Tennessee Baptist leaders, from left, Micah Stephens, Jonathan Chapman,
Cole Rogers and Chad Mize discuss the importance of a ministry
pipeline during a recent video shoot.

FRANKLIN — Chad Mize and Jonathan Chapman are doing their part to ensure that the circle remains unbroken.

Mize, associate pastor of missions and mobilization at Forest Hills Baptist Church, and Chapman, collegiate ministry specialist at East Tennessee State University, are both passionate and committed to helping aspiring church leaders find reliable and godly “ministry mentors.” 

Eventually, if all goes according to plan, those same students will then help others follow that path. 

It’s a cycle of events that is crucial to the future of student ministry, said Chapman. With the pipeline of rising ministry leaders slowing almost to a trickle in recent years, this is a vital time for new leaders to emerge. 

Chapman said Tennessee Baptists can aid the process, and infuse the cycle, by supporting the BCMs in Tennessee, both with prayer and financial resources.  [Read more…]

A group of 43 volunteers, including 30 from the Weakley County Baptist Association and 13 from Strong Tower Baptist Church, completed a series of service projects this summer during a “stay home”mission trip.

DRESDEN — A mission trip without much mileage.

Perhaps that’s the best and most succinct way to sum up what a large group of volunteers from Weakley County experienced this summer. 

In place of their annual long-haul mission trip, the Weakley County contingent stayed close to home, completing more than a dozen service projects inside the county lines. 

Phil Mitchell, director of missions for the Weakley County Baptist Association, said the volunteers had done a “stay-home” missions event several years ago — and he felt the timing was right to do it again. 

“Back in 2018, several people kept asking me, ‘Why did we go here and there to do work when people around here have needs?’ ” said Mitchell. “And I said, ‘Yes, you’re right.’ So, that’s what we did that year, and then decided to it again this year.” [Read more…]

FRANKLIN — Wes Jones, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, issued a callout on Wednesday, Aug. 14, for flood recovery trained volunteers for response in Georgia, New York, Pennsylvania and possibly South Carolina.

The recovery efforts come in the aftermath of Hurricane Debby, a slow-moving and erratic Category 1 hurricane that caused widespread flooding across the southeastern United States in early August. [Read more…]

Liane Keaton, center, ministry assistant and Vacation Bible School director at Sylvia Baptist Church, Dickson, stands with children who attended the church’s VBS this summer. They dressed as “100 year olds” to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Vacation Bible School.

FRANKLIN — Southern Baptists are celebrating an important birthday this year, and a few Tennessee Baptist churches made the most of the occasion. 

If fun music, crafts, snacks and lots of energetic kids and adults come to your mind, you are on the right track. Lifeway’s Vacation Bible School is 100 years old this year, and according to Liane Keaton, ministry assistant and VBS director with Sylvia Baptist Church in Dickson, VBS just keeps getting better and better. 

“We asked our children to dress like 100-year-olds” on Thursday night of the church’s VBS in early June, Keaton said. “We sang happy birthday to VBS and blew noisemakers during the opening assembly (that night).” [Read more…]

Bruce Chesser, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Hendersonville, left, presents with a commemorative check to Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. — Photo from The Baptist Paper

HENDERSONVILLE — First Baptist Church Hendersonville announced Sunday, Aug. 11, that it will be the first church in the state to ever give more than $1 million in one year through the Cooperative Program, to support Southern Baptist missions and ministry around the globe.

The special presentation came as the church celebrated the 15th anniversary of their pastor Bruce Chesser. The church presented a check to Randy Davis, executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, during its morning worship services.

“If you don’t know what Cooperative Program means, that’s how we support missions and evangelism and missionaries all across Tennessee and around the world,” noted Chesser, who also has served as president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention. “It’s what supports thousands of missionaries and their families.” [Read more…]