HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — John McCallum knows the pain of struggling with grief and loss during the holiday season. But rather than sinking in sorrow, he’s using it to serve others. McCallum, senior pastor of First Baptist Hot Springs, makes a point to write a personal letter to everyone in his church just before the holiday season who has endured the loss of a family member since the last season.
NASHVILLE — In a statement issued this morning, Southern Baptist Convention president Bart Barber decried a recent announcement by four pastors that former SBC President Johnny Hunt had completed a four-month “restoration” process and was fit to return to ministry. “I would permanently ‘defrock’ Johnny Hunt if I had the authority to do so,” said Barber, pastor of First Baptist Church in Farmersville, Texas. “In a fellowship of autonomous churches,
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate voted to enshrine same-sex marriage as the law Tuesday (Nov. 29) while rejecting efforts to strengthen religious freedom protections in the proposal. With 12 Republicans joining all Democrats present, the Senate voted 61-36 for the Respect for Marriage Act (RMA) after defeating three GOP-offered amendments intended to heighten safeguards for religious liberty. By passing the bill, senators voted to repeal the 1996 Defense of Marriage
NASHVILLE — The closer it gets to Christmas, the more likely it is church pews will be filled. Half of U.S. Protestant pastors (48 percent) say a Christmas Eve service is their churches’ largest event during the holiday season, according to a Lifeway Research study. The frequency of the highest attendance events builds up to Christmas Eve and then tapers off into January. “Christians have many different Christmas traditions, and
NASHVILLE — New Season Church senior pastor Dwayne Lewis was inviting mourners to follow Jesus at the funeral of Terriana Johnson when the gun battle began Nov. 26. The 200 or so mourners were largely unchurched, Lewis told Baptist Press Nov. 28, but they called on the name of the Lord in the melee. “People were responding for Jesus to help them. They were responding for God to help them,”
CORDOVA — Being with Jesus causes people to stand out as they serve others and speak truth that is often unpopular, James Merritt told Tennessee Baptist pastors Nov. 14 at Bellevue Baptist Church. “When you’ve been with Jesus, you can’t help it,” said Merritt, pastor of Cross Pointe Church in Duluth, Georgia. “There’s a fire in your bones. You’ve got to speak truth. … Are we willing to live a
CORDOVA — Bartholomew Orr, pastor of Brown Missionary Baptist Church in Southaven, Miss., challenged Tennessee Baptists to join together for the sake of the gospel. Preaching the convention sermon from Ezra 7:27-28 during the final session of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board’s annual Summit, Nov. 16 at Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova, Orr reminded the crowd that God has been faithful. God brought us through a pandemic, Orr said, and now
CORDOVA — The Acts 2:17 Initiative was officially launched during the Tuesday afternoon session (Nov. 15) of the annual meeting of the Tennessee Baptist Convention held during The Summit at Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova. The Acts 2:17 Initiative will provide Tennessee Baptists across the state the opportunity to speak into future priorities of the state convention. Messengers gathered in small groups to begin the process and 24 other listening sessions
CORDOVA — Messengers to the Tennessee Baptist Convention approved five resolutions, including the traditional resolution of gratitude and a resolution on “Avowing Opposition to Casinos in Tennessee” during last week’s annual meeting at Bellevue Baptist Church. Most of the resolutions were passed without opposition or debate except for one. The resolution on casinos noted that during the 2022 session of the Tennessee Legislature, “House Bill 1642 and Senate Bill 1656,
LEADERS Justin Terrell, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Dandridge, since 2015, will write the Explore the Bible series for the Baptist and Reflector for the Dec.-Feb. quarter. A native of Smithville, Terrell previously served as a pastor in Georgia. He is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary where he earned his doctor of ministry in expository preaching. Terrell and
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — John McCallum knows the pain of struggling with grief and loss during the holiday season. But rather than sinking in sorrow,
NASHVILLE — In a statement issued this morning, Southern Baptist Convention president Bart Barber decried a recent announcement by four pastors that former SBC President
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate voted to enshrine same-sex marriage as the law Tuesday (Nov. 29) while rejecting efforts to strengthen religious freedom protections in
NASHVILLE — The closer it gets to Christmas, the more likely it is church pews will be filled. Half of U.S. Protestant pastors (48 percent)
NASHVILLE — New Season Church senior pastor Dwayne Lewis was inviting mourners to follow Jesus at the funeral of Terriana Johnson when the gun battle
CORDOVA — Being with Jesus causes people to stand out as they serve others and speak truth that is often unpopular, James Merritt told Tennessee
CORDOVA — Bartholomew Orr, pastor of Brown Missionary Baptist Church in Southaven, Miss., challenged Tennessee Baptists to join together for the sake of the gospel.
CORDOVA — The Acts 2:17 Initiative was officially launched during the Tuesday afternoon session (Nov. 15) of the annual meeting of the Tennessee Baptist Convention
CORDOVA — Messengers to the Tennessee Baptist Convention approved five resolutions, including the traditional resolution of gratitude and a resolution on “Avowing Opposition to Casinos
LEADERS Justin Terrell, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Dandridge, since 2015, will write the Explore the Bible series for the Baptist and Reflector for