Tennessee Baptist and Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

TBDR TEAM IS ‘SWEATING IT OUT’ IN LA.

By David Dawson
Baptist and Reflector

Tennessee Baptist disaster relief volunteers Guy Patterson and Dick Rollins speak with homeower Earline Gaskin about a tarping job that the DR team was about to do for her.

FRANKLIN — Tennessee Baptist disaster relief volunteers are accustomed to hard work and sweat.

This week, there’s been plenty of both for a team from Forest Hills Baptist Church in Nashville.

Traveling to Morgan City, La., to assist victims who are recovering from Hurricane Francine, the DR team is dealing with oppressive humidity while completing various tasks for homeowners in the area.

Steve Brock, who is leading the team, said the volunteers have needed to constantly change shirts because they are “sweating out” their clothes each day.

Through Sept. 19, the team had completed 14 jobs, including tarping several rooftops and performing a number of chain shaw jobs. The team has also had many opportunities to share their faith, Brock said. [Read more…]

B&R EDITOR PUBLISHES COLLECTION OF HIS COLUMNS

By David Dawson
Communications specialist, TBMB

FRANKLIN — Lonnie Wilkey’s tenure as editor of the Baptist and Reflector is coming to an end, but his columns will continue to be read for years to come. 

Wilkey, who has been with the B&R since 1988 and has served as editor since 1998, has put together a collection of his columns in a book titled Faith, Family and Life’s Lessons: Reflections of a Christian Journalist. 

Wilkey’s columns have won a stream of awards through the years, including a number of first-place honors in the annual Baptist Communicators Association publications contest. The new book includes more than 70 of Wilkey’s columns. 

“During my career, God has allowed me to write countless news and feature articles, but the personal columns I wrote always seemed to draw the most attention,” said Wilkey. “I tried to keep them real, drawing from lessons I was learning ‘on the job’ in life as a husband, parent, layman in my local church and in my career as a writer.”  [Read more…]

BREAKING: GAINES TO TRANSITION TO NEW ROLE

By Baptist and Reflector

Steve Gaines.

CORDOVA — Steve Gaines, senior pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova and a former SBC president, announced to the congregation on Sunday that he will be transitioning out of his role of senior pastor and into the role of “itinerate preacher.”

Gaines, who has been at Bellevue for 19 years, was joined on stage by his wife, Donna, when he made the announcement. 

“Many years ago, the Lord spoke to my heart that he would one day want me to serve as an itinerate preacher,” said Gaines. “That simply means that I would travel and minister at different churches instead of serving as pastor of one church.” [Read more…]

SBC EC LEGAL EXPENSES SURPASS $12M IN THREE YEARS

By Brandon Porter and Laura Erlanson
Baptist Press

SBC Executive Committee president Jeff Iorg speaks during a finance presentation to the EC Sept. 17 in Nashville. EC finance committee chair Adam Wyatt, EC Chairman Philip Robertson and EC CFO Mike Bianchi joined Iorg for the presentation. — Photo by Brandon Porter

NASHVILLE — The SBC Executive Committee says it has spent more than $12.1 million on the 2021-2022 Guidepost Solutions investigation and subsequent legal expenses dating back to the 2021 fiscal year.

The release of the detailed financial information was the result of a motion adopted by messengers at this summer’s SBC Annual Meeting.

“The EC is glad to respond to the motion referred to us from the 2024 Annual Meeting asking us to itemize the legal expenses resulting from past Convention decisions related to investigating sexual abuse and the ensuing costs,” EC President and CEO Jeff Iorg told Baptist Press. [Read more…]

WRAP-UP: SBC EC TAKES UP DOZENS OF REFERRALS, INCLUDING ABUSE PREVENTION, FINANCIAL CHALLENGES

By Baptist Press staff

Carolyn Fountain, chair of the Executive Committee’s Committee on Events and Strategic Planning, presents her report to the EC Sept. 17, 2024 in Nashville. — Photo by Brandon Porter

NASHVILLE — Dozens of agenda items awaited discussion and action by SBC Executive Committee members at their fall meeting this week. The committee made short work of its many referrals and recommendations, including consequential ones like finding a new home for sexual abuse prevention in the SBC and releasing a total dollar amount for legal expenditures incurred by the EC since 2021.

The EC dealt with all of its business without its usual Monday night plenary session, as that time (Sept. 16) was reserved for the formal installation of its new president and CEO Jeff Iorg, during which Iorg stressed the SBC’s continuing “force for good” in the world.

In three plenary sessions on Sept. 17, EC members heard from new SBC President Clint Pressley, heard a brief update from Iorg and passed 32 recommendations from EC officers and various standing committees with little discussion and almost no opposition. [Read more…]

SBC EXEC COMM TO SELL DOWNTOWN BUILDING, CREATE NEW DEPARTMENT ON ABUSE RESPONSE

By The Baptist Paper

Phil Robertson, EC chairman, addresses trustees during their meeting in Nashville, Sept. 16–17. — Photo by Van Payne / The Baptist Paper

NASHVILLE — In an effort to help the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee rebound from ongoing financial struggles and growing legal expenses, the EC announced on Sept. 17 it was planning to sell its downtown Nashville building. The EC also reported this week during its meeting it had spent more than $12.1 million on sexual abuse investigation-related expenses since 2020.

