Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835
July 21, 2020
LEADERS Central Baptist Church, Oak Ridge, called James R. Raffety of Owasso, Okla., as senior pastor, effective July 1. He was called to full-time ministry in 1995 and has 16 years of Christian service as a youth minister, singles minister, houseparent and as a senior pastor. Daniel McKenzie was called June 14 to serve as […]
June 23, 2020
DEATHS Longtime Tennessee Baptist pastor and director of missions Charles D. Earl Sr., 89, died June 7. He served as pastor of six Southern Baptist churches and was director of missions for Holston Valley Baptist Association, based in Rogersville. After his retirement, he served as an associate pastor at Beaver Dam Baptist Church in Knoxville. […]
June 9, 2020
EVENTS The Janet Bearden Welcome Center at Linden Valley Baptist Conference Center will be dedicated July 25 at 2 p.m. There will be a brief dedication of the new facility, followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The welcome center honors Janet Bearden who served at Linden Valley many years with her husband, Tim Bearden, former senior […]
May 27, 2020
LEADERS Randy Franklin Keene, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Minor Hill, will write the Bible Studies for Life lessons for the June-August quarter. He joins Travis Biller, who will continue writing the Explore the Bible lessons for the next quarter. Keene did his New and Old Testament studies at Liberty University and completed the […]
May 14, 2020
LEADERS John Parrott, bivocational ministries specialist and Harvest Field 7 team leader for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board since 2015, retired May 7. Parrott has been involved in the ministry since 1969 when he was a student at Carson-Newman University. He was called to his first pastorate in 1972 and served as a pastor until […]
April 28, 2020
LEADERS Brad Childres began serving April 1 as pastor of New Zion Baptist Church, Pulaski. He formerly served as senior pastor of Woodlawn Baptist Church in Danville, Va. DEATHS Longtime Tennessee Baptist pastor Claude Ferguson died March 27. He had served as pastor of Reunion Baptist Church, Knoxville, for more than 30 years before retiring […]
March 31, 2020
LEADERS Zion Baptist Church, Brownsville, recently called Mike Young as pastor. He is a graduate of Liberty University, Lynchburg, Va., and Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, Cordova. He has served on staffs of different West Tennessee Baptist churches for 16 years. He is the Tennessee coordinator for Evangelism Explosion International. He and his wife, Kathy, have […]
March 19, 2020
LEADERS Gary Snuffin recently became the senior pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Jackson. He has served at the church since 2012 as families and discipleship pastor. He holds degrees from Union University, Jackson, and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, N.C. He and his wife, Natalie, have three children. First Baptist Church, Halls, has […]
March 3, 2020
LEADERS Shop Springs Baptist Church, Lebanon, has called Cissy Turner as children’s ministry director, effective March 1. A longtime member of Shop Springs, Turner has been serving as church treasurer and as a leader in the children’s ministry. Todd Brady, vice president of university ministries at Union University, Jackson, has been called as interim pastor […]
February 18, 2020
LEADERS Rodger Eakin recently retired after serving as pastor of Glenwood Baptist Church, Nashville, for six years. Over the past 50 years he has served as pastor of churches in Davidson, Wilson and Cannon Counties in Tennessee as well as churches in Texas and Kentucky. He also has served as a hospital chaplain. He is […]
February 4, 2020
LEADERS Mike Young recently retired as director of missions for Tennessee Valley Baptist Association, based in Dayton, after 19 years of service. Prior to becoming director of missions he was pastor of Salem Baptist Church in the association. He and his wife, Sandra, have three children and seven grandchildren. Daniel Calvert began serving Jan. 1 […]
January 21, 2020
LEADERS Randy Pressnell retired as pastor of First Baptist Church, Oneida, effective Jan. 5. He has served churches in Tennessee and Kentucky since 1978. Other Tennessee pastorates include First Baptist Church, New Tazewell, and Oak Grove Baptist Church, Mount Carmel. He also is a former administrator and professor at Clear Creek Baptist Bible College in […]