Hurricane Helene is seen in a NOAA satellite image captured at approximately 6 a.m. ET on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024. (NOAA)

MOUNT JULIET — Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief teams have been placed on alert for possible response to Hurricane Helene.

As of 2 p.m. EST on Sept. 26, Helene is currently a Category 2 hurricane with wind speeds of 110 mph. It is expected to make landfall on Florida’s Big Bend this evening as at least a Category 3 hurricane, bringing the risk of devastating damage, according to an NBC News report. Some news outlets have reported that it could reach Category 4 status. [Read more…]

Four ministers at Central Baptist Church have served on staff for a total of 115 years. From left are Terry May, marriage and family pastor, 17 years; Billy Kemp, legacy pastor, 32 years; Roland Smith, senior pastor, 39 years; and Scott White, executive pastor, 27 years.

CROSSVILLE — Search across the Southern Baptist Convention and you will find churches with pastors who have long tenures and even other ministers who have been at the same church for a number of years.

In a society, however, where the average stay of a minister at a church is normally less than six or seven years, it would be hard pressed to find a church that matches Central Baptist Church in Crossville. The church has four ministers with a combined 115 years of service with the congregation.

Roland Smith, senior pastor, will celebrate his 40th anniversary with the congregation next spring. What makes that even more unusual is that three of the church’s six other ministers have been with him 17 years or more — Billy Kemp, legacy pastor, 32 years; Scott White, executive pastor, 27 years; and Terry May, marriage and family pastor, 17 years.

In addition, many of the office’s staff have long tenure as well, including Rhonda Andrews who has served as Central’s office manager for 27 years. [Read more…]

Tennessee Baptist disaster relief volunteers Guy Patterson and Dick Rollins speak with homeower Earline Gaskin about a tarping job that the DR team was about to do for her.

FRANKLIN — Tennessee Baptist disaster relief volunteers are accustomed to hard work and sweat.

This week, there’s been plenty of both for a team from Forest Hills Baptist Church in Nashville.

Traveling to Morgan City, La., to assist victims who are recovering from Hurricane Francine, the DR team is dealing with oppressive humidity while completing various tasks for homeowners in the area.

Steve Brock, who is leading the team, said the volunteers have needed to constantly change shirts because they are “sweating out” their clothes each day.

Through Sept. 19, the team had completed 14 jobs, including tarping several rooftops and performing a number of chain shaw jobs. The team has also had many opportunities to share their faith, Brock said. [Read more…]

FRANKLIN — Lonnie Wilkey’s tenure as editor of the Baptist and Reflector is coming to an end, but his columns will continue to be read for years to come. 

Wilkey, who has been with the B&R since 1988 and has served as editor since 1998, has put together a collection of his columns in a book titled Faith, Family and Life’s Lessons: Reflections of a Christian Journalist. 

Wilkey’s columns have won a stream of awards through the years, including a number of first-place honors in the annual Baptist Communicators Association publications contest. The new book includes more than 70 of Wilkey’s columns. 

“During my career, God has allowed me to write countless news and feature articles, but the personal columns I wrote always seemed to draw the most attention,” said Wilkey. “I tried to keep them real, drawing from lessons I was learning ‘on the job’ in life as a husband, parent, layman in my local church and in my career as a writer.”  [Read more…]

Steve Gaines.

CORDOVA — Steve Gaines, senior pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova and a former SBC president, announced to the congregation on Sunday that he will be transitioning out of his role of senior pastor and into the role of “itinerate preacher.”

Gaines, who has been at Bellevue for 19 years, was joined on stage by his wife, Donna, when he made the announcement. 

“Many years ago, the Lord spoke to my heart that he would one day want me to serve as an itinerate preacher,” said Gaines. “That simply means that I would travel and minister at different churches instead of serving as pastor of one church.” [Read more…]

Members of the Carson-Newman football team look on from the banks of Mossy Creek as freshman Gavin Stinson (center), of Winston-Salem, N.C., is baptized by Drew Eudy (left) and Marty Blakely. Stinson was one of 31 C-N football players to be baptized.

JEFFERSON CITY — In a tradition that reflects the mission of Carson-Newman University, 31 members of the University’s Eagles football team were baptized in the waters of Mossy Creek on campus. 

They were joined by other team members, coaches, University leadership and campus community who lined the banks of the creek to witness the event.

The public professions of faith were officiated by Marty Blakely, director of Lakeway’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and Drew Eudy, congregation pastor at Mossy Creek Fellowship. The group marked the largest group since the tradition began several years ago.

Following the baptisms, first-year head football coach Ashley Ingram said that he wants football at Carson-Newman to be a transformative experience.  [Read more…]

Approximately 100 Tennessee BCM students and leaders recently attended Collegiate Week. Tennessee Baptist collegiate ministry specialists on the trip included Stacy Murphree, Austin Peay State University; Mark Whitt and Shelby Hall, Middle Tennessee State University; Ben Maddox, Tennessee Tech; Jeff Jones and Ashlyn Trice, University of Memphis; Grace Jones, Cleveland State Community College and Morgan Owen, University of Tennessee, Martin.

DAVIS, Okla. — Days before the start of a new school year, more than 1,730 college students and leaders gathered at Falls Creek Conference Center in Davis, Okla., to learn how to live on mission and become passionate followers of Jesus. 

Groups from across North America — including Alaska, Hawaii, and Canada — gathered with International Mission Board (IMB) and North American Mission Board (NAMB) personnel for the five-day August event that included worship, teaching and fellowship. 

State convention collegiate ministry leaders partnered to plan and produce the event, which saw its largest post-Covid attendance this year.

Pastor Arjay Gruspe, of Pawa’a Community Church in Honolulu, also serves as the state director of Next Generation Ministries for the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention and was a member of the event planning team. This year, he brought eight others from Hawaii, including four students, to “challenge them to be countercultural in the way they live and approach life on their campuses.” [Read more…]

Louisiana Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers repair the roof of a church that sustained damage in Hurricane Francine. — Submitted photo / Baptist Press

MOUNT JULIET — A disaster relief team from Forest Hills Baptist Church in Nashville, led by Steve Brock, will leave Sunday, Sept. 15, for Morgan City, La., and work next week to assist in the aftermath of Hurricane Francine.

The hurricane hit the Louisiana coast in Terrebonne Parish, with Morgan City facing particularly bad damage on Sept. 11.

Baptist Press reported that thousands were without power in Louisiana on Sept. 13 and some residents face structural damage, downed trees and flooding. [Read more…]