Baptist & Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

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

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…]

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REBUILDING WHAT WE HAD BEFORE COVID-19

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…]

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SOUTHERN BAPTISTS GATHER TO VIRTUALLY CELEBRATE SENDING 61 MISSIONARIES

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…]

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VBS HAS NEW FORMAT, SAME FOCUS

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…]

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‘VIRTUAL VBS’ ALLOWS CHURCHES TO SAFELY CONNECT

By Ashley Perham
Baptist and Reflector

VBS preschool teachers Rebecca Jane and Kim Capps record a segment for Victory Baptist Church’s online VBS.

FRANKLIN — Confetti poppers, bulldozers and science experiments are just three of the ways Tennessee Baptist churches are engaging children involved in virtual Vacation Bible Schools this summer.

Rather than calling off this annual summer outreach event due to concerns about COVID-19, many Tennessee Baptist churches are hosting some form of VBS online.

All eight campuses of Brentwood Baptist Church are participating in a three-day video VBS July 13-15. However, the videos will be available for families until the end of July so that families can work around their summer plans at their own convenience, said Taylor Johnson, children’s minister of the Church at Station Hill campus. [Read more…]

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A DILEMMA: PERSONAL LIBERTY VS. PUBLIC GOOD

By Larry Robertson
Pastor, Hilldale Baptist Church, Clarksville 

One of our sources of conflict these days is personal liberties versus public good. And opinions are rarely vague.

Masks or no masks? Social distancing or up in each other’s faces? Stay at home or live and let live (or die, whatever).

Some are writing, “Give me liberty or give me death!” on their protest posters. Seriously? Can we all say mel·o·dra·mat·ic?

Listen, I’m not suggesting that any of this is easy. And nobody wants to get back to “normal” more than me. But we need to find balance in our approach. [Read more…]

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HOUSEPARENTS, TBCH MOVE ON IN ‘NOTHING IS NORMAL’ WORLD

By Shawn Hendricks

Contributing writer, B&R

BRENTWOOD — When it comes to navigating the COVID-19 pandemic while houseparenting four elementary kids and their 15-year-old daughter, Nathan and Laura Mankin have become firm believers in a daily routine.  

Or, what they have humorously referred to as the “apocalypse schedule.”

“We’ve had to adjust it like six times,” Nathan said with a laugh in a phone interview with the Baptist and Reflector. “Now we have a pretty good one.” [Read more…]

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UNION TO RESUME IN-PERSON CLASSES FOR FALL SEMESTER

Union University news office 

JACKSON — Classes for the fall semester at Union University will meet on campus and in-person, with the university taking necessary safety precautions to protect students, faculty and staff from COVID-19.

“We’re excited to welcome new and returning students back to campus in the fall,” Union president Samuel W. “Dub” Oliver said. “Our students thrive in the Christ-centered community they find at Union, and we’re looking forward to seeing that community re-established as we continue to provide students with an excellent education.” [Read more…]

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CHURCHES GRAPPLE WITH WHETHER TO REQUIRE MASKS

By Tobin Perry
Southern Baptist TEXAN

HOUSTON — Listening to the discussion surrounding the reopening of churches, Steve Bezner could see much of it revolved around a dichotomy of faith versus fear. As Bezner, pastor of Houston Northwest Church, and other church leaders studied the issue from a variety of angles, they began to see it differently.

“The more that we studied them, we began to see masks as love of neighbor or pride,” Bezner said. “So we decided that we would focus on love of neighbor and humility. Instead of framing the conversation in fear versus faith, we wanted to frame the conversation in terms of serving our neighbor.”

Because of this, the church decided when in-person worship services resume in early June, masks will be required.

As Texas churches make plans to gather once again, pastors across the state are wrestling with issues that have become controversial and mired in politics. The question of when and where to wear a mask is top on that list. While a Democracy Fund UCLA Nationscape Project poll earlier this week showed that 84 percent of Americans have worn a mask in public to help stop the spread of COVID-19, the issue has become a talking point by political leaders on the both sides of the spectrum. [Read more…]

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CHURCH PLANTS THAT MEET IN SCHOOL BUILDINGS FACE REOPENING CHALLENGES

By Tess Schoonhoven
Baptist Press

Jason Dees (far left) preaches a message for the Christ Covenant Church livestream in a venue rented for the purpose. The church is unable to use its regular location — a middle school. — Submitted photo/Baptist Press

ATLANTA — As the state of Georgia continues on a path to reopening, Christ Covenant Church is cautiously planning to resume in-person gatherings. But decisions about when and how to return are complicated by where.

Christ Covenant has called Sutton Middle School its Sunday home for 2 1/2 years. The church, which averaged about 500 in attendance before the COVID-19 pandemic, will be ready to reopen before the school does — which has Jason Dees, Christ Covenant’s pastor, searching for options that might even include a local synagogue on a temporary basis.

The church plans to begin May 17 holding small gatherings of perhaps 30-40 people at a venue known as The Collective, while continuing to livestream the services. Meetings of the full congregation likely wouldn’t resume until August, but securing a larger venue for later in the summer hasn’t been simple. [Read more…]

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