The “Why” Question

Why are you doing this?” she asked. She had just finished rehearsal with the Senior Adult Choir at the church where I serve as Minister of Childhood Education. It was a simple, direct question and one that had crept into my thoughts in the recent weeks since my husband and I decided to accept positions with CBF as Global Service Corps Field Personnel in Marion, Alabama.

The “Why” Question hovered when I watched the real estate agent place a “for sale” sign in the yard of our Roanoke, VA home. I love this 86 year old home and its familiar creaky wood floors and the “Norman Rockwell” neighborhood we live in. The “Why” Question pierced when the first of the children I minister to hugged me and said they would miss me. The “Why” Question nagged when I announced to the local school principals that I would not be around to continue helping to lead the new Pack-A-Snack program for children in need. The “Why” Question pursued me as I mourned the thought of saying goodbyes to neighbors, best friends, and church members who love me. “I’ll just say ‘See you later,’” I joke with friends.

How To Be a Sheep

You’ve seen it at your local grocery store.  Putting milk in your cereal is weighing a little more heavily on your pocketbook these days, and eggs for your morning omelete are beginning to feel like luxury items.  So it makes you wonder - if I am noticing these subtle but significant food price increases, how are they affecting the 26 million Americans who use food stamps to put food on the table, who already use up almost all of those benefits by the 3rd week of the month?  And then you think about the people in developing countries who spend 80% of their disposable income on food.  With prices spiraling sharply upward, how are they to survive?

Using All The Tools

This past Sunday, we had a representative of Trans World Radio visiting with us in worship.  He took a few minutes to share with us about the ministry of Trans World Radio.  Their mission statement is simple:  to reach the world for Christ by mass media so that lasting fruit is produced.  TWR broadcasts Christian programming several hours a day into parts of the world where there are few Christian churches or believers are unable to gather together for fear of persecution.  Their programming includes Bible reading, Bible studies, and evangelistic programs.  As a way of making this programming accessible, they are striving to get special solar-powered radios into parts of the world where access to radios might be limited. 

Where does faith lead?

Baptists have traditionally been a dissenting people. They have come to faith with a hermeneutic of suspicion. This is a hermeneutic where questions are asked, not asked to be cynical, but asked to further ones faith. To quote Anselm “a faith that seeks understanding.” Do we still carry this hermeneutic of suspicion or are we on a quest for answers? When we search for answers, we typically search for something that will please us, or fit into our preconceived notions. When searching for answers, we are usually searching for validation of what we already believe. We come to conclusions by saying/thinking something like, “That’s it!” without further questioning or looking for what other possibilities might be possible. Bringing a hermeneutic of suspicion takes you down a different path though. When one is on a quest for this “faith seeking understanding” they might start out in a particular direction, but through inquiry and question might end up on a completely different path; or what one might see as a different path, but really it is the same path, the path towards truth. When we search for truth, we might find answers, but these answers typically only lead to more questions, not conclusions. So be open to where your faith might take you.

Prayer Calendars

First Baptist Church in Nashville, like many other churches, has a time of corporate prayer as part of their worship each Sunday.  During this time of prayer, the church remembers those who grieving, those who are ill, and they pray for individuals who represent various groups (i.e. active military, seminary students, and missionaries).  Recently they added to this list members of the congregation that are in various ministry positions.  A couple of Sundays ago, I was the first of these ministers to be remembered in the morning prayer.  I had not been prepared for that and was surprised by the calling of my name and the description of my ministry in Pastoral Counseling.  It was quite humbling to have the church body pray for me in my work.  It made me realize that I do not do that often enough in my own prayer time.

I know many who serve in various ministry and non-ministry positions have difficulties unique to their position, but I think the work of Pastoral Care that Chaplains and Pastoral Counselors do is particularly isolating and lonely. 

