KINGSPORT — Touched by the story of a church in Puerto Rico that didn’t have consistent access to water, Betty Cress mobilized her Women on Mission group at Beulah Baptist Church in Kingsport to fundraise for a well in 2020. Little did they know that in September 2022, the well would be the sole water source for a whole city and would also be the means for introducing people to

CORDOVA — Robert and Maridith Lane knew all about the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering long before they became missionaries with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board in 2011.  Both of them have dads who are ministers and both are products of Tennessee Baptist churches.  Lane grew up in Faith Baptist Church, Atoka, where his dad, Bob Lane, was pastor for many years. Bob Lane is now

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 —  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,

Editor’s note: This article provides highlights of the business sessions. See separate articles on the launch of the Acts 2:17 Initiative, election of officers, messages and more Summit coverage in the coming days at baptistandreflector.org. Additional articles also will be published in the Dec. 7 print issue and online.  CORDOVA — Tennessee Baptist Convention messengers adopted a $35 million budget for 2022-23, approved a constitutional amendment on second reading, renewed