Baptist & Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

FBC POWELL BEGINS REVITALIZING SECOND CHURCH

By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Leading the revitalization efforts at Norwood Baptist Church Campus, Knoxville, of First Baptist Church, Powell, are, from left, Phil Young, director of missions, Knox County Association of Baptists, and church revitalization specialist, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board; Tim McGhee, pastor, Norwood Baptist Church Campus; Phil Jones, preaching pastor, First Baptist, Powell; and Kemp Wynn, pastoral care minister, Norwood Baptist Church Campus.

POWELL — At least two models of Baptist church revitalization exist — a sponsoring church can absorb the congregation, developing a campus of the sponsoring church, or the sponsoring church can bring in another congregation to use the facility of the declining congregation.

It is rare for the revitalized church to retain its identity and be given back its autonomy.

However, this occurred in January as First Baptist Church, Powell, saw First Baptist Church, Fountain City, revitalized after a 10-year process and returned to being an autonomous church. [Read more…]

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COLLINS SEEKS ‘REAL TIME’ BAPTISMS

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

BRENTWOOD — Roc Collins joined the staff of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board as director of evangelism in January with one purpose in mind — to see more Tennesseans come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Collins, director of evangelism for the TBMB, also had a strong desire to see the convention meet the evangelism/discipleship goal of seeing at least 50,000 Tennesseans annually saved, baptized, and set on the road to discipleship by 2024 (the first of 5 Objectives, a strategic 10-year plan, adopted by convention messengers in 2014). [Read more…]

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TENNESCENE APR. 19-MAY 2

CHURCHES

Brace Baptist Church, Summertown, celebrated its 100th anniversary celebration on April 9. A luncheon followed the morning worship service and then an Easter egg hunt for children was held.

West Hills Baptist Church, Jonesborough, is offering a Grow-Your-Own Community Garden with raised beds assigned to families who agree to volunteer in three events. For more information contact Pastor Daniel Shrader at 252-916-6813 or danielshrader26@yahoo.com.

Westwood Baptist Church, Nashville, is helping plant a new Hispanic Baptist church in West Nashville. Robert Hammer is pastor of Westwood Baptist and Gus Zuniga is pastor of the new Hispanic congregation. [Read more…]

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MISSIONS EDUCATION IS IMPERATIVE: PITTS

Editor’s note: You can listen to Martha Pitts discuss missions during Episode 7 of Radio B&R, the official news podcast of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.

 

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Martha Pitts speaks during the annual WMU Missions Get-Together in Gatlinburg. She was elected to a second term as state WMU president.
— Photo by Chris Turner

GATLINBURG — Tennessee Woman’s Missionary Union President Martha Pitts is a product of missions education. And she is a huge proponent of it today.

“I started early. I grew up in Girls in Action (GAs). People invested in me and took me on missions trips and taught me early on to look around for people who were in need,” Pitts said during an interview for a Radio B&R podcast with Chris Turner.

As an adult Pitts taught GAs and later became the associational WMU director (Shelby County Baptist Association, now Mid-South Baptist Association). Though she held different positions, one thing remained the same — her love for missions. “I love getting out to people and telling them about Jesus,” said Pitts, who was elected to a second one-year term as president during the Missions Get-Together held March 31-April 2 at the Gatlinburg Convention Center. [Read more…]

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1,619 ATTEND WMU GET-TOGETHER & CONNECTION

By Janice Backer
Contributing Writer, B&R

Elected as promotion directors for Tennessee Woman’s Missionary Union during its annual meeting were, from left, Glenda Roach, Blue Springs Baptist Church, Rutledge, northeast; Bobby Turner, First Baptist Church, Lenoir City, east; Linda Robbins, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Westpoint, south central; Jonnie (Neal) Jones, First Baptist Church, Macon, southwest; and Sharon Tyler, Bellevue Baptist Church, Nashville, central. Not pictured are Lisa Condee-Sullivan, Delano Baptist Church, Delano, southeast, and Rhonda Poore, First Baptist Church, Kenton, northwest. — Photo by Chris Turner

GATLINBURG — For more than 10 years, Sharon Y. Smith has made the eight-hour trip from Memphis to Gatlinburg to attend the Missions Get-Together and Connection.  This year the conference was held on March 31-April 2 at the Gatlinburg Convention Center.

“The worship and the sessions are good,” Smith said. “I come and learn and take the information back to share with my church.”  A member of Kingdom Center Ministries in Memphis, she brought 10 women including her sister, Bettye Tyson, and Jeanette West, the first black Woman’s Missionary Union director of  Mid-South Baptist Association, based in Memphis.

