Wes Jones, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, put all teams “on alert” on Friday morning in anticipation of potential severe weather in the state. [Read more…]
WELL READ: THE MOST VIEWED STORIES OF 2023
FRANKLIN — Historic and horrific. Pleasing and perplexing. Elation and agony.
The year 2023 played out like a roller-coaster, taking Tennesseans through almost every emotion imaginable. And, as has been the case since 1835, the Baptist and Reflector helped tell the stories that shaped the year.
The content below recaps some of the most-read stories from 2023 based on the number of views each story received on the Baptist and Reflector’s website from Jan. 1, 2023 through Dec. 31, 2023.
Some of the stories were published before the start of 2023, but still received a high amount of views in the past year.
Wilkey/Turner column: The rise and fall of a leader and a friend
• Date posted: Aug. 17, 2023 • Written by: Lonnie Wilkey, B&R editor, and Chris Turner, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board director of communications • Original post: HERE
This editorial, written by Wilkey and Turner, received more than 8,300 views on the B&R website. It was written immediately following the resignation of Willie McLaurin (pictured above) as interim president of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention after it was revealed that McLaurin, a former staff member at the TBMB, had falsified his academic credentials.
The editorial read: “It would be impossible to adequately describe the emotional disorientation that came — and lingers — with the news of Willie McLaurin’s unimaginable and incomprehensible fall from grace due to fraudulent claims on his resume regarding his educational achievements. McLaurin was within grasp of becoming president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee, a position for which he’s shown aptitude for 20 months. But like a whisper, the opportunity vanished.”
McLaurin resigns as interim president of Executive Committee
• Date posted: Aug. 17, 2023 • Written by: Lonnie Wilkey, B&R editor, and Chris Turner, Tennesee Baptist Mission Board director of communications • Original post: HERE
This story, written by Wilkey and Turner, broke the news to many Tennessee Baptists about the resignation of Willie McLaurin as interim president of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention after it was revealed he falsified his academic credentials.
The story included a statement from Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, where McLaurin was employed for 15 years before resigning to join the EC staff.
“I am profoundly saddened right now,” Davis wrote. “To say that I am grieved would be an understatement. Willie McLaurin has been a shining light of encouragement to pastors and churches, both in Tennessee and across the Southern Baptist Convention. Unfortunately, the situation in which we now find ourselves is beyond belief,” Davis added.
Bellevue pastor Steve Gaines diagnosed with kidney cancer
• Date posted: Nov. 19, 2023 • Written by: Baptist and Reflector staff • Original post: HERE
This story informed Tennessee Baptists of the heart-breaking news that former Southern Baptist Convention president and Tennessee Baptist pastor Steve Gaines had announced to his congregation at Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova that he had been diagnosed with kidney cancer. The story included quotes from Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, who said: “I speak for our entire Tennessee network of churches when I say that we are praying for our friends, Steve and Donna, their children and grandchildren, and the Bellevue family. Dr. Gaines has been a tremendous personal encourager, prayer partner and friend to me.”
Marion column: When a church member dies on a mission trip
• Date posted: Aug. 9, 2023 • Written by: Cliff Marion • Original post: HERE
In this editorial, B&R guest columnist Cliff Marion, pastor of First Baptist Church, Covington, described the gut-wrenching — yet also triumphant — details of losing a church member to a heart attack while he was attending Fuge Camp at Ridgecrest Conference Center. In the column, Marion noted how the Lord had used this event to change Marion’s perspective: “Later, while processing all that happened, God revealed to me that Nick’s loss was no tragedy. Nick was 75 years old. He was a deacon, sang in the choir, filled in when our music minister was gone, taught a Sunday School class for decades, helped launch our Celebrate Recovery ministry, washed tables, popped popcorn for VBS; he did it all. Faithful husband. Loving father and grandfather. Loyal church member. Humble servant of Jesus Christ. Nick’s life is a testimony to those of us who remain. … Nick said he wanted to serve God until his final breath. God allowed him to do so. That’s no tragedy. That’s grace.”
