By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

STRAWBERRY PLAINS — Matt Giles, pastor of Lyons Creek Baptist Church here, can affirm what a good transitional pastor can do for a transitioning church.
Seven years ago, Giles came to Lyons Creek, his first pastorate, after serving as youth pastor at Broadway Baptist Church in Maryville for five years.

When he arrived, longtime Knoxville pastor and former Tennessee Baptist Convention president Jim McCluskey was leaving after serving as a transitional interim pastor.

“He did a great job in preparing the church,” Giles recalled. “They were ready to engage in a great work for the Lord.”

Giles was called to the church already knowing that it needed to be “revitalized.” He acknowledged the church had some division in the past, attendance had declined, giving had decreased, and the church had building debt.

“They were in a survival mentality. We need to get back to having a missional mentality,” he said. [Read more…]

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

KNOXVILLE — Interest in the topic of church revitalization is gaining momentum across Tennessee — and with good reason.

Statistics reveal that 90 percent of the churches in the Southern Baptist Convention are plateaued or declining.

John Mark Clifton, church revitalization team leader for the North American Mission Board, notes that on any given Sunday, Southern Baptists will start 20 churches.

On the other end of the spectrum however, 17 Southern Baptist churches will close their doors for good on that same Sunday, Clifton said. [Read more…]

By Baptist and Reflector

BRENTWOOD — C. Kenny Cooper, president/treasurer of Tennessee Baptist Adult Homes, will retire Dec. 31.

Cooper announced his plans April 15 in a letter mailed to trustees of Tennessee Baptist Adult Homes based in Brentwood.

Cooper, who will be 65 in December, said his retirement comes at an “opportune” time for TBAH. [Read more…]

By Baptist and Reflector

BRENTWOOD — Giving from Tennessee Baptist Convention churches through the Cooperative Program saw a large increase in April.

Churches gave $3,466,390 through the Cooperative Program giving channel. The amount was more than $900,000 over each of the previous two months.

After six months of the current fiscal year, Tennessee Baptists have given $17,076,840. The amount is $149,052 or 0.9 percent below what was given after six months last year. The total thus far also is $48,160 or 0.28 below current budget needs.

“We are very thankful to the Lord and appreciative to Tennessee Baptist churches that our Cooperative Program giving to financially support Great Commission work is right on target halfway through the budget year,” said Randy C. Davis, TBC executive director/treasurer.

“And the Golden Offering for Tennessee Missions is almost 9 percent ahead of last year’s giving,” he added.
“There is much to celebrate.

By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector

CROSSVILLE — “Sixty-five percent of all Christian men look at pornography weekly. This is an epidemic in the church,” said Andy Loomis, a therapist of Cumberland Plateau Baptist Association based here.

“And it’s hard to approach because most men will not tell their pastors because they’re afraid of how they’ll be looked at. … Nobody wants to talk about it.”

Of course, the main person they are hiding it from is their wife and then their family and God, he reported.

Many men are leading two separate lives, said Loomis. And even Christian men can do this because viewing pornography is “minimized” by society though they are living a life filled with sexual fantasies and lust. Porn also is readily available, just “one or two clicks away on the computer” in every home, he added. [Read more…]

By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector

KINGSTON SPRINGS — Human trafficking may be a new view of girls and women coerced into a 21st century version of prostitution, or it may be girls and women kidnapped and transported from another country and forced into sexual slavery.

Whichever form of human trafficking it is, more and more people, mainly females, are becoming victims and being trafficked in Tennessee, said a Baptist pastor, law enforcement officials, and an organization leader. They led the Cheatham County Human Trafficking Awareness Night held here on April 2. The event was developed by Mark Sheldon, pastor, Westview Baptist Church, Kingston Springs, and Cheatham County Sheriff Mike Breedlove. Other speakers were Margie Quin of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, based in Nashville, and Ashleigh Chapman of the Alliance for Freedom, Restoration, and Justice, based in Franklin. [Read more…]

By Chris Turner
Director of Communications, TBC

Editor’s Note: This issue contains articles and related columns about the growing addiction problem facing our state.

NASHVILLE — Tommy Farmer has been dealing in drugs for 17 years. Like anyone involved in drugs, he’s had a lot of lows. [Read more…]

By Baptist and Reflector

BRENTWOOD — Tennessee Baptist Convention churches gave $2,480,805 through the Cooperative Program in February.

After five months of the current fiscal year, Tennessee Baptists have given $13,610,450. The amount is $239,406 or 1.7 percent below what was given at the same time last year. The total also is $660,384 or 4.63 percent below budget needs.

“We are grateful that our Tennessee Baptist churches are faithful and generous in their support of Great Commission missions and ministry work in their own backyard and across our globe,” observed Randy C. Davis, TBC executive director/treasurer.

“Though we are behind in our budget for the year I remain confident that Tennessee Baptists will rise to the challenge of funding mission and ministry needs in Tennessee and around the world,” he said.

By Tim Ellsworth
Union University News Office

JACKSON — Union University trustees approved a $91.1 million operating budget for 2015-2016 at their April 10 meeting and elected Lisa Williams Rogers as the next board chair, the first woman ever to hold that position in the university’s history.

Rogers, a 1983 Union graduate and a physician in obstetrics and gynecology with the Jackson Clinic, will replace Norm Hill, who steps aside after serving as board chair for three years. Rogers is in her 15th year of service as a Union trustee. [Read more…]