Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835
January 13, 2016
Door wide open for churches to minister as non-traditional families increase By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector BRENTWOOD — Wally and Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver were blessed six decades ago and they didn’t even know it. Of course, the Cleavers were a fictional television family (“Leave It To Beaver”) first popular in the late 1950s […]
December 24, 2015
By Roc Collins President, Tennessee Baptist Convention Christmas is here!! In just a few days we will celebrate Christmas. It is one of my favorite times. Surely the songwriter had it right when he penned, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” What makes it so wonderful? Some will say it is the gifts […]
December 23, 2015
By Carolyn Tomlin Contributing Columnist, B&R Shops overflow with holiday gifts. Carols ring out from every street corner. Bell ringers collect monetary contributions for needy families. For Christians, this season reminds us of the real meaning of Christmas — to focus on the birth of the Christ Child born in a manager over 2,000 years […]
December 16, 2015
By Carol Pipes LifeWay News Office NASHVILLE — Christmas is a great time to invite someone to church, according to a recent study by Nashville-based LifeWay Research. In a recent poll of 1,000 Americans, LifeWay Research found six out of 10 Americans typically attend church at Christmastime. But among those who don’t attend church at […]
December 7, 2015
CARY, N.C. (BP) — Southern Baptist leaders are responding to the headline “God isn’t fixing this” that dominated the Dec. 3 cover of the New York Daily News. Images of tweets from Republican leaders surrounded the headline, displaying sympathetic “thoughts and prayers” for the people affected by a Dec. 2 mass shooting. “I’m hard-pressed to […]
December 3, 2015
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector This week I read an excellent blog by Everette Piper, president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville, Okla. He noted a student had come to him after a recent chapel service complaining he was offended because the sermon made him feel guilty. Later in the week I watched a news telecast by […]
December 3, 2015
By Todd Brady Todd Brady, Vice President for University Ministries, Union University, Jackson Since Starbucks released its plain red 2015 holiday season cups, a social media storm has been brewing among two groups of Christians — those who find themselves offended and those who couldn’t care less. Starbucks has said that simplicity motivated their seasonal […]
December 3, 2015
Baptist Press NASHVILLE — The National Association of Evangelicals and LifeWay Research released an evangelical beliefs research definition Nov. 19 for accurate and consistent use among researchers. NAE initiated development of the research definition more than two years ago. In partnership with LifeWay Research, the definition was crafted, reviewed, and tested for validity. Numerous surveys […]
December 2, 2015
LifeWay news office NASHVILLE — Many women with unplanned pregnancies go silently from the church pew to the abortion clinic, convinced the church would gossip rather than help, a new study by LifeWay Research shows. More than four in 10 women who have had an abortion were churchgoers when they ended a pregnancy, researchers found […]
November 18, 2015
Baptist Press NASHVILLE — As retailers open the Christmas shopping season, One Million Moms is calling for a boycott of American Girl products and the parent company Mattel, because American Girl Magazine’s November/December cover features a gay couple and its four adoptive children. The morality watchdog group’s call comes even as various media outlets report […]
November 13, 2015
Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) — For Americans, Thanksgiving is about faith and family, and not much else, a new study shows. More than half (56 percent) tell LifeWay Research the most important part of the annual holiday is “being thankful to God for my blessings.” Nearly 4 in 10 (39 percent) say “time with […]
October 30, 2015
By Lisa Cannon Green LifeWay News NASHVILLE – Before a divorce, churchgoers in troubled marriages look a lot like their happily married counterparts at church—participating, serving, and leading at similar rates. After a divorce, the differences can be stark. Twenty percent have dropped out of church entirely. In many cases, their children have stopped attending too. […]