News

NELSON TO LEAD HARVEST FIELD IN EAST TENN.

FRANKLIN — Longtime Tennessee Baptist pastor Gene Nelson has been chosen as Harvest Field 6 team leader for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, effective July 15.  Nelson succeeds Randy Pressnell who retired from that role in May.  A native of Knoxville, Nelson was ordained to the gospel ministry in 1996 at Wallace Memorial Baptist Church in Knoxville. He earned degrees from Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City and Southwestern Baptist Theological

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CP GIVING ON TARGET

FRANKLIN — Tennessee Baptist Convention churches gave $2,745,864 through the Cooperative Program in June.  For the year-to-date, Tennessee Baptists have given $23,264,817. With four months left in the 2023-24 budget year, CP gifts are $164,747 or 0.7 percent below what they were at the same time last year and $68,516 or 0.29 percent below budget needs. 

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TENNESSEE DR TEAMS NEEDED IN TEXAS, IOWA

MOUNT JULIET — Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief teams have been asked to respond in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl in Texas and to extreme flooding which occurred in Iowa in late June. Hurricane Beryl made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane near Matagorda around 4:30 a.m. July 8, about 95 miles southwest of Houston, according to multiple news reports. The storm pummeled coastal areas like Galveston as well as the

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TBF TAPS SAM WARNER AS NEW PRESIDENT-TREASURER

FRANKLIN — Trustees of the Tennessee Baptist Foundation have elected Sam Warner as president-treasurer.  He succeeds Bill Gruenewald who announced in February his intention to retire as TBF president on Oct. 31. Gruenewald joined the Foundation in 2011 as executive vice president and served for three years before his election as president in 2014.  The Tennessee Baptist Foundation, organized in 1938, assists individual Tennessee Baptists as well as Tennessee Baptist

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TENNESCENE: JUL. 10

LEADERS Kevin Crossno was ordained June 30 at Beech Springs Baptist Church in Gleason. He has been called as pastor of Mack’s Grove Baptist Church in Dresden. First Baptist Church, Middleton, called Matthew C. Jones as pastor. He began his ministry with the church on Sunday, June 2. Springfield Baptist Church, Springfield, recently called James “Obee” O’Bryant as administrative minister of outreach and Curtis Honts as administrative minister of discipleship

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ALL NATIONS CAMP: BIGGER AND BETTER THAN EVER

LINDEN — All Nations Camp 2024 will be remembered as a record-breaking, decision-making, spirit-awakening event.  Held during a two-week stretch in June — with the first week at Carson Springs Baptist Conference Center and the following week at Linden Valley Conference Center — this year’s camp drew a total of 608 campers and counselors, easily surpassing the previous high-water mark of 500 set in 2018. 

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TENNESSEE DR RECOVERS DROWNING VICTIM

DANDRIDGE — Members of the Tennessee Baptist and Nolachucky Baptist Association Disaster Relief Swiftwater Rescue Team were instrumental in the recovery of the body of a 7-year-old drowning victim on July 4 in Douglas Lake in Dandridge. WVLT 8 in Knoxville reported that Serenity Kinsey was reported missing after her family realized she has left her home during the night. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation immediately issued an AMBER Alert

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GOTM GIFTS EXCEED $2.3 MILLION, SET NEW RECORD

FRANKLIN —With two months to go in the 2023-24 Golden Offering for Tennessee Baptist Missions fiscal year, gifts through GOTM have exceeded $2.3 million for the first time in its history.  As of June 30, GOTM gifts from Tennessee Baptist Convention churches totaled $2,309,506.88, breaking last year’s record gifts of $2,262,288.  “With two months, it is remarkable that we have already set a new record for giving to GOTM and

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SNAPSHOTS IN TIME: PROMINENT TBC PASTORS: ROBERT G. LEE

Union University recently celebrated its 200th birthday and, as part of that celebration, Union recognized many individuals involved in cultivating Union’s rich Baptist history. One such individual was Robert Greene “R.G.”Lee, who was born in York County, S.C., in 1886.  Though his education was irregular, he managed to learn the basics and earned money to continue his education. He left home to work on the Panama Canal, earning money to

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SNAPSHOTS IN TIME: UNION UNIVERSITY

Many are familiar with the Jackson campus of Union University — the iconic Miller clock tower, the dome of the Logos building and the great lawn, built over time since its move from downtown Jackson.  However, the current campus is descended originally from the campus in Murfreesboro that was built with money collected by circuit minister, Bradley Kimbrough. Kimbrough was born in November 1799 in Jefferson County, Tennessee. He grew

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CP GIVING ON TARGET

FRANKLIN — Tennessee Baptist Convention churches gave $2,745,864 through the Cooperative Program in June.  For the year-to-date, Tennessee Baptists have given $23,264,817. With four months

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TENNESCENE: JUL. 10

LEADERS Kevin Crossno was ordained June 30 at Beech Springs Baptist Church in Gleason. He has been called as pastor of Mack’s Grove Baptist Church

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