Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835
By Lonnie Wilkey
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org
Pastor Jerry Jeter stands outside Pleasant View Baptist Church in Clarksville.
CLARKSVILLE — Church revitalization is one of the Five Objectives adopted by Tennessee Baptist messengers at their annual meeting at Brentwood Baptist Church in Brentwood in 2014. [Read more…]
Baptist and Reflector
FRANKLIN — Two Tennessee Baptist pastors have announced plans to nominate candidates for vice president and second vice president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention during next week’s annual meeting at Summit, set for Nov. 11-15 at West Jackson Baptist Church in Jackson.
David Green, pastor of First Baptist Church, Greeneville, was announced as a nominee for TBC president during the summer. [Read more…]
By Lonnie Wilkey
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org
Phil Taylor, right, director of missions for CrossNet Baptist Network in Cleveland, makes a presentation to Lake and Sue Walker during a celebration service Oct. 21 at Bellefounte Baptist Church, Cleveland.
CLEVELAND — In 2016 the average tenure of a Southern Baptist pastor was about six years, according to an article written by Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources in March of 2017. [Read more…]
By Carolyn Tomlin
Contributing writer
Sue Lile of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church, Jackson, writes a note as part of her personal card ministry.
— Photo by Carolyn Tomlin
JACKSON — Sending birthday, get-well and sympathy cards is a common practice in many Baptist churches in order to let other members know they are remembered.
For Sue Lile, however, sending cards is a personal ministry.
“When my mother was in a nursing home in 2007, some people never received any mail,” said Lile, a retired teacher and lifelong member of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Jackson. [Read more…]
By Grace Thornton
WMU Foundation writer
Martha Pitts, president of Tennessee Woman’s Missionary Union, holds a brick she purchased from the WMU Foundation in Birmingham, Ala., to honor Mary Quick, her GA director when she was a child.
MEMPHIS — Martha Pitts says that when she was a young girl growing up in Whitehaven, her Girls in Action (GA) leader Mary Quick sneakily talked her into her first public speaking engagement.
“She asked me to go with her to an associational GA meeting and say the prayer there,” Pitts said. [Read more…]
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org
Juliana Wilson, communications and childhood missions specialist for Tennessee Woman’s Missionary Union, shares information about the Golden Offering for Tennessee Missions with this RA group from Faith Baptist Church, Bartlett.
— Photos by Stephanie Johnson
LINDEN — Though the number of boys in Royal Ambassadors, a Southern Baptist missions education program for boys in grades one-six, has declined in recent decades, it is still as relevant as ever, agree missions leaders in Tennessee.
“Royal Ambassadors is 110 years old this year and the mission today is just as important as it was all those years ago,” said Brian Holt, state Royal Ambassadors and Challengers (missions education program for boys in grades 7-12) coordinator for Tennessee Woman’s Missionary Union.
“We have unreached peoples all over the world. That includes places here in the United States. How will we understand the importance of reaching these groups if we do not start teaching missions at an early age? Would you know that Salt Lake City is an unreached people group? RAs do,” Holt said.
He added that RAs teach “what it means to be a missionary, what our missionaries do and provides them with the most basic skills they need to be a missionary themselves.”
RAs, however, is not alone in the decline. Missions organizations as a whole have experienced a decline in membership, observed Juliana Wilson, communications and childhood missions specialist for Tennessee WMU. [Read more…]
Baptist and Reflector
FRANKLIN — For the second time in three years, Tennessee Baptist Convention churches have met their adopted Cooperative Program budget.
In October, Tennessee Baptists gave $3,123,108 through the Cooperative Program, closing out the year on a positive note.
For the year-to-date, Tennessee Baptists gave $34,604,572, an increase of $745,213 or 2.2 percent over the previous year. [Read more…]
By Laura Erlanson
Baptist Press
Ricky Skaggs and his wife Sharon White stand in front of Skaggs’ newly installed plaque at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. Photo by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images for Country Music Hall of Fame
NASHVILLE — In the fall of 2017, Ricky Skaggs found himself in Texas with nothing to do for a day, after a church canceled his scheduled Saturday night appearance. He remembered a friend of a friend who lived in the area — someone Skaggs wanted to meet after the man had sent words of encouragement for Skaggs via text messages to their mutual friend. So he made a few phone calls, and soon the country and bluegrass music star found himself in a stranger’s home in Bertram, Texas. [Read more…]
By Lonnie Wilkey
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org
Representing members of First Baptist Church, Byrdstown, in honoring their pastor Ivan Raley and his wife Carole are, from left, Butch Smith, Steve Stearns, the Raleys, Ron Steinhour, Linda Davis, and David Rich.
BYRDSTOWN — Churches all across Tennessee are honoring their ministers during Pastor Appreciation Month in October and First Baptist Church, Byrdstown, is no exception. [Read more…]
By Tobin Perry
Special to the Baptist and Reflector
The Hispanic Ministry of First Baptist Church, Columbia, recently celebrated its 28th anniversary. Former pastors Estriberto Britton, top left; Javier Elizondo, top right; Angel Ortiz, bottom left; joined physician and missionary Otto Hernandez, bottom right; and Pastor Gustavo Castillo at the celebration service.
COLUMBIA — As Noel Garzón compares his visa photo from four years ago to the one this past year, he can see a change.
No, it’s not extra weight, a different haircut nor simply a different shirt. It’s much more profound.
“I’m smiling now,” Garzón said. “My eyes are different. I’ve got joy in my life now.”