2023 SBC coverage: Messengers disfellowship three churches
• Date posted: June 14, 2023 • Written by: Lonnie Wilkey, B&R editor • Original post: HERE
Reporting from New Orleans at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting, Wilkey wrote:
“There are three fewer churches in the Southern Baptist Convention following an overwhelming vote June 13 by messengers at the annual meeting in New Orleans.
“Two congregations were disfellowshiped for having women pastors — Fern Creek Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky., and Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif. — while another church — Freedom Church in Vero Beach, Fla. — was deemed to not be in ‘friendly cooperation’ with the SBC because of failure to cooperate to resolve concerns regarding an abuse allegation. The action is believed to be the first time the SBC has disfellowshiped churches during an annual meeting.”
Two Tennessee mission teams return home; another still in Israel
• Date posted: Oct. 12, 2023 • Written by: Baptist and Reflector• Original post: HERE
Multiple mission teams from Tennessee were in Israel when Hamas militants brutally attacked the country in mid-October. The B&R broke the news to Tennessee Baptists that two of teams had returned home, while another remained there. (The other team eventually returned safely, too). The story read:
“Forty-eight members of Sunnyside Baptist, including pastor Bill Sims, were able to leave Israel on Oct. 10, flying to Atlanta, where they took a bus to Kingsport late in the evening. A team from First Baptist Church, Dyer, was able to leave on Oct. 11 — one day earlier than scheduled.”
Randy C, Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, and his wife, Jeanne, were at the Nashville airport on Oct. 11 to welcome home the team from FBC, Dyer (pictured above).
Lifeway worship to discontinue worship website on Sept. 30
• Date posted: July 18, 2023 • Written by: Lonnie Wilkey, B&R editor • Original post: HERE
In mid-July, Wilkey broke the news to Tennessee Baptists that “Lifeway Worship, a component of Lifeway Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, has announced plans to discontinue its lifewayworship.com website on Sept. 30. … Carol Pipes, director of corporate communications, clarified the decision in a statement requested by the Baptist and Reflector. “We are not discontinuing Lifeway Worship. We are discontinuing the lifewayworship.com website,” she told the B&R.
Lifeway Christian Resources later announced plans to continue operating lifewayworship.com for another year after receiving strong feedback from church leaders following the initial announcement. Lifeway president Ben Mandrell agreed to continue operating the site while the organization held “listening sessions” to determine the best move forward.
More top stories from 2023 …
In addition to those on the list, other stories which received a high number of clicks in 2023 included:
Avoiding the deadly sin of complacency
• Date posted: Nov. 9, 2020 • Written by: Lonnie Wilkey, B&R editor • Original post: HERE
Hardwick to be nominated for TBC president
• Date posted: Sept. 11, 2023 • Written by: Baptist and Reflector staff • Original post: HERE
Five things that happen when we worship
• Date posted: Nov. 9, 2019 • Written by: Matt Tullos, TBMB • Original post: HERE
2023 BIGGEST STORIES: ACTS 2:17 INITIATIVE, BLUE OVAL CITY AND DR’S RECORD-MAKING YEAR
FRANKLIN — During 2023 Tennessee Baptists began laying the groundwork for future ministry in the Tennessee Baptist Convention while meeting needs and ministering to people across the state and around the world.
The following is a synopsis of the top stories in 2023:
Acts 2:17 Initiative: The Acts 2:17 Initiative was launched at the annual meeting in 2022, but the bulk of the work took place throughout 2023. An Acts 2:17 Initiative Vision Team, chaired by Jay Hardwick, pastor of Forest Hills Baptist Church, Nashville, was charged with drafting “a vision that would focus the energy, efforts and resources of the network of Tennessee Baptist churches, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board and the institutions fostered by the Convention into the immediate and extended future of the Convention following the 150th anniversary of the TBC in 2024.”
The effort was bathed in prayer throughout the process and a Day of Prayer was held on April 26. Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of TBMB, observed that as Tennessee Baptists look to the future, “it is imperative that we are praying to know the will of the Father.” [Read more…]
CHURCH CLOSES ITS DOORS, BUT NOT FOR LONG
BROWNSVILLE — The final notes of “Wherever He Leads I’ll Go” fluttered through the sanctuary of Calvary Baptist Church on Dec. 31. After 49 years as church pianist, Jan Prine closed her hymnal and turned off the light on the piano. She had played her last song for the congregation she has been a part of since age 14.
