News

2023 SBC MEETING: BAPTIST WOMEN FOCUS ON ‘TRUTH’ IN FACE OF IDENTITY, GENDER BATTLES

Hundreds of Southern Baptist women from across the nation explored the theme, “Imago Dei: Created in His Image — Female” during the annual Pastors Wives/Women’s Conference held June 12 in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Pastors Conference. One of the primary topics covered by speakers dealt with the confusion of gender identity that is now pervasive in today’s culture. “The effect of gender confusion and what it means to be

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2023 SBC MEETING: MERCY NEEDED TO FOLLOW JESUS’ EXAMPLE, ORR SAYS

For his sermon on mercy, Bartholomew Orr turned to a text that might seem surprising — the story of Jesus cleansing the temple in Matthew 21. Orr, senior pastor of Brown Missionary Baptist Church in Southaven, Mississippi, had been tasked with unpacking Matthew 5:7 — “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” — at the Southern Baptist Pastors Conference on June 12. As he talked about how Jesus turned over the

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2023 SBC MEETING: CELEBRATION CHURCH BAPTIZES 17 DURING CROSSOVER BLOCK PARTY

NEW ORLEANS — Seventeen people went all in for Jesus on June 10, participating in believer’s baptism during a block party at Celebration Church’s Lower St. Bernard campus in Violet, Louisiana. One by one, each person came in and out of a water-filled portable trough and was greeted with applause during the church’s first-ever Jesus Fest block party. According to pastor Trevor Truitt, 13 who were baptized made a decision during

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2023 SBC MEETING: EC CAUTIONS MESSENGERS TO THINK CAREFULLY BEFORE REVISING CONSTITUTION

NEW ORLEANS — Messengers to the SBC Annual Meeting in New Orleans have a few hours left to carefully think through the various items coming before them during the business sessions Tuesday and Wednesday. The much-anticipated opportunity to vote on a proposal to revise the SBC constitution to ban women from serving in any role that includes the word “pastor” in the title will come before messengers with a word

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2023 SBC MEETING: COLLINS, OTHER PASTORS EXAMINE JOY, MOURNING

NEW ORLEANS — Roc Collins, strategic objectives director for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, said the source of joy for Christians should never be in question.   “Joy is the overflowing expression of the Lord Jesus living in us,” said Collins while addressing attendees at the 2023 SBC Pastors’ Conference. “When the Holy Spirit sets up residence in our lives, joy is what is produced.” Collins was among the speakers

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2023 SBC MEETING: PASTORS CONFERENCE UPDATES FUNDRAISING

— The officers of the 2023 Southern Baptist Pastors Conference have partnered with the Southern Baptist Foundation to create an endowment that will allow the event to fund itself in the future, said Daniel Dickard, president of this year’s Pastors Conference. Dickard, pastor of Shandon Baptist Church in Columbia, South Carolina, spoke briefly about the endowment between messages at the conference in New Orleans. A video explaining the fund is

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C-N STUDENTS PARTNER WITH TBC CHURCHES

JEFFERSON CITY — Carson-Newman University students and staff teamed up with members of True Life Church, Jefferson City, and Blue Springs Baptist Church, Rutledge, on a recent mission trip to Honduras.  The 14-member team helped spread the gospel and love of Christ May 6-13 through the areas of Rio Dulce, Tegucigalpa, Trujillo and Tocoa Colon.  Carson-Newman University’s Uliset Alexander said the experience is one that will leave a lasting impression.

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YOUTH-LED REVIVAL HAVING POWERFUL IMPACT

WEBER CITY, Va. — A Tennessee Baptist church on the Virginia side of the Tennessee state line discovered recently that good things happen when you “pray first and let God lead.” “Pray first” was the theme of a series of messages by pastor Justin Smith of First Baptist Church, Weber City, Va., near the end of February into early March. First Baptist, Weber City, is affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist

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MISSION:DIGNITY SUNDAY SET FOR JUNE 25

DALLAS — In the Old Testament, these words are found in Psalm 92:14-15a (CSB): “They will still bear fruit in old age, healthy and green, to declare, ‘The Lord is just.’ ” On June 25, Southern Baptists have the opportunity to honor righteous, unsung heroes of the faith — namely, retirement-aged Southern Baptist pastors, workers and their widows who served and abundantly blessed those in their care during their years

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BURTON: GOD IS AT WORK AT ALL NATIONS CAMP

More than 20 children have made professions of faith this week during the first three days of All Nations Camp at Carson Springs Baptist Conference Center.  “The Lord has been at work,” said William Burton, ethnic church planting specialist and new churches team leader for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. “We’re praying that God will continue to move in the hearts and lives of the (300-plus) campers that are registered

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