Baptist & Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

TBC CP GIFTS CLIMB

Baptist and Reflector

cplogoBRENTWOOD — Tennessee Baptists gave a total of $3,871,421 through the Cooperative Program in December. It was the largest dollar amount for the Cooperative Program in a single month since January in the 2012-2013 budget year when Tennessee Baptists gave $3,897,791.

After two months of the 2015-16 budget year Tennessee Baptist churches have given $6,150,145 through the CP giving channel for missions and ministries throughout Tennessee, the nation, and the world. [Read more…]

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DR TEAMS CALLED OUT

Baptist and Reflector

dr-disaster-relief-logoBRENTWOOD — Ten­ne­ssee  Bap­tist  Disaster  Re­­­lief volunteers have been asked to respond in the wake of deadly storms and flooding that occurred across the nation during the Christmas holidays.

As of Jan. 4, 11 states had Southern Baptist Disaster Relief vol­unteers serving at min­­is­try sites in Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Louisian­a, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. [Read more…]

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BIVOCATIONAL PASTORS PLAY KEY ROLE: PARROTT

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

John Parrott

John Parrott

ROGERSVILLE — With a half year under his belt as interim bivocational ministries specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Convention, John Parrott has confirmed what he already knew from his role as a director of missions — bivocational ministers are critical in helping to reach Tennessee Baptists with the gospel.

Statistics show that approximately 65 percent of churches in Tennessee are served by bivocational pastors — men who also hold another job, Parrott said.

Though they have other professions, bivocational ministers are not part-time, stressed Parrott, who retired last year as director of missions for Holston Valley Baptist Association, based in Rogersville. [Read more…]

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THE TENNESSEE BAPTIST CONVENTION – A YEAR IN REVIEW

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

fiveobjectivesBRENTWOOD — A highlight for Tennessee Baptists in 2015 was the news that baptisms increased in Tennessee Baptist Convention churches for the second year in a row. In 2014, 2,603 TBC churches reported 23,499 baptisms, the largest number of baptisms recorded since 2010. In 2013 churches reported 21,979 baptisms.

The year saw leadership changes with TBC entities. Vickie Anderson began serving Jan. 1 as the executive director/treasurer of Tennessee Woman’s Missionary Union. She was installed later in the year to that position during WMU’s annual meeting. Mark Anderson was elected in December to succeed Kenny Cooper as president of Tennessee Baptist Adult Homes. Cooper will retire Dec. 31 after 20 years in the role while Anderson, a longtime staff member, will assume his new role on Jan. 1. Bryant Millsaps will retire Dec. 31 as president of Tennessee Baptist Children’s Homes and will be succeeded by Greg McCoy who served throughout 2015 as president-elect. Several changes occurred on the TBC Executive Board staff, including the retirement of Bobby Welch as associate executive director. Welch, who served since 2011, was instrumental in helping to initiate the 1-5-1 Harvest Plants initiative geared toward sharing the gospel, starting churches, and discipling people. [Read more…]

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TDAC TO CEASE OPERATIONS

Baptist and Reflector

Roger Stacy

Roger Stacy

BRENTWOOD — The Tennessee Drug Awareness Council is closing its doors, effective Dec. 31.

Originally formed as the United Tennessee League to promote alcohol abstinence decades ago, the name was officially changed to Tennessee Drug Awareness Council about 15 years ago to promote drug awareness and drug prevention education, said Roger Stacy, chairman of the TDAC board of directors and director of missions for Gibson Baptist Association, based in Trenton.

Due to several factors, TDAC has come to the decision that it cannot continue to sustain its ministry, Stacy said. [Read more…]

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TENNESCENE DEC. 30-JAN. 12

LEADERS

Tom Hodges was honored at the recent annual meeting of Knox County Association of Baptists, based in Knoxville, for serving 10 years as director of Montgomery Village Baptist Center, Knoxville, a ministry directed by the association.

William Robertson, pastor, Elizabeth Chapel Baptist Church, Smithville, retired Nov. 8. For the past 29 years he has led Elizabeth Chapel and seen it become the largest church in the Salem Baptist Association. Robertson has served as pastor of churches in Ohio, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee. He is available for interim work or pulpit supply and can be reached at 615-464-5590.

Mark Allison has been called as pastor, Victory Chapel Baptist Church, Knoxville, recently.

