NASHVILLE — New Tennessee Baptist Convention president Jay Hardwick is “humbled and honored to have the opportunity to serve and to be a part of what God is doing in Tennessee.” Hardwick discussed his goals and dreams for the convention in an interview last week with the Baptist and Reflector. The new president has a unique perspective. He moved to Tennessee three years ago to become senior pastor of Forest

CHATTANOOGA — Preachers at the Tennessee Baptist Pastors Conference at the Chattanooga Convention Center Nov. 13 addressed the theme “When You Have Had Enough.”  Ternae Jordan Sr., pastor of Mount Canaan Baptist Church in Chattanooga, was president for this year’s conference and selected the theme, based on Elijah’s struggles in I Kings 19. He said pastoral ministry can often be difficult and depressing.  “But God has brought us to this

CHATTANOOGA — Picking a “fantasy team” of Biblical heroes might prove to be much harder than it looks, said John Green IV, pastor of Wallace Memorial Baptist Church, Knoxville.  Why? Because God often uses seemingly “small” people to do big things. Delivering the convention sermon at Summit on Wednesday afternoon, Green examined the many ways in which God often turns “nobodies into somebodies.”   Green opened his message by noting

STANTON — About 40 volunteers from four churches in Fayette Baptist Association joined together Nov. 21 to provide a Thanksgiving meal to 1,000 construction workers at the BlueOval City job site in Stanton. The Walbridge Company hosted the event celebrating 6.7 million man hours of work. An executive from the Ford Motor Company was there to congratulate the vast army of workers on keeping the project on time and set

CHATTANOOGA — Tennessee Baptist Convention messengers approved the Acts 2:17 Vision Team report (see story on page 2), adopted a $35 million budget for the fifth consecutive year, approved five changes to the Constitution and Bylaws, adopted four resolutions and dealt with additional business during the annual meeting of the Tennessee Baptist Convention held during The Summit Nov. 12-15 at the Chattanooga Convention Center. The theme of the annual meeting

NEWPORT — Though Off the Grid, a ministry of the Tennessee Baptist Conference Centers, was originally intended for ministers to get away from their daily stress, churches are now finding it can also be a good team building tool as well. First Baptist Church, Manchester, has brought a group of men to hike the Appalachian Trail (AT) for two years in a row and this year a women’s group also

CORDOVA — Former Southern Baptist Convention president and Tennessee Baptist pastor Steve Gaines announced to his congregation at Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova on Nov. 19 that he has been diagnosed with kidney cancer. Gaines has served as pastor of the Memphis-area church since 2005. Gaines said that he has “a great team of doctors in Memphis who are treating me.” He added that he plans to go to M.D.

LINDEN — Word is getting out about Linden’s new look.  After completing the first phase in a series of expansion and renovation projects, the Linden Valley Baptist Conference Center recently hosted the unveiling of the facility’s new “village” of housing units, common areas and meeting center.  The upgrades have generated  a spike in first-time guests and positive reviews from returnees, said Jimmy Tucker, manager of Linden Valley.