Wednesday morning, July 10th someone started two small fires inside Providence Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC. As of this writing fire officials are calling it arson and an investigation continues. The damage was small in economic cost; probably less than…
The gift of a ministry of presence
It was impossible to go to all of the breakout sessions at the CBF General Assembly in June. Because of this, my wife and I chose sessions that would be most applicable to us as a pastoral couple getting ready…
Wooly + waste (or the art of nonviolent Facebook-ing)
I’ve found it quite difficult to remain internet friends with people these days (thanks mostly to the DOMA ruling, Paula Deen, and living in the Southeast around the 4th of July). Now, I do realize it can be hard to…
iPhones and paper Bibles
He stuck his head in the classroom door like a substitute English teacher on the biology hall, looked at the well-dressed occupants and stepped back into the hall. His Sunday School class of 30-somethings was to begin meeting with this group of…
Intentional communities inspire, scare
By Jeff Brumley Intentional, service-focused Christian communities are getting a lot of buzz in the emergent and missional movements these days, and they’re catching the eye of Baptist groups like the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. But the movement – sometimes called…
‘Dawnings’ a way of living, being church
By Jeff Brumley Dawnings, CBF’s new missional process for congregations, is about discerning God’s will for churches and ministries, Bo Prosser, coordinator of missional congregations, said during a presentation about the system today in Greensboro, N.C. What it is not, he…
Not budgets, programs, and projects
I am always amazed as I visit some of our smaller communities at the way God is at work through the congregations. Too often we tend to look at the numbers and the programs. We lose the story of the…
Busy, historic General Assembly for CBF
By Jeff Brumley General Assembly 2013 is expected to be one of the busier – and more historic – gatherings in CBF’s history, as participants welcome a new leader and vote to significantly streamline the organization to meet current and…
Should ministers mess with social media?
Social media is not going anywhere, at least not anytime soon. And more importantly, social media represents something much bigger regarding communication shifts. I recently received and responded to an email from a pastor regarding his social media concerns: Dear…