Tennessee Baptist and Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

GAINES ADJUSTS TO ROLE AS SBC PRESIDENT

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

(Left to right) Outgoing Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd together with presidential nominee J.D. Greear congratulate president-elect Steve Gaines, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tenn., after he is elected president of the SBC by acclamation after Greear withdrew from the race and moved that the convention elect Gaines by acclamation during the SBC's annual meeting at America's Center in St. Louis Wednesday, June 15. -Photo by Bill Bangham

Steve Gaines, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova, is congratulated by outgoing SBC President Ronnie Floyd, left, and J.D. Greear, center, after Gaines was elected president of the SBC in June. After two ballots failed to produce a winning candidate, Greear withdrew in favor of Gaines.
— Photo by Bill Bangham

CORDOVA — After what may have been one of the most unusual presidential elections in the history of the Southern Baptist Convention, reality has sunk in for Steve Gaines.

Gaines, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova, was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention in June during the annual meeting in St. Louis. After two elections failed to produce a winning candidate, both Gaines and J.D. Greear made the decision to withdraw from the race.

Gaines noted he decided soon after the second vote he was going to withdraw his candidacy. “I did not want to be divisive.” Greear had decided the same thing — he would yield to Gaines.

After a meeting between the two men and mutual friends, Gaines noted that Greear insisted he would be the one to pull out. “That’s what we went with. When we walked out on the platform, it was a sweet time,” he recalled. [Read more…]

CONFERENCE CALLED ‘CATALYTIC MOMENT’

By Seth Brown
Biblical Recorder

Conference speaker J.D. Payne. -Photo by Seth Brown, Biblical Recorder

Conference speaker J.D. Payne.
-Photo by Seth Brown, Biblical Recorder

BRENTWOOD — A unique Southern Baptist missions conference encouraged attendees to leverage the historically unprecedented migration of peoples around the world for the sake of sharing the gospel with every tribe, tongue, and nationality.

The United States is one of the most common destinations for migrants, and the circumstances present the American church with a remarkable opportunity for evangelism, according to speakers at the  “Reaching the Nations in North America” conference at Brentwood Baptist Church in Brentwood.

“God is the Divine Maestro, orchestrating the movements of the nations,” said J.D. Payne, pastor for church multiplication with The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Ala.

He emphasized the importance of churches engaging in diaspora missions, which is the task of evangelizing migrants. [Read more…]

FUTURE BRIGHT FOR IMB, PREDICTS SCOTT HARRIS

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Scott Harris, missions minister at Brentwood Baptist Church, Brentwood, will serve as chairman of the trustees of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board for the coming year.

Scott Harris, missions minister at Brentwood Baptist Church, Brentwood, will serve as chairman of the trustees of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board for the coming year.

BRENTWOOD — As Scott Harris enters his eighth and final year as a trustee of the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board, he has witnessed a lot of change.

He became a trustee in 2009 just after the economy had bottomed out. He has served with three different presidents (Jerry Rankin, Tom Elliff, and David Platt) in addition to Clyde Meador who served in an interim role.

What’s more, the IMB has had to deal with drastic changes in denominational life and throughout the world. Any one of those would be hard enough to deal with, but “all of them at the same time is significant,” said Harris, who will lead the IMB trustees as chair in his final year of service.

He considers it an honor to serve as chair. He is an “MK” (missionary kid) and he also served as an IMB missionary in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. He has been the missions minister at Brentwood Baptist Church, Brentwood, since 2002. [Read more…]

ALL LIVES MATTER, REGARDLESS OF COLOR

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Lonnie-Wilkey

Lonnie Wilkey

One thing I have learned after working on newspapers for 30-plus years is that you have to be flexible. Quite frankly, this column was not planned, but the events of Thursday, July 7, caused me to completely change the plans that had been made for this issue. We had to delay the printed publication of some stories (some have appeared or will appear on the website at baptistandreflector.org).

Five Dallas police officers and seven others were wounded last week after they were ambushed while trying to protect people who were protesting police brutality under the umbrella of “Black Lives Matter.” Those marching were protesting the deaths of two black males (one in Minnesota and one in Louisiana) who were killed recently by police officers.  Details are just beginning to surface about the attack that was apparently the plan of a single sniper.

Let me be perfectly clear. Black lives do matter. But so do white (Anglo) lives, Hispanic lives, etc., name the nationality. Unfortunately, when some leaders seemingly tout one race over another, it gives the impression (whether intended or not) that some lives do not matter. They all matter.

What’s more, the lives of police officers and public servants matter. Some national leaders and media have cast police officers in a negative light. They have become villains. And, now police officers are paying the price with their lives. [Read more…]

BELLEVUE’S STEVE GAINES ELECTED TO LEAD SBC

Tennessee Baptists second in number of Southern Baptist Convention messengers with 824

By David Roach
Baptist Press

Editor’s Note: Due to the publication schedule of the Baptist and Reflector, this issue contains a condensed wrap-up of the SBC annual meeting held June 14-15 in St. Louis. Extensive stories were posted on the B&R web site last week.

 

Outgoing Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd, left, together with presidential nominee J.D. Greear, center, congratulate Steve Gaines, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova after he is elected president of the SBC. Greear withdrew from the race and moved that the convention elect Gaines by acclamation during the SBC’s annual meeting at America’s Center in St. Louis on June 15. — Photo by Bill Bangham

Outgoing Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd, left, together with presidential nominee J.D. Greear, center, congratulate Steve Gaines, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova after he is elected president of the SBC. Greear withdrew from the race and moved that the convention elect Gaines by acclamation during the SBC’s annual meeting at America’s Center in St. Louis on June 15. — Photo by Bill Bangham

ST. LOUIS — The election of Tennessee pastor Steve Gaines as president on the third ballot and a historic repudiation of the Confederate battle flag were among the highlights of the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting June 14-15 in St. Louis.

