Baptist and Reflector
Bruce Chesser
KNOXVILLE — Hendersonville pastor Bruce Chesser has been elected president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention.
Chesser was elected without opposition Nov. 19 during the afternoon session of the 145th annual meeting of the TBC.
He was nominated by Bruce Raley, executive pastor of First Baptist Church, Hendersonville. A former pastor in Arkansas, Alabama and Texas, Chesser has served as pastor of First Baptist, Hendersonville for the past 10 years.
Raley described Chesser as a pastor/shepherd and an “anointed preacher and teacher of the gospel. He has a passion to see people come to Jesus and to grow in Christ.”
First Baptist, Hendersonville, is a strong supporter of convention causes. In 2018, the church ranked fifth among Tennessee Baptist Convention churches in total gifts through the Cooperative Program with $369,603 (approximately 3.4 percent of undesignated gifts). First Baptist also ranked eighth in the TBC in number of baptisms with 178 in 2018.
Two other Tennessee Baptist pastors were also elected without opposition as vice presidents.
Chuck Groover, pastor of Victory Baptist Church, Mount Juliet, was elected vice president.
Groover was nominated by Phil Young, director of missions for Knox County Association of Baptists. He described Groover as “a man of integrity” who has the “confidence and courage” to stand on the Word of God.
Groover has been active in Tennessee Baptist life on both the associational and state convention levels. He formerly served on the Executive Board of the TBC (now Tennessee Baptist Mission Board) and he is a current trustee of Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City.
Corey Cain, pastor of Maplewood Baptist Church, Paris, was elected second vice president.
Cain was nominated by fellow Paris pastor Trent Bullock of First Baptist Church. He noted that Cain leads his church “to be engaged in our community, in the state, and in international missions.”
Cain also has been involved in convention life, having served on the Executive Board and other committees of the convention. He served this past year as president-elect of the Tennessee Baptist Pastors Conference and will serve as conference president in 2020. B&R — Lonnie Wilkey
