FRANKLIN — Tennessee Baptists gave a record 6,440 backpacks to the Christmas Backpacks ministry, which provides backpacks filled with toys, clothing, hygiene items, food and other items to children in low-income families.  It also serves as a means of outreach and evangelism for participating churches, said Beth Moore, compassion ministry specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. Tennessee Baptists joined Christmas Backpacks (a nationwide ministry) in 2018. That year, roughly

JEFFERSON CITY — Classrooms were empty on Carson-Newman University’s campus on Sept. 28, but it was not a holiday. More than 550 members of the Carson-Newman community took part in the university’s annual Operation Inasmuch (OI). Teams of students, faculty and staff banded together to help at 38 service project sites across Jefferson, Hamblen, Knox and Grainger counties.  The intentional decisions to not hold classes provided time for students to

Nashville Baptist Association NASHVILLE — The Nashville Baptist Association recognized Rusty Sumrall’s 30 years of faithful service during its annual meeting on Sept. 25.  Sumrall stepped down as executive director, handing the reigns of the association to Michael Kelley. Sumrall took his first position with the NBA as Church Development Director in 1993. In that time, he grew the Ska-Mo-Bow Youth lock-in, expanded the Disaster Relief and Missions programs, led

ROGERSVILLE — More than 350 commitments, including 160 professions of faith, were recorded during the Upper East Tennessee Go Tell Crusade in late August at Cherokee High School football stadium in Rogersville. The event, which included 25 participating churches, reached nearly 5,000 students through Go Tell’s On Track school assemblies. Each night before the crusade, free meals were served to educators and their spouses (on Aug. 28), first responders and

The election is upon us and important decisions to be made. As a pastor leading a church that is IRS categorized as a non-profit, what can you legally say regarding candidates. Click the graphic to use this Alliance Defending Freedom Guide to help you speak wisely. The TBMB has a partnership with ADF which can help you navigate religious liberty issues just like this. As a TBC church, you can

OLD HICKORY — Matt Ford normally sits in front of the fireplace as he reads a children’s Bible during nightly family worship. He started in Genesis 1:1 and has made it to Jesus feeding the 5,000. “Matt, can we see the pictures?” someone asks. The home is Brooks House, a Tennessee Baptist Adult Home in Hermitage. And the family is Ford, his wife Alli, their four sons and seven women