News

TENNESCENE: DEC. 18

LEADERS Larry Murphy, director of missions for Madison-Chester Baptist Association and Crockett County Baptist Association will retire Dec. 31. Murphy served  as associate director of missions for two years before accepting DOM position 26 years ago. Prior to joining the association’s staff, he served on staff at Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson. Murphy, who has been in the ministry for 48 years, plans to continue to serve as a church

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NEWPORT CHURCH QUICKLY BEGINS RESTORING BUILDING

NEWPORT — Nearly two months after the Pigeon River flooded its banks due to Hurricane Helene, leaving behind a wake of destruction in its path, Riverview Baptist Church is on the road to recovery.  Numerous DR teams and other volunteers have helped the church get to the point where it can begin repairs and restoration.  The church sustained major damage as flood waters rose to about 10 feet high in

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Five Objectives 5 Objectives

FIVE OBJECTIVES ELEVATED EFFORT TO REACH TENNESSEE

FRANKLIN — Ten years ago messengers at the annual meeting of the Tennessee Baptist Convention adopted the Five Objectives, a strategic 10-year plan for the ministry of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board and churches throughout the TBC to reach the state for Christ. As the decade for the massive effort draws to a close at the end of the month, Tennessee Baptist leaders assessed the impact the Five Objectives have

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LESS THAN HALF OF AMERICANS ATTEND CHURCH AT CHRISTMAS

BRENTWOOD —  As Americans make their Christmas plans, slightly less than half say they usually attend a church service during the holiday season. A Lifeway Research study finds U.S. adults are split on whether they’ll be at church sometime this Christmas—47 percent say they typically attend church at Christmastime, while 48 percent say they do not, and 5 percent aren’t sure. “The very name ‘Christmas’ originates in the church’s celebration

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WALKING THROUGH HISTORY

Wayne Strong, a member of the Tennessee Baptist Historical Committee and Colonial Heights Baptist Church, Kingsport, manned the TBHC booth at the recent Summit in Murfreesboro with a display he developed featuring the 17 oldest Baptist churches in Tennessee. Over the past six months, he has worked to contact those 17 churches while gathering historical document and developing notebooks for each one. Following the annual meeting, he delivered the materials

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BIBLE STUDY, CHURCH ATTENDANCE CAN DECREASE LONELINESS

PHILADELPHIA — The Bible protects against what the U.S. surgeon general has termed an “epidemic of loneliness” as harmful to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, the American Bible Society (ABS) said in releasing its latest chapter of the 2024 State of the Bible.  Bible engagement, forgiveness and church attendance all offer individual antidotes to loneliness, decreasing the malady by more than 50 percent, ABS said.  Scripture engagement offers

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CP’S ‘LONG-TERM STABILITY’ CONSIDERED AS STATE CONVENTIONS RETHINK SBC ALLOCATIONS

NASHVILLE — The Cooperative Program stands at a crossroads as its 100th birthday approaches. Messengers to the Tennessee Baptist Convention’s Summit felt that reality this fall. They voted reluctantly to decrease the SBC percentage of the Tennessee convention’s CP allocation from 47.5 to 45 and retain 55 percent for Tennessee ministries. “When we started moving toward 50/50 distribution of Cooperative Program giving, that was overwhelmingly approved by our messengers,” said

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IMB MISSIONARIES TO RETIRE IN TENN. AFTER 35 YEARS

NEWPORT — When Roy and Dirce Cooper step down in March of 2025 after serving for 35 years as missionaries with the Southern Baptist international Mission Board, they will call Tennessee “home” for the first time in their life.  Cooper was reared in South Carolina, while his wife, Dirce, who is Japanese, was born in Brazil.  The Coopers are currently on stateside assignment, acclimating themselves to their future home. They

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CP GIFTS FROM TENNESSEE BAPTISTS EXCEED $1.5 BILLION

FRANKLIN — Tennessee Baptist Convention churches have reached a monumental milestone during the convention’s 150th anniversary year. When Cooperative Program gifts were counted at Tennessee Baptist Mission Board offices on Dec. 6, the final tally pushed the total Cooperative Program gifts since the CP was established in 1925 in Memphis to more than $1.5 billion. “Our state crossed the $1 billion mark in the summer of 2010 after 85 years

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BOOK HELPS CRISIS SURVIVORS

HUMBOLDT — A book written by Tennessee Baptist Becky Drace to give hope for people who have experienced crises in their lives will be released nationally on Dec. 10.  Drace is the wife of longtime Tennessee Baptist evangelist and pastor Jerry Drace.  The book is entitled The Bright Side of Blue: Finding Hope in the Dark Places in Life and includes a foreword from Mike Huckabee. 

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TENNESCENE: DEC. 18

LEADERS Larry Murphy, director of missions for Madison-Chester Baptist Association and Crockett County Baptist Association will retire Dec. 31. Murphy served  as associate director of

Read More »

WALKING THROUGH HISTORY

Wayne Strong, a member of the Tennessee Baptist Historical Committee and Colonial Heights Baptist Church, Kingsport, manned the TBHC booth at the recent Summit in

Read More »