Tennessee Baptist and Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

CHURCH PUTS OTHERS BEFORE SELF

Gives large gifts to Southern Baptist missions/ministries while building new facility

By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector

David Worley, right, pastor, Bethel Baptist Church, Greenfield, thanks Jeff Perkins, worship leader of the church and chair of the building committee, on Oct. 18. From left are other members of the building committee, Larry Pentecost, Judy Huffstetler, and Martha Allen. Not pictured is Jeff Rush.

David Worley, right, pastor, Bethel Baptist Church, Greenfield, thanks Jeff Perkins, worship leader of the church and chair of the building committee, on Oct. 18. From left are other members of the building committee, Larry Pentecost, Judy Huffstetler, and Martha Allen. Not pictured is Jeff Rush.

GREENFIELD — Bethel Baptist Church here celebrated a momentus day on Oct. 18. The congregation began meeting in its new facility.

Church members did this with a clear conscience — they had continued their tradition of strong support for Southern Baptist missions and ministries while building the facility.

The new $3.5 million facility was built over the past couple of years, said David Worley, pastor.

During that period the only basic change in the financial situation and plan of the church was the increased total giving which was up from 2014 by 41 percent. Members were asked to help pay off the building debt so they gave designated gifts to the building fund which may have led to that increase, explained Worley. [Read more…]

SUMMIT BEGINS NEXT WEEK IN MILLINGTON

By Chris Turner
Director of Communications, TBC

151103ReachNOW_LogoBRENTWOOD — It will be a convention of milestones when Tennessee Baptists gather for the annual Summit next week at First Baptist Church, Millington.

This year is the 180th anniversary of the Baptist an­d ­Ref­lector, the convention’s newspaper and one of the oldest continuously published newspapers in the country; it is the 90th anniversary of the Cooperative Program, which was created in 1924 in Memphis (and launched in 1925) at the annual meeting of Southern Baptists; and it is the Tennessee Baptist Convention’s 35th anniversary of partnership missions. It also brings to a conclusion the term of Michael Ellis, the TBC’s first-ever African-American president.

“It has been an amazing year of traveling across our state, preaching and seeing God at work,” Ellis said. “It is a real privilege and a joy to be serving as president as Tennessee Baptists come to West Tennessee for the Summit. It is going to be a great meeting and I look forward to the Pastors Conference speakers and then being together with our larger Tennessee Baptist family.” [Read more…]

EXECUTIVE BOARD OF THE TENNESSEE BAPTIST CONVENTION CLOSES ON NEW PROPERTY

By Chris Turner
Director of Communications, TBC

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Randy C. Davis, left, executive director/treasurer of the Tennessee Baptist Convention, signs the closing documents on the new property that will house the convention’s Church Support Center. Looking on is Wes Turner, real estate attorney and former Executive Board member from First Baptist Church, Nashville.

BRENTWOOD — The Executive Board of the Tennessee Baptist Convention signed the closing documents on property in Franklin Oct. 26, preparing the way for construction to begin on a permanent location for the convention’s Church Support Center.

“We are thankful to have this step behind us and can now turn our attention to the construction,” said Randy C. Davis, executive director of the Executive Board. “This is a momentous day in the life of Tennessee Baptists and the future of our ministry to those in our state and around the world.”

The 2.3-acre mixed-use property is located in the Berry Farms business development located adjacent to I-65 and near the Goose Creek Bypass (State Route 248), just north of State Route 840. Construction on the 32,000-square-foot building is scheduled to begin March 1, 2016 with a completion date slated by March 1, 2017. The Executive Board Ministries will move into the location as soon as construction is completed. [Read more…]

BCM AT COMMUNITY COLLEGE DOUBLES

Baptist ministry at DSCC, Gibson County Campus, draws about 60 students biweekly

By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector

151024bcm-dsccTRENTON — About 200 students attend Dyersburg State Community College, Gibson County Campus, here. Of those, about 60-70 gather during a Tuesday lunch break for Baptist Collegiate Ministries every other week.