The convention’s resolution on the Confederate battle flag capped an emphasis on racial reconciliation throughout the meeting that included the election of a 2017 Committee on Nominations with 25 percent of its members drawn from ethnic minority groups and a panel discussion on “racial unity in America” featuring Jerry Young, president of the historically African American National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.

The unofficial total of 7,321 registered messengers — up from 5,407 last year — also devoted an entire session to praying for awakening in America, listened to a panel discussion on “pastors and the church in American politics today,” and addressed on multiple occasions whether Baptists should support Muslims’ right to build mosques in the United States.

When registered guests, exhibitors, and others are included, the count of those at the annual meeting was tallied, as of June 15, at 11,581. Tennessee ranked second in number of messengers to the annual meeting with 824, trailing only host state Missouri’s 877 messengers. [Read more…]

MISSIONS EFFECTIVENESS EXAMINED BY SBC LEADERS

By Karen L. Willoughby
Baptist Press

R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, discusses the importance of advancing the Gospel locally, regionally, and globally during a panel discussion Monday, June 13 in St. Louis. -Photo by Miranda Johns

R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, discusses the importance of advancing the Gospel locally, regionally, and globally during a panel discussion Monday, June 13 in St. Louis.
-Photo by Miranda Johns

ST. LOUIS (BP) — Entity leaders discussed ways to be more effective in global missions during one of 18 Cooperative Program panel discussions held June 13-15 in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in St. Louis.

The videotaped discussion took place at one side of the America Center’s exhibit hall with Jon Akin, pastor of Fairview Baptist Church near Nashville moderating.

Responding to his questions were Frank S. Page, president of the SBC’s Executive Committee; R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; and David Platt, president of the International Mission Board.

Moderator Jon Akin opened the discussion by asking Page about a report on the decline in attendance, members and baptisms in Southern Baptist churches. Does this indicate America is going to become like Europe — post-Christian, unchurched? [Read more…]

CONFERENCE AIMED AT ‘REACHING THE NATIONS’

By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press

160621Reaching-The-NationsBRENTWOOD — Spreading the gospel among the more than 42 million foreign-born refugees, immigrants, and international students in the U.S. is the focus of the Reaching the Nations in North America conference, an upcoming national event spearheaded by North Carolina Baptists in conjunction with the Tennessee Baptist Convention, the International Mission Board, and the North American Mission Board.

Termed “diaspora missions,” ministry to those in the U.S. living outside their birth countries, can help evangelize unreached, unengaged people groups, conference organizer Chuck Register told Baptist Press.

“The summit is designed to heighten the awareness of denominational leaders and local church practitioners to the millions of foreign-born residents God has guided to the U.S. and to focus our attention and efforts on engaging immigrants, refugees, and international students with the gospel for church planting,” said Register, executive leader for church planting and missions partnerships with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. “Many of these groups are classified as unreached people groups or unreached and unengaged people groups.” [Read more…]

LOTTIE MOON OFFERING REACHES $165.8 MILLION

By Julie McGowan
Baptist Press

Christian worker Gary Warrior (name changed) leads praise songs and teaches a Bible study in a national's home at night. Providing clean water to communities gives Warrior and his team a welcome reception in people’s homes, and they are often open to the message of the gospel. -IMB Photo

Christian worker Gary Warrior (name changed) leads praise songs and teaches a Bible study in a national’s home at night. Providing clean water to communities gives Warrior and his team a welcome reception in people’s homes, and they are often open to the message of the gospel. -IMB Photo

RICHMOND — Southern Baptists provided resounding support through the 2015 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions.

Finalized in early June, the 2015 Lottie Moon offering totaled $165.8 million — the highest total in the 127-year history of the offering. The offering surpassed the previous all-time record of $154 million in 2013 by $11.8 million. The 2014 Lottie Moon offering totaled just over $153 million.

Through June 7, Tennessee Baptists have contributed $10,726,904 to the Lottie Moon offering. The amount is approximately 10 percent ahead of last year. The Tennessee Baptist Convention will continue receiving LMCO gifts through November of this year. [Read more…]

TENNESSEAN TO CHAIR IMB TRUSTEES

IMB News Office

Scott Harris

Scott Harris

RICHMOND — The International Mission Board is ready to move forward into a future of partnership with churches that empowers limitless missionary teams who are making disciples and multiplying churches among unreached peoples and places for the glory of God, International Mission Board President David Platt told the agency’s trustees May 11.

In addition to hearing this vision for the future, IMB trustees also approved the appointment of 29 new missionaries; recognized the longtime service of two faithful missions servants as they retire; and elected new officers during their May 9-11 meeting near Richmond. [Read more…]

FIRST SHOW UP, THEN PARTICIPATE

By Randy C. Davis
TBC Executive Director/Treasurer

Randy C. Davis

Randy C. Davis

There is an old expression that states that about 80 percent of life is just showing up. That may be true, but it begs the question: So what do you do once you get there? That’s easy. Participate.

That would be my advice to any minister or messenger wondering whether to attend the annual Southern Baptist Convention meeting, and especially this meeting coming up in a few weeks in St. Louis. Show up and participate.

Personally, I believe every Southern Baptist Convention meeting is important. Look back through our history and the annual meetings are key markers on our journey as a denomination. Yes, we’ve tackled some tough issues along the way, but as the largest evangelical network of churches in the United States gathered via elected messengers, we have collectively committed through the years to embrace the centrality of the gospel of Jesus Christ communicated through an inerrant Scripture. [Read more…]

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