By Laura Stephens-Reed In many congregations, summer is a time of reduced programming (with the likely exception of ministries geared toward children and youth) and hit-or-miss attendance. This means it takes extra care to foster spiritual formation and relationships among church members. Here are some ideas for growing community and deepening discipleship even as people … Continue reading
By Pam Durso and Stephen Reeves The stories continue to show up in our news feeds. The sheer number of stories about sexually abusive ministers seems overwhelming, and every day we are more aware of how pervasive this horrific problem is in our world, in our nation, and in our circles. How churches respond to … Continue reading
By Blake Tommey “I’m so excited about the diversity of church starts that we have in Cooperative Baptist Fellowship life,” Kyle Tubbs, CBF’s New Church Starts Manager, says. “We have churches led by both women and men, black, Latino and white leaders, older and younger, immigrants and native-born Americans, pastors who are beginning their second career and pastors … Continue reading
By Andy Hale Everyone has an opinion. No, seriously. E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E has to add their two cents to ______ (fill in the blank). You could change America’s slogan of E pluribus unum to E pluribus unum est praeter plura oratoribus…okay, maybe my Latin is a little off. We not only have talking heads on just about … Continue reading
By Lesley-Ann Hix Tommey Since landing in New York City as field personnel in October 2017, I have spent most of my time learning about homelessness and best practices in caring for folks who have experienced trauma. The Living Well program at Rauschenbusch Metro Ministries is a trauma-informed group for women who have experienced both … Continue reading
By Anna Anderson Part of our work has become assisting a church with local benevolence needs. This assistance comes in the form of meeting people, talking with them and assessing their situation to determine whether the church can step in and intervene. Sometimes we cannot help. Sometimes we can. Sometimes we see desperate people who … Continue reading
By Keith Holmes As CBF field personnel, I have also considered it my job to work myself out of a job. Rather than depending on me, my partners should eventually become self-sufficient. This is the same goal I have in parenting. My children should, at some point, become fully-functioning, independent adults. Recently, though, I’ve had … Continue reading
