Standing in front of the plaque honoring former Tennessee Baptist pastor Phil Jett at Philadelphia Church in Porto Seguro are family members, from left, David Jett, Madilyn Larson, Karen Jett, Luke Larson, Susan Jett Larson and Lyle Larson.
FRANKLIN — By any measure, the late Phil Jett, who served as pastor and later on the staff of Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson for 40 years, had a highly successful ministry.
Under his leadership Englewood saw continued growth over the decades while emphasizing missions and evangelism. While pastor of Englewood, he served as president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention in 2005-06.
He also served as a trustee and later chairman of the board at Union University and is a past recipient of the university’s Robert E. Craig Service Award.
While not discounting his ministry in Tennessee, Jett, who died unexpectedly last December at the age of 87, told several of his family and closest friends that his greatest ministry was in Brazil because he saw more people come to Christ there, said family friend and Jett’s longtime ministry partner Gary Taylor, who is still a member of Englewood Baptist.
Jett’s son-in-law, Lyle Larson, pastor of First Baptist Church, Goodlettsville, agreed with Taylor.
The late Phil Jett, former pastor of Englewood Baptist Church.
“He built a great ministry at Englewood,” Larson said, adding that his father-in-law was thankful for all that happened while at Englewood. Jett told him, however, that “my greatest spiritual legacy is in Brazil because of the work that has happened there, with thousands of people who have come to Christ.”
Jett’s legacy was recounted in late June when a number of Brazilian Baptists gathered, along with several of Jett’s family and longtime friends, to honor and pay tribute to Jett at one of the first churches that he and Englewood helped in the town of Porto Seguro in 2006. A plaque donated by Englewood Baptist Church was placed on the outside wall of Philadelphia Church in Porto Seguro.
Jett was so well known and respected that the city of Porto Seguro made him an honorary citizen a few years before his death. He made at least one trip to Brazil every year from 1988-2019 and some years he made more than one trip, Larson said.
How the work began
Taylor was a 28-year-old and member of Englewood when Jett, who was mentoring and discipling him, asked if he would be willing to go on a mission trip. Taylor responded that he had been praying for an opportunity.
Jett had developed a connection with former Southern Baptist missionary Thomas Wade Akins, who had a goal of starting 500 churches, one in each of the 500 counties in the state of Menias Gerias, Brazil.
Gary Taylor, who along with his pastor, Phil Jett, helped initiate a ministry that began by building church buildings across Brazil and grew to include other ministries, and his wife, Lisa, recently attended events in Porto Seguro, Brazil, honoring Jett’s legacy. From left are Eduardo Soares, a missionary with Pioneer Missions Global, his wife Rosanne, the Taylors and Soares’ daughter, Jessica.
Taylor and his wife, Lisa, traveled in 1988 with Jett and his first wife, Marilyn (who died in 2008) to meet with Akins. Taylor, a commercial developer in Jackson, designed a small chapel during their second trip in 1989 and drew up plans which were presented to IMB leaders in Brazil, Taylor said.
Akins began a program called Pioneer Evangelism within the IMB structure but the IMB (then Foreign Mission Board) was not able to put a construction missionary on site.
Taylor and his family went for four months during their third trip to Brazil in 1990 and supervised the construction of the first five block concrete chapels. He has now been to Brazil more than 100 times, either supervising construction or training local Brazilian Baptists to do the task.
Taylor estimated that since the first chapel, approximately 600 have been built throughout Brazil thanks to the work began by Jett, Akins and Taylor. Multiple churches over the last four decades, in addition to Englewood, were involved in the chapels throughout Brazil.
As a young pastor at First Baptist Church, Ripley, Larson and members of FBC would join with Englewood to help with construction and other projects. After moving to become pastor at First Baptist Goodlettsville, Larson and teams continued to go to Brazil.
Jett liked to involve smaller churches that might not be able to send a team on their own, Taylor said. “His philosophy was to involve as many volunteers and churches as we could,” he recalled.
