Baptist & Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

FEW PROTESTANT CHURCHES MET IN PERSON FOR WORSHIP SERVICES IN APRIL

By Aaron Earls
LifeWay Christian Resources writer

NASHVILLE — As federal, state and local governments weigh relaxing stay-at-home guidelines, most churches continued to avoid gathering physically throughout April.

Nine in 10 Protestant pastors say their congregations did not meet for an in-person worship service last month, according to a new study from Nashville-based LifeWay Research.

A previous study from LifeWay Research found 99 percent of churches gathered physically at the beginning of March, but that dropped to 7 percent by March 29. 

Despite Easter falling during the month, churches continued to avoid meeting in April. The latest LifeWay Research survey found those choosing to gather in person remained flat on April 5 and April 12, Easter Sunday, at 7 percent. Fewer gathered on April 19 (4 percent) and April 26 (6 percent). [Read more…]

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LIFEWAY TO DISCONTINUE WORLD CHANGERS PROJECTS AMID COVID-19

By Carol Pipes
Director of corporate communications, LifeWay 

World Changers participants perform a project in Chattanooga. — Photo provided by LifeWay

NASHVILLE — LifeWay Christian Resources announced this week they are canceling World Changers mission projects for summer 2020 and closing all future operations due to declining numbers and the inability to host projects this summer because of COVID-19.

“We are sad about the closing of World Changers, but we know now is the time to make this decision based on more than 10 years of decline in participants and the current financial impact related to the coronavirus pandemic,” said Ben Trueblood, director of Student Ministry at LifeWay.

Since 1990, World Changers has provided students and adults with opportunities to meet the physical and spiritual needs of others by making repairs for low-income homeowners at no charge. Volunteers donated a week of their time in the summer, often sleeping on classroom and gymnasium floors at local schools, while tackling projects like building wheelchair ramps, applying fresh coats of paint, and replacing windows and siding.  [Read more…]

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15 WORSHIP ‘HELPS’ FOR REGATHERING CHURCHES

By Scott C. Shepherd
Tennessee Baptist Mission Board music and worship specialist 

Many churches in Tennessee will be opening their doors in the coming weeks.

In the coming weeks and months, churches across Tennessee will make the decision to gather again for worship. These services — though COVID-19 restrictions have been reduced — will not be a return to “worship as usual.” 

Here are 15 worship-related helps for churches to consider as they prepare to regather.

Maintain social distancing in worship. Restrictions have been lessened, but social distancing must continue. 

• Arrange the congregation so families are at least six feet apart from other families. Block off certain pews or remove chairs, and utilize staff, ushers and deacons to direct traffic, but these guides should also maintain social distancing. 

• Model social distancing on the platform. If you can’t have your full worship team on the platform and still preserve social distancing, reduce the size of your team for this season or alternate smaller teams each week. 

• Ministers are exceptionally good at “working the room,” and they ought to be! You want to greet our attendees, shake their hands, and give them hugs. Now, however, the most loving thing you can do is not touch your members. Greet, smile, and wave, but keep your distance. Practice what you preach. [Read more…]

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TBMB PROVIDES RESOURCE TO HELP CHURCHES REOPEN

Baptist and Reflector

FRANKLIN — The Tennessee Baptist Mission Board has provided a document entitled “Gathering Together Again” to assist churches as they consider holding worship services again in their facilities.

The document can be accessed at www.tnbaptist.org/reopen.

Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the TBMB, noted church leaders have been asking for weeks, “When can we reopen our church?”

“As you know, within our Baptist polity, that is not a question seeking permission but rather an informed perspective,” he said.  “I wish there were a single response with a definitive date, but that is a call every church must make for itself.” [Read more…]

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FLOYD: WE WILL NOT RETREAT: THE REAL REASON FOR SUPPORTING THE COOPERATIVE PROGRAM

EDITOR’S NOTE: Ronnie Floyd is president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee. April 26 is Cooperative Program Sunday in the Southern Baptist Convention.

By Ronnie Floyd 

Ronnie Floyd

NASHVILLE — When the coronavirus (COVID-19) began to spread across the globe, our work as Southern Baptists did not stop.

And as we approach and celebrate Cooperative Program Sunday in the SBC on April 26, it’s possible that in our lifetimes, we have never had greater reason to continue to generously support the Cooperative Program.

Our missionaries are still on the field, both overseas and in North America. Our seminary students are still being trained for ministry and missions. Our work together in each of our respective regions, states, nation and world is still alive and active. Disaster Relief ministry is still operating through state conventions in this critical hour, along with our Send Relief ministry. Our chaplains are still ministering. [Read more…]

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TBMB PROVIDES PRAYER HOTLINE

Baptist and Reflector

FRANKLIN — The Tennessee Baptist Mission Board is providing a Prayer Hotline that will be answered 24 hours a day for the foreseeable future by trained Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief chaplains.

