baptisms Archives - Baptist & Reflector

STARTED ON FAITH, SUSTAINED BY FAITH

February 11, 2021

Two-year-old church plant baptizes 45 people during pandemic

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org

Joel Kirk, pastor of Realife Church in Bristol, delivers his message.

BRISTOL — Pastor Joel Kirk has a simple formula for planting a church: “It’s impossible to please God without faith.”

So far, that formula has produced miracle after miracle for Realife Church in Bristol, a congregation that will not be three years old until the Sunday after Easter this year.

Kirk recalled that on Palm Sunday in 2018 he and his wife, Angela, met with about 20 people at a coffee shop in Bristol and he laid out a vision for a church that didn’t even have a name yet. [Read more…]

NO PAUSE FOR THE PANDEMIC

January 27, 2021

FBC McMinnville sees surge in baptisms despite COVID

By David Dawson
Baptist and Reflector
ddawson@tnbaptist.org

Jeff Owens, pastor of First Baptist Church, McMinnville, left, baptizies Morgan West, a 19-year-old college student. West came to the church through FBC’s new college/career ministry called “The Bridge.”

McMINNVILLE — Although the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a tidal wave of cancelations and postponements over the past 10 months, the virus certainly hasn’t canceled the evangelism efforts at First Baptist Church, McMinnville.

It has only reshaped them.

When the virus first took hold last spring, the church staff at FBC began examining some of its outreach strategies — and began moving in a new direction with several of its ministries.

Those efforts, coupled with the church’s ability to adapt and adjust, led to a surge in baptisms in 2020. [Read more…]

‘BIGGEST MOVEMENT OF GOD I’VE SEEN’

January 13, 2021

Tragedies lead to salvations, baptisms in Hendersonville

By Scott Barkley
National Correspondent, Baptist Press

Andrei Iacob was baptized by Long Hollow Baptist Church pastor Robby Gallaty on Dec. 20, just days after Iacob’s wife and son were murdered.

HENDERSONVILLE — Noah Iacob lived for only a week two years ago. But his story is interwoven with other stories as part of a revival taking place at Long Hollow Baptist Church.

Noah’s underdeveloped lungs became too much for his body to overcome. But after his death, his mother Jessie realized she needed the healing power of Christ in her life and, after becoming a Christian, was baptized at Long Hollow. Jessie, her son Zeke and husband Andrei began attending the church.

But Jessie’s earthly life ended Dec. 11 when she and her son were murdered by an intruder when Andrei wasn’t home. The suspect, identified as a former employee of the excavating business the couple founded, took his own life Dec. 13 after police had determined his location. [Read more…]

LONGTIME FRIENDS HELP REVITALIZE HISTORIC CHURCH

November 9, 2020

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org

Longtime friends Nick Wright and Brad Bales are currently helping to revitalize Mouth of Richland Baptist Church in Blaine, one of the oldest churches in the Tennessee Baptist Convention and in Grainger County.

BLAINE — Attendance at Mouth of Richland Baptist Church in Blaine, one of the oldest churches in the Tennessee Baptist Convention and in Grainger County, had dwindled to under 20 people in the summer of 2018 and the congregation was searching for a pastor.

Meanwhile, Nick Wright and Brad Bales, two ministers and lifelong friends, were looking for a new place of service. Having grown up in the general area, the two “20-somethings” met with leadership at Mouth of Richland and suggested they consider hiring both of them, an idea that must have seemed impossible for such a small church.

But the church was looking for a pastor to lead them through some tough times, Wright recalled, adding that they told the church they were confident that they “could come together to revitalize the church.”

Bill Ramsey, a deacon at Mouth of Richland, was one of the deacons who interviewed the two friends. He acknowledged the church had not planned to hire two ministers. “It was a new experience for us,” he said. [Read more…]

MAKING THEIR MARK IN MEMPHIS

September 28, 2020

One Faith Christian Center connects with inner city communities, sees many baptisms

By David Dawson
ddawson@tnbaptist.org

One Faith Christian Center pastor Barron Martin prepares to baptize a new believer. The church is a relatively young church plant, but is making an impact in the Memphis area through community outreach projects and events.

