When conservatives gained control of the Southern Baptist Convention in the early 1990s, leaders of state Baptist conventions paid their obeisance by upping the percentage of church offerings they sent to the national convention. Thirty years later, that well is…
Parting with national body, Tennessee Baptists repudiate Critical Race Theory
The Tennessee Baptist Convention on Wednesday passed a resolution strongly denouncing Critical Race Theory and intersectionality as “inconsistent with a biblical worldview and theology.” The statement puts Tennessee Baptists on record against a resolution passed by the Southern Baptist Convention in June endorsing theories from social sciences as “analytical tools subordinate to Scripture” to better understand social dynamics and human experience.
Tennessee Baptist leaders recruiting churches to lobby for abortion ban
The Tennessee Baptist Convention launched an online petition July 23 to rally the state’s 3,000 Southern Baptist churches in support of legislation to ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy.
Baptist convention in Tennessee boots church for calling woman as pastor
More than 850 Baptists from 390 churches in Tennessee debated 15 minutes before voting overwhelmingly Nov. 14 to shun a historic east Tennessee congregation for calling a woman as senior pastor.
Tennessee Baptists unfriend church with female pastor
Can a church with a female pastor be Southern Baptist? A Tennessee Baptist Convention committee says “no.”
Baptist newspaper supports ‘bathroom bill’
A Southern Baptist state newspaper editor says Tennessee lawmakers should put children’s safety ahead of money when considering a controversial bill that would require public school students grades K-12 and higher to use the restroom that corresponds to their sex…
Concert to remember slain Union University student
A Southern Baptist church in Tennessee will hold a special night of worship Sunday, March 6, in memory of a Union University co-ed murdered in 2014. “A Night of Worship with Proclamation of Union University in Memory of Olivia Greenlee”…
Tennessee convention purchases land for new headquarters
By Bob Allen The Tennessee Baptist Convention will move its headquarters from Brentwood, Tenn., to a 600-acre mixed-use development adjacent to Interstate 65 in south Franklin in 2017. The TBC executive board signed closing documents Oct. 26 for 2.3 acres in…
Tennessee Baptists elect first black president
By Bob Allen The Tennessee Baptist Convention elected the first African-American president in its 140-year history Nov. 11. Michael Ellis, 54, pastor of Impact Baptist Church in Memphis, was elected by unanimous vote of more than 940 messengers attending the…