Editor’s Note: Though Belmont University is no longer an institution of the Tennessee Baptist Convention, it would not be here today if not for dedicated Tennessee Baptists who gave sacrificially to purchase the current Belmont campus and establish the school in 1951.

By Albert W. Wardin Jr.
Professor Emeritus of History, Belmont University, Nashville

Some months ago Belmont University published a well-edited history — FROM HERE TO ANYWHERE: A HISTORY OF BELMONT UNIVERSITY, 1890-2015, by — Joy Jordan-Lake.

The school has proclaimed its longevity by billboard, stickers, and other means.

This effort has come as a surprise to faculty and alumni who know that Belmont University (then known as Belmont College) was formed in 1951, but is now claimed to be twice as old. The Belmont Vision in 1976 included a lengthy article in its March issue, “Belmont Celebrates Silver Anniversary,” and an additional article, “Banquet To Mark 25th Anniversary” with Dr. Herbert Gabhart, president, presiding along with   four of the original trustees. A graduate of the school in the 1970s has proudly shown me his graduation ring inscribed with the year 1951. [Read more…]

By Todd Brady
Vice President for University Ministries, Union University

Along their journeys of exploring the world around them, children need moms and dads who understand the tremendous privilege and parental responsibility of being interpreters for their children.

For a parent, opportunities for interpretation abound. A child wakes up to a new world every day. Nothing is bland. Boredom has not cynically shown up on their doorstep yet. Every day, sights are seen for the first time. Sounds are heard for the first time. Words are being assigned to things they see and touch and hear and smell. Every day is a new day to explore. All things are new. Oh, the wonder of being a child.

At our church, we take the Lord’s Supper each month. When I walk into the sanctuary on those Sunday mornings and see the table prepared, I think about what we’re going to experience, I say a little prayer and I think about my family who sits on the pew with me. On those days I always smile. I know it’s going to be a good day. And I know that later that afternoon I’m going to get to do some interpreting for my boys.

Now on one hand, five fidgeting boys with wiggly bodies and clumsy hands are not a good mix with little pieces of bread and plastic cups full of grape juice — not to mention that the fabric on the pews is a light color and that the bread and juice is reserved for mom and dad and those boys in the family who have been baptized by immersion (after all, this dad is a Baptist). [Read more…]

Editor’s Note: It’s not too late to attend a Church Revitalization Conference March 14-15 at Union University in Jackson. For more information, contact Steve Holt at sholt@tnbaptist.org.

Bob Brown
Church Revitalization Specialist, TBC

I suppose everyone has experienced that moment when something about which you were clueless suddenly becomes very clear. I have vivid memories of such a moment in my ninth grade algebra class. I had struggled for a good portion of the year, trying to grasp the finer concepts and meaning of this noble subject. Everything I tried amounted to no avail. The tutoring, the trying harder, the tearing and tossing of paper in frustration … all was useless. Then one day while gazing at the black board, inexplicably and without expectation it came to me. It was an “Aha” moment. [Read more…]

By Chris Turner
Director of Communications, TBC

I sat down in a movie theatre with my 13-year-old daughter and I located the doors as I did. We would have been the first fatalities if someone stormed in with guns blazing. We moved.

I was recently at an upscale mall and passed two ladies who were obviously Muslims. I looked closely to see if I could detect any sign of an explosive device strapped to their bodies. I didn’t, but I quickly moved on.

Paranoia? Racial profiling? Xenophobia? Do those labels describe me? I don’t believe so. I’ve been a missionary, traveled extensively overseas and love other people and their cultures. So why such anxiety? I’ve searched for a word to describe the suspicion I feel toward the world around me and think I’ve finally found one. It came while enduring the political debates and listening to candidates belligerently hash through the issues of national security, immigration, and gun control. [Read more…]