Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835
Baptist and Reflector
FRANKLIN — Jan. 10 proved to be a “red-letter day” in the life of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.
The TBMB paid off the remaining balance of an $8 million loan that originated in 1999 to begin construction of Carson Springs Baptist Conference Center in Newport and Linden Valley Baptist Conference Center in Linden.
“God’s favor has been upon us over the last few years,” observed Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the TBMB. [Read more…]
By Aaron Earls
LifeWay Christian Resources
NASHVILLE — The economic recovery has reached the offering plate, according to a study from Nashville-based LifeWay Research.
Today, eight in 10 Protestant pastors (79 percent) say the total offerings at their church this year are at or above last year’s levels, including 42 percent who say this year is ahead of last year. Few pastors (15 percent) say giving is not keeping pace with last year.
Those positive giving numbers have followed the economic upturn, said Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research.
“The increases in offerings so many churches are experiencing coincide with what most economists refer to as ‘full employment,’ as well as increased wage growth in 2018,” McConnell said. [Read more…]
By Matt Tullos
Stewardship Development Specialist, TBMB
Holidays can get complicated. If we don’t pay attention our debt grows, our peace shrinks and our stress expands. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Here are six ways you can make Christmas a simpler, more beautiful season:
(1) Heighten your gratitude. Paul reminds us that anxiety and gratitude don’t mix: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6). [Read more…]
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org
UNION CITY — The math is very simple at Second Baptist Church in Union City: no debt = more resources for missions.
For the first time in 15 years, Second Baptist Church is learning to live debt free, said Pastor Justin Hiens.
In 2003, Second Baptist began a relocation process that would eventually cost the church over $12 million. Hiens joined the church that same year (fresh out of Union University) as youth minister and served for almost five years before moving on to become pastor of churches in Georgia and Mississippi. [Read more…]
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org
FRANKLIN — The results of a recent survey about estate planning, contracted by the Nashville-based Southern Baptist Foundation, are disappointing but not surprising, said Bill Gruenewald, president of the Tennessee Baptist Foundation.
The survey, conducted by LifeWay Research, revealed that more than half of Southern Baptist pastors do not have a will, trust, living will, electronic will, legacy story or durable power of attorney with health care directives.
The survey also indicated that pastors age 18-44 are least likely to have a will (31 percent) or a durable power of attorney with health care directives (14 percent). Even among pastors closest to retirement (ages 55-64 and 65-plus), the portion of those who have a will is just barely a majority (54 percent), according to the survey. [Read more…]
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
For most Tennessee Baptist churches, the beginning of September means it’s time to plan next year’s budget.
Having served on a church personnel committee in the past I know the challenges of trying to determine salaries and benefits for church staff. It’s not an easy task. Church staff members are under the same pressure to support their families as is someone who works in any other profession. Yet, it is imperative to work within the resources of the church. [Read more…]
Baptist Press
A little-noticed provision of last year’s Republican tax legislation which taxes employee parking at nonprofit organizations “will be a problem” for churches and other Christian ministries, one of the Southern Baptist Convention’s attorneys says.
-Photo by Art Toalston
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A little-noticed provision of last year’s Republican tax legislation which taxes employee parking at nonprofit organizations “will be a problem” for churches and other Christian ministries, one of the Southern Baptist Convention’s attorneys says. The only question is how many churches and ministries will be affected.
“Until the regulations come out and we start seeing how the IRS is going to treat this issue, we don’t know how big the problem is going to be,” SBC attorney Jaime Jordan told Baptist Press. “It will be a problem for some nonprofit organizations.” [Read more…]
Editor’s Note: This column was distributed among directors of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board during their April 24 meeting in Franklin. See related story.
By Randy C. Davis
TBMB President & Executive Director
The Cooperative Program is the fabric that weaves us together as Tennessee and Southern Baptists. From the cradle to the grave, the Cooperative Program has a profound impact on our calling as Great Commission Christians and our ability to reach a spiritually lost and dying world. It binds us together for the purpose of reaching every geographic priority Jesus identifies in Acts 1:8.
It fuels the SBC Ecosystem.
Here’s what I mean.
Take a Tennessee boy named Billy Baptist. He comes to Christ at 10 years old during a Vacation Bible School where workers were trained and equipped through a joint venture of his church’s local association and specialists from the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board (TBMB). Later, at a summer camp held at one of the TBMB’s two conference centers, Billy responds to a call to ministry. Eventually he’s off to college and gets involved in one of the TBMB’s 20-plus dynamic Baptist Collegiate Ministries. While there, Billy gets his first taste of international missions during a summer BCM project in India. [Read more…]
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
FRANKLIN — The board of directors of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board unanimously approved a $2.1 million goal for the 2018-19 Golden Offering for Tennessee Missions.
The goal is an increase of $250,000 or 13.5 percent over the 2017-18 goal of $1.925 million. The projected income is $1.85 million.
The Golden Offering for Tennessee Baptist Missions is a cooperative effort of Tennessee Woman’s Missionary Union and the TBMB. The goal also was approved by the Tennessee WMU Executive Board.
The Golden Offering “is an important part of what we do,” affirmed Martha Pitts, president of Tennessee WMU. [Read more…]
By Bob Smietana
Lifeway News Office
NASHVILLE — Church collection plates were a little bit fuller last fall, according to Nashville-based LifeWay Research.
About 40 percent of Protestant pastors say their churches received more offerings in 2017 than in 2016.
Three-quarters say their church met or exceeded budget.
And only about a third say the economy gave their church trouble.
Those are among the findings of a new report from LifeWay Research, based on a survey of 1,000 Protestant senior pastors. LifeWay Research has tracked the impact of the economy on churches since 2009, said Scott McConnell, executive director, and this is the first time the majority of pastors said the economy isn’t troubling their church. [Read more…]
