First Canaan Baptist Church

04/05/2026

04/05/2026

04/05/2026

Our Sunday service today.

12/02/2025

We lost a precious member of our family yesterday. She loved the Lord with her heart and soul. Read her Bible every night. She wore the cover off. She suffered so long with cancer. She begged to go home and now she is. Remember John and their son Marcus in your prayers.

Betty Jean Hughes
August 15, 1957 — November 30, 2025
Clarksville
Listen to Obituary
Betty Jean Hughes, age 68, of Clarksville, TN passed away on Sunday, November 30, 2025.

Celebration of Life will be held at 2 p.m. on Thursday, December 4, 2025 at McReynolds-Nave & Larson Funeral Home with Bro. Gary Akins officiating. Burial will follow at Keesee Cemetery.

The family will receive friends on Wednesday from 3 to 6 p.m. and again on Thursday from 11 a.m. until the hour of service at the funeral home.

Betty entered this life on August 15, 1957 in Clarksville, TN to the late Ernest and Mary Motes. She was a member of First Cannan Baptist Church and was a longtime cashier at Hilltop Supermarket. Betty loved being outside, flower gardening, and animals. Especially her cat.

In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her brothers, James Motes and John Motes.

Survivors include her husband, John Hughes; son, Marcus W. Hughes, and sisters, Janie Gauthier, Annie Mae Motes, and Jo Ann Motes.

Family and friends will serve as pallbearers.

Arrangements are in the care of McReynolds-Nave & Larson Funeral Home, 1209 Madison St, Clarksville, TN.

11/10/2025

We are proud to welcome a new member that joined us October 27th. Miss Daisy Mae. Congratulations Tristan and Lily for this beautiful baby girl. She is truly a blessing from GOD.

06/07/2025

Had a great 3 days of VBS. Not many children but lots of God praising.
Meal every night. Wednesday--Pizza
Thursday--McDonald's cheeseburgers
Friday--Breakfast with scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits, gravy, hashbrown casserole, fried potatoes, oj, coffee, and More.
Magnify

04/16/2025

BREAKING: An American pastor who was kidnapped last week by armed and masked men during a sermon in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa was rescued on Tuesday after three of his abductors engaged in gunfire with officials and were killed.
American citizen, Josh Sullivan from Tennessee, has been based in the Motherwell township branch of the Fellowship Baptist church since 2018 alongside his wife and two children.
The missionary was abruptly abducted on Thursday evening when four men broke into the Fellowship Baptist church in Motherwell.
They stole two cellphones from members of the congregation before seizing Sullivan from the pulpit and bundling him out of the building.
His truck was found abandoned a few hours later.
A multi-agency task force, including the Anti-Gang Unit and the Serious Organised Crime unit, took over the investigation.
On Tuesday night they approached the location where they suspected Sullivan was being held, a house in KwaMagxaki, Gqeberha about 20 minutes' drive from the Baptist church.
According to police, a shootout began when suspects in a car parked outside the house tried to escape and began firing at them.
Three unidentified suspects were killed, police said.
"The victim was found inside the same vehicle from which the suspects had launched their attack," Lieutenant Colonel Avele Fumba said in a statement.
“Miraculously unharmed, he was immediately assessed by medical personnel and is currently in an excellent condition."
The number of kidnappings in South Africa has risen by 264% over the past decade, police data showed.
According to the Institute of Security Studies, a think tank specializing in Africa, kidnapping has become a key tactic in armed robberies and carjackings.
In its latest Africa report, the ISS notes that less than 5% of kidnappings in South Africa involve ransom demands.
Since his release, Sullivan, who describes himself as "a church-planting missionary" on his personal website, has been reunited with his wife Meagan and their two children.
WHEW.