Dear Church Family,
The damage from last night’s storms has affected several of our families. Your staff spent most of the early morning hours attempting to make contact with every family in our database who lives in or near the affected areas, particularly east of Nashville. While we were not able to make contact with everyone due to power outages, we believe that our members are safe at this point. Thank you for your prayers and thank you for making the contacts you have.
Our Tennessee Baptist Convention executive staff were out early this morning surveying the damage. I extended the invitation to Randy Davis to use our campus as a Disaster Relief hub as needed since the church and campus sustained no damage. It was too early to tell what their plan would involve but he appreciated our offer. Tony Rankin has also reached out to the Red Cross to ensure that they know our church is available in times like this for emergency shelter.
The Nashville Baptist Association office sustained major damage as did the office of Begin Anew. Please remember these ministry partners in your prayers.
We also received word that among the fatalities were members of FBC Mount Juliet. Tony reached out to their pastor to express our care and concern and I know you will remember this church in your prayers.
Here’s what you can do today:
1) Pray that in the midst of this crisis, people will be open and receptive to the truth of the gospel.
2) Continue to check in with those in your Bible Study class or other small groups until everyone is accounted for. Should you discover a need, please let our church office know.
3) At this point, we plan to have our regular Wednesday night activities as usual. Please consult our website or call tomorrow after 1 p.m. to make sure that does not change. We will post that information as soon as we can tomorrow at midday.
4) We want to provide our partner in missions The Tennessee Baptist Mission Board with the resources they need to respond in times like this. Sunday, we will encourage you to designate a gift, above your regular gifts to our church, for Disaster Relief. I know you will be generous, so thank you in advance.
5) Finally, please be alert and aware of any needs you discover in your neighborhood. Churches have a unique opportunity to show the love of Christ to unchurched people in times like this, and we are happy to do so. Please let us know if there is an individual or a family in need that we can help you care for as you reach out to them.
May the grace of God be with you in the days ahead.
Dr. Frank R. Lewis
Senior Pastor