Church members on this Sunday had sung their final song as a church. They had listened to their last sermon together and gathered one last time as a congregation.
The Dec. 31 Sunday morning service marked the end of 70 years of existence for Calvary Baptist Church.
Earlier this year, the church voted to close its doors and donate its property to the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board for use in its BlueOval City Initiative that will seek to start four new churches each year over the next decade in a seven-county region in West Tennessee. [Read more…]
91-YEAR-OLD FOREGOES GIFTS TO HELP CHILDREN
KNOXVILLE — Katherine Fortner, a member of Wallace Memorial Baptist Church, Knoxville, has volunteered at Western Heights Baptist Center for at least 35 years.
At the age of 91, Fortner still serves as ministry assistant to Western Heights director Shannon Washam.
“You can’t be around this place long without seeing a need,” she observed.
Two years ago, one of her grandsons who knew of her involvement at Western Heights asked how he could be involved and she suggested that some of the children needed shoes, so he donated some shoes that were distributed. [Read more…]
GRANDSONS CONTINUE GRANDPARENTS’ FAITH LEGACY
KNOXVILLE — In the late 1980s through the 1990s, Ben and Annabelle Hall, then members of Gillespie Avenue Baptist Church in Knoxville, were fixtures at Western Heights Baptist Center, a ministry of the Knox County Association of Baptists.
“They came as volunteers to the Baptist Center every Tuesday and Thursday for about 20 years,” said Jackie Young, who recently completed his 42nd year as a staff member of the Baptist Center.
“They were faithful, dedicated servants and loyal to the ministry,” he recalled.
Nearly two decades later, their legacy is being carried on by four of their grandchildren who recently came to volunteer at Western Heights, said current director Shannon Washam.
Washam said he never knew the Halls, but he is seeing the fruits of their faith. The Halls and others at Western Heights over the years have had a generational impact, he noted. [Read more…]
MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE TBMB AND THE B&R
CHURCHES, DR TEAMS ACT QUICKLY AFTER TORNADOES
GALLATIN — Almost as soon as the winds had calmed and the sirens had gone silent, the cleanup and recovery efforts got under way across Tennessee.
And Tennessee Baptists were there to lead the charge.
After a series of tornadoes swept through West and Middle Tennessee on the evening of Dec. 9, local churches joined forces with Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief teams to help the recovery efforts get started.
The tornadoes tragically caused six deaths, according to multiple news outlets, and caused substantial destruction in 11 different counties while leaving an estimated 80,000-90,000 Tennesseans without power. [Read more…]
FBC GOODLETTSVILLE FINDS WAYS TO SERVE AFTER STORMS
GOODLETTSVILLE — Lyle Larson, pastor of First Baptist Church, Goodlettsville, wasn’t exactly sure how the church could be of service in the wake of the deadly tornadoes that ripped through parts of Tennessee on Dec. 9.
But Larson was certain of this — the FBC staff and church members were willing to do whatever was necessary to help.
Over the next few days, FBC seized the opportunity in a wide variety of ways, ranging from providing financial support to supplying doghouses for displaced animals. FBC also hosted a DR team from Alabama on the church campus during the team’s week-long stay in Goodlettsville. [Read more…]
RURAL CHURCH REACHES COMMUNITY KIDS AT CHRISTMAS
NEWPORT — A small rural church in the Bridgeport community near Newport in Cocke County is making a difference in the lives of children in the community.
For about 14 years, members of Shady Grove Baptist Church have made sure that needy children in their community will have gifts on Christmas morning.
Shelly Williams, a member of Shady Grove and a first grade teacher at Bridgeport Elementary School, has been involved in the ministry since it was begun by her sister, Shannon Myers.
The ministry is geared toward low income families, said William’s husband, Jordan Williams, an elementary school principal at another county school and associate pastor at West End Baptist Church in Newport. [Read more…]
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