Tennessee Baptist and Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

PLATT ANNOUNCES LIVE STREAMED Q&A

Baptist Press

160302plattRICHMOND, Va. (BP) — International Mission Board President David Platt will host a one-hour live streamed video session on the entity’s future at 11 a.m. Eastern Time March 3, answering questions and responding to comments submitted via Twitter under #IMBLive.

Platt has expressed a desire to move the conversation beyond discussion of the 983 missionaries and 149 stateside staff members leaving IMB through a Voluntary Retirement Incentive (VRI) and a Hand Raising Opportunity (HRI) collectively aimed at balancing the entity’s budget.

Registration is available free online to the public here. [Read more…]

EC WRAP-UP: SMALL-STATE REPRESENTATION CONSIDERED

By Baptist Press

The SBC Executive Committee gathered Feb. 22-23 for their meeting in Nashville. -Photo by Morris Abernathy

The SBC Executive Committee gathered Feb. 22-23 for their meeting in Nashville. -Photo by Morris Abernathy

NASHVILLE (BP) — After nearly an hour of discussion, the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee’s officers withdrew a recommendation to propose granting representation on three key SBC committees to Baptists in pioneer regions. EC leadership promised, however, to make an alternate proposal with the same goal but addressing logistical concerns raised by EC members.

In other business during the EC’s Feb. 22-23 meeting Nashville, the committee recommended a change in the method for asking questions of entity leaders during SBC annual meetings; approved a one-time transfer of funds from the North American Mission Board to the International Mission Board to assist IMB personnel leaving the board during its “organizational reset”; and withdrew the convention’s fellowship from a South Carolina church whose pastor performed a same-sex wedding ceremony with the deacons’ approval. [Read more…]

IMB ANNOUNCES MISSIONARY VOLUNTARY RETIREMENT TOTALS

160114imb-officeEditor’s Note: A more complete story with responses from Tennesseans who serve on the IMB trustee board will be posted later and will appear in the March 2 print issue of the Baptist and Reflector

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

RICHMOND – Trustees of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board were told Feb. 24 that 988 missionaries will be leaving the mission field along with 149 stateside staff members.

Last August IMB President David Platt announced that for financial reasons, the IMB needed to cut 600-800 missionary/staff positions. Over recent years the IMB consistently spent more money than it received – a combined $210 million more since 2010, leading to the critical need to balance the organization’s budget. [Read more…]

TRAFFICKING HOTLINE CALLS RISE IN 2015

By Baptist Press

Bars of soap with a hotline to report sex trafficking have become one of the strategies for combatting the crime at motels and strip clubs. Photo from traffickfree.com/soap

Bars of soap with a hotline to report sex trafficking have become one of the strategies for combatting the crime at motels and strip clubs. Photo from traffickfree.com/soap

NEW YORK CITY — Human trafficking victims are reaching out for help in increasing numbers, according to an advocacy group that operates a national text and phone call center.

More than 1,600 survivors of human trafficking reached out for help in 2015 — a 24 percent increase over 2014, according to the nonprofit anti-trafficking organization Polaris. [Read more…]

PLATT ASKS STATE PAPERS TO ENCOURAGE UNITY

Baptist Press

160219platt-imb

IMB president David Platt, during a Feb. 16 meeting in Puerto Rico, asked Baptist state paper leaders for their “help in encouraging the churches.” -Photo by Shawn Hendricks.

PONCE, Puerto Rico (BP) — International Mission Board President David Platt has asked Baptist state papers to encourage unity among Southern Baptists following the announcement next week of how many IMB personnel have left the board through a series of voluntary resignation programs.

Addressing a gathering of Baptist state paper leaders Feb. 16 in Ponce, Puerto Rico, Platt also detailed what he deemed some of the most exciting work God is doing through IMB missionaries across the globe. [Read more…]

YOUTH CURRICULUM DEBUTS: 6-YEAR FREE RESOURCE

Baptist Press

Richard Ross

Richard Ross

FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) — Richard Ross has spent most of his life leading youth to a deeper relationship with Christ, so he didn’t hesitate when he felt God’s call to develop a small group curriculum for teens and young adults.

But even Ross, a former Tennessee Baptist youth minister at Tulip Grove Baptist Church, Old Hickory, was surprised at the result: a six-year free curriculum for grades 7-12 encompassing a multi-year journey to learn everything from apologetics and ethics to evangelism and missions.

The online “Disciple6” curriculum, written by 60-plus faculty and students at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, includes learner and leader guides spanning core doctrines of the faith to train disciples for Christ. [Read more…]

N.C. BAPTISTS TO EMPLOY IMB RETIREES

Baptist Press

BSC Executive Director-Treasurer Milton Hollifield Jr. said during a BSC Board of Directors meeting, "I give thanks to God that North Carolina Baptists rallied behind our mission board and rallied behind these returning missionaries at a most critical time."

BSC Executive Director-Treasurer Milton Hollifield Jr. said during a BSC Board of Directors meeting, “I give thanks to God that North Carolina Baptists rallied behind our mission board and rallied behind these returning missionaries at a most critical time.”

CARY, N.C. — The Executive Committee of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina approved a recommendation Jan. 26 to set up a $500,000 reserve fund to employ International Mission Board retirees returning to North Carolina.

Executive Director-Treasurer Milton Hollifield Jr. said, “This reserve will provide additional funding for strategic efforts to impact lostness through disciple-making … as we seek to capitalize on the expertise of IMB missionaries who are returning to the United States.” [Read more…]

‘UNDECIDED’ MOST PREFERRED BY PASTORS

By Bob Smietana
Lifeway News Office

160210prezNASHVILLE — Ted Cruz is the favorite presidential candidate of Protestant pastors who lean Republican. Hillary Clinton leads among Democratic pastors. And Donald Trump is near the back of the pack.

But “Undecided” is by far the most popular choice of America’s pastors according to a new telephone survey of 1,000 Protestant senior pastors from Nashville-based LifeWay Research. The survey found nearly half of those planning to vote (48 percent) don’t know whom they would vote for if the presidential election were held today.

“One of the most surprising findings of our survey was the poor showing of Donald Trump,” said Ed Stetzer, executive director of LifeWay Research. “When it comes to Mr. Trump, there seems to be a huge gap between the pulpit and the pew.” [Read more…]

SBC CP GIFTS CONTINUE UPWARD TREND

Baptist Press

cplogoNASHVILLE — Year-to-date contributions to Southern Baptist Convention national and international missions and ministries received by the SBC Executive Committee are 6.07 percent above the year-to-date budgeted projection and 1.91 percent above contributions received during the same time frame last year, according to a news release from Frank S. Page, president and chief executive officer of the SBC Executive Committee.

The total includes receipts from state conventions and fellowships, churches, and individuals for distribution according to the 2015-16 SBC Cooperative Program Allocation Budget. [Read more…]

TRUSTEES: NEW LIFEWAY LOCATION AUTHORIZED

Baptist Press

Artist's rendering of LifeWay Christian Resources' proposed new building near Nashville's central business district.

Artist’s rendering of LifeWay Christian Resources’ proposed new building near Nashville’s central business district.

NASHVILLE (BP) — Trustees of LifeWay Christian Resources authorized the purchase of land and construction of a new corporate headquarters in Nashville and elected new board officers.

In their semiannual meeting, trustees approved a resolution to authorize LifeWay’s administration to purchase property in downtown Nashville for its future headquarters.

“This property is not just a location — it’s a new community in which we can invest ourselves for the future,” President and CEO Thom S. Rainer told trustees during Feb. 1-2 meetings in Nashville. [Read more…]

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