INDIANAPOLIS — Tennessee Baptists have a strong contingent at the SBC’s 2024 Pastors Conference, both in the audience and in the pulpit.

When Adam Dooley, senior pastor of Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson, delivered his sermon during the Tuesday afternoon session of the conference, he became the second pastor from a TBC church to preach at this year’s event. Bartholomew Orr, senior pastor of Brown Missionary Baptist Church (which is located in Southaven, Miss., but is a TBC church) preached the conference’s opening sermon on Monday night. 

And there’s still more to come: Steve Gaines, senior pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova, will preach the conference’s final sermon on Monday night. Gaines is a former SBC president. [Read more…]

Bartholomew Orr opened the 2024 SBC pastors conference on Sunday night. Orr is the senior pastor of Brown Missionary Baptist Church in Southaven, Miss. — Photo by Hannah Pruitt / The Baptist Paper

INDIANAPOLIS — Tennessee Baptists who made the trip to Indianapolis for the Southern Baptist Convention 2024 Pastors Conference are being treated to a little home cooking. 

Three of the pastors on this year’s 11-speaker lineup are from churches in the Tennessee Baptist Convention, including the event’s “lead-off hitter” — Bartholomew Orr — who opened the two-day conference on Sunday night. Orr is the senior pastor of Brown Missionary Baptist Church, which is located in Southaven, Miss., but is a TBC church.

Adam Dooley, senior pastor of Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson, is scheduled to speak at 1:30 p.m. on Monday afternoon, and Steve Gaines, senior pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova, will preach the conference’s closing sermon on Monday night. Gaines is a former SBC president. [Read more…]

BRENTWOOD — Almost all churches believe they are welcoming places for everyone. But many families that include individuals with special needs often feel otherwise. Experts say it doesn’t have to be this way.

Churches who want to welcome everyone, including those with special needs, should begin by asking questions, said Sandra Peoples, the disability ministry consultant for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and mother of a son with autism. Leaders often make assumptions about what happens in their congregation and whether needs are being met.

Nearly every U.S. Protestant pastor (99 percent) and churchgoer (97 percent) believe a person with disabilities would feel welcome and included at their church, according to a 2020 Lifeway Research study. However, for many on the other side of that question—families of people with special needs—churches’ actions don’t always match their intentions. [Read more…]

BRENTWOOD — The recent slide in total memberships among congregations affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention slowed in 2023, while baptisms, worship service attendance and small group participation all grew.

The Annual Church Profile (ACP) compiled by Lifeway Christian Resources in cooperation with Baptist state conventions details the annual numerical changes for the Southern Baptist Convention. Membership declined for the 17th straight year, dropping below 13 million for the first time since the mid-1970s. However, the less than 2 percent decline was the smallest in recent years.

Additionally, Southern Baptist-affiliated congregations experienced increases in baptisms, average weekly worship attendance and average small group attendance. Total baptisms climbed to more than 226,000. In-person weekly worship service average attendance topped 4 million for the first time in three years, while in-person small group average attendance reached nearly 2.5 million. Average online worship service participation also increased. [Read more…]

Maxwell

FARMERSVILLE, Texas —SBC president Bart Barber announced Friday, May 31, that William Maxwell, administrative director for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board (TBMB), will chair the Registration Committee for the 2024 SBC annual meeting in Indianapolis next month. Maxwell, a member of Brentwood Baptist Church in Brentwood, Tenn., has served with the TBMB for more than 30 years.

The registration committee is called “to supervise the registration of messengers, to oversee the operations of the registration desk, and to rule upon any questions which may arise in registration concerning the credentials of messengers” per SBC Bylaw 8. [Read more…]

Editor’s note: Tennessee Baptist messengers are invited to attend a dessert fellowship hosted by the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board on June 10 from 8:30-10 p.m. in Capitol 1 and Capitol II Rooms on Level 1 in the Indiana Convention Center.

INDIANAPOLIS — If you’re a Southern Baptist who loves the business session of meetings, then buckle up for this year’s SBC Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, June 11–12. This year’s meeting will feature an extra Tuesday evening business session that SBC president Bart Barber approved.

Going into his last SBC meeting as president, Barber said he didn’t really have a choice. “It had to be done,” Barber, pastor of First Baptist Church Farmersville, Texas, said in an annual meeting promotional video released by the SBC Executive Committee.

“We were already compressing the annual meeting to as much business as we could put into the sessions that we had. Something had to give.” [Read more…]

BRENTWOOD — Most people who walk into Freedom Church in Neosho, Mo., start with a worship service. It’s an on-ramp to the church’s discipleship pathway, a natural starting point on the journey from being a first-time visitor to a growing, serving follower of Christ.

For kids and families, the first worship service is often in the context of Vacation Bible School (VBS), said pastor Jack Lucas.

Children attend worship at VBS during the day and bring their parents back to Family Night at the end of the week.  [Read more…]