COVID-19

FEW PROTESTANT CHURCHES MET IN PERSON FOR WORSHIP SERVICES IN APRIL

By Aaron Earls LifeWay Christian Resources writer NASHVILLE — As federal, state and local governments weigh relaxing stay-at-home guidelines, most churches continued to avoid gathering physically throughout April. Nine in 10 Protestant pastors say their congregations did not meet for an in-person worship service last month, according to a new study from Nashville-based LifeWay Research. A previous study from LifeWay Research found 99 percent of churches gathered physically at the

Read More...

LIFEWAY TO DISCONTINUE WORLD CHANGERS PROJECTS AMID COVID-19

By Carol Pipes Director of corporate communications, LifeWay  NASHVILLE — LifeWay Christian Resources announced this week they are canceling World Changers mission projects for summer 2020 and closing all future operations due to declining numbers and the inability to host projects this summer because of COVID-19. “We are sad about the closing of World Changers, but we know now is the time to make this decision based on more than

Read More...

15 WORSHIP ‘HELPS’ FOR REGATHERING CHURCHES

By Scott C. Shepherd Tennessee Baptist Mission Board music and worship specialist  In the coming weeks and months, churches across Tennessee will make the decision to gather again for worship. These services — though COVID-19 restrictions have been reduced — will not be a return to “worship as usual.”  Here are 15 worship-related helps for churches to consider as they prepare to regather. Maintain social distancing in worship. Restrictions have

Read More...

TBMB PROVIDES RESOURCE TO HELP CHURCHES REOPEN

Baptist and Reflector FRANKLIN — The Tennessee Baptist Mission Board has provided a document entitled “Gathering Together Again” to assist churches as they consider holding worship services again in their facilities. The document can be accessed at www.tnbaptist.org/reopen. Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the TBMB, noted church leaders have been asking for weeks, “When can we reopen our church?” “As you know, within our Baptist polity, that

Read More...

FLOYD: WE WILL NOT RETREAT: THE REAL REASON FOR SUPPORTING THE COOPERATIVE PROGRAM

EDITOR’S NOTE: Ronnie Floyd is president and CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee. April 26 is Cooperative Program Sunday in the Southern Baptist Convention. By Ronnie Floyd  NASHVILLE — When the coronavirus (COVID-19) began to spread across the globe, our work as Southern Baptists did not stop. And as we approach and celebrate Cooperative Program Sunday in the SBC on April 26, it’s possible that in our lifetimes,

Read More...

TBMB PROVIDES PRAYER HOTLINE

Baptist and Reflector FRANKLIN — The Tennessee Baptist Mission Board is providing a Prayer Hotline that will be answered 24 hours a day for the foreseeable future by trained Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief chaplains. The phone number is 844-600-8262 (844-600-TBMB). The prayer hotline, which launches at 11 a.m. (CST) on Wednesday, April 15, is for anyone looking for prayer or conversation with an experienced chaplain, said Bill Choate, director of

Read More...

DEALING WITH DISEASE NOT NEW IN BAPTIST LIFE

By Charles Jones Baptist historian Canceling services due to illness is not new to Baptist life. Pandemics, epidemics and weather have all been part of our collective experience.  In musty old church minutes, it’s not uncommon to see statements like “services canceled due to cholera” — or typhus or smallpox. John Newton (1732-1790), an early Georgia Baptist pastor and physician, left diaries that included Indian uprisings along with illness as

Read More...

PAYCHECK PROTECTION PLAN DRAWS FEEDBACK FROM PASTORS, ETHICISTS

By Diana Chandler Baptist Press SEATTLE — As pastor of Epic Life Church in Seattle with only five employees, Keith Carpenter sees the Paycheck Protection Plan loan as a godsend during a devastating economic downturn prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. So does pastor A.B. Vines, whose multisite New Seasons Church in Spring Valley, Calif., employs about 50. But some pastors have theological and ethical concerns with the loan, which is

Read More...

GOVERNOR ISSUES GUIDANCE ON SUNDAY CHURCH GATHERINGS

Baptist and Reflector Tennessee Baptist Mission Board leaders participated Tuesday, April 7, 2020, with other faith leaders from across the state in a telephone forum with Governor Bill Lee. His Office of Faith-Based Initiatives offered the guidance/clarity below concerning churches gathering on Sundays. To serve our churches well, TBMB provides these recommended prudent measures to assist pastors and church leaders in their effort to make wise decisions in the weeks

Read More...

PASTOR’S FIRST SERMON AT NEW CHURCH COMES VIA VIDEO

By Lonnie Wilkey [email protected] MEDON — Damon Olson’s first sermon as pastor of COVI didn’t go exactly the way he envisioned. No one showed up. But, technically, neither did he. Olson’s first Sunday at Maple Springs came as churches all across the nation decided not to meet due to the coronavirus pandemic that has taken  the nation and the world by storm. Instead, the congregation listened to their new pastor’s

Read More...