Tennessee Archives - Baptist & Reflector

C-N SENDS MESSAGES OF HOPE TO STUDENTS, PARENTS

March 1, 2021

Carson-Newman University news office

JEFFERSON CITY — Carson- Newman University has begun a unique initiative to encourage and spiritually uplift high school students as they work through their college admission and selection process.

The initiative involves sending out devotional messages to students and parents who are considering joining the Eagle family.

Aaron Porter, C-N’s vice president for enrollment management, said the campaign started because the school wants to inspire prospective students during these difficult times.

“We realized that students had been suffering due to the hard times we are facing, and we wanted to find a unique way to inspire them,” he said. [Read more…]

PRAYER GROUP HELPS PASTORS’ WIVES CONNECT

March 1, 2021

By David Dawson
Baptist and Reflector
ddawson@tnbaptist.org

Melody Cain (left) and Jeanne Davis, seen here together before the COVID-19 pandemic, helped start the Ministers’ Wives Prayer Group on Facebook last spring. Davis is the wife of Tennessee Baptist Mission Board president and executive director Randy C. Davis, and Cain is the wife of First Baptist Church, Seymour, pastor Corey Cain.

FRANKLIN — Jeanne Davis was determined to bring pastors’ wives together. Even if they had to stay apart.

Fortunately, the internet made that possible.

Davis, the wife of Tennessee Baptist Mission Board president and executive director Randy C. Davis, teamed up last spring with Melody Cain, the wife of First Baptist Church, Seymour, pastor Corey Cain, and several others to create the TBC Ministers’ Wives prayer group.

The group, which meets weekly on Facebook, has experienced continual growth since it was formed last April. It currently has about 375 members.

Davis said the group is exactly what she’d hoped it would be: a place where pastors’ wives have an outlet to discuss their situations, to encourage each another and, most certainly, to pray for each other. [Read more…]

SBC DISFELLOWSHIPS SEVIER COUNTY BAPTIST CHURCH

February 26, 2021

Compiled by B&R staff

NASHVILLE — A Southern Baptist Convention church affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention and the Sevier County Association of Baptists is one of four churches that have been disfellowship by the SBC Executive Committee (EC).

Antioch Baptist Church in Sevierville was dropped for employing a pastor who confessed to two counts of statutory rape. Also disfellowship for affirming homosexuality were Towne View Baptist Church in Kennesaw, Ga., and St. Matthews Baptist Church, Louisville, Ky. West Side Baptist Church in Sharpsville, Pa., was disfellowshipped for employing as its pastor a registered sex offender. [Read more…]

ROOTED IN GALLATIN, VIRTUAL CHURCH PLANT NOW REACHING THE WORLD

February 25, 2021

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org

GALLATIN — A year ago, a virtual church plant was unheard of in Tennessee Baptist life.

Now, thanks to Hispana Iglesia Bautista Gallatin, the concept is “a new tool in the toolbox,” according to William Burton, church planting specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.

Hispana Iglesia Bautista was birthed in September last year after Burton had preached earlier in the summer at Iglesia Bautista Hispana de Hendersonville and challenged church members not to let the pandemic keep them from doing what God called them to do. [Read more…]

APPLICATION PROCESS FOR BHSET GRANTS UNDERWAY

February 25, 2021

Baptist and Reflector

KNOXVILLE — Applications are now being received for grants from the Baptist Hospital of East Tennessee Medical Missions Fund.

The Baptist Healthcare System of East Tennessee was begun by Tennessee Baptists soon after the end of World War II. More than $2 million was contributed by 800 churches in 32 counties of East Tennessee. The hospital began service on November 30, 1949. [Read more…]

LONG-TERM ENGAGEMENT STARTS WITH ‘PUTTING MISSIONS INTO THE DNA OF NEW BELIEVERS’

February 23, 2021

By Trennis Henderson
WMU National Correspondent

Kim Cruse, who served as an International Mission Board missionary to the Philippines for more than 20 years, began serving last year as Tennessee WMU’s missions discipleship specialist. A strong proponent of missions involvement and support, she emphasized, “You want a missions call? Read the Bible. It’s in there. Jesus said, ‘Go to all the nations.’ ”
— WMU photo by Pam Henderson

KNOXVILLE — How can your church start a missions group like Love World to help young women develop a heart for missions?

Kim Cruse, a former International Mission Board collegiate church planter in the Philippines, insists the need is urgent. “If you can put missions into the DNA of a new believer or of a young believer early on in their Christian life, they will always see missions as important,” she emphasized.

Cruse, who began serving last year as Tennessee WMU’s missions discipleship specialist, poses the tough, thought-provoking question: “Where are the future IMB missionaries going to come from and where are the future mission supporters going to come from if we’re not able to engage and connect and get these younger women involved in missions?

