Today's BP Ledger includes items from:

Tennessee Baptist & Reflector (2 items)

Florida Baptist Witness

International Mission Board

Carson-Newman College

Hardin-Simmons University

C-N Cuts Faculty, Staff Positions

College addresses financial realities while planning for the future, officials say

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. (Baptist & Reflector)--Carson-Newman opened the spring semester with strategic restructuring that has reduced its workforce by 11 positions, which reflects some three percent of employees.

In addition, the institution's 44-member housekeeping operation will also be outsourced in the coming weeks.

The efforts are designed to trim institutional costs and strengthen C-N's economic position for the future, say officials who noted the difficulty of such decisions.

"We are strategically addressing the financial realities that have been and continue to confront families, businesses and other educational institutions," explained Parker Leake, senior director of marketing and communications.

"While it has been difficult news to share with employees, our senior administration put everything on the table and sought to trim tightly while maintaining the academic program, Christian commitment and dedication to community service for which Carson-Newman has a strong reputation," Leake continued.

The reduction includes the cessation of three academic programs; athletic training, computer information systems and French. Program coordinators and deans of schools are working with those majors to ensure they have a degree plan and will graduate.

Five faculty members have been notified that their contracts will not be renewed for academic year 2012-13. Other eliminated positions include three mid-level administrators and three members of the clerical staff. School officials noted that faculty tenure does not come into consideration when an academic program is eliminated.

C-N will expand an existing contract with Premiere Building Maintenance to include its housekeeping operation. The Knoxville-based janitorial services vendor, which is expected to assess staffing needs in the coming weeks, has overseen a portion of the school's athletic facilities since 2008. Premiere will determine how many positions it requires and has agreed to afford due consideration to current C-N housekeeping staff members.

"These are difficult decisions, but they are necessary for us to be as lean as possible as we move forward into a strategically planned future while offering the quality academic program for which we are known," said C-N President Randall O'Brien.

"It's important that we continue to reduce costs and raise funds while trying to keep tuition increases to a minimum."

In a Dec. 7 e-mail to employees, O'Brien noted that while affirmation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools was good news, responsible lean management remains important. The positive report came after the accrediting organization's Commission on Colleges examined C-N's financial records of the previous two years as well as a corresponding report written by school administrators.

O'Brien wrote, "Let us all enjoy our Season of Christmas cheer, while realizing the first of the new year calls us back to the work … of downsizing, managing lean, outsourcing, eliminating and consolidating positions, and perhaps programs, as necessary, adapting, re-inventing, innovating, recruiting, fundraising and thriving all for the golden reward of ensuring an ever greater, permanent, Christ-centered liberal arts-based college for the glory of God in our world.

"We will continue diligent efforts to match our economic strength to our level of academic excellence and continue to provide our students a great education," said O'Brien on Jan. 26.

"We strive to improve the way we operate because we are responsible stewards of our mission to change students who are in turn helping to change the world. We are the nation's leader in community service and noted as being in the top eight percent of America's colleges and universities," he continued.

"Our next goal is to become one of the country's best supported institutions."

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Evangelist Reflects on 40-Year Ministry

Oak Grove Baptist in Gray celebrates Charles 'Toonie' Cash Day on Jan. 15

By Dianne Barker, freelance writer

GRAY, Tenn. (Baptist & Reflector)--Evangelist Charles "Toonie" Cash recently was honored by Oak Grove Baptist Church here for his 40 years in full-time evangelism.

The church celebrated Charles "Toonie" Cash Day Jan. 15 by inviting the evangelist to preach at the morning and evening services and hosting a reception in the fellowship hall during the afternoon. Many people related personal stories about how the evangelist had impacted their lives.

A lifelong resident of Gray, Cash accepted Christ as a young boy in Oak Grove Baptist Church and was baptized in Boone Lake. During his freshman year of high school, he felt called to ministry and preached his first sermon at Oak Grove, where he was ordained Oct. 13, 1968.

Ronnie Brashear, pastor of Oak Grove, said, "This church has been blessed to play a significant role in Brother Toonie's life and ministry. He's a great preacher and a man of God. We set aside this day to show him our appreciation and honor the Lord."

