News

TENN. EVANGELISTS INDUCTED INTO HALL OF FAITH

INDIANAPOLIS — Six men, including Tennessee Baptist evangelists Jerry Drace and Ron Herrod (deceased), were added to the Southern Baptist Evangelists’ Hall of Faith June 10 at the Westin hotel, across the street from the Indiana Convention Center. The recognition took place during the annual meeting of the Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists (COSBE). COSBE was organized in 1958 and the Hall of Faith was established in 2008.  Typically, two

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LONGTIME TENNESSEE DOM PHIL TAYLOR DIES

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

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UNION PRESENTS NAYLOR WITH DODD AWARD

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

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SBC 2024 RECAP: EVENTFUL DAYS IN INDY

Editor’s note: Full articles on the various items included in this wrap up — along with additional articles on other SBC topics — can be found at baptistandreflector.org and in the B&R print issue. INDIANAPOLIS — In a runoff with Sevierville pastor Dan Spencer, North Carolina pastor Clint Pressley was elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention at the 167th annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention June 11-12 at

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WILKEY RECEIVES NGU’S HEMPHILL AWARD

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

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SBC 2024: BARBER ENCOURAGERS MESSENGERS IN FINAL ADDRESS AS PRESIDENT

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

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DUCK RIVER BAPTIST CHURCHES DO MISSIONS IN ‘JERUSALEM’

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.

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TRAVEL SPORTS CREATE CRITICAL CHOICES FOR FAMILIES

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

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SBC 2024: DURING NAMB REPORT, EZELL CELEBRATES LARGE BAPTISM INCREASES ACROSS U.S. 

INDIANAPOLIS — Baptisms were up more than 26 percent across the Southern Baptist Convention’s churches in 2023, said Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board. “We’re seeing big numbers, but each individual decision is eternally important, and God honors each and every one,” Ezell said during his report to the SBC annual meeting in Indianapolis on June 12. Flanked by a group of Baptist state convention executive directors,

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FIRE WIPES OUT CHURCH — BUT NOT HOPE — IN CLAIBORNE COUNTY

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.

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