By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector STRAWBERRY PLAINS — Matt Giles, pastor of Lyons Creek Baptist Church here, can affirm what a good transitional pastor can do for a transitioning church. Seven years ago, Giles came to Lyons Creek, his first pastorate, after serving as youth pastor at Broadway Baptist Church in Maryville for five years. When he arrived, longtime Knoxville pastor and former Tennessee Baptist Convention president Jim

By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector KNOXVILLE — Interest in the topic of church revitalization is gaining momentum across Tennessee — and with good reason. Statistics reveal that 90 percent of the churches in the Southern Baptist Convention are plateaued or declining. John Mark Clifton, church revitalization team leader for the North American Mission Board, notes that on any given Sunday, Southern Baptists will start 20 churches. On the

By Baptist and Reflector BRENTWOOD — Giving from Tennessee Baptist Convention churches through the Cooperative Program saw a large increase in April. Churches gave $3,466,390 through the Cooperative Program giving channel. The amount was more than $900,000 over each of the previous two months. After six months of the current fiscal year, Tennessee Baptists have given $17,076,840. The amount is $149,052 or 0.9 percent below what was given after six

By Connie Davis Bushey News Editor, Baptist and Reflector CROSSVILLE — “Sixty-five percent of all Christian men look at pornography weekly. This is an epidemic in the church,” said Andy Loomis, a therapist of Cumberland Plateau Baptist Association based here. “And it’s hard to approach because most men will not tell their pastors because they’re afraid of how they’ll be looked at. … Nobody wants to talk about it.” Of

By Connie Davis Bushey News Editor, Baptist and Reflector KINGSTON SPRINGS — Human trafficking may be a new view of girls and women coerced into a 21st century version of prostitution, or it may be girls and women kidnapped and transported from another country and forced into sexual slavery. Whichever form of human trafficking it is, more and more people, mainly females, are becoming victims and being trafficked in Tennessee,

By Chris Turner Director of Communications, TBC Editor’s Note: This issue contains articles and related columns about the growing addiction problem facing our state. NASHVILLE — Tommy Farmer has been dealing in drugs for 17 years. Like anyone involved in drugs, he’s had a lot of lows.

By Tim Ellsworth Union University News Office JACKSON — Union University trustees approved a $91.1 million operating budget for 2015-2016 at their April 10 meeting and elected Lisa Williams Rogers as the next board chair, the first woman ever to hold that position in the university’s history. Rogers, a 1983 Union graduate and a physician in obstetrics and gynecology with the Jackson Clinic, will replace Norm Hill, who steps aside