Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835
January 29, 2016
Baptist Press MILL VALLEY, Calif. — Construction is progressing rapidly at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary’s two new campuses, and more than 40 new jobs have been posted on the seminary’s website, President Jeff Iorg reported in mid-January. Iorg, speaking to the seminary’s staff and students, said the new campus in Ontario, Calif., is still […]
January 28, 2016
Baptist Press IRAN — American pastor Saeed Abedini and three other prisoners have been released from prison in Iran, according to news reports. Abedini was detained in 2012 for organizing house churches and later sentenced to eight years in prison. The 35-year-old pastor suffered beatings and harsh punishment during three-and-a-half years in prison in Iran, […]
January 26, 2016
Baptist Press ALEXANDRIA, La. — The homosexual activist group Human Rights Campaign has targeted 23 institutions of higher learning with Southern Baptist ties in a report that also names 35 other colleges and universities with distinct Christian identities. Among the schools targeted are Carson-Newman University, Jefferson City, and Union University, Jackson. Released just before the […]
January 19, 2016
By Roy Hayhurst GuideStone Financial Resources News Office DALLAS — After a volatile start to the first week of trading in the 2016 calendar year, some investors are understandably concerned about their portfolios, but long-term investors should continue to consider their objectives and time horizons. David S. Spika, global investment strategist at GuideStone Capital Management, […]
January 14, 2016
By Julie McGowan IMB news office RICHMOND — The International Mission Board is in a position, financially, where no missionaries will be required to leave the field as the organization wraps up its two-phase reset, IMB President David Platt announced Jan. 14. The majority of the IMB’s Richmond Communications Center, however, will lose their positions, […]
January 13, 2016
By Julie Walters WMU News Office BIRMINGHAM, Ala. –– Wanda Lee announced a search committee will be appointed to seek her successor as executive director/treasurer of national Woman’s Missionary Union. Though no date is set for her departure, Lee shared her intentions to retire during her report at national WMU’s board meeting on Jan. 11 […]
January 13, 2016
By Lisa Cannon Green Baptist Press NASHVILLE — When Americans make New Year’s resolutions, a better relationship with God ranks almost as high as better health, according to a study by LifeWay Research. And for many groups, faith actually outranks health. Older Americans, African-Americans, Hispanics, and Christians are all more likely to say they’ve made […]
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 […]
January 8, 2016
Baptist Press NASHVILLE — Nearly half of the background checks requested by churches through LifeWay’s program with backgroundchecks.com reveal some type of criminal offense. Most of those are minor incidents such as speeding tickets, but 21 percent of inquiries discovered misdemeanors or more serious crimes, LifeWay’s Jennie Taylor said. Since 2008, when LifeWay began its […]
December 18, 2015
Baptist Press NASHVILLE — Bill Sumners, a Tennessee Baptist and director of Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives since 1988, will retire from his post next July, he recently announced in a letter to the Council of Seminary Presidents, which governs the organization. “It has been my pleasure and joy to serve in this position, […]
December 17, 2015
NASHVILLE (BP) — Twenty-three state conventions voted to increase the portion of Cooperative Program receipts being forwarded to Southern Baptist Convention missions and ministries in the coming year, continuing a trend inspired by passage of the Great Commission Task Force recommendations five years ago. This year, Florida Baptists made the largest shift, moving from 41 […]
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 […]