Gov. Bill Lee spoke at the Faith and Community Summit on Aug. 26 at Nashville First Baptist Church. — Photo by Zoë Watkins
NASHVILLE — Gov. Bill Lee called on faith communities, nonprofits, philanthropists alike to help address Tennessee’s most pressing social challenges during a Faith and Community Summit on Aug. 26 at Nashville First Baptist Church.
The event, part of Lee’s Faith-Based and Community Initiative, brought together government officials, nonprofit leaders and faith-based organizations to discuss collaboration in areas including foster care, family preservation, and human services for at-risk families.
“Really my heart is very grateful to every single one of you, not for being here, but for what you do for the people of our state,” Lee told attendees.
The governor emphasized government’s limitations in solving social problems, particularly in child welfare.
“Government isn’t the answer,” Lee said. “But when a drug addict abandons her children, someone has to pick them up and that’s when the government starts raising children.”
Other speakers included Margie Quin, commissioner of the Department of Children’s Services, and Gary Wilson, assistant commissioner from the Department of Human Services. The summit also featured a question-and-answer session with faith-based and nonprofit leaders.
Quin echoed Lee’s sentiment about government limitations, adding, “The government makes a poor parent.” She noted that 120 children are currently sleeping in DCS offices due to a shortage of placement options.
That’s where nonprofits and faith communities step in, according to summit organizers.
Downtown Nashville. — Photo by Zoë Watkins
Lee drew from personal experience to illustrate the need for community involvement, referencing his work with a prison reentry program in East Nashville.
“These kids right here need another choice,” Lee said, describing how that interaction shaped his policy approach. “It’s one of the reasons I’m excited about this room full of people because you’ll be here long after I’m gone from this job.”
The governor also encouraged attendees to engage beyond their own communities, suggesting that helping others provides purpose and direction in life.
Jeff Mims, pastor at Judson Baptist Church, attended the summit. He said the government’s invitation represented an opportunity for collaboration.
“In my lifetime, I can’t think of another time a leader in government has asked for help like this from the faith community,” Mims said. He described the summit as “a blending of his calling and his civic responsibility to the state of Tennessee.”
Daryl Crouch, strengthening healthy churches team lead for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, emphasized the importance of churches engaging directly with their communities rather than waiting for people to come to them.
“One key characteristic of a healthy church is its impact in the local community. We cannot wait for our neighbors to come to church. The church must go to its neighbors,” Crouch said, who attended the summit as well. “Whether the focus is foster care, public schools, anti-trafficking, or sanctity of life initiatives, churches that develop strategic partnerships in the nonprofit and public sectors build trust, remove barriers, and accelerate kingdom impact.”
Jay Hardwick, pastor of Forest Hills Baptist Church and president of the TBC, said the summit fostered meaningful connections across different sectors.
“It was encouraging to be in a room filled with people from all these different sectors wanting to work together toward solutions and care in some of the greatest challenges people are facing in our communities,” Hardwick said.
He noted meeting pastors from other denominations as well as Christians working in government, nonprofit leadership and philanthropic organizations, all united by “a collective passion to work together to help people understand the value they have as an image bearer of God.”
Hardwick said his church is planning its own collaborative event. “We are planning a mini summit of sorts that will bring together several of these leaders to consider ways we can better collaborate on specific issues that we know are present in our community,” he said.
“Just as God has given Tennessee Baptists a fresh vision for cooperation and collaboration for the sake of His mission, He is positioning His people and bringing us together in that same spirit of collaboration in wider sectors like this one,” Hardwick said.
With 17 months remaining in his term, Lee urged continued engagement from faith and community organizations.
“I’m hoping that you will lean in for the next 17 months while I get a chance to watch it,” Lee said. “Seven million people out there are hoping that we will.” B&R
