FRANKLIN — The response by Tennessee Baptists disaster relief volunteers in recent days can best be summed up in one word: Extensive.  That word applies to almost every aspect of the ongoing relief efforts — including the amount of time that the projects are going to take, the range of the impacted areas and the variety of assignments that the volunteers are being asked to do.  Wes Jones, disaster relief

FRANKLIN — The 2024 Summit: The Gathering of Tennessee Baptists is just around the corner and it promises to be one of the most unique annual meetings in recent years.  Summit will take place Nov. 10-12 at Embassy Suites in Murfreesboro, the city in which the Tennessee Baptist Convention was established in 1874.  The annual meeting will be unique in several ways, acknowledged Randy C. Davis, president and executive director

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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