By Steve Pearson
Tennessee Baptist Mission Board Evangelism Specialist

The state of lostness in Tennessee is increasing. Tennessee’s population is close to seven million people. It is estimated that the amount of that population which is lost is around four million. In other words, it is estimated that around 58 percent of Tennesseans are lost without Christ.

When talking about a church’s area of influence or harvest field, the average number of lost people in that area is about 1,000-3,000 people per church. If your church is in a rural setting that means, there are about 1,000 lost people on average in that area. That number increases to about 3,000 when you are talking about major metropolitan areas. 

The yearly death rate in Tennessee is 919 per 100,000 residents. With nearly seven million people, that means every year there are about 64,000 people who die in Tennessee. If about 58 percent are lost that means that approximately 38,000 Tennesseans are dying each year without Christ. It also means that every day approximately 105 people in our state die without Christ. [Read more…]

By Nan Corbitt Allen
Freelance writer

“Where have all the flowers gone/Long time passing/
Where have all the flowers gone/Long time ago?”

Remember this protest song recorded by the trio Peter, Paul and Mary in the 1960s? Its lyrics describe a sort of cycle of life … of flowers … picked by young girls … who take husbands … who become soldiers … whose bodies go to graveyards … that are eventually covered in flowers.

Occasionally I’m asked similar questions about the church. “What’s happened to the church? Where has it gone? Will the church as we once knew it ever return?” 

These questions are usually referring to music and worship styles and are often asked by those who prefer the more traditional ways — of which they are more familiar. My answer is usually some mumbo-jumbo about trends, and relevance, and post-modernism and such. But in reality I have no idea what’s happening in the worldwide church. 

Through my six decades on the planet as a “church girl,” I’ve seen the Body struggle with itself (or against itself), in an attempt to make it more relevant. I am just now starting to see a pattern and trying to make sense of it all. [Read more…]