News

SADDLEBACK APPEAL ON BEHALF OF LIKE-MINDED SOUTHERN BAPTISTS, WARREN SAYS

LAKE FOREST, Calif. — Saddleback Church founder and former pastor Rick Warren has provided five reasons the megachurch will appeal the decision of the SBC Executive Committee to find the church “not in friendly cooperation” with the Southern Baptist Convention. The EC made the decision, based on a recommendation from the SBC Credentials Committee at its meeting in February. The committee deemed the church not to be in friendly cooperation

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FIRST RESPONDER SEES CAREER AS SPIRITUAL CALLING

FORT PIERCE, Fla. – For Tommy Neiman, an award-winning firefighter and paramedic, the theme for his vocational calling has become about challenging first responders to be believers, and believers to be first responders. Neiman described being fascinated with the lights and sirens of emergency vehicles as he was growing up. His curiosity would soon lead him to this spiritual calling. “I remember following firetrucks and any vehicle with lights and

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C-N BEGINS ITS LARGEST-EVER CONSTRUCTION PROJECT

JEFFERSON CITY — Carson-Newman University broke ground April 20 on its largest construction project in the university’s history.  Members of the campus community were joined by local representatives and friends of Carson-Newman who gathered for a special ceremony marking the event. West Campus Commons, a new residence life complex, is slated to welcome students in Fall 2024.   “What a tremendous day for Carson-Newman,” said C-N President Charles A. Fowler. “We

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TITHING REMAINS A DIVISIVE TOPIC FOR MANY

BRENTWOOD — Most churchgoers say tithing is a biblical command and give at least 10 percent of their income. But they have more diverse opinions on the “where” and “how” of tithing. More than three in four American Protestant churchgoers say tithing is a biblical command that still applies today (77 percent), according to a Lifeway Research study. One in 10 (10 percent) say it is not. And 13 percent

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UNION TRUSTEES ADOPT $94.5 MILLION BUDGET

JACKSON — Union University trustees during their April 14 meeting on the Union campus approved a $94.7 million budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year and granted tenure and promotions to several professors. The budget is an increase of about $1.55 million from this year’s budget. Trustees also approved a new program at the Memphis College or Urban and Theological Studies. The Urban Pastoral Ministry Accelerated Program will allow students to

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MICHIGAN AVENUE BAPTIST MERGES WITH PARKWAY

CLEVELAND — Members of Parkway Baptist Church and Michigan Avenue Baptist Church voted April 23 to merge the two churches.  With the vote, Parkway Baptist was dissolved and the two congregations met at Michigan Avenue Baptist for their first service as one church.  Organized in 1934, Michigan Avenue Baptist Church (MABC) has served the community for nearly 90 years.  As a church, they have given over $470,000 through the Cooperative

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AFTER HUSBAND’S DEATH, PASTOR’S WIFE ON NEW ‘MISSION’

FRANKLIN — As a registered nurse, Leah McLemore fluently speaks the complex jargon of the medical world. She knows and understands the elaborate-sounding words and intricate diagnoses that are frequently used in hospitals and doctors’ offices.  But when discussing the recent death of her husband, McLemore uses terms that anyone can understand: He died from stress.  Yes, there were other factors involved, she said, but the foremost cause of his

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TENNESCENE – MAY 10

LEADERS Former Tennessee Baptist Mission Board staff member Bob Brown has been elected vice chairman of the trustees of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas. Brown is executive director of Lakeway Christian Schools and interim pastor of Chilhowee Hills Baptist Church, Knoxville. He and his wife, Linnie, are members of First Baptist Church, Dandridge. Danny Dixon began serving April 1 as interim pastor of Battle Creek Baptist Church, Springfield.

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MAY 21 — DAY OF PRAYER FOR OUR CENTERS

Two hundred years ago, while envisioning the campus design for the University of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson wrote to a colleague describing how the buildings should be arranged:  “… Would strongly recommend … instead of one immense building, to have a small one for every professorship, arranged at proper distances around a square, this village form is preferable to a single great building for many reasons, particularly on account of fire,

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TBC CP GIFTS AHEAD OF YEAR-TO-DATE BUDGET

FRANKLIN — Tennessee Baptist Convention churches gave $2,606,053 through the Cooperative Program in April. For the year-to-date, Tennessee Baptists have given $17,657,114 through the Cooperative Program. After six months of the 2022-23 fiscal year, giving through CP is $406,780 or 2.3 percent below what was given during the same time frame last year. Gifts, however, are $157,114 or 0.90 above budget needs.

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TENNESCENE – MAY 10

LEADERS Former Tennessee Baptist Mission Board staff member Bob Brown has been elected vice chairman of the trustees of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth,

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