News

FLOYD ISSUES VISION 2025 CALL FOR EVANGELISM

By Jonathan Howe and Amy Whitfield Baptist Press NASHVILLE — SBC Executive Committee President Ronnie Floyd announced a new five-year initiative in conjunction with multiple entities to reach every person with the Gospel in every town, every city, every state and every nation. In his address Monday night (Feb. 17), Floyd presented this Convention-wide initiative to members of the EC and a packed crowd in attendance for the group’s February

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BLACK, WHITE NASHVILLE CHURCHES REMEMBER SHARED HISTORY

EDITOR’S NOTE: February is Black History Month By Diana Chandler Baptist Press NASHVILLE — Nashville First Baptist Church was willed an enslaved 16-year-old Nelson G. Merry in 1840, and by 1853 had baptized, discipled, freed and ordained him to pastor the First Colored Baptist Mission, a First Baptist church plant. That church plant became First Baptist Church Capitol Hill, a majority black Nashville congregation led by senior pastor Kelly Miller

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FLOYD ASSURES LEADERS OF LOVE, CARE ON COVID-19 PRAYER CALL

By Diana Chandler Baptist Press NASHVILLE — More than 30 ethnically diverse leaders joined Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee President Ronnie Floyd praying Thursday (Feb. 13) for global healing, comfort and salvation in the midst of a COVID-19 outbreak that has killed more than 1,100 people. “I want to remind all of us on the call, that regardless of how despairing the news may be, or some of the hope

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DOOLEY TO PREACH AT WEST TENNESSEE EVANGELISM RALLY

By Sarah Goff Union University news office JACKSON, Tenn. — Adam Dooley, senior pastor of Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson, will be the keynote speaker at the fifth annual West Tennessee Evangelism Rally March 1 at Union University.  The rally, co-sponsored by the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board and Union University, is designed to strengthen and equip churches in the areas of evangelism and outreach. John Kinchen, chair of Union’s Department

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IMB NAMES SOMER NOWAK AS PREVENTION AND RESPONSE ADMINISTRATOR

By Ann Lovell IMB office IMB has selected Somer Nowak to fill the newly created position of prevention and response administrator for the 175-year-old entity. In this role, Nowak will oversee and manage prevention and response efforts for child abuse (physical and sexual), sexual harassment (including sexual assault), and domestic violence.  IMB is the first Southern Baptist entity to create a position for this purpose, fulfilling IMB President Paul Chitwood’s

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SBC EC TO ADD PRAYER MINISTRY

Baptist Press NASHVILLE — Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee President Ronnie Floyd announced Jan. 30 that he will propose at the February EC meeting revisions to the EC mission and ministries statement including a new prayer ministry. “Updating the language of the SBC Executive Committee’s ministry assignments and the explanation of them is important as we seek to better serve Southern Baptist churches,” Floyd told Baptist Press.

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MEMORIES, FRIENDSHIPS, MINISTRY

Edwards prepares for retirement after 25 years in youth ministry with TBMB Baptist and Reflector FRANKLIN — After 25 years of ministry with the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, youth specialist Bruce Edwards has announced his upcoming retirement. Edwards has touched countless lives throughout the past two-plus decades, and God has used Edwards’ ministry to encourage and impact youth pastors, youth workers and youth themselves.

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YANES: CORONAVIRUS OPPORTUNITY FOR LOVE, UNDERSTANDING

By Diana Chandler Baptist Press NASHVILLE — The international coronavirus outbreak should not spread panic in the U.S., but should encourage Gospel love and understanding among the diverse body of Southern Baptists, Asian American relations leader Peter Yanes told Baptist Press. Misinformation has spread across social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok, NBC news has reported, spreading fear, racial stereotyping and xenophobia. “We need to be gracious

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JAMES LEO GARRETT JR., LEADING BAPTIST THEOLOGIAN, DIES AT 94

By Julie Owens and Alex Sibley Baptist Press Fort Worth, Texas — James Leo Garrett Jr., distinguished professor of theology emeritus at The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS), died Feb. 5 in Nacogdoches, Texas. He was 94. Garrett found widespread acceptance not only in Baptist circles, but also in the wider community of Christian scholars. He had held emeritus status at Southwestern Seminary since his retirement in 1997. His career

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ARKANSAS BAPTIST NEWS RELEASED TO STATE CONVENTION, NO LONGER INDEPENDENT NEWS OUTLET

By The Alabama Baptist staff The Arkansas Baptist News recently dissolved its autonomous board of directors and became a convention-run publication, according to an Arkansas Baptist State Convention (ABSC) press release Feb. 4. The ABN is the most recent of the traditional state Baptist newspapers, reportedly because of financial and other pressures, to make this move, leaving only four of its kind remaining. The Alabama Baptist (TAB) is one of

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SBC EC TO ADD PRAYER MINISTRY

Baptist Press NASHVILLE — Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee President Ronnie Floyd announced Jan. 30 that he will propose at the February EC meeting revisions

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