Union University president Samuel W. “Dub” Oliver addresses attendees at the Pastor and Wives event.

JACKSON — Union University president Samuel W. “Dub” Oliver encouraged local pastors and their wives to focus relentlessly, love deeply and commit completely as they shepherd their churches. 

“Brothers and sisters, what you do is great,” Oliver said. “It’s truly great, so remind yourself of that, and don’t ever forget it.”

Oliver was the featured speaker at the university’s annual Pastors and Wives Appreciation Banquet Sept. 10 in the Carl Grant Events Center. 

He told pastors that the more they attempt to accomplish, the more some people will stand in their way.  [Read more…]

Wes Jones, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, speaks with attendees at a Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief training session held on the campus of East Tennessee State University on Oct. 3. More than 400 people attended the event. — Photos courtesy of BCM, ETSU

JOHNSON CITY — A simple phone conversation between Jonathan Chapman, collegiate ministry specialist at East Tennessee State University, and Troy Rust, director of missions for Holston Baptist Association, led to one of the largest-ever disaster relief training events in Tennessee.

What’s more, the event at the ETSU Baptist Collegiate Ministry center on Oct. 3 was planned, promoted and executed in three days.

Four hundred-plus participants registered for the training led by Wes Jones, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. It was the largest single training event he has led during his nine years with TBMB, he affirmed.

Events are normally planned weeks or months in advance but with the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene in northeast Tennessee, Rust contacted Jones on Monday, Sept. 30, to see if he could lead an event three days later. [Read more…]

Bobby and Wanda Mullins, pictured here with their grandchildren in 2021, died from injuries sustained in a car crash Sept. 4. Bobby died on impact, and Wanda died the following day at the hospital. — Facebook photo

PIPERTON — Pastor Bobby Mullins posted these words on Facebook on Aug. 27, — “What if you only had one month to live? … What would you do to make the rest of your life really matter?”

He had no idea he and his wife, Wanda, would lose their lives in a car accident just over a week later.

In the days since, that Facebook post — which includes a link to a video of one of his sermons from 2008 called “Living Like You’re Dying” — has more than 91,000 views.

“If you live like you’re dying, you’re going to give God your last breath and you’re going to keep giving it for Him until you have your last breath,” Bobby Mullins said in that sermon. [Read more…]

Union University

JACKSON — Union University trustees at their Sept. 6 meeting approved a mission leave policy for university employees, providing up to five days every two years for faculty and staff to participate in mission trips. 

Union president Samuel W. “Dub” Oliver said the institution wants to encourage its employees to live out and share the gospel of Jesus Christ, and this policy is one way to do that. The policy will allow employees to voluntarily participate, with pay, in approved church-related mission trips that occur during regularly scheduled workdays, without having to use their personal time off. 

“As a Christ-centered university, we want to be clear about our priorities,” Oliver said. “It’s important for employees to model for our students the centrality of the gospel in the life of the institution, and giving them the necessary time away from their work responsibilities for mission endeavors allows us to demonstrate our commitment to that effort.” [Read more…]

Danny Sinquefield, left, of the TBMB staff presents a certificate to Aubrey Wilson who has served in Royal Ambassador ministry for 50 years.

HUMBOLDT  — Antioch Baptist Church in Humboldt recently honored Aubrey Wilson for 50 years as a faithful leader of young men through Royal Ambassadors (RAs).

Approximately 200 members attended the celebration in the church’s fellowship hall with some spilling over into the side rooms and gym area. The event included a meal, several gifts and a program with six different speakers, said Danny Sinquefield, Harvest Field 6 team leader for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, who presented a letter and certificate from Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the TBMB.

“It was amazing to see several generations of men and their sons sharing their love and appreciation for this godly man who had influenced their lives,” Sinquefield said about the recognition gathering. [Read more…]

Shane Pruitt of the North American Mission Board address the EQUIP Apologetics Conference at Union University. — Photo by Lyla Dietz / Union University

JACKSON — Most cultural debates today are rooted in an attack on God’s original design for His creation, Shane Pruitt told a group of high school students at Union University on Sept. 7.

“At the end of the day, God is the originator, designer and inventor of it all,” said Pruitt, national Next Gen director for the North American Mission Board. “And if God is the original designer, inventor and creator of it all, He also gets to define what things are.

“A lot of cultural agendas and a lot of cultural issues that we’re trying to navigate today are really an attack on God, and it’s mankind wanting to prop itself up as God instead of letting God be the authority, letting God be the definer.” [Read more…]

Sam Leslie, minister of music at South Harriman Baptist Church, leads a combined associational choir during Big Emory’s recent “Night of Worship” following simultaneous revivals from 34 of the association’s 51 churches.

HARRIMAN — Approximately two-thirds of the 51 churches in Big Emory Baptist Association joined together Aug. 25-28 to plant gospel seeds in their communities.

The 34 churches that participated were divided into 10 different groups, said Matt Cannon, director of missions for the association.

From Sunday through Wednesday nights, each group held a revival service at one of the churches in the group with a pastor from a different church bringing the message, Cannon explained.

On Thursday night, all the groups gathered at South Harriman Baptist Church for an association-wide “Night of Worship” led by Roc Collins, director of strategic objectives for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board and a combined choir from members of the association’s churches.  [Read more…]

FRANKLIN — Continuing their response efforts after Hurricane Helene’s devastating output, Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief will be setting up two incident command posts in the coming days.

One post will be stationed at First Baptist Church, Dandridge, and Tennessee volunteers will be working out of that area covering Jefferson and Cocke counties. TBDR will be feeding with Salvation Army, and Tennessee chain saw and flood recovery teams will be working out of that site.

An additional incident command post will be set up in Johnson City, covering Washington and Unicoi Counties. Wes Jones, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, is still working on determining the location for this post. Texans on Mission will operate that incident command and the feeding area, and the Salvation Army will also be working with the feeding team. Tennessee chain saw and flood recovery teams will be working out of that site also. [Read more…]

FRANKLIN — Some Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief teams are already in action (see story HERE), but more are needed in the efforts to help those impacted by Hurricane Helene. 

Wes Jones, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, sent out an email Saturday morning, asking that all TBDR teams and volunteers be on standby.

“East Tennessee has been hit hard,” Jones said in the email. “The worst damage is from Newport to Bristol with major flooding and wind damage. Local teams are already responding, but we will need teams to respond for some time to come.” [Read more…]

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 4:15 p.m. on Sept. 28.

NEWPORT — Eastern Tennessee experienced significant and widespread damage Friday afternoon due to torrential rains and high winds from Hurricane Helene.

Helene made landfall in the Florida Panhandle late Thursday and forcefully progressed through Eastern Georgia into Tennessee along the Appalachian Mountains, causing severe flooding and wind damage in numerous East Tennessee counties. Newport, Irwin, Hampton and other cities have been affected.

“It has been a catastrophic afternoon,” said Randy C. Davis, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board executive director, on Friday afternoon. “Our hearts are broken for the people in Cocke, Washington, Unicoi, Greene and other counties that may be eventually affected by the severe weather and its aftermath. [Read more…]