By Randy C. Davis
TBC Executive Director
Tennessee Baptists want to read about other Tennessee Baptists and our churches.
And let’s be honest about the newspaper industry in general. Secular news agencies have struggled for years with the financial burden of producing a hard copy version in an increasingly digital age. Many of them have slashed staff and eventually gone out of business.
Fortunately, we are not near that point. Lonnie has a renewed vision for integrating the Internet and adjusting the print version to better serve Tennessee Baptists. Switching to a biweekly production schedule allows him space to pursue that vision with abandon.
Guided by the information we gleaned from your input given in our recent B&R reader’s survey, these changes position us to see a growth in the paper’s importance and influence.
In John 15, Jesus makes the statement that the Father, “prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.” For nearly two centuries the Baptist & Reflector has borne much fruit and pruning it to every two weeks will allow it to bear even more fruit in the future. That’s why I believe the Baptist & Reflector’s best days are dawning.
Readers may never say, “Man, I’m glad that editor nurtured the paper and pruned it so that he could produce this excellent paper.” And that’s okay with us. Lonnie’s team doesn’t produce the paper for the accolades.
He mostly just wants readers to enjoy the “peach.”
