Reflections on my CBF trip to NC churches
I woke up early, grabbed a mug of black coffee, and drove off in the early morning sunlight on my way to North Carolina. Over the next week I would drive nearly 2,000 miles through the sandhills, swamplands, and seacoasts of NC visiting 16 churches, to share some of our new CBF congregational resources and to listen to the needs of their congregations. I was excited to be back home in North Carolina, the Tar Heel state, eating good barbeque and fresh seafood by the beach, hacking my way through a round of golf with my parents, celebrating with a former youth group member who had recently accepted a call to vocational ministry, and enjoying a good cigar under a rural sky while catching up with good friends. It was good to be home. And as great as these experiences were, the most heart-lifting part of the trip was the visits to the churches, listening to ministers as they told their stories, how their congregations were living and witnessing as the Body of Christ in their own communities.
“The church is dying.” That week before I left for my trip, I was speaking with someone who expressed his deep despair over not only his church, but the Church in general. For years now, while some emergents have been foretelling the demise of the institutional church, preparing the way for what sometimes doesn’t bear the marks of what Church means, and many mainline and moderate Baptist churches fight to maintain an institution that sometimes also doesn’t bear the true marks of Church, the general consensus has seemed to be that the local church is in its final days. Spirituality is on the rise, but this is a postmodernized, individualized spirituality which needs no church community. This is our context of ministry, and it is difficult. However, as I sat and listened to pastors, youth ministers, and associates talk about the missional journeys of their churches, as I saw their eyes light up, I was filled with renewed hope for our mutual pilgrimage.
As someone who obviously (if you keep up with my blogging) believes in the work, mission, and power of the local church and understands God’s redemption of the whole world to be coming through God’s Church, I am not one to join the doom and gloom crowd – but hey, we all have our moments, right? But if you are having one of those moments right now, “do not be afraid, do not be discouraged,” but listen to the great work of the Church, as told through these congregational stories.
It was raining when I arrived at Lakeside. I found Associate Minister Elizabeth Edwards standing out in the rain as vans of drenched youth and adults poured into the education building. When things finally settled down and the work-clothes clad teens gradually headed home, I asked her what was going on. Every year, she said, rather than go overseas or thousands of miles away for their mission experience, they plan, coordinate, and conduct “Gatekeeper’s Workcamp,” a weeklong effort of 15 area churches to help renovate houses for Rocky Mount residents who cannot afford professional services. Over 150 youth and adults gather every morning and disperse with their crews and tools to labor all day in one of the most impoverished areas in North Carolina.
As I sat at the table to chat with Norman Harris at Temple Baptist, he told the great ministry his church started with their “It’s Time” grant funds. Renovating an old house on church property, Temple opened up this home to the families of international patients at Duke Hospital – their own version of a “Ronald McDonald House.” He told me of one lady from Africa, who on her last day in the U.S., through broken English, walked through the sanctuary where she had worshipped during her time in Durham, crying and thanking the church for their hospitality.
As I drove across the bridge to Carolina Beach I smelled the familiar salty fragrance of resort beaches and fresh seafood. Talking with Jimmy Brown, pastor of First Baptist, I learned that Carolina Beach has an unusually large number of homeless residents, despite offering no permanent shelter or soup kitchen. Realizing this problem, First Baptist opens up their fellowship hall every week to offer a hot meal for those who may not have one until they return the next week. One small but powerful gesture for an invisible demographic in a town of flashy condos and beachfront homes.
Similarly reaching out to an often forgotten demographic of society, Yates Baptist maintains a weekly gathering for residents of a local home for physically disabled. Each week they bring the residents to the church for a time of crafts, singing, and worship.
There is a large sign at the entrance to First Baptist High Point announcing the Vietnamese church that uses the same building. FBC has partnered with the church, made up largely of refugees, often joining together for Sunday School or worship. The church has grown immensely. One of the more poignant moments, according to Associate Gay Gulick, was covering the CBF missions emphasis on refugee ministry and listening to some of the Vietnamese children share their own stories.
As my trip neared its end and I returned back toward Raleigh I made one of my final stops at Knightdale Baptist. As I wandered through the hall to pastor Thomas Bounds’s office, I was surrounded by children, an unfortunately noticeably diverse group for a CBF church. Bounds explained that each year Knightdale brings down children from the Christian Activities Center in East St. Louis, one of the poorest towns in all the U.S. for their VBS week. After an initial mission experience at the CAC several years ago, church members committed to paying for all travel and expenses for the children to have a week of games, day trips, Bible study, and fellowship.
And this is just the beginning. My biggest regret of the week was being unable to visit more and hear more about how churches are living out their mission to bless the world as the Body of Christ. As we attempt to show the world that a new Way is possible, it is churches like these that lead the Way for us. If you have stories from your own church, please send them and I will occasionally post some these important markers along our pilgrimage. It does us good to share with one another – our difficulties, our struggles, and our joys – as we live out our calling faithfully. Thank you to these churches for sharing with me. May God bless your continued ministry.