By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
Lonnie Wilkey
In 2014, Tennessee Baptist Convention messengers who attended the annual meeting at The Summit at Brentwood Baptist Church, Brentwood, took an action which charted the course of the convention and the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board through 2024.
Messengers overwhelmingly adopted the Five Objectives that are geared to seeing at least 50,000 Tennesseans annually saved, baptized, and set on the road to discipleship by 2024; having at least 500 Tennessee Baptist churches revitalized by 2024; planning and strategically engaging at least 1,000 new churches by 2024; realizing an increase in annual local church giving through the Cooperative Program that reaches at least 10 percent by 2024; and realizing an increase in annual giving for the Golden Offering for Tennessee Missions that reaches at least $3 million by 2024.
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The Five Objectives drive the TBMB’s mission of “Making Christ Known By Serving Churches.”
As a result of the convention’s action, the Baptist and Reflector has made articles on the Five Objectives a priority.
The infographic on this page charts the number of stories printed on each of the objectives by the Baptist and Reflector in 2017.
The paper is being true to its mission of telling the story of Tennessee Baptists. Tennessee Baptists have made the Five Objectives a priority as they seek to reach the four million people in Tennessee who have no relationship with Jesus Christ.
Four years ago, a survey was conducted of B&R readers and non-readers. More than two-thirds of those who responded said they wanted more Tennessee Baptist news. We listened and our issues since then reflect that commitment.
We need your help. We have a print circulation of about 22,000 and an estimated readership of 55,000 based on newspaper standards.
In addition, our website and e-newsletter statistics are on the upswing (see infographic). But when all is said and done, we need additional paid print subscriptions.
We are grateful to the hundreds of churches that provide subscriptions to their membership. If your church does not have the paper in its budget, please consider adding it to the budget in 2018. Our church membership plan is only $10 per subscription. For instance, a church could send 10 subscriptions for only $100.
We will make that rate available to any subscriber who is willing to send the paper to two or more people.
Contact Mary Nimmo on our staff at mnimmo@tnbaptist.org or 615-371-7929 and she will work with you to set up a subscription plan.
The Baptist and Reflector is your source for Tennessee Baptist news and your source for seeing the progress Tennessee Baptists are making on the Five Objectives.
Keep in mind that the Five Objectives are more than just worthy goals. They represent a way that Tennessee Baptists can impact lives for eternity.
People are dying every day and going to hell because they have no relationship with Jesus Christ.
When you see a story that mentions the Five Objectives, you are reading about a life that has been changed for the better. Isn’t that what we all want? May God be glorified!