During the meeting, newly installed EC President and CEO Jeff Iorg also announced on Tuesday it was time for the SBC to “stop talking” about sexual abuse prevention and response and “take an initial step” toward creating a new department dedicated to helping churches confront the issue. The move was in response to messengers this past June in Indianapolis calling for the EC to find a more permanent home for abuse response in the SBC. [Read more…]

PRESSLEY GIVES FIRST REPORT TO EXEC COMM AS SBC PRESIDENT

By The Baptist Paper

SBC president Clint Pressley chats with IMB president Paul Chitwood (left) and NAMB president Kevin Ezell during a break between sessions of the SBC’s Executive Committee meeting in Nashville, Sept. 17. — Photo by Van Payne / The Baptist Paper

NASHVILLE — Speaking to the Executive Committee for the first time since being elected SBC president in June, Clint Pressley didn’t waste any time expressing his love for Southern Baptists on Sept. 17.

Pressley — who noted he knew he wanted to be a “Baptist preacher” at the age of 16 — shared how he looks forward to highlighting and taking time to “reflect” on the good things the SBC is doing through missions in ministry.

“I have never regretted being a Baptist. I love being a Southern Baptist,” said Pressley, who noted he does not take being SBC president “lightly” — and that he believes there are “so many things to rejoice and so many things to celebrate. So many things that are good and right and God-honoring.” [Read more…]

LIFEWAY PRESENTS LARGEST MISSIONS OFFERING TO IMB AND NAMB IN RECENT YEARS

By Marissa Postell Sullivan and Lauren Bearry
Lifeway news office

Ben Mandrell, center, president and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources, presented checks totaling $678,283.32 to International Mission Board president Paul Chitwood (right) and North American Mission Board president Kevin Ezell (left) on Tuesday, Sept. 17, during the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee trustee meeting. — Brandon Porter photo

BRENTWOOD — This summer, as thousands of kids and students attended Lifeway camps across the country, camp staff challenged them to think more broadly about their role in God’s mission to make disciples of all nations, and campers responded by giving generously to Southern Baptist missions endeavors.

Because of the faithful giving of kids, students and leaders this summer, Ben Mandrell, president and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources, presented checks totaling $678,283.32 to International Mission Board (IMB) president Paul Chitwood and North American Mission Board (NAMB) president Kevin Ezell on Tuesday, September 17, during the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee trustee meeting. This was the highest amount given to missions through Lifeway camps since 2017.

“The missions education that takes place at Lifeway camps each summer allows campers to learn about a church planter who serves through NAMB and a people group we are praying for and trying to reach with the gospel through the work of IMB missionaries,” Mandrell said. “At Lifeway camps, students are discipled to become Great Commission people.” [Read more…]

‘GOD CALLED, AND HERE WE ARE’: IORG INSTALLED AS SBC EXEC COMM PRESIDENT

By The Baptist Paper

SBC executive committee members pray over new EC president and CEO Jeff Iorg and his wife, Ann, Iorg during their installation service on Sept. 16. — Photo by Van Payne / The Baptist Paper

NASHVILLE — While Jeff Iorg’s initial plans for retirement won’t happen as expected, the former president of Gateway Seminary noted he and his wife, Ann, are at peace because “God called, and here we are.”

Iorg, who stepped away from Gateway earlier this year, was installed to lead the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee as president and CEO on Sept. 16 during the EC’s September meeting.

“While life is very different than we anticipated,” he noted, “we believe we are doing what we believe God has asked us to do.”

He later added, “My willingness to serve as president of the Executive Committee rests on God’s call, my gratitude to Southern Baptists and my bedrock conviction that Southern Baptists are a force for good.” [Read more…]

C-N FOOTBALL TEAM CELEBRATES 31 BAPTISMS

By Carson-Newman news office

Members of the Carson-Newman football team look on from the banks of Mossy Creek as freshman Gavin Stinson (center), of Winston-Salem, N.C., is baptized by Drew Eudy (left) and Marty Blakely. Stinson was one of 31 C-N football players to be baptized.

JEFFERSON CITY — In a tradition that reflects the mission of Carson-Newman University, 31 members of the University’s Eagles football team were baptized in the waters of Mossy Creek on campus. 

They were joined by other team members, coaches, University leadership and campus community who lined the banks of the creek to witness the event.

The public professions of faith were officiated by Marty Blakely, director of Lakeway’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and Drew Eudy, congregation pastor at Mossy Creek Fellowship. The group marked the largest group since the tradition began several years ago.

Following the baptisms, first-year head football coach Ashley Ingram said that he wants football at Carson-Newman to be a transformative experience.  [Read more…]

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