Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, passes out donuts to fans attending the Middle Tennessee State University football game Nov. 9 in Murfreesboro. TBMB partnered with Concord Baptist Association to host “a tailgate party” as part of an outreach event in conjunction with the 150th anniversary of the Tennessee Baptist Convention, which was established in Murfreesboro in 1874.
MURFREESBORO — Two days before the Tennessee Baptist Convention officially celebrates its 150th anniversary, Tennessee Baptists returned to their roots to share the gospel in Rutherford County.
The TBC was established in 1874 at First Baptist Church in Murfreesboro.
The Tennessee Baptist Mission Board decided to commemorate the milestone by partnering with Concord Baptist Association on Nov. 9 to minister and have gospel conversations in two locations within the county.
“The reason we’re having our convention this year in Murfreesboro and the reason we want to show them some love is because 150 years ago, that’s where the first Tennessee Baptist Convention came together,” said Randy C. Davis, TBMB president and executive director.
“We wanted to give back to the community where our community started,” agreed Steve Holt, church services director for TBMB.
Dave Shelley, left, former director of missions for Wilson County Baptist Association and member of Belle Aire Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, visits with Kenneth and Carla Summey at the tailgate party hosted by the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board and Concord Baptist Association at MTSU in Murfreesboro.
Both events centered around the theme, “Connect Rutherford: Celebrating and Serving Our Communities,” said Wes Rankin, associational missions strategist for Concord Baptist Association, prior to the events.
The association and TBMB sponsored a “tailgate party” beginning at 8 a.m. in “The Grove” at Middle Tennessee State University prior to a noon football game.
“MTSU is the centerpiece of the Murfreesboro and is a vital part of the community,” Holt observed. “The churches of Concord Baptist Association are deeply invested in the students and the campus.”
Volunteers from local churches joined TBMB staff and volunteers from the Baptist Collegiate Ministries at MTSU to provide free donuts, sausage biscuits and coffee and water to those attending the game.
“It was encouraging to see representatives from many of our local churches this morning serving and loving our campus of MTSU by giving out free food and coffee and having conversations with students, parents and local fans of MTSU football before the game,” said Mark Whitt, TBMB collegiate ministry specialist at MTSU, who coordinated the effort on campus.
“The MTSU campus is one of the most strategic mission fields we have in Murfreesboro,” Whitt observed. “I love seeing our local churches have a heart for our campus through prayer, serving and engaging in gospel conversations.”
“We (BCM) truly could not do what we do on a daily basis without the support and encouragement of our local churches in Rutherford County,” Whitt said.
Mark Whitt, TBMB campus ministry specialist at Middle Tennessee State University, chats with BCM students who volunteered at the tailgate party Nov. 9 on the MTSU campus.
“I’m so very thankful that our local churches truly believe that the MTSU campus is one of the most important places we can be as the Church. Today was a great celebration of that focus on reaching MTSU for Jesus,” he concluded.
Kenneth Summey, pastor of Lascassas Baptist Church, and his wife, Carla, were among the volunteers. “The MTSU campus is an integral part of our campus. We appreciate the invitation for our local churches to be a part of this (outreach event) and to help minister to our community.”
Carla Summey added that BCM ministry is important to their family because their children are involved in BCM ministries in other states. “I love being involved in the local ministry at MTSU,” she affirmed.
The second event was a dental clinic at La Vergne Community Church, which is led by pastor Nathan Velasquez. Currently five congregations hold services in the facilities of what formerly was First Baptist Church, La Vergne.
Rankin, the AMS for the association, said the second site was chosen because it is located in one of the most ethnically diverse and economically challenged areas in the county.
He described La Vergne Community Church as an “all nations church” in the center of the city. “Everything here reflects the diversity of the community,” Rankin noted.
TBMB staff member William Burton shares the gospel with an individual who attended the All Smiles mobile dental clinic held at La Vergne Community Church in conjunction with the 150th anniversary of the Tennessee Baptist Convention. The convention was established in Rutherford County in 1874.
The mobile dental clinic was given to TBMB last year and is starting to be used across the state, said Garry Maddox, TBMB mobilization specialist who assists with the ministry.
The clinic on Nov. 9 included two dentists, two orthodontists and a host of other volunteers, Maddox said. Many of the volunteers were from the host church.
Regardless of their role at the clinic, Maddox tells every volunteer that their “real job” is to have gospel conversations and to pray with the patients.
The clinic provided dental exams and extractions as needed. Volunteer Maria Burton said that patients with extreme dental needs were referred to another organization for treatment.
Maddox reported the mobile clinic treated 44 patients and dentists extracted seven teeth. In addition, he said, three people accepted Christ as a result of the gospel conversations.
Volunteer Maria Burton visits with a patent as dentists prepare to examine her at the mobile dental clinic in La Vergne, held Nov. 9. The outreach event was sponsored by the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board and Concord Baptist Association.
“That is the most important thing,” he affirmed. B&R
