What does it mean to resume worship?
What does it mean to resume worship? If you’re like me you’ve spent the last 14 months away from any physical church building. With the onset of COVID-19, I thought I was saying “goodbye” to church for a few weeks at most; a vacation of sorts that I was looking...
Confronting Racial Injustice – My Story by Terry Maples, CBFVA Coordinator
This article has been simmering a long time because, honestly, I questioned if I had insights to contribute to the conversation about racial injustice that hadn’t already been expressed more eloquently by others. What I’ve recognized is what I can share is my own...
Tired. Frustrated. Overwhelmed. Ashamed. Enraged. by Mark Snipes
Ready to take a step of faith? Tired. Frustrated. Overwhelmed. Ashamed. Enraged. The events of last week have left many of us with a lot of emotions to unpack. Police brutality. Systematic Racism. Politicians pandering for power. It seems like we are stuck listening...
Holy Week Reflection 2021: See, Feel, Do by Terry Maples, CBFVA Coordinator
Joan and I have been reading Ecco Homo Behold the Man – Ethical Imperatives of the Lenten Journey by Samuel Balentine. This Lenten journey is focuses on an imperative spoken twice from different perspectives. The first perspective is that of Pilate who presents...
Blog – Dangers of the Fundamentalist Mindset, Part 3 of 3 Clarifying terms and sharing stories by Terry Maples, CBFVA Coordinator
In parts 1 and 2 of this series, I outlined eight statements that describe a fundamentalist mindset and offer different perspectives that shape the theology of our congregations. In this final installment, I clarify terms and give specific illustrations of the dangers...
Blog-Dangers of the Fundamentalist Mindset, Part 2 of 3 How this mindset shapes congregational theology/practice by Terry Maples, CBFVA Coordinato
In Part 1 of this Blog, I shared eight statements describing a fundamentalist mindset. How do these principles play out in congregational life and theological understanding? Gene Wilder offers insight into core issues that were at play in the SBC takeover. Examine...
Blog – Dangers of a Fundamentalist Mindset, Part 1 of 3 Eight markers of fundamentalism by Terry Maples, CBFVA Coordinator
A few years ago, the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (my alma mater) compared his biblical understandings (interpretations) to those of moderate-progressive Baptists. He asserted these differing perspectives are two radically different versions of...
Can We Stay Together? by Mark Snipes CBFVA Coordinator
I grew up in a small town in northwest Georgia. As a teenager, I went to church at a relatively large (for that area), conservative, Bapti-Costal Church where I was a faithful member. Though I am no longer in sync theologically with the church of my youth, I do...
How You Should Be Walking by Josh Hearne, Grace & Main Ministries
Derek is hard to describe, but I’ll try. The first time I met him, he wanted to know if I could “lay down a beat” for him to freestyle over. He had had an idea for a new rap while walking to the meal in our home and was ready to try it out. Derek has a way of entering...
Blog – CBFVA Resource for the Post-Pandemic Church by Terry Maples, CBFVA Coordinator
I think most people engaged in congregational leadership know we are NOT going back to church as it was before the pandemic. That version of church doesn’t exist anymore. A protracted COVID-19 season of disruption invites us to re-imagine church—not in order to...