coronavirus Archives - Baptist & Reflector

ERLC ENCOURAGES CHURCH, CIVIC PARTNERSHIP ON COVID-19 CONTACT TRACING

July 13, 2020

Baptist Press

WASHINGTON (BP) — Churches should partner with government officials to fight the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) while receiving First Amendment protections as they cooperate, the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission said in a new statement.

The ERLC issued a document July 10 that provides guidance to church and civic leaders regarding the effort to protect public health, particularly through the process known as contact tracing. In the procedure, trained workers contact people who may have been exposed to COVID-19 so those potentially infected individuals can isolate from others and thereby prevent the spread of the virus. [Read more…]

C-N ANNOUNCES FALL PLANS; CLASSES TO START AUG. 19

July 10, 2020

Baptist and Reflector

JEFFERSON CITY — Carson-Newman University announced its plans to resume classes and residential living for the fall semester.

Classes will begin Aug. 19. Like many universities, in-person instruction for Carson-Newman will conclude by Thanksgiving and resume with online instruction for the remainder of the semester. Dining and residence halls will remain open. [Read more…]

CHURCHES ADJUSTING AGAIN FOR COVID-19

July 9, 2020

Editor’s note – For additional resources and an updated version of the TBMB Gathering Together Again document that includes information about how your church should move forward when members test positive for COVID-19, visit TnBaptist.org/reopen.

In-person gatherings suspended on numerous campuses across state

By David Dawson
Baptist and Reflector
ddawson@tnbaptist.org

FRANKLIN — With the number of COVID-19 cases on the rise in certain parts of the state, pastors and church leaders are once again having to make tough decisions regarding worship services and other gatherings.

Numerous churches in Tennessee have recently suspended their on-campus services and returned to an online-only format for worship gatherings. Some churches have done this for a couple of weeks, while others are considering longer suspensions.

These decisions were reached, in some instances, after church members either tested positive for COVID-19 or were concerned that they might be infected. [Read more…]

FIRST-PERSON: FIVE LESSONS I LEARNED FROM A COVID-19 SPIKE AT OUR CHURCH

July 2, 2020

By Derek Allen

MOBILE, Ala. — In March, April and May, our church staff braced for a wave of COVID-19 cases to sweep through our church family. It never happened. In fact, for the first three months of the COVID-19 outbreak, our church family of about 1500 only experienced a handful of coronavirus cases. As far as we know, none of those cases was spread at one of our events. Two weeks ago, that all changed.

Like most churches, we moved to an online-only format in March, but as soon as our governor and state department of health gave us the green light, we started meeting in socially distanced services. A few weeks into those services, we had a coronavirus scare, but it was short-lived.

One of our staff members was exposed to someone who later tested positive for the virus, and our entire staff was with the exposed staff member in a two-hour staff meeting a few days later. The exposed staff member then tested positive. We had the rest of our staff tested, but everyone else tested negative. No one, including the one staff member who tested positive, showed any symptoms. We breathed a collective sigh of relief, and many of us, including myself, came away from that experience more convinced than before that the only real threat we faced from COVID-19 was our services being shut down again. [Read more…]

REBUILDING WHAT WE HAD BEFORE COVID-19

June 30, 2020

By Bruce Chesser
President, Tennessee Baptist Convention
Senior pastor, First Baptist Church, Hendersonville

All of us find ourselves now in the unique situation of needing to rebuild what we had going prior to the pandemic. As most of us began the process of regathering in person, we found some things are missing. Most of us have begun with worship gatherings and we will add the Connect Group/Bible Study/Sunday School piece of the puzzle later. Likewise, most will be adding the Wednesday night programming closer to the beginning of the school year.

Let me make a few suggestions.

Take the next couple of months to organize your ministry team and volunteers in a season of discovery and recovery. Discover who has resumed attending your worship services (or whatever else you are currently offering) and make a list of those that were actively involved but who have not yet returned. Make them your target. [Read more…]

STORMY DAYS, STRONG FAITH

June 23, 2020

God at work in Hamilton County amid tough times

By David Dawson
Baptist and Reflector
ddawson@tnbaptist.org

Disaster relief volunteers and others survey the damage at a house that was damaged by a tornado in Hamilton County on April 12.

CHATTANOOGA — The residents of Hamilton County have experienced a trilogy of turmoil in the past few months.

