 9, compounding damage wrought six weeks earlier by Hurricane Laura, a Category 4 storm.

Southern Baptist Disaster Relief (SBDR) and Send Relief are coordinating responses from several state disaster relief teams. In coordination with Southern Baptist partners, local churches and associations, they are repairing homes, clearing debris, serving meals and sharing the Gospel. While numbers vary, SBDR has reported more than 400 salvation decisions since Laura’s cleanup began, with more than 300 of those at Trinity.

One death has been attributed to Hurricane Delta, an 86-year-old man in St. Martin Parish who died while refueling a generator in his shed, Louisiana officials said Sunday. [Read more…]

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SBTS TRUSTEES RETAIN BUILDING NAMES, ADDRESS HISTORY, ESTABLISH $5 MILLION SCHOLARSHIP FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS

By Jeff Robinson

The campus of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. —  In their annual fall meeting, trustees of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary unanimously voted not to remove the names of the school’s founders from several campus buildings, but embraced steps to lament the institution’s racial history and provide up to $5 million in scholarships for African American students over the next few years.

Meeting today, Seminary trustees responded to a call from several individuals within the Southern Baptist Convention to remove the names of founding president James P. Boyce and founding faculty members John Broadus, Basil Manly Jr., and William Williams, all of whom held slaves prior to emancipation. The four founded the seminary in 1859 in Greenville, S.C. Several buildings on Southern’s campus bear their names, including Boyce College, the James P. Boyce Library and Broadus Chapel.

Dealing with such a challenge means recognizing both “the burden of history and the blessing of heritage,” SBTS President R. Albert Mohler Jr. said.

“We’re not going to erase our history in any respect or leave our history unaddressed,” he said. “We’re trying to do what is right for a Christian institution. I’m incredibly thankful to this board of trustees for its careful deliberation of these issues and its unanimity in supporting Southern Seminary in dealing honestly with the burden of history and dealing respectfully with the blessing of a heritage. [Read more…]

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