CP News

Glenn E. Wills, 85, of Lebanon, Tennessee, died July 26, 2021. Glenn was an elder and long-time Sunday school superintendent for Lebanon Cumberland Presbyterian Church. His son, the Reverend Brent Wills, is a Cumberland Presbyterian minister.

Walter Leslie Waddle, 65, of McKenzie, Tennessee, died July 23, 2021. Walter was a member of McKenzie Cumberland Presbyterian Church (West Tennessee Presbytery) where he had served as choir director. As a “preacher’s kid,” he was well known in the Cumberland Presbyterian and Bethel College communities. Walter was born May 9, 1956, to the Reverend […]

Sue Zwingle, long-time Dickson County, Tennessee, circuit court clerk, died July 19, 2021. Although she never joined the church, Sue was an active congregant of the Charlotte Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Nashville Presbytery), before the COVID-19 pandemic. She served four terms as Dickson County circuit court clerk from 1986 to her retirement in 2002.

In light of the dramatic spike and alarming spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant and the resulting increase in cases in the state of Tennessee, and in an abundance of care for those who are not yet or cannot be vaccinated, the Cumberland Presbyterian Denominational Center will remain closed to the public until October 4, […]

MCKENZIE, Tenn. July 22, 2021 – James Derek Jones has been named as the next director of the Renaissance Regiment at Bethel University. Jones has been director of bands at Calloway County High School in Murray, Kentucky, since 2010. Prior to Calloway County, Jones taught at Lambuth University in Jackson, Tennessee, where he conducted the […]

Virginia Powers, 94, of Richard City, Tennessee, died July 20, 2021. She was a member of Richard City, Tennessee, Cumberland Presbyterian Church (Tennessee-Georgia Presbytery) for over 80 years and served as a deacon. She was given a Golden Patron Award for serving the church and Cumberland Presbyterian Women’s Ministry for over 50 years. Virginia is […]

Part-Time Is Plenty: Thriving Without Full-Time Clergy by G. Jeffrey MacDonald A Book Review by Andy McClung   A once-thriving congregation shrinks in membership until finances necessitate changing from a full-time to a part-time pastor. Over the next several years–or even decades–the membership dwindles while the focus on survival increases, and the focus on doing […]

Enough About Me: The Unexpected Power of Selflessness by Richard Lui Zondervan Books, 2021 Reviewed by Pat White Enough About Me caught my eye when I saw it was written by Richard Lui, a journalist and anchor for NBC News and MSNBC whom I have enjoyed following. Even more noteworthy to me is that Richard […]

Sierra Nicole Keenan, a member of the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church in McKenzie, Tennessee (West Tennessee Presbytery), is the 2021-2022 Cumberland Presbyterian Women’s Ministry/Bethel University Scholarship Recipient. A native of McKenzie, Sierra is the daughter of Thomas and Charro Keenan. Sierra graduated from McKenzie High School in 2019. She enrolled at Bethel University in the […]

The Wildcats will play five home games and six road game this fall. Bethel plays six of their first eight games on the road. The Cats open the season on the road in Cleveland, Mississippi Thursday, September 2 against NCAA DII Delta State. It will be the 12th meeting between the programs with DSU holding […]