Baptist & Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

CLEARVIEW STAYS ‘ON THE GO’ DURING PANDEMIC

By David Dawson
ddawson@tnbaptist.org

Packed with diapers and other items, this car is one of many vehicles being used for deliveries as part of ClearView Baptist’s community ministries during the pandemic.

FRANKLIN — From pumpkin pies to flip-flops to trash bags,  ClearView Baptist Church, Franklin, is using all kinds of items to meet needs in the community.

Looking to make a difference in the lives of those who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, ClearView has joined forces with a host of local organizations to distribute food, household items, footwear and other things to those who need it most.

ClearView mission director Kim Margrave said the church has a heart for the community, and has been especially focused on making an impact for Christ during these challenging days. 

“Our folks sincerely want to be a part of helping our community,” said Margrave. “We talk a lot here at ClearView about finding your purpose — what is it that God has put you on the planet for? So, it has been a great learning opportunity for us to find these needs and start being a part of the solution. At ClearView, we often say that missions is a person, not a project or an event on the calendar. ” [Read more…]

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PERSONAL EVANGELISM: DON’T LET COVID-19 BECOME AN EXCUSE

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

FRANKLIN — Evangelism leaders for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board agree COVID-19 has impacted personal evangelism, but they also strongly affirm that Christians should not use it as an excuse to not witness.

“The fact social distancing has been in place for months has certainly impacted our ability to communicate with others,” said Roc Collins, director of strategic objectives for the TBMB. 

It is hard to create relationships and even communicate with social distancing. Plus, he added, people are leery of everybody and afraid they may catch this virus.”

Jay Barbier, youth evangelism specialist for the TBMB, noted there is “no doubt that personal evangelism has been impacted because of COVID. 

“We as a people like to find excuses and I think this pandemic has entertained us in a way like never before to give in to evangelistic laziness. We need to stop saying why we can’t tell others about Jesus because of COVID and look at all the new, old and amazing opportunities we have to communicate the greatest news ever, the gospel of Jesus,” he said. [Read more…]

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OUTREACH HAS NEW LOOK DURING PANDEMIC

By Aaron Wilson
Writer, LifeWay Christian Resources

Lucinda Arce (left) and her mother Holly Arce distribute candy to local families during a trunk-or-treat event at Madison First Baptist Church. To reach the community, the church hosts a targeted outreach event each month and conducts door-to-door neighborhood visits each week. — Sergio Arce photo

MADISON — Sergio Arce knocks on the door of a home close to the church he pastors. Arce isn’t expected and doesn’t know if anyone is home. This is a cold-call visit.

As a man walks to the door, Arce and the two church members with him take a few steps back to ensure social distancing. The trio wear masks because of the pandemic and carry Evangecubes, a small, visual tool for sharing the gospel.

“Hi, my name is Sergio. This is Jennifer. This is Jermaine,” Arce says as the door opens. “We’re from Madison First Baptist Church and are out seeing how we can be praying for our community. Is there anything we can be praying for you about?”

The man is quick to answer.

“They found my brother’s body last Friday,” he says, recounting a recent storm that caused his brother to be swept away by the current of the nearby Cumberland River. [Read more…]

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DAVIS: TENNESSEE BAPTISTS ARE ‘RISING TO THE OCCASION’

By Lonnie Wilkey
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org

Tennessee Baptist Mission Board president and executive director Randy C. Davis.

FRANKLIN — As COVID-19 cases begin to rise throughout the state, Tennessee Baptist churches will rise to the occasion, said Randy C. Davis,  president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.

In a pre-Thanksgiving video update (view the video HERE), Davis acknowledged the spike in COVID cases.

Davis observed he has seen it in a personal way through a conversation with his neighbor who works in an ICU unit at a Nashville hospital. “She says it’s as bad as it’s ever been before,” he related. 

“Over the past few weeks, we’ve heard of more lay people, more ministry leaders and more pastors having tested positive for COVID,” he added. 

“Many of them are suffering greatly because of it,” Davis said. “Thankfully, some cases are very mild and it’s a matter of a week, two weeks and they’re back at it, but there are a lot of people experiencing some very severe symptoms, and we want to be praying for each other during that time.” [Read more…]

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CHESSER: NOW MORE THAN EVER, PEOPLE ARE IN NEED OF THE LORD

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

Bruce Chesser delivers an abbreviated president’s address during the Tennessee Baptist Convention’s first Virtual Summit.

FRANKLIN — Even during a worldwide pandemic, God has done and “will continue to do wonders among us,” affirmed Bruce Chesser, pastor of First Baptist Church, Hendersonville, and president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention.

