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TENNESCENE: NOV. 24

November 23, 2021

LEADERS

Kevin Shrum

Kevin Shrum, pastor of Inglewood Baptist Church, Nashville, since 1995, will write the Explore the Bible Sunday School lessons for the December-February quarter. Shrum, a past president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention, also has served as pastor of churches in Missouri and Kentucky. He holds degrees from Missouri Baptist College and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., including the doctor of ministry degree. He currently is working on a Ph.D. in biblical studies from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Mo. He and his wife, Janet, have three children.

Miller’s Chapel Baptist Church, Tellico Plains, recently called Micah Collins as pastor.

Howards Chapel Baptist Church, Vonore, has called Ronnie Best as pastor.

Austin Gourley has been called as pastor of Williamsburg Baptist Church, Vonore. [Read more…]

MESSENGERS BEGIN PROCESS OF CHANGING CONSTITUTION, BYLAWS

November 23, 2021

Editor’s note: Proposed changes to the Constitution and Bylaws were printed in the Sept. 15 issue of the B&R with follow up Questions and Answers regarding the changes in the Sept. 29 issue. The Q&A also can be found at https://baptistandreflector.org/tbc-constitution-and-bylaws-frequently-asked-questions/.

Baptist and Reflector

BRENTWOOD — Messengers at the annual meeting of the Tennessee Baptist Convention on Nov. 17 approved four recommendations regarding the convention’s Constitution and Bylaws. See list of recommendations in box.

The first three recommendations dealt primarily with issues that occurred in 2020 when the annual meeting had to be canceled due to COVID-19.

Recommendation one, amending the constitution, passed with two-thirds majority on first reading. It will need two-thirds approval by messengers to the 2022 annual meeting.

Recommendation two, amending the bylaws, passed with two-thirds vote and does not require a second reading next year. [Read more…]

A GREAT TIME TO SUMMIT UP

November 23, 2021

Four days of worship, fellowship and business

Photo gallery.

Corey Cain, right, second vice president of the TBC, introduces church planter Iksan Lasmanto of Faith Baptist Church, Barlett to give the benediction following the opening session of the annual meeting on Nov. 16.
Ryan Gray, center, of The Big Game Show, based in Atlanta, leads ministers’ wives in activities during The Good Cup luncheon held on Nov. 15 as a part of Summit at Brentwood Baptist Church. — Photo by James Wilson
Clay Hallmark, left, chats with Ryan Keaton, of the TBMB staff, at a booth inside Exhibit Hall. Hallmark, pastor Fist Baptist Church, Lexington, later was elected president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention. — Photo by James Wilson
The Brentwood Baptist Church worship team leads attendees in a song of praise at the Sunday night worship service at Brentwood Baptist. — Photo by David Dawson
Scott Shepherd, worship and music specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, leads messengers in a song of praise during the 2021 Summit at Brentwood Baptist Church, Brentwood. — Photo by James Wilson
Glenn Metts, center, outgoing chair of the TBMB directors, signs the new partnership agreement with the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention as Chris Martin, left, of the HPBC, and, from right, Randy C. Davis and Chad Ball, also representing the TBMB, look on. — Photo by James Wilson
Betsy Harrison, seated, attended her first Summit in Tennessee at the age of 91 as a messenger of Brentwood Baptist Church. Mrs. Harrison was involved in denominational work in Michigan from the 1960s-80s and later in South Carolina until she moved to Tennessee in 2017. She was accompanied by her son, Lee Harrison, and his wife, Priscilla. — Photo by Lonnie Wilkey
Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the TBMB, left, chats with TBC president Bruce Chesser, Mike Glenn, pastor of host church Brentwood Baptist Church and Robby Gallaty, pastor of Long Hollow Baptist Church, Hendersonville. — Photo by Lonnie Wilkey

SHOW OF SOLIDARITY

November 23, 2021

Messengers united on task force, elections, budget

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, B&R
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org

Messengers raise their ballots during the Tuesday morning session of the 2021 Summit, the annual meeting of Tennessee Baptists. Many recommendations and motions were passed with overwhelming approval, including the recommendation for the TBMB to establish a sexual abuse task force.
-Photos by James Wilson

BRENTWOOD — Tennessee Baptist Convention messengers overwhelmingly approved a recommendation from directors of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board to establish a sexual abuse task force, elected new officers and approved changes to the convention’s Constitution and Bylaws.

