Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835
June 15, 2016
Baptist Press ST. LOUIS (BP) — Messengers to the 2016 Southern Baptist Convention renounced display of the Confederate battle flag in a historic, overwhelming vote Tuesday (June 14). The convention adopted late in its afternoon session a resolution that urged “brothers and sisters in Christ to discontinue the display of the Confederate battle flag as […]
June 14, 2016
Baptist Press ST. LOUIS (BP) — Approximately 150 Southern Baptist leaders, family members and friends from across the country gathered in St. Louis on June 11 to honor Wanda Lee and her leadership of national WMU over the past 20 years — 16 as executive director and four as president. Frank S. Page said he […]
June 13, 2016
Baptist Press ORLANDO, Fla. (BP) — Calls for prayer and compassion rang out from Southern Baptists nationwide hours after the mass murder of 49 and the injury of 53 early Sunday (June 12) at an Orlando, Fla., gay nightclub in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. Armed with a handgun and an AR-15 semiautomatic […]
June 13, 2016
Baptist Press ST. LOUIS (BP) — Southern Baptist volunteers reported more than 350 professions of faith in Jesus Christ during Crossover events throughout metro St. Louis this year. One man who made a decision for Christ had been considering suicide just a few days earlier, said Eloy Rodriquez. Rodriquez, a longtime Crossover volunteer, serves as […]
June 9, 2016
By Julie McGowan Baptist Press RICHMOND — Southern Baptists provided resounding support through the 2015 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions. Finalized in early June, the 2015 Lottie Moon offering totaled $165.8 million — the highest total in the 127-year history of the offering. The offering surpassed the previous all-time record of $154 million […]
June 6, 2016
By Baptist Press NASHVILLE — Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd is among perhaps 500 evangelicals and other conservatives planning to meet with presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump about his faith and values at a June 21 meeting in New York.
June 3, 2016
Baptist Press CINCINNATI (BP) — Local Baptists have expressed support for the Cincinnati Zoo’s decision to shoot and kill a 450-pound gorilla in order to protect a 3-year-old boy who fell into the animal’s enclosure over Memorial Day weekend. Much of the reaction was released to Baptist Press the same day the boy’s family shared […]
June 3, 2016
By Shawn Hendricks Baptist Press NASHVILLE — When Southern Baptists depart St. Louis after their annual meeting in June, says SBC president Ronnie Floyd, he will be praying they do so with a “deep burden for our nation, a new commitment to racial unity, and an extraordinary commitment to evangelize America.” With the theme of […]
June 2, 2016
Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) — While most Protestant pastors visit correctional facilities and want to help prisoners and their families, their churches often lack the training or finances to run an effective prison ministry. Those are among the findings of a new phone survey of 1,000 Protestant senior pastors from LifeWay Research. Researchers found widespread […]
May 31, 2016
By Bonnie Pritchett Baptist Press AUSTIN, Texas (BP) — Eleven states and two school districts filed a lawsuit May 25 challenging President Barack Obama’s directive demanding all federally funded schools apply a controversial interpretation of Title IX requiring schools to define a student’s sexual identity based not on biological traits, but on feelings. Plaintiffs in […]
May 18, 2016
By Baptist Press WASHINGTON — With the U.S. suicide rate increasing 24 percent over the past 15 years according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics, mental health experts have called pastors to prepare for ministry to suicidal individuals. While a pastor need not mention mental health issues every week from the pulpit, […]
May 17, 2016
By Baptist Press WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has issued an order May 13 instructing all public schools to permit transgender students to use the restrooms and locker rooms of their gender identity instead of their biological sex. The across-the-board directive met quick protests from Southern Baptist leaders. Ronnie Floyd, president of the Southern Baptist […]