Pastor Rich Murray of Mountain View Baptist Church in Johnson City, Tennessee, is bivocational and proud of it. “If it worked for (the Apostle) Paul, why wouldn’t it work for me?” he asked.
Change is inevitable in all areas of life and includes changes for individuals, businesses and even denominational organizations and churches, says seminary president Jeff Iorg.
Pastors are not “supermen,” and they still struggle with anxiety, depression and other mental health challenges that often lead to ministerial burnout and occasionally suicide.
In upper East Tennessee, pastor Don Winters of Sugar Grove Baptist Church in Butler is lovingly referred to by some family and friends as the
Planning team leader Ryan Scantling says participants can expect the interactive event to “help college ministry leaders capture God’s vision for their life and ministry, while forming layers of encouragement and accountability for it.”
“I am in awe of how God allows us to be part of His plan. It is very apparent that God wants, needs and desires for bivocational pastors … to take time to refuel,” Roger Britton noted.
Pump Springs Baptist Church in Harrogate, Tennessee, has a mission field that is less than five minutes from the church — Lincoln Memorial University, a four-year, private liberal arts university.
During the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. was quoted as famously saying that “11 a.m. on Sunday mornings was the most segregated hour of American life.” Roughly 60 years later, King’s statement continues to ring true …
With snow and ice and single digit temperatures hitting the country in recent days, some areas in Tennessee have experienced water shortages — and Disaster Relief volunteers in the state are responding.
“It was explained to us that if we waited until we had to close the doors, this would possibly not be a church anymore,” church deacon David Prine said. “It could be a McDonald’s. And we didn’t want that to happen.”
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