Four recommendations were approved regarding the Constitution and Bylaws, but two of those must be approved again next year by messengers at the 2022 annual meeting before they go into effect (see separate story).

Messengers also adopted a $35 million budget (the same as last year), approved resolutions on gratitude, “Integrity in Teaching, Preaching and Leading” and Financial Transparency Within Southern Baptist entities (see separate story), heard a myriad of reports and acted on other matters of business, including a new partnership initiative with the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention, during the TBC annual meeting held at Summit, Nov. 14-17 at Brentwood Baptist Church, Brentwood.

The annual meeting, based on the theme “Forward Together With One Heart,” drew 939 messengers and 172 registered guests from 503 churches for a total of 1,011 participants. Attendance was comparable with the last three held annual meetings, including Knoxville in 2019 when 998 messengers attended. Summit was not held in person in 2020 due to COVID-19. [Read more…]

REVITALIZATION SLOWED, BUT NOT STOPPED BY COVID

November 23, 2021

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org

Richard Bragg, pastor of Poplar Heights Baptist Church in Jackson, said the church lost some momentum during the pandemic, but said it also enabled him to “preach hope.”

JACKSON — When Richard Bragg was called as pastor of Poplar Heights Baptist Church in Jackson in October of 2019, he was joining a congregation that had experienced some struggles in recent years.

In 2002, Poplar Heights reported an average worship attendance of 640. Seventeen years later, the average attendance had dropped to 84.

Bragg hit the ground running and was beginning to see progress six months into his ministry. The church had started to average around 130 in attendance and then, COVID-19 hit, bringing things to a grinding halt.

The church has yet to reach the attendance it had before COVID. “It was the oddest year in ministry I’ve ever had,” acknowledged Bragg, who began his ministry in 1998.

After the church had to shut down for several weeks, the church spent the next 10 months livestreaming services (along with in-person services after churches could reopen) and “figuring out what to do next,” he said. [Read more…]

TENNESSEE GOVERNOR HELPS DEDICATE PSALM 139 ULTRASOUND MACHINE

November 19, 2021

By Tom Strode
Baptist Press

Brent Leatherwood (left), the ERLC’s acting president, and Brent Lambert (right), Birth Choice’s executive director, gather with Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee at a dedication ceremony in Jackson for an ultrasound machine placed by a grant from the state to the Psalm 139 Project. — Photo by Melissa Higgins

JACKSON — For Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, partnering with the Psalm 139 Project in the placement of ultrasound machines at pregnancy resource centers in the state is one manifestation of what he describes as a long-standing desire.

Speaking on Nov. 12 in Jackson, Lee told an audience gathered at the Birth Choice center for the dedication of an ultrasound machine, “[O]ne of the most important pieces of my job is to protect the lives of individuals in Tennessee. … But there’s no one in our state that’s more vulnerable than the unborn. And protecting the unborn is something that has long been in my heart as important for us to do as humans. … It’s long been in [his wife Maria’s] heart as well.

Birth Choice received the machine for one of its mobile units as a result of a grant initiated by Lee in the 2021-22 state budget for the Psalm 139 Project, a ministry of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). Psalm 139 received a grant of $182,900 from the state to fund the placement of seven ultrasound machines at pro-life pregnancy centers in Tennessee. Private gifts to Psalm 139 underwrite the training of staff in the use of the technology.

