News & Updates
Proposed Bylaws Amendment for Leadership Structure
Enhancing Leadership Capacity for a Growing CBF Virginia In accordance with our bylaws, all proposed amendments must be submitted and shared 30 days before our voting meeting. At our General Assembly meeting on Tuesday, September 16 at First Baptist in Newport News,...
CBFVA GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Hybrid Church!
LIMIT OF 20 CHURCHES, HOWEVER MULTIPLE PEOPLE FROM THE CHURCH CAN ATTEND!
Summit 2022!
Location: Williamsburg Baptist Church Date: March 25-27 Cost: 120 per person Theme: This year, our theme is "Dwell." Our speaker, Meg Lacy Vega, will be helping us to consider how to "dwell" in a world where everyone seems so divided. How do we live in community...
Mission Madness 2026
Thank you for praying for the 20 churches and over 275 students and chaperones who participated in Mission Madness at Richmond’s First Baptist Church! What an incredible weekend of worship, service and connection! Together, we put in around 875 service hours spread...
Dawnings
Many churches have at least one room that, over time, defaults into a storage space collecting one thing and then another until its rendered unusable for anything else. When Greater Faith Fellowship (Gainesville, Florida), a young church founded by community-minded...
Wrestling With Scripture at the National Museum of African American History and Culture
This past Sunday, I joined a group of CBF folks at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. This museum, in Washington, D.C., does more than recount dates and display artifacts. It tells the story of a nation—and a Church—forced to confront how...
Room for Welcome
Last week, I stood in a room filled with people who spend their evenings tutoring English, helping families navigate school systems, driving neighbors to doctor’s appointments, and sitting at kitchen tables listening to stories of home. CBFVA had the privilege of...
Celebrating 250: An Invitation to the NMAAHC – March 1, 2026
Have you seen Hamilton, the musical? Heard the soundtrack? Can you hear it in your head right now? It’s an energetic and captivating retelling of the life of Alexander Hamilton, one of the United States’ founding fathers. The musicality of the lyrics is infectious,...
Learn more about the Thriving Children Retreat
To be neurodivergent is to experience the world in a way that is atypical. Sensory processing, attention management, and social cues amongst other things are just different than for most people in the world. And this is not necessarily a bad thing or a distinct...
Mission Madness: Possibilities
For those of you participating in Mission Madness who live in Richmond and want to make this a weekend “away” for your youth, I invite you to consider using host homes. Here’s how it works: Divide your youth into small groups of 5-7 and invite church members to open...
Epiphany: A Reflection
By Mark Snipes I love Epiphany Sunday I love the excitement of a new year, the anticipation of receiving a star word, and the joy of telling each other what word we received. A couple of years ago, I remember getting generosity while my son received money. That was a...
Pressing On with CBF Virginia
Over the past two years, CBFVA has experienced a season of significant change and transition, largely due to staffing shifts and the ongoing changes in the world around us. These shifts have not only required us to be adaptable and resilient but also provided an...
Invitation to Partnership: Reflections from Puerto Rico
On this cold (snowy day in Virginia), we're remembering warmer times in Puerto Rico. Here's a brief recap and an invitation for continued partnership written by our Coordinator, Mark Snipes. In early November, a group of nine pastors from Virginia embarked on a...
Four Steps for Disaster Response
It was heart-wrenching to see the destruction Helen left on my Spruce Pine friends. Nonetheless, seeing so many helpers gave me great hope for them and for humanity. . This is another reason connecting with local leaders is essential. Think twice before donating a...
Organic Partnership
by Kris Aaron It all came together organically. CBFVA has a new partnership with the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy (VICPP), a non-partisan organization that works with people of all faiths around the issues of racial, social, and economic justice, and...
