GLEN ALLEN, Va. — Resisting the temptation to provide a “sermon buffet,” officers of this year’s Virginia Baptist Pastors Conference opted instead to emphasize Fresh Expressions, a church revitalization movement supported by the Baptist General Association of Virginia.
Fresh Expressions, which aims to help churches understand and embrace new mission opportunities in light of changing cultures, highlighted the Nov. 8 conference, held the day before the annual BGAV meeting.
“We were a little reluctant in the beginning [about the exclusive focus], but we soon were convinced it was the right thing to do,” said conference president Matt Brown.
Alan Hirsch, a leading voice the in the Christian missional movement, was the conference’s primary presenter. Hirsch is the author of several books on mission, including ReJesus, which is the theme of the Nov. 9-10 BGAV meeting, The South African-born missiologist also will give several addresses at the meeting, being held at the Greater Richmond (Va.) Convention Center.
More than 125 gathered at Mount Vernon Baptist Church in suburban Richmond, where Don Runion is pastor. In addition to Hirsch, other presenters and facilitators included Virginia Baptist Mission Board staffers Chris Backert, Ben Jamison and Gannon Sim, who all have Fresh Expressions responsibilities.
Fresh Expressions began in the United Kingdom eight years ago and has resulted in the birth of 3,000 new faith communities there. According to information provided at the conference, “At its heart, Fresh Expressions is about empowering and equipping God’s people to develop creative expressions of church that can reach the increasing diversity of our society.”
The BGAV has taken the lead in partnering with several other denominations and church networks to help churches in the United States discover their own fresh expressions of the church. Backert is coordinator of Fresh Expressions USA; Jamison coordinates Fresh Expressions VA.
To illustrate a fresh expression of church, panelist Karel Harris briefly described “Thrive! Moms,” a ministry which meets at Northminster Baptist Church in Richmond. Calling herself a co-founder rather than founder, and emphasizing God should receive all the credit, she described her passion for ministry to single mothers.
Offering support and encouragement within a loving and non-judgmental environment provided by the church, Harris remarked, “We went from two to 40 and where that took me was to my knees!”
“We had to make sure that nobody was getting lost in the crowd,” she continued. “At first the attitude of these women who have had such a hard time was, ‘Don’t church me,’” meaning spare them the preaching, finger-pointing and judgment.
Harris believes that being “real” eventually led them to trust her and that led eventually to being able to trust in God.
In a brief business session, new officers were elected for the coming year. Charles “Chuck” Haley, pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church in Tappahannock, Va., moved from vice president president; Joseph N. “Joey” Giles Jr., pastor of James Square Baptist Church in Lawrenceville, Va., was elected vice president following a year as treasurer; and Charles Ward, pastor of Pamunkey Indian Baptist Church in King William, Va., will assume the treasurer’s position.
Virginia Baptists were introduced to the concept of Fresh Expressions in February 2010 by Bob and Mary Hopkins who have worked in the United Kingdom with Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to refine the concept. The Hopkins met with leaders from churches, district associations and the Mission Board.
Jim White ([email protected]) is editor of the Religious Herald.