Baptist & Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

SBC Supports Marriage, Religious Liberty

Elected as officers of the Southern Baptist Convention on June 16 were, from left, Chad Keck, second vice president, pastor of First Baptist Church in Kettering, Ohio; Ronnie Floyd, president, pastor of Cross Church in northwest Arkansas; Steve Dighton, first vice president, pastor of Lenexa Baptist Church in Lenexa, KS.; John Yeats, recording secretary, executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention; and Jim Wells, registration secretary, strategic partners team leader for the Missouri Baptist Convention.

By Lonnie Wilkey/David Roach
B&R/Baptist Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio — With the decision of the United States Supreme Court on whether all states must recognize same-sex marriage still to come, Southern Baptists have made it clear where they stand.

Messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Columbus passed a resolution June 16 that declared that “no matter how the Supreme Court rules, the Southern Baptist Convention reaffirms its unwavering commitment to its doctrinal and public beliefs concerning marriage.”

The meeting, with the theme “Great Awakening” was highlighted by a Tuesday night prayer gathering led by SBC President Ronnie Floyd, at which an estimated 7,000 Southern Baptists spent two hours asking God for a third Great Awakening in America and the global advance of the gospel. The gathering was watched by an additional 8,000 people online and broadcast on Daystar television. [Read more…]

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Patriotism, Christianity Still Mix

150630-bibleflagBy Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Tennessee veterans reflect on what it means to be a patriot

BRENTWOOD — Unlike oil and water, patriotism and Christianity can mix, agree three Tennessee Baptists with strong military ties.

Though culture is changing and the country appears to be drifting more each day from the religious freedom that countless men and women have given their lives for, a Christian can still be a strong patriot, says Bobby Welch.

“I don’t see how you can be a Christian and not be a patriot because of what Christianity has meant to this country,” Welch observed in advance of the nation’s Fourth of July Independence Day celebration this week.

Patriotism is generally the love one feels for his or her country, said Welch, associate executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Convention and a decorated Vietnam War veteran. [Read more…]

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Same-Sex Marriage Now Legal: SCOTUS

Gavel on sounding blockBy Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Editor’s Note: The Baptist and Reflector will publish more in-depth articles about the significance of the Supreme Court’s decision and its potential impact on churches in the July 15 issue.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruled June 26 that same-sex marriage is protected under the Constitution and  is now legal in all 50 states.

In a landmark decision, the decision to redefine marriage passed by a 5-4 margin with Justice Anthony M. Kennedy providing the swing vote. [Read more…]

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DR Trailer Stolen in Oklahoma, Found

150623drtrailer-stolen-returnedBy Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector

LAWTON, Okla. — A trailer being used by a Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief team serving here June 23 was stolen and then found unharmed and intact that evening. The reporting of KSWO-TV Channel 7 and a lot of prayers were the keys to the recovery, reported Doyle Pittman, director of the team.
The trailer was stolen from First Baptist Church West in Lawton overnight as the team slept at the church. Thankfully a viewer of the reporting by the TV station saw the trailer which was picked up by the team. [Read more…]

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BCMers Record Songs in Panama

Pausing with their new friends of the Embera tribe in Panama are, first row, Daniel Woodin, left, and Gabriella Betancourt, right; second row, Abbi Tabor, left, and Jordan Peffley, second from left; back row, from left, David Tucker, Cheryl and Kenny Morris, IMB missionaries, Glenn Wallace, BCM director, MTSU, Nathan Nix, Jesse Brasher, and Emalee Buckner.

By Landon Dickerson
B&R Intern

MURFREESBORO — Eight students from Middle Tennessee State University recently traveled to Embera, Panama, to record Christian songs in order to spread the gospel to different areas around the country.

Though the team worked with local people in Embera who already had heard the gospel, the MTSU students were there to target surrounding areas of the city that have not heard the gospel, said Glenn Wallace, Baptist Collegiate Ministries director at MTSU.

Because it is hard to reach those people with traditional missions projects, the MTSU group came to “record the indigenous tribes singing praise and worship in their native language,” Wallace said. [Read more…]

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Small Church — God-Sized Ministry

Pastors Doug Mitchell, left, of Midland Baptist Church, Bell Buckle, and Roger Brown of Cedar Grove United Methodist Church, Murfreesboro, load food into a shopper’s car at Midland Baptist’s Journey of Hope Ministry Center.

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Midland Baptist distributes more than 3.5 million pounds of food annually

BELL BUCKLE — The premise behind the Journey of Hope Ministry Center is simple.

“There are as many hungry people in rural America as there are in urban America,” said Doug Mitchell, pastor of Midland Baptist Church in Bell Buckle which has operated the center since 2009.

In addition, he said, people need to hear about Jesus.

The ministry center actually began with former church deacon Dean Cantrell who would pick up bread from local outlets and deliver it to needy families in the neighborhood.

