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TESTIMONY OF A BIVOCATIONAL PASTOR

February 6, 2019

By Roger Britton
Pastor, Whites Creek Baptist Church, Rockwood

Roger Britton of Whites Creek Baptist Church, Rockwood, speaks during the recent Bivocational Ministers and Wives Retreat in Pigeon Forge.

On Jan. 12, 1997, my wife Kathy, daughter Kacie and son Cody and I began our ministry when I became the pastor of Whites Creek Baptist Church in Rockwood. Kathy and I were married in 1979 and had been in ministry from day one of our married lives.

We started out as bus ministry director and children’s church pastor at First Baptist Church, Austinville, in Decatur, Ala. Then, we moved on to music director, youth pastor, associate pastor and a list of other duties through the years as God led us. [Read more…]

UNSUNG HEROES: MEET SOME OF TENNESSEE’S BIVOCATIONAL PASTORS

February 6, 2019

The ARMENTAS

Pastor’s name: Jose Armenta
Wife’s name: Carolyn
Church: Rio Grande Mission Church
City (of church): Church Hill
Other profession (in addition to pastor): Carpenter
What is your favorite part about being a pastor? Sharing God’s Word with lost people.
How do you juggle the role of being a pastor along with your other job? My other job understands that I am a pastor first.

Quoting the couple about the conference:

Jose: The conference gives us time to relax, to grow as a pastor and to fellowship.
Carolyn: The conference gives us a chance to be with people who understand us and love us.

The CARVERS

Pastor’s name: Jonathan Carver
Wife’s name: Brooke
Church: Shepards Chapel Baptist Church
City (of church): Rogersville
Other profession (in addition to pastor): Information Technology support specialist; Brooke is a nurse practitioner.
What is your favorite part about being a pastor? I believe seeing restoration in the lives of individuals is every pastor’s favorite part.

Quoting the couple about the conference:

Jonathan: This has been a wonderful conference, with great singing, inspirational messages, motivational sessions. It has been refreshing to fellowship and share with other pastors that face the struggles of balancing life, family, work and pastoring!
Brooke: The entire conference has been a blessing, from the fellowship with our brothers and sisters to the uplifting messages we have heard. The worship is powerful. This was our first experience of coming to the retreat. We will definitely plan to return next year.

The COGGINSES

Pastor’s name: Mark Coggins
Wife’s name: Cathy
Church: Sugar Tree Baptist Chapel
City (of church): Holladay
Other profession (in addition to pastor): Self employed Construction and Home Remodeling
What is your favorite part about being a pastor? Serving the Lord is, of course, the most rewarding, and I enjoy seeing people experience the true, living God and I am blessed enough to watch them grow.

Quoting the couple about the conference:

Mark: Each year, we look forward to being refreshed and the encouragement we receive while here. The preaching and teaching we receive is a much-needed experience and time for me, personally.
Cathy: It’s nice to come and feel encouragement from others. To be able to share and pray with others who are going through the same things means a lot (to us).

The HARBINS

Pastor’s name: Bradley Harbin
Wife’s name: Jennifer
Church: Enterprise Baptist
City (of church): Morristown
Other profession (in addition to pastor): Electrical Engineer
What is your favorite part about being a pastor? Seeing others grow in Christ.
How do you juggle your duties as a full-time pastor and the responsibilities of your “other” job? Not very well (sometimes), but God leads!

Quoting the couple about the conference:

Bradley: (One of my favorite parts was) spending time with just my wife. (I also enjoy) the great preaching and the (overall) refreshing.
Jennifer: (I enjoy) the time in the Word and the fellowship with the other wives in the ministry.

The HICKSES

Pastor’s name: Tecky Hicks
Wife’s name: Linda
Church: First Baptist Church, Surgoinsville
City (of church): Surgoinsville
Other profession (in addition to pastor): Cattle Farmer
How do you juggle your duties as a full-time pastor and the responsibilities of your “other” job? God first, family second, church third, and God giving the increase.

Quoting the couple about the conference:

Tecky: It provides for me more insights I need from men of a like faith.
Linda: A retreat from the busy everyday life. (And I) enjoy seeing old friends and hearing all the dynamic preaching.

The MARTINS

Pastor’s name: Barron V. Martin, Sr.
Wife’s name: Andrea
Church: One Faith Christian Center
City (of church): Millington
Other profession (in addition to pastor): Refrigeration/HVAC technician
How do you juggle your duties as a full-time pastor and the responsibilities of your “other” job? I prayed and asked the Lord to balance my time and my wife fills all the gaps.

