Sgt. Andrew Ivey is the chaplain coordinator for the Metro Nashville Police Department.

NASHVILLE — Many first responders sprang into action in the aftermath of the tragic shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville on March 27. 

Among them was Sgt. Andrew Ivey, chaplain coordinator for the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) and a North American Mission Board (NAMB)-endorsed chaplain.

“I would describe it as extremely difficult,” said Ivey, a deacon at Temple Baptist Church, White House. “There was a lot of grief, a lot of uncertainty from parents not knowing if their kids were okay or not.” [Read more…]

Liberty Baptist Church, Covington, has hosted Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief since a tornado struck their community March 31-April 1. The church us continuing to host teams for the next few weeks as volunteers complete jobs yet to be done.

MOUNT JULIET —Disaster relief efforts concluded in McNairy County on April 22, but are expected to continue for at least three more weeks in Covington.

Tornadoes and severe storms swept across the central and southern portions of the United States, including Tennessee, on March 31 and the early morning hours of April 1, causing extensive damage and leaving a reported 15 people dead in Tennessee.

The two hardest hit areas were Covington and McNairy County.

Kaye Thomas, along with her husband, John, served as incident commanders in McNairy County at First Baptist Church, Selmer. [Read more…]

Stephen Rummage is the pastor of Quail Springs Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, Okla.

JACKSON — Stephen Rummage, pastor of Quail Springs Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, Okla., will be nominated for presidency of the 2024 Southern Baptist Convention Pastors’ Conference. 

Adam Dooley, pastor of Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson, will nominate Rummage.

“I cannot imagine a better choice to lead next year’s SBC Pastors’ Conference than Stephen Rummage,” said Dooley. “From my perspective, he represents everything that is good about Southern Baptists.” [Read more…]

NASHVILLE — The president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Commission has been joined by 11 Tennessee pastors and the president of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board in urging state legislators to enact safety measures to protect the public from gun violence.

TBMB president Randy C. Davis and Ethics & Religious Liberty president Brent Leatherwood signed a letter April 19 with 13 Tennessee pastors – 11 of them Southern Baptists – urging support of Gov. Bill Lee’s proposal “to strengthen our state’s order of protection laws to protect the broader population from those who are a danger to themselves or others.”

Davis said the proposal from Gov. Lee is a modification to a domestic violence law that is already in effect and moves toward addressing the mental health side of the issue, which is what people from across the board have said needs to be addressed. [Read more…]

Chris Turner, right, director of communications for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, chats with pastors Ben Cowell, left, of Brownsville Baptist Church and Mike Young of Zion Baptist Church during a site visit to BlueOval City.

The Apostle Paul shared this word of gratitude related to his ministry in Ephesus – “For a great and effective door has opened to me …” (I Corinthians 16:9a). This is exactly how the Lord is blessing the work of our Tennessee Baptist churches in and around BlueOval City. Doors for ministry opportunity are swinging wide open all around us.  

In recent days, there have been several wonderful stories unfolding of God-sized opportunities related to this statewide ministry objective. Our churches are using old-fashioned southern hospitality and creativity in reaching out to the nearly 3,000 employees who are living in the area as they work to build the nation’s largest automobile manufacturing plant in the small town of Stanton in south Haywood County.  

Charleston Baptist Church in Stanton is located seven miles from the BlueOval site. Pastor Mike Melton recently led members of his congregation to visit workers living in a nearby RV park sharing gifts and an invitation to attend Easter services at the church. [Read more…]

Baptist and Reflector

Tennessee Baptist volunteers Sharon Williams, left, and Tyler Yawn, serve Andre Andrews, who the first of over 1,000 workers attending the BlueOval luncheon.

STANTON — Wearing green hats and warm smiles, a large group of Tennessee Baptist volunteers served lunch to more than 1,000 construction workers on Friday afternoon at BlueOval City (the under-construction Ford plant) in Stanton.

The luncheon — hosted by more than a dozen Baptist churches and supported by the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board and the Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief feeding unit — was held to celebrate the completion of 1,000,000 union hours on the site. [Read more…]

BCM students and leaders from the University of Memphis were among the 260 students from Tennessee who spent their spring break in Panama City Beach, Fla., as part of the Beach Reach ministry. Nearly 200 professions of faith were recorded this year during the three-week ministry.

FRANKLIN — Although Mark Whitt has participated in Beach Reach more than a dozen times, he doesn’t show any signs of burnout. 

Quite the opposite.

Whitt, the Baptist Collegiate Ministry (BCM) director at Middle Tennessee State University, said his passion for Beach Reach — a ministry in which BCM students travel to Florida to share the gospel with party-seeking spring breakers in Panama City Beach — is perhaps stronger now than ever before. 

“It never gets old seeing college students intentionally loving those around them and sharing the gospel,” said Whitt, who serves as Beach Reach coordinator. “There is nothing like seeing the very moment when a college student truly embraces his/her identity in Jesus and begins to understand what being His disciple is all about!”  [Read more…]

Brian and Trina Parsons attended the recent Bivocational Ministers and Wives Retreat in Pigeon Forge. Parsons serves as pastor of two bivocational churches in Henry County — Springville Baptist Church and McDavid Grove Baptist Church.

SPRINGVILLE — Any way you slice it, Brian Parsons is a bivocational pastor.

The bivocational pastor of Springville Baptist Church also is the bivocational pastor of McDavid Grove Baptist Church, both located in Henry County.

Parsons is believed to be the only bivocational pastor of two Tennessee Baptist churches at the same time, said Roger Britton, bivocational ministry specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.

The unique arrangement has gone on since June of 2022, said Parsons, who has been bivocational pastor at Springville Baptist since 2016. [Read more…]