News
Not Your Typical Pastor Appreciation Month by Terry Maples, CBFVA Coordinator
I confess, I haven’t given too much thought to Pastor Appreciation Month in years past. Most of my career was spent as part of vocational ministerial teams in local congregations. Asking for “appreciation” for oneself is certainly not apropos. Truth is, pastors enjoy...
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Advocating for Broadband in Bluefield
by Kris Aaron Pastor of First Baptist Bristol, VA It happened suddenly. I got a call that morning from Keith Stillwell informing me that a long-awaited meeting with an aide for Senator Mark Warner had finally been confirmed. The meeting was scheduled for later that...
My Passport Story by Anna Beamer…Age 20
When I was 13, I went on my first mission trip to Passport Missions in Florida. This trip absolutely changed my life. Before this trip, I knew God, but at Passport, it finally felt like God knew me. God spoke to me that summer, telling me that Passport was where I was...
Where it belongs….by Mark Mofield
Almost 20 years ago, Amy and I bought a breakfast table and chairs set for our new home in Gibsonville, NC. It wasn’t fancy or costly, but it survived almost 20 years of meals, card games, school projects, and a couple of moves. There were the accompanying scrapes and...
Back2School devotions return to d365.org
Back2School, the August devotional series, returns to d365.org this week. The series features scripture, prayer, and meditative thoughts accompanied by gentle music. For the first time, seven young people in High School or starting college are writers for the final...
CBFVA General Assembly!
“Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine.” (Eph. 3:20) CBFVA hopes you’ll participate in the first IN-PERSON gathering since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. We are eager to connect at...
Dream for a clinic becomes reality in Haiti mountains by Jenny Jenkins
Answering the call to build a clinic in a remote community in the mountains of Haiti has a set of unique challenges. As we prayed about and started this project, it came about only because of a community that was willing to put the sweat equity into this project, to...
Living Faith, Living Word: by Megan Strollo CBFVA Theologian in Residence
Part 1 – Seeking Questions Rather Than Answers* “But HOW is the sky blue, Mama?” She had been asking the question the entire drive to school. Not being a meteorologist, I tried my best to explain. But I was coming up short, for sure, and she was persistent in her...
Blog-Val Fisk. Rev., University Baptist in Charlottesville
I was called by University Baptist Church in August of 2020 with the purpose of diving headfirst into student ministry, both continuing to build upon our existing youth ministry, and beginning to build a kind of college student outreach that UBC is perfectly situated...
Pain & Gratitude—Strange Bedfellows! By Terry Maples, CBFVA Coordinator
As an educator, I’m fond of saying an essential component of spiritual formation is reflection. We must take time to reflect upon life experiences in light of our journey of faith. Although I am a “glass half-full” type person, I believe there is great benefit in...
Re-Imagining Worship Retrospective by Terry Maples, CBFVA Coordinator
On June 10, CBFVA sponsored a webinar entitled “Re-Imagining Worship in a Post-Covid World.” Widespread disruption caused by the pandemic significantly impacted how local congregations worshipped. Aware of the need to reflect upon lessons learned when “the church left...
Where do we go from here?
“The world is changed. I feel it in the water. I feel it in the Earth. I smell it in the air. Much that once was is lost.” These words are the first lines of the movie the Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, but they have resonated with me these last few weeks...
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...
Update from Hannah Turner!
Hannah Turner works with CBF through the Global Service Corps. The GSC is a two-year mission apprenticeship that provides an opportunity for graduates (29 years of age and younger) and retirees to: go and work alongside seasoned career Field Personnel & partners...
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...
Student.Church Reflection By Houston Blake, Summer Intern
When I was sixteen years old, I prayed the scariest prayer and told God, “Here I am. Send me.” Little did I know all the things that prayer would bring. From joining the Army straight out of high school to preaching my first sermon and interning during a pandemic, I...
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...
Haven’t We Given Enough? Reflections on preparing for Lent by Rachel Jones
“Ash to ash. Dust to dust.”[1] Familiar sayings during this time of year as we enter Lent, the 40-day season (not including Sundays) between Ash Wednesday and the day before Easter. The word "Lent" comes from the Anglo-Saxon word "lencten", which means "lengthen" and...
What I am Learning about Poverty in Appalachia during our Pandemic by Keith Stillwell
Captain Obvious would say, “I am learning that people who did not have enough income to meet their basic needs before the pandemic, are facing even greater challenges during this pandemic.” Years in an economic system that employed many at low pay, benefited some...
Blog – Radical Candor by Terry Maples, CBFVA Coordinator
As an image-conscious Enneagram Pattern 3, I confess radical candor is not my best gift. My tendency to shape-shift to be what the context demands sometimes means I shy away from boldly speaking truth. My son knows my tendency to be and play nice. After reading...
Reflection: Pastors’ School 2021
Reflection by Kris Aaron, Senior Pastor, FBC Bristol On January 28, CBFVA held its annual Pastors’ School. The speaker, Dr. Anna Robbins, and the theme, Recalibrating Faith & Culture in a Post-Pandemic World, were both especially timely and helpful. Dr. Robbins...
Kingdom Work = “Soul” Work Megan Fullerton Strollo, CBFVA Theologian in Residence
I, like many of you I’m sure, tuned in this past Wednesday to watch the inauguration of now President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. An inauguration is an historic occasion any year, as our country progresses ever more toward becoming that “more perfect...