In January of 2009 Cantrell’s health worsened and he later died, but before he did he asked the church to take over his bread ministry. “We didn’t know what to do with it,” Mitchell admitted. [Read more…]

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Resolutions Beneficial, SBC Leaders Say

Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, and Steve Gaines, left, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tenn., and chairman of the SBC Resolutions Committee, answer questions during a June 16 press conference on resolutions passed by messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. - Photo by Bill Bangham

Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, and Steve Gaines, left, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tenn., and chairman of the SBC Resolutions Committee, answer questions during a June 16 press conference on resolutions passed by messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio.
– Photo by Bill Bangham

By Baptist Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) — Resolutions adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention offer multiple benefits.

That was the response of this year’s Resolutions Committee chairman and an SBC ethics leader when asked by a reporter shortly after messengers to the 2015 meeting adopted nine resolutions. In unanimous or nearly unanimous votes during the Tuesday afternoon session (June 16), the convention approved measures on such topics as marriage, racial reconciliation, the sanctity of human life, religious persecution and spiritual awakening.

Steve Gaines, who chaired the committee, said he believes resolutions are imperative at the annual meeting even though they are not binding. [Read more…]

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Floyd: ‘Rise Up’ in a ‘Dangerous, Hopeless World’

Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd tells messengers at the SBC annual meeting that "we must pray for the third Great Awakening." The two-day meeting was held June 16-17 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. - Photo by By Adam Covington

Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd tells messengers at the SBC annual meeting that “we must pray for the third Great Awakening.” The two-day meeting was held June 16-17 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio.
– Photo by By Adam Covington

By Baptist Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) — Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd called for pastoral leadership in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination to seize a “Bonhoeffer moment” by refusing to be silent in the face of persecution, to hold on to the Word of God, take heart and be encouraged.

“The lostness has never been greater in our dangerous and hopeless world,” Floyd, pastor of Cross Church in northwest Arkansas, said in his president’s message to the SBC annual meeting June 16 in Columbus, Ohio.

“Everyone, and I mean everyone, needs to rise up and lead.”

Punctuated by frequent applause from nearly 7,000 messengers and guests, Floyd’s message, titled “Now Is the Time to Lead,” began with broadcast clips showing that “the alarm clock is going off in our nation and across the world.”

“I believe if the 59 presidents who have preceded me could speak to us in this hour … they would declare to us that we are living right now in our most defining hour as Southern Baptists.” Citing Romans 13:11 to declare it a “kairos” moment, Floyd described a season “fixed by a sovereign God as a true moment of destiny.” [Read more…]

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Southern Baptists Affirm Commitment to Biblical Marriage

Ronnie Floyd, SBC president, seated, left of center, and past SBC presidents participate in a June 17 press conference on their statement on marriage and religious liberty. Jack Graham, far left, senior pastor, Prestonwood Baptist Church, Plano, Texas, is speaking.

Ronnie Floyd, SBC president, seated, left of center, and past SBC presidents participate in a June 17 press conference on their statement on marriage and religious liberty. Jack Graham, far left, senior pastor, Prestonwood Baptist Church, Plano, Texas, is speaking.

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

COLUMBUS, Ohio – With the decision of the United States Supreme Court on whether all states must recognize same-sex marriage still to come, Southern Baptists have made it clear where they stand.

Messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Columbus passed a resolution June 16 that declared that “no matter how the Supreme Court rules, the Southern Baptist Convention reaffirms its unwavering commitment to its doctrinal and public beliefs concerning marriage.”

The following day (June 17) all 17 former living SBC presidents since 1980 issued a statement on marriage and religious liberty. The signers included Bobby Welch, associate executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Convention, who served as president in 2005-06 while serving as pastor of First Baptist Church, Daytona Beach, Fla.

Prior to reading the statement during a press conference, SBC President Ronnie Floyd stressed that the former presidents were speaking for themselves, not the convention. [Read more…]

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Ronnie Floyd Unopposed as SBC President

Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd gives the president's address June 16 during the opening session of the SBC annual meeting at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio. - Photo by By Matt Miller

Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd gives the president’s address June 16 during the opening session of the SBC annual meeting at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio.
– Photo by By Matt Miller

By Baptist Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio (BP) — Arkansas pastor Ronnie Floyd was reelected without opposition to a second term as president of the Southern Baptist Convention June 16 during the SBC annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio.

Registered messengers totaled 5,277 messengers at the time.

Floyd was nominated by North Carolina pastor J.D. Greear, who said, “God’s hand has been upon Brother Ronnie. I believe he is the man God has raised up to lead us for another year.”

All other SBC officers for the coming year also were elected without opposition.

Kansas pastor Steve Dighton, senior pastoral adviser at the Kansas City-area Lenexa Baptist Church in Lenexa, Kan., was elected as first vice president, nominated by Texas pastor and former SBC president Jack Graham. [Read more…]

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