Dan Spencer preaching at the 2025 Summit’s Sunday night service. – Jim Veneman

JACKSON — Dan Spencer stood before the crowd at the 2025 Summit’s Sunday night service and painted a bleak picture: Jerusalem under siege, God’s people worshiping idols, Babylonian armies poised to destroy the city and drag its inhabitants into 70 years of exile.

But Spencer wasn’t preaching despair. He was preaching hope.

“Some of you need to hear that today because you feel like your life is under siege right now,” Spencer said. “You feel like the enemy’s attacking your marriage, your children, your ministry. It’s disorienting.”

Spencer, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Sevierville, will be nominated for Tennessee Baptist Convention president as messengers convene at West Jackson Baptist Church this week. He preached from the same lectern his great-great-uncle, M.E. Dodd, used a century ago, which was brought in from Louisiana for the event. Dodd is considered by many to be the “father of the Cooperative Program.” [Read more…]

Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief volunteer Hendrik Proctor and others from Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson prepare meals for first responders after the deadly explosion at an ammunitions plant in Bucksnort.

CENTERVILLE — Fairfield Baptist Church has become a base camp for disaster relief volunteers responding to the Accurate Energetic Systems explosion that killed 16 people Oct. 10 in Bucksnort.

Those at the church, located in Centerville, didn’t hesitate to offer housing for Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers.

“I admire these volunteers,” said Lynn Hill, transitional pastor at Fairfield. “They do this because they believe it’s what Jesus would have them do.”

The church has housed about eight volunteers since the deadly explosion sent shockwaves throughout the surrounding area.

[Read more…]

Murphree

Tennessee Baptists have been faithful to one of our state’s most strategic mission fields for 100 years.

Baptist collegiate work can trace its roots to the late 1800s and early 1900s with the Student Volunteer Missions Movement and students dedicating themselves to prayer for their campuses and the foreign mission field.

It was a humble beginning, but in 1925 the Tennessee Baptist Convention made a commitment to launch a ministry focused on reaching college campuses across our state with the gospel.

While ministry methods and campus culture have changed over the last 100 years, the mission remains the same. Here are several reasons why Tennessee Baptists’ investment in collegiate ministry is both vital and strategic. [Read more…]

Pate joins TBMB team as new BlueOval catalyst

Eddie Pate said he is excited to be with the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board in the role of BlueOval City regional catalyst. “I am most excited about the chance to be at the top of this wave as it is cresting to help accomplish the vision the Lord has given Tennessee Baptists to reach what will soon be large numbers of people moving into this area,” he said.

STANTON — Eddie Pate won’t be spending his “retirement years” on the lake or at the golf course.

Having recently retired from his role as director of the Kim School of Global Missions at Gateway Seminary,  Pate has now accepted a new challenge: He’s joined the staff at the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board as the regional catalyst for BlueOval City.

His duties include coordinating and orchestrating the TBMB’s evangelism efforts in the region that surrounds BlueOval City — the Ford Company’s massive auto plant in Stanton that is bringing an estimated 10,000 workers to the area over the next few years. (See related sidebar on this page).

Pate said he and his wife had been planning to move to Tennessee after his retirement in order to be closer to their four sons, all of whom live in Tennessee. Being involved with BlueOval City wasn’t even on Pate’s radar. [Read more…]

Annual gathering will honor centennial milestones

Tennessee Baptist messengers will gather for their annual meeting, Summit, on Nov. 9-11 at West Jackson Baptist Church. The event opens with a worship service Sunday and runs through Tuesday night when a special night of celebration will take place. — File photo / B&R

FRANKLIN — The annual gathering of Tennessee Baptists, most commonly known as Summit, begins Sunday at West Jackson Baptist Church, and will be an event marked by historical and significant milestones.

This year’s theme is, “All Aboard: Advancing Together.”

The event opens Nov. 9 with the annual Sunday night Tennessee Homecoming worship celebration, and continues the next day with the pastors conference. [Read more…]