Tennessee Baptist and Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

MESSENGERS AFFIRM COMMITTEE DECISION

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

TBC Registration Secretary Dan Ferrell, left, speaks with Ellen Di Giosia, right, pastor of First Baptist Church, Jefferson City, and other church members. Messengers to the annual meeting later upheld a decision by the Committee on Credentials to not seat messengers from FBC. –B&R photo by Lonnie Wilkey

HENDERSONVILLE — Messengers to the annual meeting of the Tennessee Baptist Convention voted overwhelmingly during the opening session on Nov. 14 to not seat messengers from First Baptist Church, Jefferson City.

First Baptist attempted to register seven messengers, including new pastor Ellen Di Giosia, who has been in the position since Aug. 1.

In mid-October, the TBC’s Committee on Credentials met and agreed that a church with a woman pastor does not fit the definition of a “cooperating church” as defined by convention bylaws. The committee based its decision on Article VI of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 declaring that “the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.” [Read more…]

FIND TIME FOR REST

By Larry Robertson
Pastor, Hilldale Baptist Church, Clarksville 

“And he said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat” (Mark 6:31).

A lady I once pastored in a church in a place in “a galaxy far, far away” criticized me for taking a vacation. She actually used the line, “Well, the devil doesn’t take a vacation.” So, I responded with the classic comeback in this textbook conversation: “Yes, ma’am, but I try not to take my lead from the devil.” [Read more…]

CONGRESS SHOULD END IRS OVERSIGHT OF SERMONS, SAY PROTESTANT PASTORS

By Bob Smietana
LifeWay Research

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—In the 1950s, Congress banned charitable nonprofits—including churches—from endorsing candidates or otherwise intervening in elections.

Any nonprofit that violated the ban could run afoul of the IRS. Churches risked losing their tax-exempt status if the preacher endorsed a candidate in a sermon.

It’s time for that to change, most Protestant pastors say in a new survey from Nashville-based LifeWay Research.

More than 7 in 10 say Congress should bar the IRS from punishing a church for sermon content. And 9 in 10 say their sermons should be free from government oversight.

“Most pastors believe the pulpit should be off-limits to the government,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research. [Read more…]

CONGREGATIONAL SINGING ALIVE AND WELL AT ‘SING!’ CONF.

Baptist Press

More than 4,000 pastors, music leaders and musicians attended a three-day celebration of congregational singing hosted by Getty Music at Brentwood Baptist Church near Nashville.
-Photo by Katie Shull

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. (BP) — The first time Keith Getty sat down to write the melody for a new hymn, he penned the now-classic tune for “In Christ Alone.”

It’s been all downhill from there, Getty said with a wry smile at the recent “Sing!” conference in Nashville.

A few of his friends may disagree. [Read more…]

PASTORS’ SPOUSES EXPERIENCE MIXED BLESSINGS

By Bob Smietana
LifeWay Research

NASHVILLE, Tenn.— Being married to a pastor means a life filled with joy, purpose and a lot of headaches.

Most pastors’ spouses feel a call to ministry and enjoy their roles inside and outside their church.

Many also have few friends, think they yell at their kids too much, and worry about money.

Those are among the findings of a new LifeWay Research study about the lives of Protestant pastors’ spouses. The representative study of 720 spouses found their lives are complicated, filled with blessing and stresses, said Scott McConnell, executive director of LifeWay Research. [Read more…]

CLARKSVILLE PASTOR JIMMY TERRY DIES

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Jimmy Terry

CLARKSVILLE — Jimmy Terry, founding pastor of Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church and Tabernacle Christian School in Clarksville, died June 21 after a battle with cancer. He was 79.

Terry was well respected in the Clarksville community and the Tennessee Baptist Convention.

The African-American leader served on the Vision 2021 planning team that was approved by messengers at the 2010 annual meeting. The team’s work led to the eventual adoption of the Five Objectives in 2014, a series of long-range goals for the convention focusing on baptisms and discipleship; church planting; church revitalization; and giving through the Cooperative Program and the Golden Offering for Tennessee Missions. In 1998, he became the first black pastor to serve as president of the Tennessee Pastors Conference. [Read more…]

H.B. CHARLES JR. ELECTED PRESIDENT

Baptist Press

PHOENIX — The 2017 SBC Pastors Conference proved historic on many levels including the unanimous election of H.B. Charles Jr., pastor of Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla., as the conference’s first black president.

The election took place during the afternoon session of the conference at the Phoenix Convention Center, June 12. In addition to the historic nature of the officer elections, this year’s lineup of speakers included pastors of smaller to average-size Southern Baptist churches preaching through the book of Philippians. [Read more…]

’10 QUESTIONS’: PAGE’S GUIDE FOR PASTOR SEARCHES

By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press

NASHVILLE (BP) — “Pastor Searches for Dummies” would have been a fitting title for the latest book from Frank S. Page, he wrote in the book’s introduction.

Instead, the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee President and CEO chose “Looking for a New Pastor” as the title of his new guidebook. The book released today (June 1) from B&H Publishing shares biblical instruction and practical insights gleaned from Page’s 34 years in the pastorate and additional, ongoing denominational service.

“I was inspired to write this book out of a deep sense of need. Having been a pastor a long time and now helping churches across our convention, I found that many churches, if not most, struggle when it comes to finding a new pastor,” Page told Baptist Press. “In almost every situation, laypersons are charged with seeking a new pastor and many of them are unprepared to ask the right questions. Thus the subtitle of the book, ’10 Questions Every Church Should Ask.'” [Read more…]

SMALL CHURCHES CAN MAKE BIG DIFFERENCE

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Vonore Baptist Church, Vonore, held a special worship service on Easter Sunday with missions teams around the world viewing via Skype.

VONORE – Former Tennessee Baptist Convention president Doug Sager is the first to admit that he has never been a person to “stay inside the box.”

And neither have most of the churches he served during his 62-year ministry.

Upon retiring as pastor of First Baptist Church, Concord, in Knoxville in April of 2013, Sager began later that year as interim pastor of Vonore Baptist Church, a rural church in Monroe County. [Read more…]

75-YEAR-OLD FORMER COP ORDAINED TO MINISTRY

By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Following the ordination by Deanburg Baptist Church, Henderson, Tillman Mays, left, pastor, congratulates Larry Rose, newly ordained minister.

HENDERSON — Being a Marine, a cop, and then a Sheriff’s Department supervisor isn’t easy, said Larry Rose. Then there was the burden of being a Christian who felt called by God to the ministry. Thankfully, he did experience satisfaction “serving the public” and helping desperate people who truly needed help, he noted.

Should he quit to enter the ministry? he thought often over the years. Now his struggle is over. Rose, who is 75 years old, was ordained to the ministry by Deanburg Baptist Church, Henderson, on March 19.  [Read more…]

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