childhood Archives - Baptist & Reflector

HOSTING VBS WAS A TRUE TEAM EFFORT AT HALEY’S GROVE

December 12, 2019

By David Dawson
Baptist and Reflector
ddawson@tnbaptist.org

CROSSVILLE — Kim Margrave thought she was making a simple phone call regarding administrative numbers.

Little did she know she was actually setting off a chain of events that would ultimately lead to eight professions of faith at Haley’s Grove Baptist Church in Crossville.

The sequence began last February when Margrave, former volunteer missions specialist at the Tennessee Baptist Missions Board, was in the process of contacting various churches to gather information for the Annual Church Profile that is compiled by the TBMB.

While speaking on the phone with Haley’s Grove pastor Robert Hawkins, Margrave discovered that the church had discontinued its Vacation Bible School ministry several years ago because the church was unable to put together a volunteer staff large enough to host the event.

Hoping to find a solution, Margrave immediately contacted TBMB childhood specialist Vicki Hulsey, who then contacted members of Maury County Baptist Association, including director of missions Dale Ledbetter. [Read more…]

CHRISTIANS SHOULDN’T BE INTIMIDATED BY OTHER VOICES

November 14, 2019

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

In 2015, Tennessee legislators passed a state law that authorized local school boards across the state to put policies in place allowing students to be excused during the school day to attend a class in “religious moral instruction.”

The freedom to have release time for biblical or moral instruction actually has occurred for more than a century and possibly longer. It was contested in 1952 and the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Bible Release Time (Zorach versus Clauson, 343 U.S. 306). [Read more…]

STILL JAMMING: GA EVENT TURNS 30

October 22, 2019

By Ashley Perham
Baptist & Reflector

Tennessee WMU missions and ministry advocate Linda Robbins leads a JAM small group as children learn more about missions.

NASHVILLE — JAM, a one-day mission event for children, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.

JAM, which stands for Journey into Adventures in Missions, was started by the Tennessee WMU in 1989.

Originally, the event was only for 1st through 6th grade girls in the WMU Girls in Action (GA) program.

In 2001, the event became open to all children in 1st-6th grade. [Read more…]

THE ABCs OF GEN Z

October 10, 2019

TBMB leads seminars on how to reach this easily-distracted demographic

By David Dawson
Baptist and Reflector
ddawson@tnbaptist.org

SHELBYVILLE — “Does anyone know what a slo-fie is?” asked Donna Blaydes as she glanced around the classroom filled with adults.

After a few moments of mostly blank stares and silence, Blaydes explained that the term, which is only about three weeks old, refers to slow-motion “selfies” that can be recorded with the latest version of iPhones.

The response to Blaydes’ question perfectly illustrated the point that she was making: Technology is moving so rapidly that it can be challenging for parents and grandparents to keep up. [Read more…]

10 CHARACTERISTICS OF GEN Z

October 9, 2019

By David Dawson
Baptist and Reflector
ddawson@tnbaptist.org

SHELBYVILLE — While leading a breakout session called “Parenting and Grandparenting Gen Z Kids” at the TBMB’s conference, Debbie Doane revealed 10 common characteristics among Gen Z-ers. Doane then discussed ways in which these characteristics shape relationships with this demographic. By learning more about their world, it becomes easier to open the lines of communication, she said.

1 They’ve always been ‘wired’

Gen Z kids have been surrounded by screens their whole lives. With the commercialization of the internet in 1995 — the year that many consider to be the start of Gen Z — and the influx of cell phones, Gen Z is seemingly always connected to something. [Read more…]

FROM CHURCH-HOUSE TO NEIGHBORHOOD-HOUSE

September 27, 2019

By Justin Mullins
Young Families Pastor, Collierville First Baptist Church

Children enjoy a Backyard Kids Club provided by Collierville First Baptist Church.

A few years ago, our church, Collierville First Baptist Church, decided to take a closer look at who we were reaching through our annual Vacation Bible School. While our numbers were strong, we were surprised to discover that only four percent of the children who attended were unchurched.

We put all our resources, volunteers and effort into a huge program that consisted of 96 percent of the children attending our church or another church in the area. So, we began to pray and ask the Lord for a new and exciting opportunity to reach new families with the gospel of Jesus Christ. We defined the success of this program by how many unchurched families we could reach. [Read more…]

VBS – IS IT WORTH IT?

June 17, 2019

By Debbie Richard

I would like to tell you a story about an 8-year-old girl.

Her parents did not go to church. The family loved the outdoors, so most weekends were spent camping.

Since both parents worked, the girl and her younger brother had to have a sitter. It so happened their sitter was the wife of a Baptist preacher. Every afternoon when their father picked them up, the preacher would meet him at the door and invite the family to church. [Read more…]

IAM4KIDS IS CHANGING LIVES THROUGH MENTORING

May 3, 2019

By David Dawson
Baptist and Reflector
ddawson@tnbaptist.org

LAWRENCEBURG — While serving as director of the “IAM4Kids” mentoring program, Steve Seaton is continuously seeing life-changing transformations take place through the faith-based ministry.

But on an even deeper level, Seaton’s appreciation for mentoring developed long before he joined the “IAM4Kids” staff. It actually happened when he was on the other side of the table. [Read more…]

TBMB DIRECTORS HEAR PLAN FOR SPECIAL TASK FORCE

May 1, 2019

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

Eric Nichols, pastor of the Thompson Station Church, Columbia Campus, welcomes directors of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board to Thompson Station Church in Thompson’s Station. Looking on are Randy C. Davis, left, president and executive director of the TBMB, and Mike Kemper, right, board chair and interim pastor of First Baptist Church, Dyer.

Updated May 3, 2019

THOMPSON’S STATION — Directors of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board approved four recommendations and heard plans for a Sexual Abuse Prevention and Response Task Force during their meeting April 30 at Thompson Station Church in Thompson’s Station.

Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the TBMB, announced plans for the task force during his report to the board of directors.

Though the issue of sexual abuse of children in Southern Baptist churches became widely known after articles were released by The Houston Chronicle in February, Davis said the TBMB has been assisting churches in taking steps to prevent sexual abuse for 20 years and will continue to do so. [Read more…]

GAINES: USE EASTER TO EVANGELIZE

April 2, 2019

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

Calvary Baptist Church pastor Grant Gaines, seen here speaking at Union University, says Easter is a great time to invite friends and neighbors to church. — Photo by Anne Richoux, Union University

JACKSON — Easter is the perfect time to invite people to church to hear about Jesus and the resurrection story, said Grant Gaines, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, Jackson.

Gaines, who led a breakout session during a recent evangelism conference at Union University, was featured recently on a Radio B&R podcast (Listen to episode 26 here).

“Easter is a natural time to focus on inviting people to church,” Gaines said. The concept fits hand in glove with the church’s evangelistic strategy. “We believe that inviting people to come to church is still a great way to do evangelism,” Gaines noted.

He explained that “a church invite” is not necessarily direct personal evangelism “because you’re not necessarily explaining the gospel to your neighbor, or coworker or your family member that you’re inviting. [Read more…]

TBMB leads seminars on how to reach this easily-distracted demographic

1 They’ve always been ‘wired’

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