Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835
Joe Shannon
Joe Shannon, associate director of missions, Judson, Stewart, and Truett Baptist Associations, based in Dover and Bon Aqua, for 11 years, and pastor, Pomona Baptist Church, Dickson, for two years, was named director of missions Feb. 1. William Gray, director of missions for 30 years, was named associate director of missions. He is pastor, Bear Spring Baptist Church, Dover. Shannon also was pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Dover. [Read more…]
Baptist and Reflector
BRENTWOOD — Tennessee Baptists are being asked to join other Southern Baptist disaster relief volunteers in helping flood victims in Missouri and Arkansas and they have responded, said Wes Jones, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.
The Midwest has been slammed by severe flooding, CNN reported. Floods have killed five people in Missouri and seven in Arkansas, the news service added. [Read more…]
Final touches are being made to Tennessee Baptists’ new Church Support Center, just off I-65, south of Franklin. Offices of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board are slated to move this week. The first day in the new facility will be May 22. A ribbon cutting and building dedication will be held on Saturday, June 3.
— Photos by Royce Degrie
By Julie Owens
Baptist Press
FORT WORTH, Texas — Southern Baptist medical missionary and martyr Bill Wallace suffered profoundly in his last weeks on earth, but he had long been prepared. “There is no sacrifice in all the world too great for a man to make for the Lord Jesus Christ,” he wrote in an emotional letter shared with his home congregation just before he left for his fateful mission to China in 1935. [Read more…]
Baptist and Reflector
Connie Davis Bushey
BRENTWOOD – Connie Davis Bushey will retire May 31 after 32 years on the staff of the Baptist and Reflector and the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.
Bushey joined the B&R in 1985 as assistant editor. She was promoted to news editor in 1998 after the election of Lonnie Wilkey as editor. She also served under editors Al Shackleford, Wm. Fletcher Allen, and Charlie Warren (interim).
A native of Oklahoma and graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Norman, and Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, Bushey formerly served as managing editor of Crusader and Crusader Counselor magazines for the former Brotherhood Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, based in Memphis. [Read more…]
By Tom Strode
Baptist Press
NASHVILLE — The Tennessee legislature has overwhelmingly approved a ban on post-viability abortions, drawing praise from the president of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board and the head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s ethics entity.
The House of Representatives voted 69-18 in favor of the Tennessee Infants Protection Act May 3, two days after the Senate passed the legislation in a 27-3 vote. Gov. Bill Haslam, who is considered pro-life, signed the bill into law on May 12. [Read more…]
By TBMB Conference Centers Team
Carson Springs and Linden Valley are places of spiritual significance designed to provide a transformational experience for all who visit. Whether it is the 8-year-old away from home for the very first time or the high school senior who is enjoying her 10th annual summer camp, every one that attends Journey Camp or Impact Camp realizes that just being away from the busyness of life and in a place of quiet refuge creates an environment where the Holy Spirit can bring about transformation. [Read more…]
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
Enjoying the setting at Linden Valley Baptist Conference Center is a group from Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, Bradford. From left are Theresa Kay Stone, Annalee Bratton, Macy Johnstone, Ava Anglin, Emma Cook (standing), and Alyssa Anglin.
BRENTWOOD — Sunday, May 28, will be observed as a day of prayer for the conference centers owned and operated by the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.
The day of prayer is for both Linden Valley Baptist Conference Center in Linden and Carson Springs Baptist Conference Center in Newport. The theme for the day is “Pray For Them All,” taken from I Timothy 2:1, NKJV.
“We have had days of prayer for both camps from time to time,” said Tim Bearden, senior manager of the conference centers for the TBMB. [Read more…]
By Janice Backer
Contributing Writer, B&R
GATLINBURG — “Who are the people that are hard for you to like?” asked Tony Rankin of the large number of women who were attending the recent Missions Get-Together & Connection Conference held in Gatlinburg.
The responses came from all parts of the auditorium — “kinfolk,” “coworkers,” and “know-it-alls” — just to name a few. [Read more…]
By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector
The leaders of Kairos Communities, Ooltewah, pause at Wired Coffeehouse, Ooltewah, recently. They are, from left, Shane Mitchell, founder and elder/pastor; Kel Trudgian, elder/pastor; and Steve Gervasi, elder/teaching pastor.
CHATTANOOGA — Just two years ago Shane Mitchell was a worship and creative arts pastor of a traditional church who enjoyed riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle. Then he felt called by God to build relationships at a coffeehouse.
Since then his work-a-day world has shifted — from spending most of his time at Oakwood Baptist Church, Chattanooga, where he led worship, to managing a thrift store while leading a new congregation.
His personal life has been rocked — from living in a nice traditional home in Chattanooga to a small apartment in Ooltewah. [Read more…]