Matt Warden has been called recently as youth pastor of Bethel Baptist Church, Yorkville. [Read more…]

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LIFEWAY STORE TO CLOSE IN NASHVILLE

LifeWay news office

Lifeway Christian Store, downtown Nashville. - photo, Wikimedia, Michael Rivera

Lifeway Christian Store, downtown Nashville. Photo – Wikimedia, Michael Rivera

NASHVILLE — LifeWay Christian Resources will close its retail store in downtown Nashville on Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016.

The site of the LifeWay store at 10th Avenue and Broadway was included in last month’s sale of the organization’s 15-acre campus. Although LifeWay is leasing back office space until a new headquarters is built, the lease does not include the retail building. [Read more…]

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PASTOR LOSES 165 POUNDS IN 2015

Health issues, Chubby Challenge encourage pastor Ryan Culpepper to lose weight

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Pastor Ryan Culpepper of Mary’s Chapel Baptist Church, Ripley, embraced the Chubby Challenge made by TBC Executive Director Randy C. Davis and lost 165 pounds. — Photo by Corinne Williams

Pastor Ryan Culpepper of Mary’s Chapel Baptist Church, Ripley, embraced the Chubby Challenge made by TBC Executive Director Randy C. Davis and lost 165 pounds. — Photo by Corinne Williams

RIPLEY — As 2015 winds to a close, pastor Ryan Culpepper is not nearly the man he was when the year began. And, for that he is grateful to the God he worships and serves. At the start of 2015, the 6-foot, 7-inch former college football player, weighed 460 pounds. “I was miserable,” he recalled.

As of Dec. 17, Culpepper tipped the scales at 295 pounds. His goal is to lose at least 50 more pounds during 2016. “I’ve still got a ways to go,” acknowledged the pastor of Mary’s Chapel Baptist Church, Ripley. [Read more…]

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NEWCOMB STILL LEADING SOULS TO CHRIST

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Chris Turner, director of communications for the Tennessee Baptist Convention, visited with his former pastor Ray Newcomb at the Summit. Newcomb baptized Turner more than 30 years ago while serving as pastor of First Baptist Church, Millington. — Photo by Corinne Williams

Chris Turner, director of communications for the Tennessee Baptist Convention, visited with his former pastor Ray Newcomb at the Summit. Newcomb baptized Turner more than 30 years ago while serving as pastor of First Baptist Church, Millington. — Photo by Corinne Williams

MILLINGTON — The recently concluded Summit at First Baptist Church, Millington, was a homecoming for Ray Newcomb who served as pastor of the Memphis area congregation from 1976 until his retirement in 2009.

He preached the annual convention sermon and a humorous episode during his message has gone viral. During a key point in the sermon, Newcomb grabbed the pulpit and it came apart. His response: “Lordy, I didn’t know I was going to tear up the pulpit.”

Since the video was posted on the Tennessee Baptist Convention Facebook page on Nov. 24 it has been shared more than 200 times and reached more than 32,000 people. [Read more…]

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ADRIAN ROGERS’ SERMON TAPES GIVEN TO GRANDSON

Kay Wilkes has given her late husband's collection of Adrian Rogers' taped messages to Rogers' grandson, Andrew Edmiston, a student at Union University in Tennessee. -Photo by Kristi Woody

Kay Wilkes has given her late husband’s collection of Adrian Rogers’ taped messages to Rogers’ grandson, Andrew Edmiston, a student at Union University in Tennessee.
-Photo by Kristi Woody

By Amanda Vernon
Union University

JACKSON, Tenn. (BP) — Baptist preacher Adrian Rogers’ legacy lives on in a collection of audio tapes given to his grandson, a current Union University student, during a presentation in Union’s Ryan Center for Biblical Studies.

A giant in Southern Baptist life, Rogers was the longtime pastor of the Memphis-area Bellevue Baptist Church who played an instrumental role in turning the Southern Baptist Convention away from liberalism and back to the authority of Scripture.

Kay Wilkes of Union City, Tenn., discovered Rogers’ sermon tapes among the possessions of her late husband, Ben Wilkes, a former pastor who was a student at Union when he was mentored by Rogers. After learning that Rogers’ grandson Andrew Edmiston is a sophomore at Union, Kay Wilkes worked with staff at the Jackson, Tenn., campus to present the tapes to him. Andrew’s mother, Janice Edmiston, attended the presentation, as did his sister, Breezy Edmiston. [Read more…]

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