Baptist & Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

YEAR IN REVIEW: GOOD TIMES, BAD TIMES, SICKNESS AND HEALTH

Past year was mixed bag of challenges, opportunities

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

FRANKLIN — Following 2020, a year that will forever be remembered for COVID-19, 2021 offered numerous headline opportunities for a nation still reeling from a worldwide pandemic.

Likewise, there was no shortage of news stories in the Tennessee Baptist Convention as leaders and churches dealt with a variety of challenges and opportunities during 2021. 

Here’s a look at some of the headlines that shaped the landscape over the past 12 months: [Read more…]

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REVITALIZATION SLOWED, BUT NOT STOPPED BY COVID

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

Richard Bragg, pastor of Poplar Heights Baptist Church in Jackson, said the church lost some momentum during the pandemic, but said it also enabled him to “preach hope.”

JACKSON — When Richard Bragg was called as pastor of Poplar Heights Baptist Church in Jackson in October of 2019, he was joining a congregation that had experienced some struggles in recent years.

In 2002, Poplar Heights reported an average worship attendance of 640. Seventeen years later, the average attendance had dropped to 84.

Bragg hit the ground running and was beginning to see progress six months into his ministry. The church had started to average around 130 in attendance and then, COVID-19 hit, bringing things to a grinding halt. 

The church has yet to reach the attendance it had before COVID. “It was the oddest year in ministry I’ve ever had,” acknowledged Bragg, who began his ministry in 1998.

After the church had to shut down for several weeks, the church spent the next 10 months livestreaming services (along with in-person services after churches could reopen) and “figuring out what to do next,” he said. [Read more…]

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PASTOR/CHAPLAIN NAVIGATES ‘UNCHARTED COURSE’ DURING COVID-19

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

Like many pastors, Bob Schafer believes the pandemic created some of the most challenging days of his ministry. But he was excited to see God at work during those difficult times.

BIRCHWOOD — While some bivocational pastors experienced reduced hours or off days because of COVID-19, it was just the opposite for Bob Schafer, pastor of Birchwood Baptist Church, Birchwood, northwest of Chattanooga.

Schafer, better known as Pastor Bob, serves as a chaplain for Signature Health Care which he services in the skilled nursing facilities in Cleveland, Spring City and Rockwood.

His workload has not decreased during the pandemic. He is the only chaplain for the three nursing homes and he ministers at each one on a rotating basis during the week, in addition to serving as pastor of Birchwood Baptist.

During COVID, Schafer was the only pastor who could go into the facilities so he was able to minister to the residents on a regular basis. “I’m just glad I was there,” he said. [Read more…]

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BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN

One year after facing death from COVID-19, Zach Lloyd is back in the pulpit, doing what he loves

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

After a lengthy absence due to COVID-19, Zach Lloyd is preaching once again at East LaFollette Baptist Church.

LAFOLLETTE — To say that pastor Zach Lloyd is a walking miracle would be an understatement.

Just one year ago, Lloyd was in the early stages of a 175-day stay in the hospital and a double lung transplant due to complications from COVID-19.

There were moments that he wondered if he would ever return to his family or the pulpit because death was imminent several times while he lay helplessly in the COVID-19 ICU at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.

Lloyd returned to LaFollette in May after a seven-month stay at VUMC to an incredible welcome celebration as people lined the highway from the interstate through LaFollette. “That was special,” he recalled.

Lloyd returned to the pulpit at East LaFollette Baptist Church on June 27 and has only missed two Sundays since.  [Read more…]

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SOUTHERN SEMINARY FILES PETITION AGAINST BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

By Brandon Porter
Baptist Press

LOUISVILLE — The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary filed a petition in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit Friday against the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to block Pres. Biden’s enforcement of a mandate requiring employees of private employers be vaccinated against COVID-19.

“It is unacceptable for the government to force religious institutions to become coercive extensions of state power. We have no choice but to push back against this intrusion of the government into matters of conscience and religious conviction,” said Albert Mohler, president of Southern Seminary.

Biden issued the mandate on Sept. 9. In address to the nation, Biden said he was frustrated with those who had not been vaccinated. “We’ve been patient. But our patience is wearing thin, and your refusal has cost all of us,” he said.