The students eat lunch together in the commons area of the college’s building and then hear Joey Hufstedler, BCM director, teach a Bible lesson.

Hufstedler often explains before he begins teaching that he will try to keep the study to about 20-30 minutes but he’s used to preaching longer at his church.

He has been surprised that quite a few students have asked him to teach longer.

“This age group, they’re sick and tired of being told what to believe. They want someone to show them what the Word says,” said Hufstedler, who has led the ministry for about a year. He also is pastor, Poplar Grove Baptist Church, Trenton.

Though he is a member of the previous generation (he is 40 years old), and was willing to accept direction from older people, that has changed, Hufstedler explained.

“They’re tired of people not being genuine.” [Read more…]

UNION STUDENTS ASSIST ORPHANAGE

Engineering students/profs travel to Honduras to help orphanage become energy efficient

By Nathan Handley
Union University News Office

Union engineering professors, from left, Randy Schwindt and Georg Pingen and senior engineering students Erin Picard and Chris Boccarossa build a rough design of a solar water heater at an orphanage in Honduras.

Union engineering professors, from left, Randy Schwindt and Georg Pingen and senior engineering students Erin Picard and Chris Boccarossa build a rough design of a solar water heater at an orphanage in Honduras.

JACKSON — Union Univer-sity engineering students are using their skills for service. Last month, a team of engineering students and faculty traveled to Honduras to assess the needs of an orphanage.

Randal Schwindt, professor of engineering, said the goal of the trip was to find ways to help the orphanage save money using the skills engineering students learn in class. He said the orphanage, Orphanage Emmanuel, spends most of its funds on electricity, so the main focus of the project was reducing power consumption.

Schwindt said the orphanage spends about $24,000 per month on electricity, and about $13,000 of that is for current consumption. The rest goes to pay fees brought on by changes in the government of Honduras.

“The government made promises that it did not keep, and it is all very political,” Schwindt said. “We aren’t going to be able to fix that, but what we’re trying to do is reduce the costs where we can.” [Read more…]

CHURCH MINISTERS DURING COMMUNITY CRISIS

By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Pastor James Julian and his daughter, Natalie, 8, stand with children of the Crawford family by the new home which Spring Creek Road Baptist Church helped them obtain. From left are Taya, 2; Abby, 11; Brandon, 13; Destiny, 4; and first row, Natalie Julian, 8; and Kyla, 9. The parents and a new baby which is hospitalized were away from home.
Pastor James Julian and his daughter, Natalie, 8, stand with children of the Crawford family by the new home which Spring Creek Road Baptist Church helped them obtain. From left are Taya, 2; Abby, 11; Brandon, 13; Destiny, 4; and first row, Natalie Julian, 8; and Kyla, 9. The parents and a new baby which is hospitalized were away from home.

CHATTANOOGA — It seemed like another busy Wednesday night at Spring Creek Road Baptist Church here on Sept. 10. The church bus and van picked up about 40 people, mainly students, from several neighborhoods near the church. Everyone ate supper at the church and then students went to Royal Ambassadors, Girls in Action, Acteens, and tutoring while adults went to prayer meeting.

Just before everyone left to go home, Shari Stone, volunteer children’s ministry coordinator, received a call from the parent of a bus rider.

Fire trucks were in front of the Superior Creek Lodge so they should wait to bring home the folks who live there, said the parent.

The group returned to the church’s gym.

It wasn’t long, maybe 30 minutes later, when Stone received another phone call telling her that the reason the fire trucks were there was that the city was inspecting the lodge and officials had just condemned part of the lodge. The residents were being evicted but the kids could come home, reported James Julian, pastor.

The next morning, Julian and church member Blake Daffron arrived at the lodge to help in this crisis for the families. Superior Creek Lodge had about 1,000 residents, the pastor noted.

