News Articles by Lonnie Wilkey

JACKSON, TN. (BP) — Pastor Greg Gilbreath of Madison Baptist Church has always enjoyed both playing and repairing his own guitars.

MADISON, Tenn. (BP) -- Like most every church in Tennessee, Madison Heights Baptist Church in Madison had to learn to adjust to the unique challenges of COVID-19.

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- For the first time in his life, Darrin Crockett is glad God did not answer his prayer. On Monday night, March 2, Crockett and his family went to bed as always. Their dog Doc, however, barked incessantly throughout the night. Crockett remembers asking God "to make that dog quit barking."

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. (BP) -- Tennessee Baptist pastor Charles A. Fowler has been elected as the 23rd president of Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City, Tenn. Fowler, the unanimous choice of both the C-N presidential search committee and of the board of trustees on June 7, was introduced as president on June 10 during a news conference on the C-N campus. He succeeds Randall O'Brien who retired in 2018 after a decade as C-N president.

JACKSON, Tenn. (BP) -- Tennessee Baptists gathered at West Jackson Baptist Church for the annual Summit with a focus on winning their state for Jesus Christ. The meeting, held Nov. 11-14, drew 929 registered messengers from 409 churches, along with 160 guests. Among the business conducted, messengers elected a new set of officers by acclamation for the coming year. “We had a strong turnout,” said Randy C. Davis president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. “But it wasn’t just the numbers. There was a strong sense of unity among the messengers. I believe Tennessee Baptists are recognizing that if we are to reach Tennessee for Christ we must do it together.”

Similar to the life-and-death crisis of the Thai soccer team trapped in a cave, Lonnie Wilkey sees a parallel to Christians in sharing their faith with the world's unreached millions.

HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- Messengers to the Tennessee Baptist Convention annual meeting voted overwhelmingly not to seat messengers from First Baptist Church in Jefferson City, which has a woman as pastor, during the TBC's opening session Nov. 14. First Baptist attempted to register seven messengers, including new pastor Ellen Di Giosia, who has been in the position since Aug. 1. In mid-October, the TBC's Committee on Credentials met and agreed that a church with a woman pastor does not fit the definition of a "cooperating church" as defined by convention bylaws. The committee based its decision on Article VI of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 declaring that "the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture."

PHOENIX (BP) -- Every Christian is a minister, Steve Gaines, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, said in his message to the SBC annual meeting in Phoenix. Gaines told messengers at the 160th session of the SBC June 13 that he was not just giving a convention address. "I'm going to preach the Gospel," said the pastor of the Memphis-area Bellevue Baptist Church.

SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- Messengers to the Tennessee Baptist Convention's annual meeting approved a new name for the Executive Board during "Summit: The Gathering of Tennessee Baptists," Nov. 13-17 at the Sevierville Convention Center. Unofficial registration tallied 1,211 registered messengers from 503 churches throughout the state. The numbers do not reflect the total number of people who attended various sessions. On Nov. 13, an estimated 2,000-plus people attended the worship service led by Steve Gaines, SBC president and pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, and a concurrent Hispanic worship service.

Southern Baptist church leaders should pay attention to a situation that occurred earlier this year in Colorado, says Southern Baptist ethicist C. Ben Mitchell.