BLOG: Presence by Terry Maples, CBFVA Coordinator
I could not believe my eyes or my ears! As I drove down the highway and switched to radio station 100.9 Jack FM (variety hits), I realized the format had changed. The name of the new format….wait for it….is Short Attention Span Radio. Nope, I’m not joking. A format...
Advocacy: the natural next step in missions
Mark Snipes CBFVA Coordinator Let’s say that you and your church go on a mission trip. On that trip, you learn about the inequality of hunger around the world. During your 10-day adventure, you get your hands dirty, you cry tears of sorrow for those living in these...
Anxiety and Scripture by Dave Guion
This effort to look at anxiety through the lens of Scripture and psychology was born of conversations in Sunday School, correspondence with a seminary professor, Dr. Steve Stratton, and the lives of some of my counseling clients who identify as Christians and have...
BLOG: Inside Job by Terry Maples, CBFVA Coordinator
Have you noticed how many crime novel and movie plot characters there are on the inside of an organization helping criminals gain access to the valuables? Every time a bank is robbed, investigators automatically ask employees questions like, “Do you have huge debt?”...
Staff Evaluations During a Pandemic By Terry Maples, CBFVA Coordinator
Many churches designate autumn as the best season to do staff evaluations. How is this important task even possible during a pandemic? I believe unprecedented times demand a different process. As a vocational minister for three churches over a period of 27 years, I’ve...
Preaching during the Pandemic Part 2: Five More Passages Art Wright, CBFVA Theologian in Residence
July 24, 2020 When the pandemic hit in full force back in March, I shared five Scripture passages that might be helpful for pastors to consider preaching from in our current context. It is now July, and the pandemic rages on, more fiercely than ever in many...
Being Church in a divided world. By: Mark Snipes CBFVA Associate Coordinator
In the age of Covid-19, we are learning that even in a pandemic, congregations can be pushed apart, with ministers in the middle trying to figure out the best way to move forward. As I have spoken with ministers around Virginia, I hear of congregants on both sides of...
“How long will it be?”: Reflections on Martyrdom in Revelation and Black Lives Today by Art Wright Theologian in Residence, CBF VA
There is a text from the biblical book of Revelation that keeps coming to my mind during these hard days, in the wake of the killing of George Floyd. Unfortunately, it is not a good, heartwarming passage that offers easy answers. It does, however, seem to me to speak...
Connected Mission in a Disconnected World
by Mark Snipes, CBFVA Associate Coordinator In a world that looks and acts drastically different than it did three months ago, the way that the church goes about living out its mission in the world also looks drastically different. Most churches thrive by...
Don’t Waste a Crisis by Terry Maples, CBFVA Coordinator
As I write this article, our world continues in lockdown mode in its effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus. The crisis seems far from over; the toll in terms of lives lost, jobs furloughed or cut, retirement funds pummeled, etc., is staggering. This pandemic is...