FRANKLIN — As summer winds down and students return to school in this month, Vicki Hulsey, childhood specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, is hearing good reports from Tennessee Baptist churches regarding Vacation Bible School.

“Vacation Bible School continues to be the one week of the year that mobilizes the entire church to reach the community with the gospel, while also providing a unique discipleship experience for children and volunteers,” she added.

“I continue to receive praise reports through e-mail and Facebook from Tennessee Baptist pastors, children’s ministers, VBS directors and church members, sharing what God is doing through VBS in 2024,” she said. [Read more…]

John D Freeman holds a unique place in the history of the Tennessee Baptist Convention. He is the only man to have served as executive secretary (now director) of the TBC and editor of the Baptist and Reflector.

Freeman served as pastor of Belmont Heights Baptist Church in Nashville before being named editor in 1925. He served until 1933 when he was named executive secretary. He held that position until he resigned in 1942 to become editor of the Western Recorder in Kentucky. While TBC executive secretary, the Tennessee Baptist Foundation was established during his tenure.

Freeman was not afraid to address the social issues of his day. He wrote fiery editorials in 1925 during the famous trial in Dayton when famed attorney Clarence Darrow defended John Scopes, a local teacher who was accused of teaching evolution. William Jennings Bryan was the special prosecutor assigned to the case.  [Read more…]

FRANKLIN — Tennessee set a new record this year, and Vickie Anderson, executive director-treasurer for Tennessee WMU, couldn’t be more proud of this one.  

When this year’s Christian Job Corps Scholarship/Award recipients were announced, the list included three Tennesseans, marking the first time the state has had a trio of recipients in the same year. [Read more…]

FRANKLIN — As the calendar turns over this week from July to August and the weather is still hot and humid, Beth Moore is already looking ahead to Christmas.

Or, more specifically, the Christmas Backpacks ministry, which provides backpacks filled with toys, clothing, hygiene items, food and other items to children in low-income families. It also serves as a means of outreach and evangelism for participating churches.

Moore, compassion ministry specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, has seen the enormous impact that the project has made in the lives of children around the state — and she is optimistic and enthused about this year’s event. [Read more…]

FRANKLIN — Social media no longer is confined to Generation Z, the generation born in the late 1990s or early 21st century, and it includes much more than Facebook.

What’s more, churches can no longer continue to ignore social media, says Samantha Bligh, events and social media coordinator for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.

“Social media is one of those unavoidable things today with the way technology has advanced,” Bligh affirmed.

Bligh was featured recently on the “Tennessee Golden Hour,” a podcast produced by the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board and hosted by TBMB staff members Matt Tullos and Beth Moore. [Read more…]

Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers, from top of photo, Kenny Street, Tommy Wilson and Butch Porch, work on a clearing a tree at a resident’s home in Spring, Texas.

SPRING, Texas — Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers were reminded again this week that there is strength in numbers.

Joining forces with other volunteers from several different states, a trio of teams from Tennessee was able to assist the recovery process in southeast Texas, where residents are still reeling from the effects of Hurricane Beryl. The Tennessee groups included chain saw and heavy equipment teams. 

Bill Lowe, disaster relief team leader for JST, arrived with his team in Spring, Texas, on Sunday, July 21, along with a team from West Tennessee, led by Butch Porch. Lowe said the teams went right to work — and there was plenty to do.

“At this location alone, there were 333 job requests,” he said. “So far, 170 of those have been completed.” [Read more…]

Wilson

BRENTWOOD — Creely Wilson, Tennessee WMU’s first state coordinator for Christian Women’s Job Corps (CWJC), died July 18. She was 92.

CWJC began in Tennessee in 1997. Soon after National WMU launched CWJC, Wilson came to the office and told the staff that Tennessee WMU needed to start this ministry, recalled Vickie Anderson, now executive director of Tennessee WMU. “Her passion for women and meeting the needs of women through CWJC was clear,” Anderson said.

She noted that Wilson made a difference by attending site coordinator training, finding a location for the first Tennessee site in Nashville (now called Begin Anew), meeting with local and state government leaders, finding teachers and volunteers, leading Bible Study, mentoring, developing a computer lab, promoting CWJC across Tennessee and teaching others to have a CWJC site. [Read more…]