Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org
FRANKLIN — In a normal year, hundreds of Tennessee Baptists would be gathered in Orlando, Fla., this week for the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. But thanks to COVID-19, 2020 is not a normal year.
Tennessee Baptists who planned to go to Orlando this year expressed disappointment that the annual meeting was canceled due to the pandemic, but they certainly understood why. [Read more…]
By Baptist Press
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated since its original publication.
NASHVILLE (BP) — In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting has been canceled for the first time in 75 years.
Citing authority provided by the SBC Constitution “in the case of grave emergency,” the decision was made Tuesday (March 24) in a unanimous vote of a body composed of SBC officers, the SBC Executive Committee and leaders of the SBC’s boards and institutions. [Read more…]
Baptist Press
Ed Stetzer, seen here preaching at SWBTS.
ORLANDO — Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear has announced the members of the 2020 Committee on Resolutions for the June 9-10 SBC annual meeting in Orlando.
“I believe our 2020 Resolutions Committee reflects the various interests and concerns of Southern Baptists,” Greear, pastor of The Summit Church in the Raleigh-Durham, N.C., area, said. “They were chosen because they love Southern Baptists, are committed to sound doctrine, and demonstrate a desire for the gospel to be above all. [Read more…]
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org
SBC president J.D. Greear adresses the crowd at the 2019 SBC annual meeting in Birmingham.
— Photo by Kathleen Murray
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Tennessee Baptists were well represented among the 8,183 messengers who registered for the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, held June 11-12, in Birmingham.
The Tennessee Baptist Convention ranked third among Baptist state conventions with 738 messengers. The Alabama Baptist Convention had 1,366 messengers while the Georgia Baptist Convention was represented with 834 messengers.
Prior to the start of the annual meeting, Southern Baptists knocked on the doors of 10,409 homes, had 1,817 gospel conversations, prayed with 2,251 people and saw 364 people place their faith in Jesus, according to organizers of the annual Crossover evangelism outreach. [Read more…]
By Randy C. Davis
TBMB President & Executive Director
President George W. Bush once stood in front of a group of people trying to make sense of the world that seemed to be coming undone around them. “One thing is for certain,” he said. “We did not ask for these challenges, but we will meet them. I say that with certainty because this nation has strong foundations and won’t be shaken. In this hour of our country’s history we stand in the need of prayer.”
That comment was made at the first post-9/11 National Prayer Breakfast and prior to the beginning of the longest war, the war on terrorism, in our nation’s history. I was at that prayer breakfast. I saw the resolute courage in our president’s eyes; I heard it in the tone of his voice. [Read more…]
The 2019 Southern Baptist Convention will take place on June 11-12 in Birmingham, Ala., — and the Baptist and Reflector staff will be providing coverage in multiple ways.
Breaking news from the convention can found throughout the two days at baptistandreflector.org. Also, the next print edition of the Baptist and Reflector (dated June 26) will include stories and photos from the event.
This year’s annual meeting, being held at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, has been themed: “Gospel Above All.”
By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press
Photo of the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Free hotel shuttles and park and ride services are among conveniences available to attendees of the Southern Baptist Convention 2019 Annual Meeting and related events June 9-12 in Birmingham, Ala.
Fifteen free shuttle routes will service hotels contracted for SBC attendees, and park and ride services with free parking will include three locations, convention manager Bill Townes told Baptist Press. [Read more…]
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…]
By Art Toalston
Baptist Press
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Union University trustee Noe Garcia, senior pastor of North Phoenix Baptist Church, will be nominated as second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention during the SBC’s June 11-12 annual meeting, Tennessee pastor Micah Fries has announced.
Fries, senior pastor of Brainerd Baptist Church in Chattanooga, said Garcia can be “a tremendous asset to the SBC” at a time “when Southern Baptists are struggling with questions like how we can see more people trust Christ, how to reach our increasingly diverse communities, and how we can continue to see our influence spread far beyond the Southeastern United States.” [Read more…]
By Baptist Press staff
Messengers show their ballots at the 2018 annual meeting in Dallas last summer. Photo by Matt Miller / Baptist Press
BIRMINGHAM — Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear has named tellers for the SBC 2019 annual meeting June 11-12 in Birmingham.
The Tellers include five Tennessee Baptists. [Read more…]
