TENNESCENE: JUL. 14

CHURCHES

Short Creek Baptist Church, Christiana, will hold Vacation Bible School July 15-18 for children ages 3 through eighth grade. Times vary. For information, call Annette Ball at 615-604-4678. The church did not conduct VBS last year due to COVID-19.

Springfield Baptist Church, Springfield, will host Woman of Focus, a women’s conference on Sept. 18 from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Keynote speakers are Nancy Stafford (Hollywood actress, pastor’s wife and author), and Kim Aldrich, Nashville author. Worship will be led by Grammy nominated girl band, High Road. The conference will include panelists from across the Southeast. The 2021 theme is “Lighting the Darkness.” For more information and costs, contact Sharon Wilharm at sharonwilharm@comcast.net or 615-766-2885.

Westwood Baptist Church, Cleveland, will host Special Church Security Training for local church security teams on Monday, Aug. 9, at 7 p.m. Guest speakers are Steve Crump, district attorney, Tennessee 10th Judicial District, who will address “What the Law Says About Protecting Others,” and Jeff Kalb, deacon and security team member at Westwood, who will address “What the Bible Says About Protecting Others.” Pre-registration is required. Visit westwoodlife.org and follow prompts on the Security Event page. For more information, contact Joe Gilbert at 423-584-3969 or jmgilbert98@gmail.com.

Liberty Baptist Church, Somerville, will hold revival services July 25-28 with evangelist Phil Glisson of Memphis.

LEADERS

Grace Baptist Church, Mason, recently called Tom Burris as pastor and Eli Taylor as worship leader.

Martha Chambers, vice president of finance and business and chief financial officer at Carson-Newman University, Jefferson City, has retired. She joined the staff as comptroller in 2011 and was named CFO within six months of her arrival. Elaine Smith will assume the role of chief business and personnel officer. Previously Smith served as associate vice president for business and personnel services. Robert Key will serve as chief financial officer/treasurer. Key previously served as assistant vice president for financial and accounting services and controller. In addition, Kevin Triplett has been named vice president of university relations. He formerly served as executive pastor at Indian Springs Baptist Church, Kingsport, for two years.

Ruthville Baptist Church, Martin, recently called Scott Williams as pastor.

John Bowers recently joined the staff of Weakley County Baptist Association to serve in the association’s biblical counseling ministry. He is a certified counselor with the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors.

Jerry Cornett recently resigned as pastor of Stoney Creek Baptist Church, Elizabethton.

Tennessean Bob Agee, right, a former Union University vice president and a past president of Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Okla., was presented a framed square of the carpet that was laid in his office while he was president between 1982-98 by current OBU president Heath Thomas. The carpet was selected by his late wife, Nelle. The presentation was made at OBU’s booth at the recent Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Nashville. Agee is a member of The Church at Sugar Creek in Humboldt.
Retired Tennessee Baptist pastor Ken Clayton has authored 7/7:The Key to Understanding the Gospel of John. The book is written to provide a deeper understanding of the gospel of John. The book explores seven themes found in the gospel — The first seven days, seven signs, seven "I am who I am" sayings, seven people Jesus encountered, the last seven days and seven resurrection events. Clayton and his wife, Joy, are former Southern Baptist missionaries to Spain. His Tennessee pastorates include Central Baptist Church, Crossville, Tulip Grove Baptist Church, Old Hickory, and Pine Eden Baptist Church, Crossville. He and his wife now live in Mount Juliet where they are members of Shiloh Baptist Church. The book can be purchased at amazon.com. Clayton will also hold a book signing on Saturday, July 24, from 9 a.m.-Noon at Pavilion 2 at Charlie Daniels Park in Mount Juliet. Breakfast will be available.
Calvary Baptist Church, Shelbyville, hosted their annual For God and Country Program on June 26. They had a meal and a patriotic program for the community. The church also awarded Quilts of Valor to area soldiers. Shown, from left, are Donnie Porter, David Ward and Tony Thibodeaux.
Stacy Murphree, right, Baptist Collegiate Ministry specialist at Austin Peay State University, took a break during the recent annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention with BCM students Amber Walliser, right, of Lookout Valley Baptist Church, Chattanooga, and Faith Pinson of Brainerd Baptist Church, Chattanooga. Both are leaders in the BCM at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga. They were among about 20 BCM students and 15 BCM leaders from Tennessee and Alabama who worked the registration tables for the SBC annual meeting. Murphree praised the hard work of all the BCM students, who at times, were registering over 1,000 messengers per hour. “I was proud of their efficiency and pace. Messengers were pleased with the short amount of time they stood in line,” she said.
Liberty Baptist Church, Wartburg, sent six members of the youth group to YEC Summer Camp. (See related story, page 7). Liberty pastor Paul Frick noted that one of the biggest benefits of the camp was that the youth were able to see the church’s Cooperative Program dollars at work. “Our church is a huge supporter of the Cooperative Program,” he said. “We give a report to the church and are able to share with the congregation about the great resources we have with the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.”