CLEVELAND — Phil Taylor, a director of missions in Tennessee since 1999, died June 23 after an extended illness. He was 64. Taylor became the DOM in Bradley County Baptist Association in 1999 after serving for 14 years as a pastor in Georgia, Ohio and Virginia. During his 25-year tenure, Taylor led the association to change its name to CrossNet Baptist Network to accommodate the growing influence of the association
JACKSON — Union University presented longtime Baptist medical missionary Rebekah Naylor with its M.E. Dodd Denominational Service Award during a June 11 alumni dinner at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Indianapolis, Ind. The Dodd Award is the highest denominational service award Union gives. It is named for the man who was a 1904 Union graduate, served as president of the SBC and who was the father of today’s
INDIANAPOLIS — Lonnie Wilkey, editor of the Baptist and Reflector, has received many honors and awards during his journalism career. But the most recent award he received was especially meaningful. Wilkey, who is retiring as B&R editor at the end of this year, was presented with the Paula and Ken Hemphill Denominational Service Award from North Greenville University during a NGU dessert fellowship on June 10 in Indianapolis. The dessert
INDIANAPOLIS — While reflecting on his past two years as Southern Baptist Convention president, Bart Barber urged messengers to look past disagreements and struggles in their churches and to “bear one another’s weakness.” He delivered his final president’s address June 11 during the SBC annual meeting in Indianapolis. While praising the successes of Southern Baptists — among them includes a 26% increase in baptisms over the last year — Barber
TULLAHOMA — Duck River Baptist Association, based in Tullahoma, held its first annual Missions Day on May 18. Duck River teams visited and ministered at a nursing home, staffed an evangelism tent at the High on the Hog festival, conducted door to door visitation distributing 800 evangelism packets and more. “Like a lot of associations, we do well doing missions away from home,” observed Matt Ledbetter, director of missions.
Recently I heard someone say that in three years no one will remember you. I am going through a season of change right now, and that struck me as quite depressing. I am the wife of a pastor, and we have been in ministry for nearly 30 years. I am a teacher, and it just dawned on me that I have been teaching more than half of my life. This
BRENTWOOD — Growing up, Aaron Bryant may have dreamed of playing in the NFL, but his family would’ve never dreamed of skipping church. Bryant was part of the Tennessee Titans when they made the Super Bowl in 1999. Despite playing multiple sports in high school, he says he rarely missed church services because of it. “Primarily, my parents prioritized corporate worship for our family and established a precedent that our
TAZEWELL — In the early evening hours of June 1, word began spreading among members of Springdale Baptist Church that their building was on fire. By the time most members arrived, fire had engulfed the structure, burning the building which included the original structure from 1882, to the ground. A fellowship hall which has been added to the building received some fire damage but mostly had water and smoke damage.
NASHVILLE — Instead of the normal buzz of activity and laughter, the only noises inside the BCM building at Vanderbilt University is the gentle hum of the air conditioner and a vacuum cleaner. No sounds of a ping-pong ball bouncing back and forth. No studying groups chatting about their projects and upcoming tests. No foot traffic moving up and down the stairs or loud talk coming from the patio. Mostly
Many, many years ago, when I was just a boy, my family took a vacation to California. One night while there, we were eating at a restaurant when we looked across the room and spotted — you won’t believe this — Muhammed Ali! The three-time heavyweight champion was eating a quiet dinner with his own family, tucked away in a corner table. Realizing the magnitude of this moment, my friend
CLEVELAND — Phil Taylor, a director of missions in Tennessee since 1999, died June 23 after an extended illness. He was 64. Taylor became the
JACKSON — Union University presented longtime Baptist medical missionary Rebekah Naylor with its M.E. Dodd Denominational Service Award during a June 11 alumni dinner at
INDIANAPOLIS — Lonnie Wilkey, editor of the Baptist and Reflector, has received many honors and awards during his journalism career. But the most recent award
INDIANAPOLIS — While reflecting on his past two years as Southern Baptist Convention president, Bart Barber urged messengers to look past disagreements and struggles in
TULLAHOMA — Duck River Baptist Association, based in Tullahoma, held its first annual Missions Day on May 18. Duck River teams visited and ministered at
Recently I heard someone say that in three years no one will remember you. I am going through a season of change right now, and
BRENTWOOD — Growing up, Aaron Bryant may have dreamed of playing in the NFL, but his family would’ve never dreamed of skipping church. Bryant was
TAZEWELL — In the early evening hours of June 1, word began spreading among members of Springdale Baptist Church that their building was on fire.
NASHVILLE — Instead of the normal buzz of activity and laughter, the only noises inside the BCM building at Vanderbilt University is the gentle hum
Many, many years ago, when I was just a boy, my family took a vacation to California. One night while there, we were eating at