The mandate requires employers with more than 100 employees to require they be vaccinated. [Read more…]

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TEXANS VOTE TO PROHIBIT GOVERNMENT FROM LIMITING RELIGIOUS SERVICES

By Timothy Cockes
Baptist Press

ALLEN, Texas — An amendment to the Texas constitution prohibiting the state government from imposing limits on religious worship services passed with 62 percent of the vote on Nov. 2.

The legislation came in response to government restrictions on houses of worship during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Proposition 3 (officially termed TX HB1239) adds a clause to the Texas constitution that forbids the government from similar actions in the future.

The amendment passed with more than 900,000 votes, according to unofficial election results from the Texas secretary of state.

One of the bill’s original co-authors and supporters was Scott Sanford, a Republican representative who also serves as an executive pastor with Cottonwood Creek Church, a Southern Baptist congregation in Allen, Texas. [Read more…]

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ONLINE SERVICES EXPANDED REACH OF CHURCHES DURING PANDEMIC

By Aaron Earls
Writer, Lifeway Christian Resources

NASHVILLE — Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, online worship services were a novel concept for many churches. In the almost two years since, however, churches have adapted and reached new people with the adoption of digital streaming.

According to a new study from Nashville-based Lifeway Research, 45 percent of Americans say they have watched a Christian church service online during the COVID-19 pandemic, including some who say they don’t normally physically attend. Around half (52 percent) say they have not watched a church service during the pandemic, most of whom say they don’t normally attend church in person either.

“The distance to one’s nearest church has changed almost overnight,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “A form of communication that was not even used by most churches before the pandemic has now reached almost half of Americans.” [Read more…]

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ONLINE SERVICES EXPANDED REACH OF CHURCHES DURING PANDEMIC

By Aaron Earls
Writer, Lifeway Christian Resources 

NASHVILLE —

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, online worship services were a novel concept for many churches. In the almost two years since, however, churches have adapted and reached new people with the adoption of digital streaming.

According to a new study from Nashville-based Lifeway Research, 45 percent of Americans say they have watched a Christian church service online during the COVID-19 pandemic, including some who say they don’t normally physically attend. Around half (52 percent) say they have not watched a church service during the pandemic, most of whom say they don’t normally attend church in person either.

“The distance to one’s nearest church has changed almost overnight,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “A form of communication that was not even used by most churches before the pandemic has now reached almost half of Americans.” [Read more…]

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ARE WE SAFER AT CHURCH OR THE LOCAL STORE?

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

As I have traveled more in recent months, I have visited with pastors and church leaders across the state. One thing I have sensed is some discouragement that while things have opened up in Tennessee and our nation, attendance at our churches, for the most part, has not risen to pre-COVID-19 levels.

These ministers listen to concerns about the continued presence of COVID-19 and the new strain that continues to infect people. They understand that some members are genuinely concerned for their health. And, they should be. 

COVID-19 is still rampant in our state and across the nation. I actually know more people who have had COVID or have died from COVID this year than I did all of last year. COVID-19 is real and it should be taken seriously.

But I understand why many of our pastors are confused. They hear from their congregants that they are afraid to be “in crowds” yet some of those same people can be seen at the local department store, their favorite restaurant and now, with football season well underway, in a jam-packed stadium with thousands of other people. So much for fear of catching COVID. [Read more…]

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OUR LIVES ARE ‘MARKED’ BY COVID-19

By Kevin Shrum
Pastor, Inglewood Baptist Church, Nashville

I know a man who lived through the Great Depression. He saved everything — empty milk cartons, non-perishable foods, reams of toilet paper, etc. He was the first “prepper” I ever met even though he wasn’t a “doomsday prepper.” 

If you asked him why he saved all these things he would simply say, “You never know when you’ll need it.” The Great Depression had marked him by teaching him to save everything during a time of great economic upheaval and scarcity, conditioning his thoughts and behaviors for generations to come.

The COVID-19 pandemic is marking us, conditioning our thoughts and behaviors in ways we’re not even aware of. When our grandchildren ask, “Why does Grandpa do that (… just fill in the blank)?” The answer will simply be, “Oh, he lived during the Great COVID Pandemic of the 20s. That’s why Grandpa does crazy things.”  [Read more…]

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