Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835
Jon Foster recently was ordained as pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, Tellico Plains.
Ralston Baptist Church, Martin, will celebrate its 150th anniversary on Sunday, Oct. 6. The celebration will include a 9:45 a.m. worship service, a 10:45 a.m. music celebration with the group Living Truth, a 12 p.m. luncheon (food and beverages provided by the church) and a time of celebration and testimonies from special guests afterwards. [Read more…]
Greer
FRANKLIN — Sam Greer, pastor of Red Bank Baptist Church, Chattanooga, will be nominated to serve as president-elect of the 2025 Tennessee Baptist Pastors Conference.
Chuck Herring, pastor of First Baptist Church, Collierville, announced July 24 that he would nominate Greer.
He noted that Greer was called to preach while attending First Baptist Church, Richland, Miss., while Herring was serving as pastor.
“Over the ensuing years, I have served as his mentor. I know him well and I think he would do a great job of leading the Pastors Conference. This young man loves the church, and he is devoted to the faithful exposition of God’s Word. [Read more…]
FRANKLIN — Tennessee Baptist Convention churches contributed $3,010,947 through the Cooperative Program in July.
For the year-to-date, Tennessee Baptists have given a total of $26,275,764.
With three months remaining in the 2023-24, fiscal year, gifts are $246,707 or 0.9 percent above what was given after nine months last year. [Read more…]
Ariadna Torres was one of nine members of Judson Baptist Church in Nashville who helped train VBS workers in Cuba.
NASHVILLE — August will be a busy month for Cuban churches. Church leaders anticipate more than 500 churches will host Vacation Bible Schools in church buildings, backyards and homes across the island, thanks to a team from Judson Baptist Church in Nashville.
Ariadna Torres was a member of the nine-person team from Judson who traveled to Havana June 21-29 to hold VBS training there.
The team included seven Hispanics and two Caucasian members, Torres said.
They worked with a nonprofit ministry based in Texas who connected them with a Cuban missionary. [Read more…]
Liane Keaton, center, ministry assistant and Vacation Bible School director at Sylvia Baptist Church, Dickson, stands with children who attended the church’s VBS this summer. They dressed as “100 year olds” to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Vacation Bible School.
FRANKLIN — Southern Baptists are celebrating an important birthday this year, and a few Tennessee Baptist churches made the most of the occasion.
If fun music, crafts, snacks and lots of energetic kids and adults come to your mind, you are on the right track. Lifeway’s Vacation Bible School is 100 years old this year, and according to Liane Keaton, ministry assistant and VBS director with Sylvia Baptist Church in Dickson, VBS just keeps getting better and better.
“We asked our children to dress like 100-year-olds” on Thursday night of the church’s VBS in early June, Keaton said. “We sang happy birthday to VBS and blew noisemakers during the opening assembly (that night).” [Read more…]
Bruce Chesser, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Hendersonville, left, presents with a commemorative check to Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. — Photo from The Baptist Paper
HENDERSONVILLE — First Baptist Church Hendersonville announced Sunday, Aug. 11, that it will be the first church in the state to ever give more than $1 million in one year through the Cooperative Program, to support Southern Baptist missions and ministry around the globe.
The special presentation came as the church celebrated the 15th anniversary of their pastor Bruce Chesser. The church presented a check to Randy Davis, executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, during its morning worship services.
“If you don’t know what Cooperative Program means, that’s how we support missions and evangelism and missionaries all across Tennessee and around the world,” noted Chesser, who also has served as president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention. “It’s what supports thousands of missionaries and their families.” [Read more…]
FRANKLIN — As summer winds down and students return to school in this month, Vicki Hulsey, childhood specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, is hearing good reports from Tennessee Baptist churches regarding Vacation Bible School.
“Vacation Bible School continues to be the one week of the year that mobilizes the entire church to reach the community with the gospel, while also providing a unique discipleship experience for children and volunteers,” she added.
“I continue to receive praise reports through e-mail and Facebook from Tennessee Baptist pastors, children’s ministers, VBS directors and church members, sharing what God is doing through VBS in 2024,” she said. [Read more…]
BRENTWOOD — Even as the front doors of churches swing wide to welcome new faces to the congregation, the back doors creak open as others make their way out to another church.
For some, a residential move caused them to leave the church, but others simply moved to a church across town. A recent study by Lifeway Research found slightly more than half of churchgoers switch churches at least once as an adult.
Lifeway Research conducted a comprehensive study on churchgoers in the United States, focusing on reasons people change congregations. The Church Switchers Study surveyed 1,001 Protestant or non-denominational adults who attend church at least twice a month and have switched churches as adults. [Read more…]
John D Freeman holds a unique place in the history of the Tennessee Baptist Convention. He is the only man to have served as executive secretary (now director) of the TBC and editor of the Baptist and Reflector.
Freeman served as pastor of Belmont Heights Baptist Church in Nashville before being named editor in 1925. He served until 1933 when he was named executive secretary. He held that position until he resigned in 1942 to become editor of the Western Recorder in Kentucky. While TBC executive secretary, the Tennessee Baptist Foundation was established during his tenure.
Freeman was not afraid to address the social issues of his day. He wrote fiery editorials in 1925 during the famous trial in Dayton when famed attorney Clarence Darrow defended John Scopes, a local teacher who was accused of teaching evolution. William Jennings Bryan was the special prosecutor assigned to the case. [Read more…]
FRANKLIN — Tennessee set a new record this year, and Vickie Anderson, executive director-treasurer for Tennessee WMU, couldn’t be more proud of this one.
When this year’s Christian Job Corps Scholarship/Award recipients were announced, the list included three Tennesseans, marking the first time the state has had a trio of recipients in the same year. [Read more…]