Baptist and Reflector

FRANKLIN — The Tennessee chapter of FAITH Riders will sponsor a “Prayer Rumble” from the western part of the state to the east on June 17-18.

“FAITH Riders of Tennessee will be praying across the state of Tennessee along with other riders and friends,” said Jerry Jeter, a member of the Tennessee chapter and pastor of Pleasant View Baptist Church, Clarksville.

“If there has ever been a time for urgency in spreading the gospel, this is it. This time of prayer across the state is to encourage churches to be active in the mission Jesus called us to,” he sai [Read more…]

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

FRANKLIN — Donna Blaydes readily admits that it is hard for her to use that two-letter word — no — especially when it comes to serving her Lord.

As a result, Blaydes was excited to accept a new assignment with the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board to go with her role as childhood specialist. Beginning in March, Blaydes is now the TBMB’s childhood/women’s ministry specialist.

She noted that TBMB leaders were looking for someone to be a resource for women throughout the convention. 

Since she already worked with women in her role as childhood specialist and in her former role as minister of children and church family discipleship at New Hopewell Baptist Church in Knoxville, Blaydes was an obvious candidate for the position.

Blaydes joined the TBMB staff as a childhood specialist on a part-time basis in 2016. She moved to a full-time role in 2020, just about the time COVID-19 impacted the world. [Read more…]

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

JOHNSON CITY — A physician and nurse team from Heritage Baptist Church in Johnson City have returned after providing medical care and showing the love of Jesus to orphans in war-torn Ukraine.

Johnson City physician Sabrina Miller was asked several weeks ago to consider traveling to Ukraine to treat orphans through New Horizons for Children (NHC), an agency that has partnered with orphanages in Ukraine since 1995 as an international hosting agency.

Miller was hesitant at first but after much prayer and encouragement from her husband, she agreed to go. She shared what she was going to do with Teana Weems, wife of her pastor, Reggie Weems. Teana, a retired nurse, also was hesitant at first. She, too, prayed and received encouragement from her husband, and agreed to go.

The two women flew into Poland, rented a car and drove to the Ukraine border, but were not allowed to take a rental car into the country. 

Border patrol helped them find a man who was going into the country and he drove them across the border where they met people affiliated with NHC who then took them to L’viv. While in the country they were accompanied by a photographer and a translator. [Read more…]

Baptist and Reflector

BRENTWOOD — During the 2021 Summit at Brentwood Baptist Church, messengers of the Tennessee Baptist Convention commissioned Tennessee Baptist Convention president Clay Hallmark with the duty of appointing a Sexual Abuse Task Force.

Hallmark recently released an update on the task force (SATF). The full report can been read below this story. 

 The task force was assigned to do a thorough evaluation of how the TBMB responds to allegations of sexual abuse, as well as how it resources and helps Tennessee Baptist churches minister to individuals during these difficult times. 

“This assignment was a monumental task,” Hallmark said. “I sought advice and input from individuals all across the state of Tennessee. My goal was to gather together a task force that was diverse and one that had the ability to not only complete the assignment given to us by the messengers, but members whose reach would go deep and far into the resources for meeting people’s needs and addressing sexual abuse from experts, ministries, victims, law enforcement, insurance and people in the legal field.”  [Read more…]

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

FRANKLIN  — Thirteen former presidents of the Tennessee Baptist Convention gathered May 12 at the Church Support Center to discuss opportunities and challenges, including future needs for churches in the convention and a question of whether the TBC president should have a second term.

The meeting was initiated by Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board and a former convention president himself, in response to former TBC presidents expressing they felt they could serve Tennessee Baptists better in a second year with the experience gained in the first year.

It was the second time in about eight years that he has met with former presidents. “You guys are eagles and servant leaders who have invested so much in the life of the convention,” he said. “I wanted to discuss some things with you.” [Read more…]

By Dianne Barker
Contributing writer

JOHNSON CITY — Tennessee evangelist Charles “Toonie” Cash recently surpassed a ministry milestone — 50 years in fulltime evangelism.

Cash has served four terms as president of the Fellowship of Tennessee Baptist Evangelists. He has ministered in 18 states, preaching revival meetings and leading special conferences, teaching Bible studies and speaking for banquets and other events.

“I understand the average stay for an evangelist in this ministry is 18 months,” Cash said. “I appreciate the goodness of God in supplying every need over these many years and look forward to a busy preaching schedule this year. What a privilege to present the hope of Christ to a hurting world!”

A lifelong resident of Gray,  Cash accepted Christ as a young boy at Oak Grove Baptist Church, Gray, where he later felt called to ministry, preached his first sermon and was ordained. The church recently hosted a reception to recognize his five decades in evangelism. [Read more…]

By David Dawson
ddawson@tnbaptist.org

FRANKLIN — Ken Hindman believes there can be, and should be, more to teaching children about God than reading a Bible story and passing out Goldfish. 

Hindman, children’s pastor at Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, has spent years developing a teaching method that can be applied by parents, children’s workers and church leaders as they engage in teaching children and youth about the Lord and the Bible. Hindman outlined these concepts in the book Every Age, Every Stage, Teaching God’s Truth at Home and Church, which he co-authored with Landry Holmes, manager of Lifeway Kids Ministry Publishing, and Jana Magruder, director of Lifeway Kids.

Hindman shared some of his thoughts on the topic and discussed the book during a recent webinar hosted by the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. During the session, Hindman stressed the importance of teaching children in an “age suitable” manner. He noted that teaching the Bible isn’t a “one size fits all” concept — which is the focal point of Every Age, Every Stage. [Read more…]

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

FRANKLIN — In the mid-1940s members of Tennessee Woman’s Missionary Union were facing a dilemma. They were unable to find adequate facilities to provide summer missions camps for their Royal Ambassadors and Girls in Action.

WMU youth worker Mrs. M. K. Cobble observed, “The burden of my heart is that, to date, we have no place to have our camps this summer. Due to summer schools and the remodeling program we cannot use Carson-Newman College (now University) again. We have made 10 contacts. Every door is closed” (from Give Me a Mountain: The Centennial History of Tennessee Woman’s Missionary Union by Rosalie Phelps, pages 65-68).

Then WMU President Mrs. C. D. Creasman appointed a committee to explore the possibility of establishing camps in the state. “We must have a place for our young people to meet,” she said.

“Sometimes, a look to the past clarifies the vision for the future,” said Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. “That need (described by Mrs. Cobble) breathed a vision that led to a purpose,” Davis said.

He noted that in 1947, Tennessee WMU proposed the idea for two Baptist camps (one in the east and one in the west) to messengers at the annual meeting in Chattanooga that year. “It launched the Tennessee Baptist Convention on a Great Commission journey,” Davis said. [Read more…]