The phone number is 844-600-8262 (844-600-TBMB).

The prayer hotline, which launches at 11 a.m. (CST) on Wednesday, April 15, is for anyone looking for prayer or conversation with an experienced chaplain, said Bill Choate, director of Baptist Collegiate Ministry for the TBMB. When there are specific needs, individuals may be referred to other resources, he added.

“These days are extraordinarily difficult for so many,” Choate observed. “The coronavirus crisis is affecting not only church members and communities but also church leaders, pastors and ministerial staff.” [Read more…]

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DEALING WITH DISEASE NOT NEW IN BAPTIST LIFE

By Charles Jones
Baptist historian

Canceling services due to illness is not new to Baptist life. Pandemics, epidemics and weather have all been part of our collective experience. 

In musty old church minutes, it’s not uncommon to see statements like “services canceled due to cholera” — or typhus or smallpox. John Newton (1732-1790), an early Georgia Baptist pastor and physician, left diaries that included Indian uprisings along with illness as reasons for canceling services. 

Possibly the most feared epidemics were those of yellow fever, which periodically swept through the South, emptying cities, towns and villages. Three major outbreaks occurred in 1820, 1854 and 1876. 

None of the earlier epidemics had the impact of the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. It began in the fall of 1918 near the end of World War I. This flu was especially fatal to young people. People woke up feeling fine in the morning only to be dead by nightfall.  [Read more…]

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PAYCHECK PROTECTION PLAN DRAWS FEEDBACK FROM PASTORS, ETHICISTS

By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press

SEATTLE — As pastor of Epic Life Church in Seattle with only five employees, Keith Carpenter sees the Paycheck Protection Plan loan as a godsend during a devastating economic downturn prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. So does pastor A.B. Vines, whose multisite New Seasons Church in Spring Valley, Calif., employs about 50.

But some pastors have theological and ethical concerns with the loan, which is administered by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

“The purpose behind the loan is to keep people employed,” Carpenter said April 7, just a day after he applied. “I don’t see a problem with doing it at all. It’s being wise stewards of the resources God provides, and if not anything else, you can pass those resources on in some way to others who might be hurting, in the long run.”

At least two pastors, Bart Barber at First Baptist Church in Farmersville, Texas, and Anthony Hicks of Clifton Baptist Church in Franklinton, La., have discouraged their congregations from applying for the loans offered under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which was passed by Congress last month. [Read more…]

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GOVERNOR ISSUES GUIDANCE ON SUNDAY CHURCH GATHERINGS

Baptist and Reflector

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee. – Facebook video screen capture

Tennessee Baptist Mission Board leaders participated Tuesday, April 7, 2020, with other faith leaders from across the state in a telephone forum with Governor Bill Lee. His Office of Faith-Based Initiatives offered the guidance/clarity below concerning churches gathering on Sundays. To serve our churches well, TBMB provides these recommended prudent measures to assist pastors and church leaders in their effort to make wise decisions in the weeks ahead.

1. Concerning drive-in church, or congregants driving through the church campus for prayer and connection: While the drive-in concept is allowable, it is not recommended. Ultimately, we believe it best for the church leadership to decide what is best for their congregation. Should you decide to proceed, you must follow CDC guidelines for safe social distancing, and vehicle occupants should not open car doors or leave their cars for any reason.

2. When can we anticipate an end to the lockdown and a return to public gatherings? There is some chance that after the peak season, the next 4 weeks, we will be able to gather again. However, this is a constantly changing and evolving situation, and the Governor and the COVID-19 Unified Command will review and make decisions depending on the circumstances at the time.

3. Can ministry staff who are doing streaming services be deemed as essential? Yes, according to Executive Order 22, they are considered essential, but they still need to follow the social distancing guidelines from the CDC.

4. Numbers of people gathering? Gatherings of less than 10 are included as part of the statewide stay at home order and the Governor expects people to respect the CDC guidelines during this time. Also note that local governments may have differing guidelines that you are required to abide by.

Visit TNBaptist.org/cvresources and Facebook.com/tnbaptist for further updates and additional resources as they become available.

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PASTOR’S FIRST SERMON AT NEW CHURCH COMES VIA VIDEO

By Lonnie Wilkey
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org

Damon Olson

MEDON — Damon Olson’s first sermon as pastor of COVI didn’t go exactly the way he envisioned. No one showed up. But, technically, neither did he.

Olson’s first Sunday at Maple Springs came as churches all across the nation decided not to meet due to the coronavirus pandemic that has taken  the nation and the world by storm.

Instead, the congregation listened to their new pastor’s first sermon via a video he recorded and uploaded to Facebook.

Little did he know when he accepted the call of the rural West Tennessee church in February that he would be moving to the church field during the pandemic. “The coronavirus was in the news but it had not affected the United States yet,” he recalled. [Read more…]

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