MEMPHIS — It’s incredible what God can do with a small church that has a big vision.

Barron Martin can attest to that. He is the lead pastor at One Faith Christian Center church, Memphis, and he has been blown away with the way the small church plant has been able to impact the community and spread the gospel.

The church baptized approximately 50 new believers last year as a result of their outreach ministries, and they are having similar success this year.

“Man, it’s been amazing,” Martin said. “I can’t describe the feeling, other than to say that I give God all the glory. Every ministry wants to feel like they are being successful in their efforts. So, for us to be seeing the fruits come from our outreach projects — that’s the reward within itself.” [Read more…]

FBC, HENDERSONVILLE, BAPTIZES 51 IN OUTDOOR SERVICE

September 7, 2020

Baptist and Reflector

HENDERSONVILLE — Since COVID-19 became a worldwide pandemic in March, many churches have had to either forgo baptisms or “step outside the box” to get them done.

Such was the case at First Baptist Church, Hendersonville. “Like many, we have grown weary of all of the cancelations and postponements,” said senior pastor Bruce Chesser. “So, we have told our ministry team, ‘Stop focusing on what we cannot do and let’s figure out what we can do.’

“We have told them to think outside the box” he added. As a result, several ministry opportunities have resulted from this way of thinking, said Chesser, who also is serving as president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention. [Read more…]

MAN BAPTIZED AT CHURCH HE VANDALIZED 6 MONTHS EARLIER

October 10, 2019

By Tobin Perry
Baptist Press

Don Chandler (right), who has been the senior pastor of Central Baptist Church in Conway, Ark., for 40 years, stands with Brenton Winn the night the 23-year-old was baptized at the church. In February, Winn was arrested for causing $100,000 in damage at the church.
-Photo courtesy of Central Baptist Church

CONWAY, Ark. (BP) — Feb. 28, 2019 was one of the worst days of 23-year-old Brenton Winn’s life. But it paved the way for one of the best.

Angry at God after he relapsed from an addiction to methamphetamines despite spending time at a faith-based recovery program, Winn knew nothing about Central Baptist Church of Conway, Ark., when he broke in that February evening. High on drugs, Winn went on a rampage and destroyed $100,000 of church property, including laptops, cameras, and other electronics. He remembers little of that night, except that he felt desperate.

Six months later Winn stood in a baptismal pool at Central Baptist as Mike Lefler, the church’s associate pastor of ministries, celebrated the young man’s decision to follow Christ through baptism. [Read more…]

CONNECTING AGAIN AFTER 70 YEARS

July 26, 2019

Retired DOM reunites with woman he baptized in 1949

Baptist and Reflector

Raymond Atwood, a retired director of missions with Loudon County Baptist Association, recently connected with Ellen Williams, a woman he baptized 70 years ago.

JONESBORO, Ark. — In 1949, Raymond Atwood was a college student at Southern Baptist College (now Williams Baptist University) in Walnut Ridge, Ark.

While in college he served as pastor of Big Creek Baptist Church in Hooker Switch, Ark. The church held a baptismal service in the Cash River, about one mile from the church, recalled Atwood, who later served in Tennessee as director of missions for Loudon County Baptist Association, based in Lenoir City, for 14 years before retiring from that role in 1995. [Read more…]

RICH, YET POOR

July 12, 2019

By Jerry Drace
Evangelist and senior pastor, Friendship Baptist Church, Friendship

This article is written from two perspectives: one from the experience of having been a vocational evangelist for 38 years and the other from the experience of currently serving as a pastor for the past eight years.

The latest statistics from the Annual Church Profile (ACP) of the Southern Baptist Convention have just been released and were published in the June 12 issue of the B&R. Guess what? The time for rhetoric is over. We have had enough motivational sermons, church growth conferences and restructuring. [Read more…]

Two-year-old church plant baptizes 45 people during pandemic

FBC McMinnville sees surge in baptisms despite COVID

Tragedies lead to salvations, baptisms in Hendersonville

One Faith Christian Center connects with inner city communities, sees many baptisms

Retired DOM reunites with woman he baptized in 1949

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