Quoting the couple about the conference:

Barron: The conference has solidified my wife and I as a team.
Andr’ea: The Conference has given me the time I needed alone with my husband. It has given us or reminded us of who we are to each other. I enjoyed the preaching, the Shepherd Family, and the wives’ groups.

The McCREARYS

Pastor’s name: Hobbie McCreary
Wife’s name: Kathy
Church: Grace Baptist
City (of church): Johnson City
Other profession (in addition to pastor): Fiscal director
What is your favorite part about being a pastor? Sharing the gospel, providing messages that equip the church, developing relationships and encouraging others.

Quoting the couple about the conference:

Hobbie: (It) provides encouragement, time to refocus, time to draw closer to God and wife. I enjoyed the preaching, worship together (great to hear all the pastors singing together) and meeting other pastors and their wives to discuss family and ministry challenges.
Kathy: I enjoyed the conference greatly. The preaching, fellowship, and I really like the women’s meetings — discussing the challenges of being a pastor’s wife and the blessings. Good time of fellowship.

The MURRAYS

Pastor’s name: Bill Murray
Wife’s name: Kristie
Church: Greenwood Baptist
City (of church): Johnson City
Other profession (in addition to pastor): Contractor
What is your favorite part about being a pastor? Being able to both serve God and draw close to Him and at the same time help others do the same.

Quoting the couple about the conference:

Bill: The fellowship with the other bivocational pastors across the state as well as the encouragement.
Kristie: This conference encourages us to continue in our God-given call to reach the lost and make disciples. I find this to be a place where you can be real and share your struggles.

The NICKELLS

Pastor’s name: Ronald Nickell
Wife’s name: Rhonda
Church: Pine Orchard Baptist
City (of church): Oakdale
Other profession (in addition to pastor): Bodyshop office
What is your favorite part about being a pastor? Meeting the physical and spiritual needs of God’s people.
How do you juggle your duties as a full-time pastor and the responsibilities of your “other” job? I try to do my best at both (jobs). But yet focus on the things that are a priority in my life.

Quoting the couple about the conference:

Ronald: (It’s a time of) meaningful fellowship and messages that encourage and challenge me.
Rhonda: It renews the soul and you have a chance to meet new friends.

The SIMMONSES

Pastor’s name: Josh Simmons
Wife’s name: Bethany
Church: College Grove Baptist
City (of church): College Grove
Other profession (in addition to pastor): Service manager at equipment dealer
What is your favorite part about being a pastor? I love talking to people and discipling men. Time spent outside the four walls, living out Jesus’s commandment to love one another is time well spent.

Quoting the couple about the conference:

Josh: Hearing different peers’ perspective and someone else’s preaching fills our souls. Our commitment is renewed in the prayer times and our emotions are stirred by the beautiful music.
Bethany: So often we spend all of our time pouring into others. Being a pastor’s wife can be lonely and exhausting. This retreat has given us a renewed spirit! It has been encouraging and a wonderful time to focus on us and our relationships with Jesus.

The WEBBS

Pastor’s name: Travis Webb
Wife’s name: Christina
Church: Westview
City (of church): Morristown
Other profession (in addition to pastor): Food City, Lighting
How do you juggle your duties as a pastor and the responsibilities of your “other” job? Priority is a must: Jesus first, everything else second. It’s easier said than done, but when I do, the balance is right.

Quoting the couple about the conference:

Travis: This conference is great and allows me to be refreshed in the ministry. I learn something new every year.
Christina: This conference has always been great and enjoyable. It gives us a chance to be with other ministry couples and catch up. We hear good preaching and always come home with new ideas.

The YOUNGS

Pastor’s name: Matthew Young
Wife’s name: Janna
Church: Laurel Bank Baptist
City (of church): Friendsville
Other profession (in addition to pastor): Rosenberg Assistant Professor of Practice at University of Tennessee
What is your favorite part about being a pastor? Watching people mature in the faith as they recognize the sufficiency of God’s Living Word.

Quoting the couple about the conference:

Matthew: It was helpful to have a few days to get to know the TBMB staff. (Also) fellowship with other bivo pastors and wives was encouraging.
Janna: Being new to being a pastor’s wife, it was great to meet other wives from our association and surrounding areas.