While attending Milligan College, Cash served three-and-a-half years as pastor of Green Pine Baptist Church, Johnson City. In October, 1971, he preached a revival at Oak Grove. As the Lord blessed that meeting with overflow crowds and dozens of decisions for salvation and renewal, services were extended to two-and-a-half weeks. Professions of faith totaled 55 and baptisms, 44.

"I had sensed the Lord calling me into full-time evangelism, and He used that revival to confirm it," Cash said.

The Charles "Toonie" Cash Evangelism Association held its organizational meeting Jan. 15, 1972, a frigid night (seven degrees below zero). Despite a power outage, the group gathered around the fireplace and conducted business by candlelight.

The evangelism ministry has taken Cash coast-to-coast to 18 states, preaching revival meetings and leading special conferences, teaching Bible studies and speaking for banquets and other events. He has held three terms as president of the Fellowship of Tennessee Baptist Evangelists. He served on the board of directors of Tri-Cities Christian Schools, Blountville, for 16 years.

Cash first gained prominence for his success in athletics. He played basketball at Boones Creek High School under Coach Bobby Snyder, who retired from Daniel Boone High School, Gray, in 2005, the second winningest active basketball coach in Tennessee.

During high school, Cash made All-State and honorable mention All-American. He accepted a basketball scholarship to Milligan College, where he established several records, some still unbroken.

Cash received the bachelor of arts degree from Milligan College in 1971. The school proclaimed Feb. 13, 1971 Charles "Toonie" Cash Day at Milligan in honor of the athlete regarded as "an inspiration to others and a spokesman for Jesus Christ, exemplifying high Christian principles and leadership." In 1996 he was inducted into the school's athletics Hall of Fame.

Preaching across America, Cash has seen changes in the spiritual climate.

"During my early days in evangelism, it was common to see large numbers of people saved during a revival meeting," he said. "Now, it's hard to get lost people to attend services.

"I see complacency among God's people," he said. "The church has become so like the world, the outside community hardly sees a distinction. The Bible still says, 'Come out from among them and be ye separate.' We ought to so live that people would want what we have."

He's also noted a trend among churches to move away from the revival format to themed conferences. He said, "We desperately need revival in our country, in our churches and in our homes."

The faltering economy has taken a financial toll on churches, making it difficult for many evangelists. Cash said of the churches and individuals who support his ministry, "Their generosity has refreshed me, as Onesiphorus refreshed Paul" (referring to II Timothy 1:16).

"Through all these years, God has been faithful," he said. "He's our Father, and He's obligated to take care of us. I'm grateful for the Lord's provision."

Despite cultural changes, Cash senses a special anointing of the Spirit of God. "It makes me wonder if God is giving us one more rehearsal before he shows up to take us home."

His messages are heavy with Scripture and sprinkled with quotes from the giants who influenced his preaching. Asked to name a few, he begins, "B.R. Lakin, John R. Rice, Vance Havner, R.G. Lee, Adrian Rogers, Jerry Falwell, James Kennedy, J. Harold Smith, E.J. Daniels, Jack Hyles, D. L. Moody, Charles Spurgeon, R.A. Torrey, Harold Willmington, Lee Roberson, Warren Wiersbe, M.R. DeHann, Uncle Bud Robinson, Harold Sightler, J. Vernon McGee, David Jeremiah, Richard Ratliff, Walter St. Clair, Reece Harris and on and on!"

Known for his fast-paced delivery, Cash recalled after a revival service, one young lady said, "Brother Cash, I sure do like the way you auctioned off the Word!"

He established the policy from the beginning to accept invitations on a first-come, first-served basis from churches of any size and denomination. He said, "Wherever the doors open, I can preach the Word of God in its power and purity.

"I love my work!" he said. "The Lord has been awfully good to me, an old country boy. Without Him I could do nothing. Praise His name! It's all about Him!"

Cash can be reached at (423) 477-3476 or (423) 360-1580 or tooniecash@comcast.net.

Visit his website at www.tooniecash.org. B&R — Barker is a freelance writer from Johnson City and a member of Oak Grove Baptist Church.

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Sweetening the invitation to community

Gainesville pastor & wife open cupcake and coffee shop as church outreach

By Joni B. Hannigan/Florida Baptist Witness

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (Florida Baptist Witness)--Thick, frosted cupcakes and the aroma of fresh coffee beckons passerby to PattiCakes, a charming European-like storefront in a planned urban village where the homes, apartments and condos of the Haile Plantation give way to shops, restaurants and businesses.

