FRANKLIN —With two months to go in the 2023-24 Golden Offering for Tennessee Baptist Missions fiscal year, gifts through GOTM have exceeded $2.3 million for the first time in its history. 

As of June 30, GOTM gifts from Tennessee Baptist Convention churches totaled $2,309,506.88, breaking last year’s record gifts of $2,262,288. 

“With two months, it is remarkable that we have already set a new record for giving to GOTM and have passed $2.3 million for the first time,” said Vickie Anderson, executive director-treasurer of Tennessee Woman’s Missionary Union.  [Read more…]

R.G. Lee

Union University recently celebrated its 200th birthday and, as part of that celebration, Union recognized many individuals involved in cultivating Union’s rich Baptist history. One such individual was Robert Greene “R.G.”Lee, who was born in York County, S.C., in 1886. 

Though his education was irregular, he managed to learn the basics and earned money to continue his education. He left home to work on the Panama Canal, earning money to attend Furman University where he graduated. While at Furman, he served as pastor of Lima Baptist Church in Travelers Rest, S.C. In 1909, Lee was ordained as a pastor.  [Read more…]

Many are familiar with the Jackson campus of Union University — the iconic Miller clock tower, the dome of the Logos building and the great lawn, built over time since its move from downtown Jackson. 

However, the current campus is descended originally from the campus in Murfreesboro that was built with money collected by circuit minister, Bradley Kimbrough. Kimbrough was born in November 1799 in Jefferson County, Tennessee. He grew up on a farm and, though his father was a preacher, received his education through intermittent breaks of farming. He began practicing law in 1824 but later turned to preaching.  [Read more…]

Tennessee Baptist evangelist Jerry Drace and his wife, Becky, stand beside a slide that recognizes Drace’s induction into the COSBE Hall of Faith. Drace said Becky is his “ greatest prayer partner and encourager.”

INDIANAPOLIS — Six men, including Tennessee Baptist evangelists Jerry Drace and Ron Herrod (deceased), were added to the Southern Baptist Evangelists’ Hall of Faith June 10 at the Westin hotel, across the street from the Indiana Convention Center.

The recognition took place during the annual meeting of the Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists (COSBE). COSBE was organized in 1958 and the Hall of Faith was established in 2008. 

Typically, two evangelists are honored every other year, but because of the pandemic, none had been honored for six years, the group’s secretary, Amy Stockwell, explained to Baptist Press. [Read more…]

Taylor

CLEVELAND — Phil Taylor, a director of missions in Tennessee since 1999, died June 23 after an extended illness. He was 64.

Taylor became the DOM in Bradley County Baptist Association in 1999 after serving for 14 years as a pastor in Georgia, Ohio and Virginia.

During his 25-year tenure, Taylor led the association to change its name to CrossNet Baptist Network to accommodate the growing influence of the association beyond just Bradley County. Churches from neighboring counties joined CrossNet primarily due to Taylor’s missional heartbeat for reaching people not only in southeast Tennessee but around the world as well, according to his obituary. [Read more…]

Longtime Baptist medical missionary Rebekah Naylor was presented Union University’s M.E. Dodd Denominational Service Award.

JACKSON — Union University presented longtime Baptist medical missionary Rebekah Naylor with its M.E. Dodd Denominational Service Award during a June 11 alumni dinner at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Indianapolis, Ind.

The Dodd Award is the highest denominational service award Union gives. It is named for the man who was a 1904 Union graduate, served as president of the SBC and who was the father of today’s Cooperative Program, the method by which Southern Baptists pool their resources to fund their mission efforts.

The award, voted on by Union trustees, is given to a leader within the SBC who displays excellence and leadership in Southern Baptist life, as well as friendship and commitment to Union University. Past recipients include such leaders as Jimmy Draper, Adrian Rogers, R. Albert Mohler Jr., Steve Gaines, Paul Chitwood, Ben Mandrell, David S. Dockery and others. [Read more…]

Lonnie Wilkey, far right, editor of the Baptist and Reflector, receives the Paula and Ken Hemphill Denominational Service Award from North Greenville University. Holding the award is NGU president Gene C. Fant, and joining them are Paula and Ken Hemphill. —Photos by Marty O’Gwynn

INDIANAPOLIS — Lonnie Wilkey, editor of the Baptist and Reflector, has received many honors and awards during his journalism career. But the most recent award he received was especially meaningful.

Wilkey, who is retiring as B&R editor at the end of this year, was presented with the Paula and Ken Hemphill Denominational Service Award from North Greenville University during a NGU dessert fellowship on June 10  in Indianapolis. The dessert fellowship was held during the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting.

Wilkey graduated from North Greenville in 1978, when the school was still a junior college.   [Read more…]

Members of Grace Baptist Church, Tullahoma, from left, Landon Shelby (youth pastor), Wade Hampton, Claire Hampton, Mike Shelby and Jackson Kennington, passed out the “Jesus” DVD, evangelistic tracts and information about their church.

TULLAHOMA — Duck River Baptist Association, based in Tullahoma, held its first annual Missions Day on May 18. 

Duck River teams visited and ministered at a nursing home, staffed an evangelism tent at the High on the Hog festival, conducted door to door visitation distributing 800 evangelism packets and more.

“Like a lot of associations, we do well doing missions away from home,” observed Matt Ledbetter, director of missions. [Read more…]