BIVOCATIONAL PASTORS ARE THE ‘IRON MEN OF MINISTRY’

February 6, 2019

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

PIGEON FORGE — They’re machinists, salesmen, police officers, bankers, teachers, college professors, retirees, electricians, plumbers and the list goes on, but they all have one thing in common — they are dedicated servants of God devoted to spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.

One hundred and twenty-one bivocational ministers from across Tennessee, along with their spouses and two other family members, gathered Jan. 26-28 in Pigeon Forge for the 2019 Bivocational Ministers and Wives Retreat sponsored by the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. [Read more…]

WAX NAMED TO SBC COMMITTEE

February 6, 2019

Baptist Press

NASHVILLE — Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear has named members of the Committee on Resolutions for the June 11-12 SBC annual meeting in Birmingham, Ala.

“These committee members hail from state conventions, national entities, seminaries, local churches and local associations,” said Greear, pastor of The Summit Church in the Raleigh-Durham, N.C., area. [Read more…]

TBC CP GIFTS ABOVE BUDGET

February 5, 2019

Baptist and Reflector

FRANKLIN — Tennessee Baptist Convention churches gave $3,535,940 through the Cooperative Program in January.

For the year-to-date, churches have given $9,181,729 through the Cooperative Program. The amount is $81,281 or 0.9 percent below what was given after the first quarter of the last fiscal year. The amount, however, is $556,729 or 6.45 percent over budget needs.

“We are grateful that our churches are responding to the challenge of meeting our Great Commission needs not only in Tennessee, but throughout our nation and world,” said Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.

— Lonnie Wilkey

GUIDESTONE RELEASES MINISTERS’ TAX GUIDE

February 5, 2019

By Holly Taylor
Baptist Press

DALLAS — GuideStone Financial Resources has released its 2019 Ministers’ Tax Guide for 2018 Returns, available now for GuideStone participants.

The tax guide includes tax highlights for 2018 — including changes based on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 — along with step-by-step filing instructions for ministers’ personal taxes and comprehensive examples and sample forms. [Read more…]

JIM HENRY’S WIFE & MOTHER ENTER HEAVEN IN 5-DAY SPAN

February 5, 2019

By Art Toalston
Baptist Press

Jeanette Henry shares in a celebration of her husband Jim’s 28 years as pastor of First Baptist Church in Orlando, Fla., prior to his retirement there in 2006. — BP file photo

ORLANDO, Fla. — In five days, Jim Henry has witnessed the homegoing of his wife Jeanette and mother Kathryn.

Jeanette, 79, died Feb. 4 in the early morning hours in Orlando, Fla.; Kathryn, 100, died Thursday, Jan. 31, in Nashville.

Jim Henry was president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1994-1996; pastor of First Baptist Church in Orlando from 1977 until his retirement in 2006, or what he called his “redeployment”; and pastor of Downtown Baptist Church in Orlando from 2015 until recently. Henry is a Nashville native and former pastor of Two Rivers Baptist Church, Nashville. [Read more…]

DAVIS KICKS OFF FIRST MONTHLY UPDATE ON RADIO B&R

February 4, 2019

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

FRANKLIN — In an effort to keep Tennessee Baptists better informed, Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, will do a monthly podcast on Radio B&R.

It will be a monthly “retrospective” of what is happening not only in the TBMB but with churches across Tennessee, said Chris Turner, director of communications for the TBMB and host of Radio B&R. [Read more…]

YOUNG ADULTS KEEP CHRISTIAN LABEL, BUT FEWER ‘DEVOUT’

February 1, 2019

By Aaron Earls
Baptist Press

NASHVILLE — Most young adults who attended church as a teenager say they believe in God today, but fewer consider themselves devout Christians, according to a study released today (Jan. 31). And as a whole, they have conflicting recollections about the churches they attended in high school.

LifeWay Research surveyed more than 2,000 American adults between the ages of 23 and 30 who attended a Protestant church twice a month or more for at least a year as a teenager. Researchers conducted the survey Sept. 15-Oct. 13, 2017. [Read more…]

RADIO B&R EP. 22: TBMB MONTH IN REVIEW WITH RANDY C. DAVIS

January 31, 2019

TBMB leader Randy Davis looks back at Jan 2019 to discuss bivocational ministers, Baptist Collegiate Ministries on mission through disaster relief, Cooperative Program and GOTM giving and prayer.

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FULL TRANSCRIPT:

Chris: Hello and welcome in to this special edition of Radio B&R. I’m your host Chris Turner, and we’re joined here with Randy Davis, our state exec. Randy, welcome in. [Read more…]