A glass storefront showcases an ice-cream station inside, across from a cupcake and coffee bar where a barista serves up enticing fresh coffees. In the next room, cozy round tables with cushioned chairs collect chatty urbanites, while deeper, upholstered seats and coffee tables urge patrons to lift their feet off the modern area carpet.

Prices and daily specials are sprawled on glass with colorful markers. It's comfortable without being tacky; homegrown without being country. Contemporary, but not impersonal.

At PattiCakes, owners David and Jan Patterson pray with employees before opening shop each day. Workers are encouraged to prioritize building relationships with customers that can lead to sharing life stories and an invitation to the community Plantation Hall across the street.

"There's not a move them in and move them out mentality," Patterson said of the folks who visit Patticakes. Instead, he and his wife believe the shop is a practical way to express what he preaches from the pulpit each Sunday as a pastor. "It's a kind of Mary/Martha situation for us."

David Patterson is the pastor of River Cross Church, a growing congregation that owns Haile Plantation Hall where they have met since 2005.

As a former businessman, Patterson told Florida Baptist Witness he believes the "coffee shop watering hole" he and his wife have created will provide the community with a needed place to gather—and the church with a legitimate place to develop and grow relationships in order to spread the Gospel.

"We really felt as a church that God put us here as a mechanism to connect the community," Patterson said. Moving from Atlanta to plant a church in the affluent village, just miles from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Patterson had the support of the Santa Fe River Baptist Association and the Florida Baptist Convention.

"I admire their courage," Wayne Harvey, director of missions for the SFRBA told the Witness. Lauding Patterson as a pastor with unusual creative abilities, Harvey said he believes the ministry, which has already helped launch another potential church start, will continue to be successful under Patterson's leadership.

The idea of building the church around community came to the Atlanta native as he worked on a project for a class at Luther Rice Seminary. At the Gainesville location later, Patterson said it occurred to him that meeting in an unmarked building in an urban planned community was what God must have had in mind all along.

At the heart of the community, the 1,000 sq. ft. Plantation Hall, where River Cross meets for two Sunday morning worship services, is rented out for community events like weddings, exercise classes and receptions. Children's events are held in nearby buildings.

"God has given us great relationships with businesses," Patterson said, making the accommodations possible.

Still, outside of Sunday services and some adult classes that meet during the week at PattiCakes, Patterson, who wasn't a believer until he was an adult, said he felt there was a missing component.

About four years ago, he decided a coffee shop just might be the answer. The Pattersons and their congregation tossed around some ideas.

What emerged was the idea for Patticakes. And after serious study, prayer and consideration, the Pattersons still had more choices.

"My wife and I stopped to seek God's wisdom. The investment was fairly significant and this is not a church with deep pockets," Patterson said. He indicated he was unwilling to place that large of a risk on the church and instead he and his wife began to pursue it as a personal business/ministry.

Integrating their personal business into ministry doesn't appear to be a stretch for the Pattersons who have two grown children. In 2006 they purchased a condominium just blocks from the church. It didn't take them long to realize, however, it takes more than living in the same zip code to build community.

At PattiCakes, the Pattersons began to meet neighbors who lived in the community as long as them—that they had never previously met. "Some began attending our church," he said.

Still other neighbors are striking up conversations with PattiCakes employees, most of whom attend the church, all who are believers.

"We've seen some amazing things," Patterson said. "One of the things we have to do is to be ourselves and trust that God will be the one that will open up conversations and avenues for us."

Listing expectations for a sweet shop, Patterson said people "brag on our coffee being better than Starbucks." He said in one way or another the subject of God usually rises to the top.

"We have to be prepared to talk about church, what God is doing in our lives, how we are saved, what God rescued us from—and trust that God will bring those conversations about," Patterson said. Still, he insists, evangelism is not really intentional as in the sense that there's a big fish on the front door or anything, but it's just living out the Gospel.

Patterson said he learned managing Fortune 500 companies that doing your job well is a strong witness for the Lord—and there can be a healthy balance between getting the "job" done and taking time to build witnessing relationships.

Serious about their commitment, Jan Patterson recently quit her job at the local Chamber of Commerce to manage the shop. Continued...