The choir from First Baptist Church, Lexington, sings during the Tuesday night worship session at Summit. — Photos by James Wilson

CORDOVA — Tennessee leads the Southern Baptist Convention in the ratio of baptisms to population; a Hispanic church plant was awarded the Luke 15 award; and Tennessee Baptist Convention President Clay Hallmark challenged Tennessee Baptists to remember, repent and return to the Father in the President’s message during the Tuesday night session of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board’s annual Summit, Nov. 15 at Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova. 

Roc Collins, evangelism specialist with the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, reported that Tennessee ranked third in the Southern Baptist Convention with 14,185 baptisms behind Florida (18,268) and Texas (18,180). However, in terms of the ratio of baptisms to state population, Tennessee ranked first with a population of 7 million compared to Florida’s 22 million and Texas’s 30 million. [Read more…]

Messengers at Summit raise their ballots during Tuesday’s business session at Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova. — Photo by James Wilson

CORDOVA — Messengers to the annual meeting of the Tennessee Baptist Convention — held during The Summit at Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova — veered away from tradition on Nov. 15 by electing Clay Hallmark, pastor of First Baptist Church, Lexington, to serve his second term as president of the TBC.

Hallmark ran unopposed and was re-elected by acclamation.

Joel Pigg, senior pastor of Salem Baptist Church in Trenton, was elected as vice president and Gene Nelson, senior pastor of Russellville Baptist Church, Russellville, was elected second vice president. Pigg and Nelson both ran unopposed and were elected by acclamation.

Since 1942, TBC presidents have generally served only one year on a rotating basis among the three grand regions of the state, although there have been two exceptions.  [Read more…]

Mike Clowney was named head football coach at Carson-Newman in 2020.

JEFFERSON CITY — As a high school player in Union, S.C., Mike Clowney had never heard of Ken Sparks or Carson-Newman College (now University).

He will never forget his first conversation with legendary coach Ken Sparks who ended his career in 2016 with an overall college coaching record of 338-99-2, making him one of the winningest college coaches at any level.

“He sat down and talked to me and my mom and I realized there was something different about him. Though the conversation included football, “we really talked about everything,” Clowney recalled. “We talked about life, and he asked about my relationship with Christ.”

Clowney took a recruiting visit to Carson-Newman where he discovered that Christ was just as important to the coaching staff as football. He received his first Bible while on that trip. 

Clowney accepted the scholarship offer from Coach Sparks and would become an All American football player who would eventually be enshrined into both the C-N Hall of Fame and the South Atlantic Conference Hall of Fame. Though his playing career ended in 1996, he still holds several school records. [Read more…]

Grant Gaines

Officers for the pastors’ conference were elected on Monday at the conclusion of the morning session. 

Grant Gaines, pastor of Belle Aire Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, was elected as president-elect. Gaines was nominated by Fred Schakelford of Ellendale Baptist Church, Bartlet. Gaines ran unopposed. [Read more…]

Attendees gather at the altar for a time of prayer during the Sunday night service at Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova. The service was part of the “opening night” events for Summit (the annual gathering of Tennessee Baptists). — Photos by James Wilson 

CORDOVA — The Tennessee Baptist’s Convention’s annual Summit meeting opened on Sunday night with a blend of praise, prayer and power at Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova.

The night included two worship gatherings  — the All Nations Worship Service (see story HERE) and the annual Sunday night “Tennessee Reunion” service — held at different locations on the Bellevue campus. 

Evangelist Bob Pittman, who has preached over 1,000 revival meetings and Bible conferences, was the featured speaker during the reunion service.

Bob Pittman speaks during the Sunday night service.

Pittman, a former pastor, preached a message about believers being in need of “the fresh breath of Jesus” in their lives.

The night also included the annual presentation of the TBC’s Eagle Award, which was given to Doug Duncan of Dyersburg. The award is given each year to an outstanding Baptist lay leader.

Steve Gaines, senior pastor at Bellevue, welcomed attendees and opened the service with prayer. Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, gave a brief history of the Reunion Service and presented the Eagle Award to Duncan. 

Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, presents the annual Eagle Award to Doug Duncan.

The night concluded with a time of prayer, with many of the attendees coming forward to kneel at the altar.

Summit, which continues on Monday with the annual pastors’ conference, runs through Wednesday.

Coverage of the convention, including daily updates, can be found at baptistandreflector.org throughout the week. B&R

Former NFL quarterback answers call, prepares to move to Kenya 

Rusty Smith spent four seasons in the NFL, including three seasons with the Tennessee Titans. After retiring from the NFL, he became a head football coach for Grace Christian Academy. Next summer, he is leaving football behind and moving his family to Kenya to serve with Africa Inland Mission organization. — File Photo / Baptist Press

FRANKLIN — Rusty Smith has spent most of his life on the football field.

Now, he’s headed to a different field: The mission field. 

Smith, a former NFL quarterback who played with the Tennessee Titans and New York Giants, will leave next summer with his family to begin serving a two-year commitment in Kijabe, Kenya, as part of the Africa Inland Mission team. 

Smith will be teaching at Rift Valley Academy — a Christian boarding school in central Kenya operated by Africa Inland — and will be assisting with the spread of the gospel to unreached people groups.

It will be a major change for Smith, who has spent the past eight years as a head football coach and teacher at Grace Christian Academy (in Franklin), and for his wife, Nicole, who was the head volleyball coach at GCA and a former college volleyball star.   [Read more…]