In 1902, Mrs. Mildred Golden, Tennessee Woman’s Missionary Union corresponding secretary from 1898-1902, cast a vision for Tennessee Baptists to pray for our Tennessee mission field and give to the first state missions offering. A total of $800 was given.
For the next 10 years, without the convenience of electric typewriters, word processors or computers, Mrs. Golden, assisted by her husband Dr. W.C. Golden, TBC executive secretary from 1902-1910, wrote and copied the programs for the season of prayer.
Family and neighbors joined in counting envelopes and leaflets, wrapping them in brown paper, tying, addressing, stamping and praying over each packet before mailing them to the churches. In 1943, Tennessee WMU named the state missions offering after the Goldens.
Vickie Anderson
While many things may look different from what they did in 1902, much is still the same, including that Tennessee is still a mission field.
• There are almost five million unchurched or spiritually lost people in Tennessee.
• Approximately 80 percent of the population of most counties will not worship in any church this Sunday.
• There are 1,500 unchurched people for every TBC church.
• Tennessee is one of the hungriest states in the country.
• 14.4 percent of senior adults are experiencing limited or uncertain access to adequate food.
• Tennessee is in the top 10 states in drug overdose deaths.
• Human trafficking is the second-fastest growing criminal industry, just behind drug trafficking.
• Tennessee has an incarceration rate of 838 per 100,000 people, which includes prisons, jails, immigration detention and juvenile justice facilities.
• Tennessee has the 10th highest divorce rate in the United States.
• There are more than 7,000 children in Tennessee’s foster care system.
• 21 percent of every 1,000 births were to women ages 15-19.
• There are at least 143 different people groups represented in Tennessee.
• An estimated 450,000-plus people of immigrant or refugee backgrounds live in Tennessee.
• Suicide and homicide are the second and third leading causes of death among ages 10-24.
Any way you slice it, Tennessee is a mission field! If we are going to reach Tennessee for Christ, it will require the efforts of all Tennessee Baptists working together, looking beyond the walls of our churches, meeting needs through the love of Christ, having gospel conversations and reaching out to our communities.
The Week of Prayer for State Missions and the Golden Offering for Tennessee Missions highlight and support missions and ministries that make a difference in lives across Tennessee. And while the offering is taken year-round, and the ministries happen throughout the year, in September we spotlight how together Tennessee Baptists support missions and ministries in Tennessee.
The 2024-25 Golden Offering for Tennessee Missions goal is $2,700,000, with a challenge goal of $3 million. The offering will be collected from Sept. 1, 2024-Aug. 31, 2025. Through the Golden Offering, our contributions provide invaluable financial support for Tennessee ministries like disaster relief ministries, collegiate campus ministries, compassion ministries, church planting, adoption ministries, missions discipleship ministries, BlueOval City initiative and associational ministries.
The suggested date for churches to observe the Week of Prayer for State Missions is Sept. 8-15. This year’s theme is “All Things Tennessee,” and the emphasis Scripture is
I Corinthians 13:7, “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” Tennessee Baptists are encouraged to:
• Pray and fast for the spiritually lost in our state.
• Show His love and compassion in all things as we minister to the hurting and hopeless.
• Prepare and seek opportunities to share the hope of Christ and all the things He has done in your life.
• Work together to reach our mission field – Tennessee.
• Remember how God has used us in the past. Have and share hope for today. Trust God for tomorrow.
• Trust God to provide the resources for all things He has called us to do. Where God guides, God provides.
• Lean on God to empower us in all the things we do together.
• Rely on God as we love the unlovable, bear the unbearable, hope in the impossible, and endure in the unendurable. His power knows no bounds.
Thank you, Tennessee Baptists, for your prayers, gifts and involvement in state missions. Visit GoldenOffering.org for promotional materials, videos and more information. B&R