A change in direction
In the early 2000s, the International Mission Board decided to go in another direction and deploy their resources to unreached people groups, Taylor said. Noting they understood why the IMB took that action, “we felt the Lord was calling us to stay in Brazil,” he said.
In order to continue the ministry of starting churches and building chapels, Taylor and two other Memphis businessmen formed Pioneer Missions Global (PMG) as a non-profit entity that initially started under the auspices of Union University. About six years ago, Pioneer Missions became a separate entity, Taylor said. Jett served as an advisor on the PMG board.
Pastor Ricardo de Oliveira of Philadelphia Church and his wife, Moana, stand outside of his church in front of a plaque honoring the legacy of Tennessee pastor Phil Jett.
Pioneer Missions Global has continued the ministry in Brazil which has grown beyond church construction. It now includes other building projects (volunteers once built a bakery in order to teach local residents how to bake bread), an eyeglass ministry designed to help residents to learn to read, a shoe ministry for children (for some, it was the first pair of shoes they ever had) and other ministries, all focused on sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.
During the switch to PMG, Englewood began to focus its ministry in the city of Porto Seguro, Taylor and Larson recalled.
Taylor said that was when they started working with Philadelphia Church and pastor Ricardo de Oliveira.
At the time, the church only had 37 members. Today, Philadelphia Church has more than 400 members, Taylor said.
The initial plan was to build and establish more churches in Porto Seguro because the churches there were not fully stabilized.
“We worked with five of the local pastors and taught them how to plant/start churches and make disciples.”
Lyle Larson, senior pastor at First Baptist Church, Goodlettsville, and the son-in-law of the late Phil Jett, preaches during his recent trip to Brazil.
Now, Taylor said, there are 64 new churches planted throughout the city.
Taylor estimated that during the 19 years or so that Englewood has been involved in the city, Englewood has built over 20 chapels/projects. PMG has led 50 projects during this time in Porto Seguro and Victoria da Conquista , he added.
Though Taylor was involved heavily in the ministry from the beginning and is still very active in it today, he credits Jett’s leadership for seeing the ministry grow and prosper. “Dr. Jett was always investing in the lives of other people, including myself,” he said.
“It’s amazing at what the Lord has done and to see how He has worked over the years,” Taylor said. “The gospel is powerful. It is a blessing to be involved in this work and see lives transformed.”
The team that traveled to Porto Seguro to honor Jett’s legacy included his wife, Karen; Jett’s son, David, teaching pastor at Crossgates Church, Brandon, Miss.; and Larson, his wife Susan, Jett’s daughter, and two of their four children.
The events included a pastor’s conference which was led by Larson, David Jett and Russ Quinn, associate pastor at Englewood.
“In some ways it was overwhelming to see how God has used this ministry and him (Phil Jett) in particular. At the same time, it was a moment of celebration for all that God has done,” Larson said.
During the pastor’s meeting, Bob Alvey, volunteer coordinator for Englewood Baptist and his wife, Amy, presented the plaque to Pastor Ricardo of Philadelphia Church on behalf of the volunteers and Englewood Baptist Church.
David Jett, teaching pastor at Crossgates Church in Brandon, Miss., is the son of former Tennessee pastor Phil Jett.
During the worship service on Sunday night, Pastor Ricardo from Philadelphia Church thanked the group and shared how important Jett had been to him and his church and how important he had been to the city, Larson said.
“Pastor Ricardo told us that he wanted to honor my father-in-law and the work of the churches over the years and he asked my permission for him to wash my feet.
“At that moment, I recognized that I was just a representative of the work God has done through many, many people and I felt honored to be there in that moment,” Larson said.
“It was overwhelming to see all that God has done through the mission and ministry and the vision that God gave Wade, Gary and Phil in 1988.
“Just to see how big God was in that moment was an awesome experience,” he said. B&R