The dedication in Jackson came the same day supporters of a pro-life law in Tennessee received good news. State Attorney General Herbert Slatery announced the deadline had passed for abortion providers to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court a lower-court decision upholding Tennessee’s 2015 measure that requires a 48-hour waiting period before an abortion. [Read more…]

PASTOR/CHAPLAIN NAVIGATES ‘UNCHARTED COURSE’ DURING COVID-19

November 19, 2021

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org

Like many pastors, Bob Schafer believes the pandemic created some of the most challenging days of his ministry. But he was excited to see God at work during those difficult times.

BIRCHWOOD — While some bivocational pastors experienced reduced hours or off days because of COVID-19, it was just the opposite for Bob Schafer, pastor of Birchwood Baptist Church, Birchwood, northwest of Chattanooga.

Schafer, better known as Pastor Bob, serves as a chaplain for Signature Health Care which he services in the skilled nursing facilities in Cleveland, Spring City and Rockwood.

His workload has not decreased during the pandemic. He is the only chaplain for the three nursing homes and he ministers at each one on a rotating basis during the week, in addition to serving as pastor of Birchwood Baptist.

During COVID, Schafer was the only pastor who could go into the facilities so he was able to minister to the residents on a regular basis. “I’m just glad I was there,” he said. [Read more…]

ETHNIC GROWTH GIVES CREDENCE TO TBMB BELIEF: ‘TENNESSEE IS A MISSION FIELD’

November 18, 2021

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org

FRANKLIN — Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, often says, “Any way you slice it, Tennessee is a mission field.”

Truer words could not be said about the growth of ethnic ministry in Tennessee over the past decade.

The world is moving rapidly to the Volunteer State and William Burton, new churches team leader and ethnic church planting and evangelism specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, has seen it firsthand.

In Burton’s own neighborhood, just south of Franklin, his neighbors include individuals from Colombia, South America, Mexico, Italy, Puerto Rico and more.

“There’s a plethora of people moving and they are all from outside the state of Tennessee,” he said. [Read more…]

SUMMIT 2021: HALLMARK ELECTED PRESIDENT OF TENNESSEE BAPTIST CONVENTION

November 17, 2021

Tennessee pastors Travis Henderson and Scott Brown elected as vice presidents

Baptist and Reflector

Clay Hallmark

BRENTWOOD — Messengers to the annual meeting of the Tennessee Baptist Convention elected Lexington pastor Clay Hallmark as president of the convention Nov. 16 at Brentwood Baptist Church, Brentwood.

Hallmark was elected without opposition for the office.

David Green, pastor of First Baptist Church, Greeneville, nominated Hallmark, a director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, for the office.

Hallmark has served as pastor of First Baptist Church, Lexington, since 2016. The church has been in the top 1 percent among Tennessee Baptists in giving through the Cooperative Program and in the top five in contributions through the Cooperative Program. The church also has had 300 baptisms during the past five years.

“Clay is a soul winner,” Green said. “He loves Jesus. He loves the Bible and he loves Tennessee Baptists,” Green continued. [Read more…]

SUMMIT 2021: TENNESSEE BAPTISTS APPROVE SEXUAL ABUSE TASK FORCE

November 16, 2021

By Lonnie Wilkey
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org

BRENTWOOD — Tennessee Baptist Convention messengers overwhelmingly approved a recommendation from directors of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board to establish a sexual abuse task force.

The action occurred during the opening session of the TBC annual meeting Nov. 16 at Brentwood Baptist Church, Brentwood. When the session convened, there were 938 registered messengers from 450 churches.

The TBMB recommendation came at the request of TBC President Bruce Chesser. He told the board on Nov. 15 that with the conditions in society today and things that have happened in the larger Southern Baptist Convention family, convention leadership “felt best that we need to get ahead of it.”

He reiterated that position to messengers, noting that the recommendation “is not an investigation. We want to be open, honest and transparent. This is something we have been doing for 20 years. It is a continuing, ongoing need,” Chesser said. [Read more…]

LEADERS

Four days of worship, fellowship and business

Messengers united on task force, elections, budget

Tennessee pastors Travis Henderson and Scott Brown elected as vice presidents

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