Due to the cancelation of the in-person Summit originally scheduled for Brentwood Baptist Church, Chesser gave an abbreviated message during the Virtual Summit.

“I had expected to share a message at Summit and preach in a more traditional way,” he noted, “but it’s an honor to be able to come to you in this way.” Chesser, who will serve another year as president, said he planned to present his original message at next year’s convention. [Read more…]

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TBC CP GIFTS END YEAR NEAR GOAL

Baptist and Reflector

FRANKLIN — In a year when most churches across Tennessee could not meet in person for several months, Tennessee Baptists continued to faithfully meet missions and ministry needs in the state and around the world.

Tennessee Baptist Convention churches gave $2,824,225 through the Cooperative Program in October.

Tennessee Baptists gave a total of $34,203,543 through the Cooperative Program during the 2019-20 budget year which ended Oct. 31. The amount was $516,061 or 1.51 percent below what was given last year. The total also was $796,457 or 2.28 percent below budget needs. [Read more…]

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FEW CHURCHES BACK TO PRE-COVID ATTENDANCE LEVELS

By Aaron Earls
LifeWay Research

NASHVILLE — The vast majority of U.S. Protestant churches say they are holding in-person services, but churchgoers have yet to attend in the numbers they did before the coronavirus pandemic struck.

According to the latest survey from Nashville-based LifeWay Research, 87 percent of Protestant pastors in the U.S. say their church met in person in September, while 13 percent did not hold physical gatherings.

Since the beginning of March, LifeWay Research has been tracking how COVID-19 is affecting churches. While few Protestant churches gathered physically in April, most began meeting in person again by May with more than 7 in 10 pastors saying they did so in July.

“More and more churches across the U.S. have found ways to meet again, but things are not back to normal,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research. “The impact of regulations, caution and hardships mean more than 1 in 10 churches are still not meeting in person for any type of worship service. Churches are living organisms, and when more than a third of their members are missing, they are not whole.”

A majority of African American Protestant pastors (60 percent) say their congregations did not meet in person last month.  [Read more…]

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MASK OR NO MASK? IT’S NOT AN ISSUE AT OAK VALLEY BAPTIST

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, B&R
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org 

FRANKLIN — As the debate in the nation continues over wearing masks or not wearing masks, it has not been an issue for Oak Valley Baptist Church in Franklin.

While many churches hold both traditional and contemporary worship services, Oak Valley decided to hold mask or no mask (optional) services, said pastor Jerry Winfield.

He noted that when the church returned to live services in June, there were a significant number of people who felt more comfortable wearing masks.

In fact, when they returned, masks were optional at both services. After a substantial number of people expressed concerns about being around people without masks, Winfield said the decision was made to have a mask service and a mask optional service, during which few, if any, members wear a mask. [Read more…]

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HOW MUCH MORE CAN YOU STAND?

By Randy C. Davis
TBMB president & executive director

One of the greatest and constant needs of the church since its birth at Pentecost is God-called, Spirit-filled, well-equipped leaders. Are you like me, some days just wondering: How much more can we stand?

Some days it seems our entire culture is wondering the same. How much more can we collectively stand? 

Even a half-hearted glance at the news is overwhelming. Culture wars and racial conflict like we’ve not seen in 50 years; political upheaval; riots, lawlessness and constant protests paralyzing many of our nation’s cities; and a lack of social decorum and mutual respect in society but especially within our government.

President Trump and Senator Biden are practically brawling in presidential debates and political anger abounds. Then there are the professional athletes and sport leagues that have become billboards for personal and corporate protests. Of course, there’s also social media, which is often a cesspool of unmitigated vitriol spewed with no accountability.  [Read more…]

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CHESSER: COVID MINISTRY PLANS SHOULD EXTEND 12-18 MONTHS

By David Roach
B&R Contributing Writer

At a Sept. 17 seminar, TBC president Bruce Chesser offered numerous suggestions for adapting church ministry to pandemic conditions. Looking on is Bruce Raley, FBC executive pastor.
— Photo by David Roach

HENDERSONVILLE — When Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee asked churches March 13 not to meet in person, leaders at First Baptist Church in Hendersonville thought they would have to suspend normal worship services two or three weeks, until Easter at the latest. When those plans didn’t materialize, they figured everything would be back to normal by the start of school. That didn’t materialize either.

Today, the church is still more than 40 percent below its pre-pandemic worship attendance of 3,750 and doesn’t know when — if ever — things will get back to normal. Yet God is at work. The church baptized 51 people on a single Sunday in August. [Read more…]

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