Fall Retreat Schedule
Friday 7:00-9:00pm- Arrival/Check-in- Office 9:00pm- Worship- Downstairs Hunt Hall Saturday 8:00am- Breakfast- Hunt Hall 9:00am- Morning Celebration 10:15-11:30am- Breakout #1 12:00pm- lunch 1:00-1:50 pm- Breakout #2 2:00-2:50 pm- Breakout #3 3:00- FREE TIME 6:00pm-...
Finding the Good, Finding God
As I walked into the kitchen, I saw some familiar faces. One family has been at the shelter for nearly four months trying to get an appointment to cross the border. So, I had gotten to know them fairly well. However, as I pulled out a chair to sit down, nobody seemed...
Passport to Puerto Rico
by Mark Snipes This past week, I was part of a group that traveled to San Juan, Puerto Rico to explore what it might look like to host Passport camp on the island. I was accompanied by David Burroughs, President and CEO of Passport Camp, and Ben Brown,...
Welcome to General Assembly 2023
Click below to access this year's program: CBFVA GA 2023 Program Book
Student.Church
Student.Church is CBF's model for congregational internships to students who are interested in a deeper experience of church life or pursuing a call to ministry. Interns spend the summer exploring the breadth of congregational ministry through a variety of learning...
CBF Virginia Coordinating Council Recap by Mark Snipes, Coordinator CBF Virginia
In late January 2023, CBF Virginia’s Coordinating Council met in Charlottesville for an overnight retreat. As we met, prayed, and visioned together, one message came through loud and clear: CBFVA wants to connect and collaborate with your congregation.CBF Virginia...
Pastor’s School Reflection by Carlisle Davidhizar
In the interest of honesty, I’m willing to admit that I’m nervous in conversations about race and racial justice. I was a kid in the 1990s at the height of the idea that “not seeing race” at all was the best and kindest way for me, as a White person, to relate to my...
Join the Virginia Cultivating Generous Congregations cohort!
Cultivating Generous Congregations is offered by CBF in partnership with the Lake Institute which is one of America’s foremost authorities on faith and generosity. Each year, we offer two cohorts – one in the Winter (February/March) and one in the Fall...
Host your own Rise Against Hunger Event!
In 2023, CBFVA is challenging churches to pack over 100,000 meals. Food insecurity is still such a big issue in our world and CBFVA wants to advocate for those who lack reliable food sources. Through Rise Against Hunger and Bread for the World, two of CBFVA’s...
Beholding the Truth of “God with Us” this Advent Season Rev. Lauryn Everic
Advent is in full swing, and although we’re somehow already halfway through, we still have much of December left. Church leaders have been planning for the Advent worship services for weeks, if not, months. Our faith communities have long honored traditions that we...
The “Why” for CBFVA
On October 1st, I celebrated my nine-year anniversary with CBFVA. It was also the day I took the reins as Coordinator for this amazing organization. I am so grateful for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and for all the people who make this space so special. CBFVA...
CBFVA General Assembly Retrospective and Thank YOU!
Tuesday, September 20, 2022, was a good and historic day for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Virginia. We gathered at First Baptist Church in Waynesboro to celebrate CBFVA’s 30 years of ministry, to mark the closure of my tenure as Coordinator, and to install...
A Culture of Connection
On Tuesday, CBFVA celebrated its 30th anniversary at First Baptist Waynesboro. This meeting was full of hope, laughter, challenge, incredible music, and fierce friendships. During our morning worship, we celebrated the successful tenure of Terry Maples and installed...
The “Anatomy of Conflict” Webinar: #3 Part Series
The “Anatomy of Conflict” Webinar September 1, 8, and 15, 2022 10:00 to 11:30 am Zoom Conflict is not necessarily something bad and to be avoided or resolved quickly. This webinar series will frame “conflict” as a state of disagreement or emotional/mental disturbance...
Summer of Listening
An Invitation: Summer of Listening The first rule for understanding another person is paying attention, and an important aspect of paying attention is active listening. How can you hope to better understand someone without taking the time to listen without...
