Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835
Baptist and Reflector
FRANKLIN — Tennessee Baptist Convention churches gave $2,775,621 through the Cooperative Program in March.
After five months of the 2017-18 fiscal year, Tennessee Baptists have given $14,674,290.
The total is $59,461 or 0.4 percent over the amount given during the same time frame last year. It also is $299,290 or 2.08 percent over current budgeted needs. [Read more…]
IMB News Office
RICHMOND — The International Mission Board’s Presidential Search Committee is accepting nominations for the agency’s next president. The committee, chaired by Chuck Pourciau, senior pastor of Broadmoor Baptist Church in Shreveport, La., released the following statement April 12, 2018:
“The International Mission Board Presidential Search Committee has benefited greatly from your prayers and input during the early stage of this process. We continue to desire your help as we seek the person God has chosen to be the next leader of the IMB. [Read more…]
By David Dawson
Baptist and Reflector
FRANKLIN — Tim Bearden said last year was a good start.
Now, he is hoping for even greater participation — and more impactful results — during the second annual Day of Prayer for the Tennessee Baptist Conference Centers.
Bearden, the TBMB’s conference centers senior manager, is encouraging churches across Tennessee to “pray with expectation” for the two conference centers — located in Carson Springs and Linden Valley — when the second installment of the Day of Prayer is held on Sunday, May 20. [Read more…]
By Aaron Earls
Baptist Press
NASHVILLE — Pew Research has found a significant gender gap concerning religious beliefs and practice among self-identified Christian men and women in America. More than 7 in 10 U.S. Christian women (72 percent) say religion is very important to them, compared to 62 percent of Christian men. [Read more…]
Union University News Office
JACKSON — Union University trustees at their April 6 meeting approved a $91.2 million budget for the 2018-2019 fiscal year, a resolution of appreciation for the Lady Bulldogs basketball team, and a number of Union faculty members for promotions, tenure, and research leaves. [Read more…]
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
David Williams, pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church, Morristown, speaks during a prayer rally for Hispanic families affected by a recent raid at a Bean Station slaughterhouse.
— Photos by William Burton for the Baptist and Reflector
BEAN STATION — Tennessee Baptists are ministering to families affected by the raid on a Bean Station slaughterhouse on April 5.
Federal agents raided Southeastern Provisions, a cattle slaughterhouse in Grainger County, as part of a probe on allegations that the company was paying undocumented immigrants cash to avoid paying $2.5 million in payroll taxes over the past three years, according to the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
Of the more than 95 employees who were detained until their immigration status was verified, approximately 54 have been held for possible deportation due to their undocumented status, according to news reports. Those who have been released still face court dates and possible deportation, sources said. [Read more…]
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
Kim Harmon
GREENBRIER — By her own admission, Kim Harmon led a “fairy tale” life.
She was reared in a pastor’s home and later married and became a pastor’s wife.
And even though she had chosen a career in law enforcement which can have its “ups and downs,” Harmon had not experienced a true crisis in her life.
At least not until she received a phone call on Jan. 10, 2010 that would change not only her life, but the life of her family as well. [Read more…]
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
Tennessee Baptist evangelists, who were part of a meeting in Jackson recently to discuss the future of vocational evangelism, included, from left, Jerry Drace, Jackson; Ron Herrod, Sevierville; Keith Cook, Springfield; Phil Glisson, Memphis; and Richard Hamlet, Memphis.
JACKSON — In a day when the word “revival” is making a comeback, usually in the secular sense, fewer and fewer Southern Baptist churches are having multi-day revivals. And, even one-day “harvest revivals” aren’t as in demand as they once were. As a result, the number of vocational evangelists across the Southern Baptist Convention has dropped significantly over the past four decades.
The question is why?
Approximately 15 Southern Baptist vocational evangelists met in early March to discuss their profession and calling from God. Among them were five evangelists from Tennessee with a combined 173 years of experience in vocational evangelism — Phil Glisson, Memphis; Jerry Drace, Jackson; Keith Cook, Springfield; Ron Herrod, Sevierville; and Richard Hamlet, Memphis. [Read more…]
By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press
A March 21 worship service at the Foursquare Gospel Church, a Pentecostal congregation in Agatatu, Rwanda. The government has closed 6,000 churches in the nation of 12 million since March. (From BP / Screen capture from Foursquare Gospel Church YouTube video)
KIGALI, Rwanda — An estimated 6,000 churches have been closed across Rwanda and six pastors arrested in a government crackdown that began March 1 with 700 closures in the nation’s capital of Kigali, according to news reports. [Read more…]
By David Roach
Baptist Press
D. August (Augie) Boto
NASHVILLE — D. August (Augie) Boto has been named interim president of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee. [Read more…]
