According to the latest reports, more than 12 percent of Tennessee Baptist churches are without a pastor. That is about 400 churches. Among the pastors we do have, the average age is increasing dramatically because fewer and fewer young men are entering the ministry, and men who are ready to retire must be pressed back into service.
Our rural churches are particularly hard hit. Many of the people of God are shepherdless at a time when there are four million lost people in Tennessee.
I am most accustomed to thinking of international missions when I read Matthew 9:35-38, but it is also true of Tennessee. “And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. [Read more…]