“This has been a burden of WMU for many years,” she said, “so I love what has happened at Wallace (Memorial Baptist Church in Knoxville).” Missions leaders there launched Love World in 2019 to reach and involve women from age 25 to 40 in missions discipleship and support. [Read more…]

SAFETY, SECURITY AND SALVATION

February 23, 2021

Love World, Welcome House impact Knoxville, and the world, for Christ

By Trennis Henderson
WMU National Correspondent

Sunny Ikojoh, who serves as minister of hospitality for Welcome House Knoxville, came to the U.S. from Nigeria in 2015 to attend seminary. The Welcome House facility is a former missionary guest house that the ministry rents from a local church to provide short-term housing for refugees.
— WMU photos by Pam Henderson

KNOXVILLE — How can the crisis of an Iraqi refugee family’s house fire help churches engage young women in missions involvement amid their busy 21st century lives?

Several congregations in the Knoxville area are discovering the answer through hands-on interaction with such ministry groups as Love World, Welcome House Knoxville and Knoxville Internationals Network.

Kimberly Poore is a member of the Love World team at Wallace Memorial Baptist Church in Knoxville. The missions group, which launched in 2019, is geared toward young women age 25 to 40. She said the leadership team seeks “to educate and also provide mission opportunities for other Wallace women within our church.”

Love World’s missions focus includes ministering alongside Welcome House Knoxville, a nonprofit ministry that provides temporary housing for immigrant and refugee families in the Knoxville area. [Read more…]

UNION’S CLASS OF 2020 PLACEMENT RATE AT 98 PERCENT DESPITE DIFFICULT YEAR

February 16, 2021

Union University news office

JACKSON — Ninety-eight percent of Union University’s class of 2020 were employed or enrolled in graduate school within six months of receiving their degree, according to an “Undergraduate First-Destination Survey” conducted by the Vocation Center for Life Calling and Career.

The placement rate for Union’s class of 2019 was also 98 percent. For the classes of 2018 and 2017, placement rates were 95 percent, and in 2016 it was 91 percent.

These studies were conducted in compliance with standards of the National Association of Colleges and Employers. Union’s 98 percent placement rate is about 12 points above NACE’s national placement rate average of 85.7 percent in 2018 (the most recent available data).

“The year 2020 has been an unusual and difficult year for everyone, but with 98 percent of the class finding placement within six months of graduation, our May 2020 graduates have shown an incredible resilience and persistence as they were sent out into a challenging economy and shifting work force,” said Alex Huguenard, director of the Vocation Center. [Read more…]

CHURCHES TURNING TO ‘ONLINE PASTORS’ TO FOSTER COMMUNITY DURING PANDEMIC

February 15, 2021

By Scott Barkley
Baptist Press

A volunteer at Long Hollow Baptist Church talks with others over Zoom during its prayer service Jan. 19. Church leaders say technology has played a key role during the revival the church has experienced over the last month, allowing many to take part from long distances as well as become part of Long Hollow’s discipleship process afterwards.

HENDERSONVILLE — Since Long Hollow Baptist Church began experiencing what pastor Robby Gallaty calls “a genuine move of God” last month, roughly 300 people have traveled to its Tennessee campus from all over the country to be baptized.

One group came forward – some scheduled, others spontaneously – at the church’s first Tuesday prayer service on Jan. 19, which lasted more than two hours. Twenty-two more were signed up for baptism for a Sunday in late January, the first time Long Hollow will have worshiped in person in a month.

The path for many didn’t originate in north Tennessee. Like an overwhelming number of churches, Long Hollow has increased its online capabilities over the last year due to COVID-19. During its current revival, baptismal candidates have included brothers – one in Montana, the other in North Carolina; a woman who drove from Tampa, Fla.; a man from Memphis; and a couple who traveled 100 miles from Kentucky. One man who lived down the street from Gallaty when the two were children started watching online and drove to Hendersonville from New Orleans to be baptized. In another instance, a former Satan worshiper brought his friend, who soon joined that label of “former” Satan worshipper. All became familiar with Long Hollow initially through a screen.

“It’s a new day for technology and we’re trying to figure out how to use it for God’s glory,” Gallaty said. [Read more…]

CHURCH DISPLAYS TRUE ‘GIVING SPIRIT’

February 12, 2021

Despite pandemic, Hilldale Baptist surpasses budget, mission goals

By David Dawson
ddawson@tnbaptist.org

CLARKSVILLE — “In good times and in bad; in sickness and in health.”

Those words, commonly heard at weddings, also describe the commitment displayed by the members of Hilldale Baptist Church, Clarksville, in 2020.

Amid all the devastating details of last year, including economic hardships brought on by the pandemic, Hilldale had a record setting year in giving. The church not only surpassed its overall budget, but also reached its goals for the Cooperative Program and the Golden Offering for Tennessee Missions.

“It’s easy to see that God did a miracle in our midst,” said pastor Larry Robertson. “I’m so proud of our church family for a job well done, and for their willingness to let God use them in this way.”

The church exceeded its $3.1 million budget by more than $73,000, in addition to designated giving. This display of generosity would be noteworthy for any year, but it was especially impressive during a year that featured so many adjustments. [Read more…]

Love World, Welcome House impact Knoxville, and the world, for Christ

Despite pandemic, Hilldale Baptist surpasses budget, mission goals

Recent Posts

Tags

Categories