Baptist & Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

FEDERAL APPEALS COURT ALLOWS MCRANEY LAWSUIT AGAINST NAMB TO PROCEED

By Will Hall
Baptist Message executive editor

NEW ORLEANS — On July 16, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals gave Will McRaney, former executive director of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware, a procedural victory in his lawsuit against the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention “for intentional interference with business relationships, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.”

The BCMD is an independent state organization of Baptist churches and the NAMB is a ministry arm of the SBC, an independent national organization of Baptist churches. The BCMD and SBC are considered in good fellowship with one another, but each is an autonomous organization. [Read more…]

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SHOWING COMPASSION IN THE FORM OF A COUCH

By David Dawson
Baptist and Reflector
ddawson@tnbaptist.org

TAZEWELL — The mission statement of Region Education Center Ministries doesn’t mention anything about furniture. But as it turns out, couches, loveseats and footstools have certainly become an important part of what REC Ministries does.

Roger Hansard, a former Tennessee pastor, and his wife, Judy, are the founders of REC Ministries, which provides career job training for individuals by teaching computer skills, GED, adult literacy and other skills. The organization operates with the primary purpose of “winning the lost to Christ” and strives “to educate, elevate, and evangelize the people in our region.” [Read more…]

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EASTER OFFERING FUELS MISSIONS IN NORTH AMERICA

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

The Week of Prayer for North American Missions is fast approaching — March 1-8.

Thousands of Baptist churches will be focusing on missions all across North America on these dates, praying for specific missionaries, including Rob and Annabeth Wilton in Pittsburgh, Pa. The Wiltons have Tennessee ties. See story.

Then, on Easter Sunday, or even before, Southern Baptists across the nation will collect the annual Annie Armstrong Easter Offering. The national goal for 2020 is $70 million. Every dollar of the AAEO goes to train, resource and deploy thousands of missionaries who serve as church planters or in compassion ministries.

Through the combined gifts, Southern Baptists are making a difference in North America by meeting needs, planting churches and discipling new believers. According to the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board, “transformation is taking place one life at a time.”

The theme for this year’s week of prayer is “It’s All About the Gospel” and is based on I Corinthians 15:3-4 (CSB): “For I passed on to you as most important what I first received: that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. …” [Read more…]

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IMB, NAMB TO JOIN IN SEND RELIEF EFFORTS

By IMB and NAMB STAFF
Baptist Press

Ronnie Floyd (center), president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, announced to EC members a new working relationship between the International Mission Board and the North American Mission Board to combine compassion ministry efforts under the Send Relief umbrella. Floyd was joined in the announcement by IMB president Paul Chitwood (left) and NAMB president Kevin Ezell. — Photo by Eric Brown

NASHVILLE — The International Mission Board (IMB) and the North American Mission Board (NAMB) will work together to combine compassion ministry efforts in North America and abroad under the umbrella of Send Relief. Ronnie Floyd, president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee (EC) announced the new working relationship during a plenary session of the EC in Nashville Tuesday, Feb. 18.

“Today I want to announce to you a formal relationship between the North American Mission Board and the International Mission Board for the purpose of compassion ministry,” Floyd said.

“Southern Baptists are always at their best anytime we can cooperate together for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” [Read more…]

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SEEDS SPREAD IN STEEL TOWN

Missionary wants to make gospel part of Pittsburgh’s renewal

By Brandon Elrod
NAMB News Office

Rob Wilton, far right, a former Tennessee Baptist minister who is now a church planter in Pittsburgh, interacts with attendees after a Sunday service.
— NAMB photo by Daniel Deggado.

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh has, in decades past, been synonymous with steel. In the years following an economic hit to the blue-collar town, the city has been experiencing a renaissance as technological and medical companies are beginning to thrive.

While the economic renewal has been a boon for the city, missionary Rob Wilton is praying and working to see a spiritual revival as well.

Only 15 percent of the population is evangelical, with less than one percent of that being Southern Baptist.

As Wilton, the North American Mission Board’s (NAMB) Send City Missionary in Pittsburgh, has dug in and established roots, though, he has seen a responsiveness to the gospel.

“It’s very clear Pittsburgh doesn’t have a harvest problem. [Read more…]

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TENNESSEE CHURCHES HELP REACH ANNIE ARMSTRONG RECORD

Baptist Press

SAN  FRANCISCO —  For the third straight year, the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering (AAEO) for North American missions has hit a record high.

The 2019 offering total was announced during an Oct. 7 gathering with North American Mission Board (NAMB) trustees. Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee President Ronnie Floyd revealed the $62.2 million total in a video call.

“This record-breaking offering that our churches have given this past year through our Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions demonstrates the passionate desire our churches have to reach each person for Jesus Christ in North America,” Floyd said. [Read more…]

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EVANGELISTIC ENERGY

Steve Gaines, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis and immediate past president of the SBC, concluded the Sept. 30 training time during the Who’s Your One Tour? stop at Christ Place Church in Flowery Branch, Ga. Gaines shared a message about how Bellevue has used a multi-faceted approach to share the gospel in their community.
— NAMB photo

NAMB tour helps believers learn to share gospel

By Brandon Elrod
Baptist Press

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. —  Mark Hoover, pastor of First Baptist Church in Hayti, Mo., is looking for a new “one.”

After witnessing long distance to his brother, Dusty, who lives in their home state of Mississippi, Hoover saw him come to Christ. Inspired by what God had done in his life, Dusty drove several hours to Hayti where Hoover baptized him on Baptism Sunday (Sept. 8).

All across the United States, the evangelism team at the North American Mission Board (NAMB) has heard similar stories during the Who’s Your One? tour of how the movement has led to life change.

Those stories can serve as a hopeful sign for Southern Baptist churches that are working to reverse a decades-long decline. [Read more…]

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MEETING TO FOCUS ON ‘GOSPEL ABOVE ALL’

Baptist Press

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Keeping the focus on the “Gospel Above All” theme is Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear’s main goal going into SBC’s annual meeting in Birmingham, Ala., June 11-12.

But following a year of transition among five SBC entities searching for new leadership and the convention responding to reports of sexual abuse, Greear noted there will be other issues demanding attention.

Greear, who is expected to be reelected SBC president without opposition, acknowledged that confronting sexual abuse is among them. [Read more…]

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ANNIE ARMSTRONG — STILL MAKING A DIFFERENCE

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

Annie Armstrong has been in heaven with the Lord she loved for 81 years, but her legacy lives on and she is still making a difference for God on this earth.

Annie Armstrong was born in Baltimore in 1850 in a culture where women were not necessarily considered leaders. But she ultimately became a leader and challenged churches to raise money and support for missionaries. [Read more…]

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JOHNNY HUNT TO LEAD NAMB EVANGELISM, LEADERSHIP GROUP

By Mike Ebert
Baptist Press

Johnny Hunt (right) longtime pastor of First Baptist Church Woodstock, Ga., and past president of the Southern Baptist Convention, will join the North American Mission Board as senior vice president of evangelism and leadership. Hunt and NAMB President Kevin Ezell (left) announced the news Sunday (Aug. 26). Photo by Hayley Catt/NAMB

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Johnny Hunt, longtime pastor of First Baptist Church Woodstock, Ga., and past president of the Southern Baptist Convention, will join the North American Mission Board as senior vice president of evangelism and leadership. Hunt and NAMB announced the news Sunday (Aug. 26). [Read more…]

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