It began when the COVID-19 pandemic first took hold, throwing daily routines into a state of flux. Then came a deadly tornado that created another wave of emotional and physical challenges. And in recent days, Hamilton County, like the rest of the country, has been dealing with racial unrest that was ignited by the death of George Floyd.

The three events might lead some to wonder, “where has God been in all this tragedy?”

Dennis Culbreth, the director of missions for Hamilton County Baptist, said the answer is clear — the Lord has been present and active through it all. [Read more…]

SOME CHURCH PLANTS BEING UPROOTED

June 12, 2020

COVID-19 poses challenges for church plants that gather in schools

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

Living Water Church in Murfreesboro meets at Blackman Elementary School. It is one of 30 or so Tennessee Baptist churches that meet on school campuses. Most do not know yet if they will be allowed to return due to concerns with COVID-19.

FRANKLIN — As Tennessee Baptist churches begin to regather all across the state, it’s not that simple for every congregation, especially for church plants that meet in local schools.

“We’ve got quite a few of our church planters right now who are scrambling to find alternative spaces other than being an all online digital church,” observed Lewis McMullen, church planting specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.

McMullen estimated that in the last three to four years, about 50 church plants have begun in schools and of those, about 30 are still meeting in a school. “As long as schools are closed, those churches cannot meet.” [Read more…]

A YEAR WITHOUT THE SBC MEETING

June 11, 2020

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

FRANKLIN — In a normal year, hundreds of Tennessee Baptists would be gathered in Orlando, Fla., this week for the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. But thanks to COVID-19, 2020 is not a normal year.

Tennessee Baptists who planned to go to Orlando this year expressed disappointment that the annual meeting was canceled due to the pandemic, but they certainly understood why. [Read more…]

SOUTHERN BAPTISTS GATHER TO VIRTUALLY CELEBRATE SENDING 61 MISSIONARIES

June 10, 2020

By Caroline Anderson
IMB writer

Chris and Sara and their two children were living the American dream in Montana. They loved their home and their business. Chris said after he committed his life to Christ at age 25, the Lord gave their family opportunities to serve at Madison Valley Baptist Church in Ennis, Montana. God told Chris and Sara to sell their possessions and share the gospel with those who’ve never heard. Chris and Sara are moving to the Americas to serve with the IMB.

On June 9, the International Mission Board commissioned 61 missionaries in a virtual Sending Celebration. The missionaries represent churches in 15 states and will be serving in all nine of the IMB’s affinities.

Sending Celebrations provide a forum for Southern Baptists to commission new missionaries and hear their call to missions.

IMB trustees voted on and approved 59 of the missionaries this spring in a virtual board meeting. Two missionaries were appointed in January. The 61 missionaries were to be commissioned at this summer’s SBC Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida, before the conference was canceled due to COVID-19.

The cancellation of the annual meeting didn’t keep Southern Baptists from celebrating the missionaries. Southern Baptists gathered around computer screens across the country to watch a video of the missionaries’ testimonies of how the Lord called them to the mission field. [Read more…]

VBS HAS NEW FORMAT, SAME FOCUS

June 10, 2020

Rather than canceling VBS, many churches change methods

By David Dawson
ddawson@tnbaptist.org

Rebecca Ramsey, Rachael Ramsey and Regan McKeehan perform a music video during ‘Virtual Vacation Bible School’ at Chilhowee Hills Baptist Church. All across the state, churches used new and creative ways to have VBS this year as the COVID-19 pandemic prevented many churches from hosting on-campus VBS.

FRANKLIN — With a mixture of determination, imagination and inspiration, many churches in Tennessee are finding ways to host Vacation Bible School this year.

Despite the challenging circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic, many VBS leaders have elected to move forward, even if it means changing the traditional format and veering away from their tried-and-true formulas of the past.

“We never really considered ‘canceling’ VBS,” said Tim Thompson, children’s pastor at First Baptist Church, Morristown. “Our thoughts as a team were to always look for a creative and safe way to do it.”

That was the prevailing attitude across the state, said Tennessee Baptist Mission Board childhood specialist Vicki Hulsey, who noted that churches are finding all kinds of new approaches — such as Neighborhood VBS, Alternative Schedule VBS and Virtual VBS (see list below this story and also see related sidebar HERE). Hulsey said she has been encouraged to see that a large number of churches have adopted a “show-must-go-on” mentality. [Read more…]

In-person gatherings suspended on numerous campuses across state

God at work in Hamilton County amid tough times

COVID-19 poses challenges for church plants that gather in schools

Rather than canceling VBS, many churches change methods

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