The two men talked to the residents they knew, trying to offer the little comfort they could. Everyone soon learned the entire lodge had been condemned. [Read more…]

Registration Underway for Summit

Baptist and Reflector

summit-logoBRENTWOOD — Registration is underway for The Summit which will be held Nov. 10-12 at Brentwood Baptist Church here.

The Summit includes the annual meeting of the Tennessee Baptist Convention, the Tennessee Baptist Pastors Conference, WMU’s Missions Extravaganza, and other related meetings and events.

As of Oct. 20, 545 messengers from 188 churches have pre-registered. Randy C. Davis, TBC executive director/treasurer, observed that convention saw its largest increase of messengers since 2007 at last year’s meeting in Chattanooga.

“Our 2014 Summit will be important, urgent, and historical for several reasons,” he noted. [Read more…]

REVIVAL, COMMUNITY EVENTS YIELD RESULTS

Baptist and Reflector

Pastor Jamie Work (with hand raised) of Candies Creek Baptist Church, Charleston, prepares to baptize the Ensley family in the Hiwassee River. The church has seen more than 100 professions of faith in Jesus Christ and recommitments this summer as a result of community outreach and a harvest revival.

Pastor Jamie Work (with hand raised) of Candies Creek Baptist Church, Charleston, prepares to baptize the Ensley family in the Hiwassee River. The church has seen more than 100 professions of faith in Jesus Christ and recommitments this summer as a result of community outreach and a harvest revival.

CHARLESTON — In the fall of 2014 the Lord began to compel Candies Creek Baptist Church here to give themselves to a renewed emphasis on disciple-making for 2015, said Pastor Jamie Work.

He noted that ministry leaders and pastoral staff prayerfully planned the coming year around the theme of “Disciples Making Disciples: Reach, Teach, Equip, and Release.”

A team of the church’s pastors from both of Candies Creek’s campuses put together a “Disciple-Making Blueprint” designed to guide mature believers through a year-long process of discipling new, or soon-to-be, followers of Christ, Work said.

In the early part of this year, church members were asked to write the names of family members, friends, co-workers, acquaintances, neighbors, and relatives for whom the church could pray that they would experience spiritual transformation.

The names were written on a large, double-sided white board in the Worship Center during worship gatherings, Work said. [Read more…]

TENNESSEE BAPTIST DISASTER RELIEF TEAMS MINISTER IN SOUTH CAROLINA

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Approximately 40 Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers served in South Carolina last week. Teams provided mud-out or flood recovery to residents who experienced damage to their homes from the massive flooding caused recently by Hurricane Joaquin. DR teams are based out of First Baptist Church, Manning. Additional teams will arrive this week and more will be needed. People interested in helping the relief efforts can give to the South Carolina Flooding Disaster Relief Fund at www.tndisasterrelief.org or to the Tennessee Baptist Convention, P.O. Box 728, Brentwood, TN 37027, designated for the fund. Prospective volunteers can contact Wes Jones, TBC disaster relief specialist at [email protected]. B&R Editor Lonnie Wilkey is scheduled to travel to Manning this week for more extensive coverage. In top photo, Scott McGill of Hilldale Baptist Church, Clarksville, does clean up work while volunteers in bottom photo remove debris from a home. [Read more…]

Church’s decision to call woman pastor leads to action by Lawrence County Baptists

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

151016lawrenceLEOMA – The Lawrence County Association of Baptists voted during its annual meeting Oct. 12 to withdraw fellowship from Greater Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church in Lawrenceburg.

The African-American congregation, which was a church plant of Faith Baptist Church in Loretto in 1992, recently called a non-Baptist woman as pastor (Shonda Reynolds-Christian).

The association voted 73-4 to remove Greater Tabernacle Baptist Church immediately from its list of cooperating Baptist churches, according to Mike Kemper, director of missions of the association. [Read more…]

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