“I must say it is awesome and a blessing to meet so many women in Christ,” said Tyson, who attended the meeting for the first time.   [Read more…]

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BALANCING SPORTS AND FAITH

Baptist and Reflector

kids-baseball-teamBRENTWOOD — Mark Moore, executive pastor at Third Baptist Church, Murfreesboro, has coached travel teams in baseball and knows firsthand the challenges of playing sports while maintaining a commitment to God and church.

He offers five tips on maintaining a healthy balance. [Read more…]

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BALANCE NEEDED BETWEEN SPORTS, CHURCH

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

teammates-baseballBRENTWOOD — Little Johnny has a travel baseball game on Sunday morning, sister Becky has a soccer game in the early afternoon, and older brother Ben has an AAU basketball game at the same time.

And, by the way, church starts at 9 and is over at noon. What’s a family to do?

For Derek Westmoreland, pastor of Hopewell Baptist Church in Savannah, the answer is simple. Go to church.

“Your kids have to know that God is most important and that He comes first,” said Westmoreland, who has coached his sons’ baseball teams over the years, but is no longer their coach. [Read more…]

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SOUTHERN SEMINARY TRUSTEES INSTALL GAINES TO VISITING PROFESSORSHIP

By Andrew J.W. Smith
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Southern Baptist Convention President Steve Gaines was installed as the first Herschel H. Hobbs Visiting Professor of Preaching at the April 10 trustees meeting.

Southern Baptist Convention President Steve Gaines was installed as the first Herschel H. Hobbs Visiting Professor of Preaching at the April 10 trustees meeting.

Trustees of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary unanimously approved all recommendations in the board’s April 10 meeting, including the installation of Southern Baptist Convention President Steve Gaines to a visiting professorship honoring former SBC President Herschel H. Hobbs. The board also approved an expanded budget for the 2017-2018 academic year and elected three faculty members.

The trustees established the Herschel H. Hobbs Visiting Professor of Christian Preaching to honor the life and legacy of Hobbs, a two-time graduate of Southern Seminary. Hobbs was the president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1961-1963, served as chairman of the committee that revised the Baptist Faith and Message in 1963, and pastored several SBC churches.

“One of my encouragers all along the way was Dr. Herschel Hobbs — he was so committed to this institution, so committed to Southern Baptists,” said Southern Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. to trustees during the meeting. “Very regularly we will have a visiting professor in his name come to this campus in order to educate students and honor Dr. Hobbs.” [Read more…]

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MUSLIMS OUTPACING CHRISTIANS IN BIRTHS, PEW SAYS

By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press

The growing birth rate among Muslims will put the group’s population at nearly equal that of Christians globally by 2060, according to Pew Research. In this BP file photo, Muslims are praying at Jakarta's Masjid Istiqlal, the largest mosque in Southeast Asia.

The growing birth rate among Muslims will put the group’s population at nearly equal that of Christians globally by 2060, according to Pew Research. In this BP file photo, Muslims are praying at Jakarta’s Masjid Istiqlal, the largest mosque in Southeast Asia.

NASHVILLE (BP) — Muslims are so outpacing Christians in births that the two population groups will be nearly equal by 2060, with Christians holding only a slight majority, according to newly released Pew Research data.

An increase in Muslim births compounded by an aging Christian population will put the Muslim share of the global population at 31 percent by 2060, just under the 32 percent for Christians, Pew said in its April 5 report.

Muslim births are nearly double the overall growth rate of the global population, Pew said, characterizing Islam as the youngest major religious group with the highest fertility. Atheists, agnostics and adults who don’t specify a religion, together classified as “nones” by Pew, lag far behind both Muslims and Christians in reproduction. [Read more…]

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BAPTIST MUSICIANS HONOR PAUL CLARK

Baptist and Reflector

170410paulBRENTWOOD – Paul Clark, retired director of worship and music ministries for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, was honored recently by the Southern Baptist Church Music Conference.

Clark was presented the W. Hines Sims Award for leadership in church music.

Clark served on the TBMB staff from 2000 until his retirement last year after suffering a stroke in November of 2015. During those years he directed both the Tennessee Men’s Chorale and the Tennessee Ladies Chorus. He also served for 26 years as a local church music minister for churches in Missouri, Kentucky, Kansas, Tennessee, and Georgia. [Read more…]

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