By Grayson Hester CBF church starters Felix and Nicole Iyoko may very well have the answer. Since they were first featured in 2018 for starting a church – their 15th – the Congolese couple have continued to do what they’ve been doing since fleeing from their native Democratic Republic of Congo years ago: They’ve pressed … Continue reading
By Ben Brown The COVID-19 pandemic introduced the world to new vocabulary. One of the most common terms in this new lexicon is “social distancing.” Scarlette Jasper is a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel in a large geographic region stretching from south central Kentucky to eastern Tennessee, where her ministry is one of connection. Several … Continue reading
By Layne Smith Of Abraham Lincoln – He welcomed arguments within the cabinet, but would be “greatly pained,” he warned them, if he found his colleagues attacking each other in public. What can be learned from Lincoln’s success in keeping this disparate team together? (p.222) Of Theodore Roosevelt – Throughout his political career, Roosevelt’s conception … Continue reading
By Rhonda P. James-Jones In July 2018, I was asked to attend the Chaplaincy Research Summer Institute (CRSI) offered through Transforming Chaplaincy. Chaplains are invited to this institute for a myriad of reasons. Two drew me in—“providing leadership to chaplaincy quality improvement projects”[1] (QI) and “chaplaincy-related DMin projects”[2]. We discussed the importance of engaging in research, explored … Continue reading
By Allison Anderson This Fall we oriented our 3rd Chaplain Resident group to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s still mind-boggling to say that. What shifted our world and our work in the Spring of 2020, changing everything for that Residency year, continues to define and redefine the work of healthcare chaplaincy every day. With … Continue reading
August 27, 2021By Aaron Weaver and Carrie Harris DECATUR, Ga. — “Do not lose heart.” Citing the Apostle Paul, CBF Executive Coordinator delivered this message to attendees during the Friday morning plenary session of the 2021 General Assembly as he focused his remarks on the challenges of the past 18 months. In his Executive Coordinator … Continue reading
by Andrew Nash It is always hard to take on a new role as a senior pastor in your 20s, but there is an added degree of difficulty when doing so during a global pandemic. There’s even more of a challenge doing so in Flint, Mich., site of a water crisis that has had lasting … Continue reading
By Christie Thadikonda Where is God when it hurts? This has been an existential question for generations. As this question lingers in the minds of many including Christians, time has come to reflect on the presence of God. In his book God and the Pandemic, N.T. Wright encourages readers to move toward what can we … Continue reading
By Paul Baxley One year ago today, a large number of congregations in and beyond the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship worshipped for the first time virtually as the coronavirus pandemic began to redefine all aspects of life in the United States the week prior. A week or 10 days earlier, many congregations started to realize that … Continue reading
The CBF Governing Board gathered virtually January 28-29 via Zoom for its winter meeting focused on hearing a report from the Response Team of the Toward Bold Faithfulness initiative, a two-phase process launched in October 2019 to discover and respond to the greatest gifts and most urgent needs of congregations and communities across the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Continue reading
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