Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835
By Carolyn Tomlin
Contributing Writer, B&R
BROWNSVILLE — When the call came a few years ago from Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief to assist people who had been affected by an ice storm in Missouri, Woodland Baptist Church here responded.
In the summer of 2016, the team once again loaded up trucks and equipment and headed to Louisiana to help flood victims when the mighty Mississippi River overflowed. [Read more…]
By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press
WASHINGTON (BP) — The Trump administration has reversed an Obama-era directive that advised schools to open bathrooms and locker rooms to students based on their perceived sexual identity or risk losing federal funding.
The new ruling leaves bathroom use policies to the discretion of state governments and local school districts, but the issue is already set to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. The court is scheduled on March 28 to hear a case from the Gloucester County School Board in Virginia challenging a lower court ruling allowing transgender teen Gavin Grimm to use the boys’ bathroom at school. Grimm, a biological female, identifies as male. [Read more…]
By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector
Retired USAF Col. Jim Harding, right, of Huntingdon stands with his wife Barbara and former President George W. Bush at an event in 2010.
HUNTINGDON — “We had probably what everybody thought was an impossible rescue,” said Retired United States Air Force Col. Jim Harding of one of his experiences during the Vietnam War.
Harding, a member of First Baptist Church, Huntingdon, and one of the top 25 most decorated veterans in U.S. history, used the event as an illustration of the importance of saving one life in a session of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board staff recently. [Read more…]
By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector
Judy Hurst, center, who is director of the English for Language Learners ministry of Robertson County Baptist Association, stands with new students at a recent meeting. From left are Isidro Silva of Mexico, Samuel Nageeb of Egypt, Hurst, Naftali Piña of Mexico, Yaneth Morales of Mexico, and Karla Caballero of El Salvador.
SPRINGFIELD — Robertson County Baptist Association (RCBA), based here, has offered an English for Language Learners ministry for 18 years.
The ELL program of RCBA, draws about 100 people weekly from Spanish-speaking countries, Iran, Egypt, Brazil, and China to Springfield Baptist Church, said Judy Hurst, member of Springfield Baptist, who is ELL director.
Students attend Thursday evening classes which are offered simultaneously with the RCBA’s HiSET classes, or Thursday morning classes. Aspects of the program that make it popular are that childcare is provided and five levels of classes as well as a citizenship class are offered, Hurst added. [Read more…]
By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector
Luis Lopez, right, coordinator for Hispanic work, Robertson County Baptist Association, based in Springfield, speaks to Bartolo Eduardo Perez Juarez, center, and Argenis Zarate Gutierrez at a HiSET class of RCBA held at Springfield Baptist Church, Springfield.
SPRINGFIELD — With only two Hispanic Baptist congregations in this area and about 10,000 Hispanic residents, opportunities abound to reach Hispanics here with the gospel, said Luis Lopez of the Robertson County Baptist Association (RCBA).
Also the Hispanic population here is expected to grow 30 percent in the next five years — to 13,000, added Lopez, coordinator for Hispanic work of RCBA.
“The harvest is here. We just need to reap it,” he stated. [Read more…]
Editor’s Note: You can hear Willie McLaurin discuss the growth of African-American churches during Episode 5 of Radio B&R, the official news podcast of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.
Willie McLaurin
BRENTWOOD — Two events stand out in the mind of Willie McLaurin as they relate to the growth of African-American churches across both the Tennessee Baptist Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention.
The first happened in 2012 when Fred Luter, pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, La., became the first African-American to be elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention.
“It meant so much to me to see Bro. Fred elected that tears came streaming down my eyes,” recalled McLaurin, special assistant to the president and director of black church development for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. [Read more…]
New Market Baptist Church, New Market, will hold its 20th annual “Trail to the Empty Tomb.” About 650 people viewed the presentation last year on two nights. One night was rained out. This year the outdoor dramatic presentation will be offered Thursday – Saturday, April 13-15, from 8-9:30 p.m. For more information, contact Becky Finley at 865-850-6313 or rebeccalfinley@charter.net.
Trinity Baptist Church, Knoxville, will hold revival services March 19-22. Phil Glisson, evangelist of Memphis, will preach. [Read more…]
By David Roach
Baptist Press
PLANO, Texas (BP) — A Dallas-area megachurch has decided to escrow Cooperative Program funds temporarily in order to evaluate future support of Southern Baptist Convention causes.
At issue are what the congregation calls “various significant positions taken by the leadership of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission that do not reflect the beliefs and values of many in the Southern Baptist Convention,” according to a statement the church released to Louisiana’s Baptist Message newsjournal.
Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, will escrow what would amount to $1 million annually, the Message reported Feb. 16. [Read more…]
By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press
The Freedom From Religion Foundation complained that students’ rights were violated when Eric Dill, student pastor of Bayside Baptist Church in Harrison, Tenn., prayed over an injured student at a September 2016 high school football game in Chattanooga, Tenn. The student has since made a full recovery.
-WRCB-TV screen capture
CHATTANOOGA — A public school system has agreed to update employees on applicable constitutional law after a special interest group complained of a Tennessee Baptist minister’s impromptu prayer over an injured player at a high school football game.
The Hamilton County Department of Education (HCDE) will “provide additional training to its employees on the application of the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses in public schools,” HCDE attorney D. Scott Bennett told the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) Jan. 30. [Read more…]
By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector
Disaster relief volunteers of Knox County Association of Baptists work on some trees at the site of a burned home in Gatlinburg.
GATLINBURG — Disaster relief fire response “is so different … . We can’t go door to door saying, ‘Hey, we’re here for you,’ because there are no doors,” explained Kaye Thomas of Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief, referring to the hundreds of homes destroyed here by fires three months ago.
“But our yellow hats and blue shirts out on the mountains have really impressed people,” she added.
The Nov. 28 fires in Sevier County took 14 lives, left 160 people injured, and destroyed or damaged 2,800 structures including three Tennessee Baptist churches. [Read more…]
