JEFFERSON CITY — A child-sized ring, measuring only about one centimeter in diameter, tells the story of a distant past, but also the future of a university program.  The gold circular object inlaid with a turquoise stone, is one of several items discovered during an initial groundbreaking excavation project in the northern Judean Desert — more specifically, the ruins of Herod the Great’s desert fortress, Hyrcania.   Carson-Newman University, in support

NEWPORT — Just to be perfectly clear — Campers on Mission are not part-time help looking for a summer job, says Linda King of Woodburn, Ky. “We don’t come in as part-time helpers. We come in to take the load off of the staff for just a little while and to walk alongside them and be like the people who helped Moses raise up his staff,” she affirmed. “We help

FRANKLIN — At least three Tennessee Baptist church teams were in Israel on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants brutally attacked the country, which has retaliated with airstrikes on Gaza. As of Oct. 11, the reported death toll was near 2,000 people killed and 2,700 injured in Israel and at least 900 people killed and 4,500 injured in Gaza. Two churches — Sunnyside Baptist in Kingsport and First Baptist, Dyer —

MOUNT JULIET — Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief is hosting the Midwest Food Bank to provide food distribution in Middle Tennessee. The Midwest Food Bank is a faith-based organization which distributes nearly $34 million worth of food monthly to more than 2,200 non-profit organizations each month from 12 locations in the United States and in East Africa and Haiti. The organizations then distribute the food to needy families in their communities.

MOUNT JULIET — Tennessee Baptists are joining Southern Baptists around the globe in responding to the devastating attack on Israel by the terrorist group Hamas in the early morning hours of Oct. 7. CNBC News reported Oct. 10 that nearly 2,000 people have been killed and 2,700 injured in Israel and at least 900 people killed and 4,500 injured in Gaza, according to Palestinian and Israeli health services. Tennessee Baptist

NASHVILLE — A statement has been released by the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission called the Evangelical Statement in Support of Israel condemning the attacks on Israel, calling on Christians to pray for Israelis and Palestinians and urging policymakers to use their power to protect innocent life in the Middle East. The statement bears the signatures of dozens of pastors, SBC entity and state convention leaders and leaders of various Christian organizations.

FRANKLIN — “Side by Side” is the theme of the 2023 Summit to be held Nov. 12-15 at the Chattanooga Convention Center in Chattanooga. “We have been anticipating this year’s Summit and gathering of Tennessee Baptists for some time,” said Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. “The Tennessee Baptist Convention begins our final year of The Five Objectives focus and we will launch