Student.Go MDG Special Project Team

This summer, a group of 13 students will be making a once in a lifetime journey.  They will be visiting 6 countries where they will both see and participate in projects with CBF field personnel that directly address the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)  www.endpoverty2015.org .  They will begin their trip in DC where they will meet with representatives from the ONE campaign, Bread for the World, Baptist World Aid, CBF and others.  These sessions will help to inform the students about the MDGs and prepare them for what they will experience.  They will then travel to Romania, Ethiopia, Uganda, New York City, Haiti and Mexico City, spending between 5 and 13 days in each location experiencing first hand the needs that the MDGs address as well as the efforts that are underway to achieve these goals. 

In the neighborhood

Below is a reflection by Angel Pittman, who serves with her husband, Jason, as CBF field personnel in Miami. The Pittmans serve at Touching Miami With Love, a ministry center in the Overtown community.

I went to the post office today to double check that our mail was being forwarded to our new address, having recently moved in the last month. We were expecting a letter and I didn’t get it at our new address yet. The clerk went to get our mail carrier to speak with me. I explained my concerns and she went to look for the letter. When she returned she stopped for a minute to chat, “Your new neighborhood sure is different from your old neighborhood.” She was referring to the fact that even though we moved just a few blocks away our old neighborhood had “historic status” and didn’t represent the demographics of the larger community of Overtown.

Our intent was always to live as close to the neighborhood where we ministered and our recent move provided just that putting us closer to the heart of Overtown. “You’re in a different place now” she went on to say. I commented back that our new home was where we wanted to be and that we used to live in inner-city Detroit to add validity to our choice of home.

Meet the Roses

After several months of prayerful discernment and preparation, Chris and Jess Rose and their 7- month old son, Joshua, moved to Collique, Peru on February 5, 2008 to begin their service as field personnel for the Operación San Andrés (OSA) ministry.  

Both have previous experience living in Latin America.  Chris lived in Chile for a couple of years and Jess lived in Ecuador for a study abroad program.  Prior to this move, Chris and Jess both taught bilingual classes in an elementary school in the Katy School District near Houston.  They were members of Tallowood Baptist Church in Houston where God’s work in their lives played a major role in confirming their call to missions.

The Rose’s appointment as OSA field personnel is the result of an on-going cooperative arrangement between OSA, South Main Baptist Church (SMBC), Tallowood Baptist Church (TBC), and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF).  OSA, SMBC, and TBC will provide financial support for the Roses while CBF provides training, peer teams, and administrative support.  The Roses have been commissioned by both SMBC and TBC, and will be commissioned by CBF during the General Assembly meeting in June. 

Learn more about the Roses and the ministry in Collique, Peru through their Blog.

Membership = Commitment ?

I recently read an interesting book, Urban Christianity and Global Order by Andrew Davey. Davey points out that one of the implications of urbanism is the response of “believing without belonging” (p.91). People are willing to participate in social networks (such as the Church) but are unwilling to “put their name down” for membership. He implies that they are unwilling to make long-term commitments to one another.

This may well be the case. One aspect of our culture of individualism in the United States is the fact that the individual defines his or her own reality. Such individualism, leads us to hold two crucial beliefs. The first is the pursuit of personal happiness and independence rather than collective goals or interests, is our ultimate goal. The second is the belief that society exists for the benefit of individual people, who must not be constrained by government interventions or made subordinate to collective interests (Individualism: Dictionary.com).

The Death of Denominations and the Future of CBF

Denominations have defined Protestant Christianity in America for most of its history.  They’ve included Congregationalists, Methodists, Episcopals, Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists.  But about 40 years ago, these denominations began a steep decline.  It started with more liberal denominations, but spread rapidly to moderate ones.  For example, the United Methodist Church has lost about three million members over the last 40 years. 

Conservative denominations like Southern Baptists have appeared to be immune to this decline.  But this may not be the case.  Statistics show that the average weekly worship attendance in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is about 6 million.  That’s down from slightly  more than 7 million in 1980.