Some have asked about the workshop that I had the privilege of participating in at the SBCV homecoming today, so I would like to briefly recount this experience.
Mark Custalow, Director of Multiplying Churches and Church Planting Strategist for the SBCV, moderated our time as I served on a panel with Jonge Tate and Kevin Cummings to share in the workshop entitled "The Church Unleashed."
The panel was asked to share what has made the difference in our churches when it comes to being unleashed.
Kevin's church has seen great blessing as they have managed to start a medical ministry on Tuesday evenings at Fincastle Baptist Church. This includes dental ministry and has seen a good response from the community.
Jonge's church is a young plant that has managed to make an impact by serving local businesses and individuals by cleaning toilets, cutting grass, and doing other projects.
In the course of my time with these men, I shared about the rich history of our church and some of the ministries that had begun prior to my arrival such as Julie's work with the Coronado School for Young Mothers and the Gosnold apartment partnership. I proceeded to share about how the Big Serve has proven to mobilize our people to new levels of missions involvement as they experience a change in their missional DNA. The challenge of our Pastor has greatly impacted our members as they are learning to live the mission through their natural gifts and interests. This has resulted in Group Serve projects and other individual endeavors. All the while we strive for John 1:14 which says in the Message paraphrase, "The word became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood."
The panel was then asked to share a few examples of missions opportunities that God is cultivating in our churches.
I shared about the work that our Chesapeake Fellowship is doing at the Cuffee Center. I rehearsed the history of our work with the Homeless Connect group and how this opportunity evolved. It is so exciting to share about how these public institutions now call us to help them at special events, etc.
The panel was then asked to share about someone who has been discipled through the process of our church reaching out to the community.
I enjoyed sharing about how God has allowed us to engage the Vietnamese people of Hampton Roads and see great growth in their spiritual lives. This growth has continued to the extent that there are now various classes that are meeting at our church and the people are becoming much more confident in the faith to reach out to others.
Mark Custalow then concluded our first session (there were actually two that were nearly identical) by asking that I share about the Celebration Service that we have on Sunday night after our people have been serving all weekend.
I told Mark that words just cannot explain the incredible feeling that our people have as they return, much like the 72 who were sent out by Jesus. There is an electricity in the room and everyone wants to share about their experiences. We utilize video and testimonies, but people are still anxious to share how God has blessed their day...so we have an ice cream fellowship as another connecting point.
Mark requested that Pastor Eric speak at the end to express his perspective on Big Serve. He shared about the impact that having a large number of members serve in the community has on the growth of the church and assured those present that God provides the financial needs even though it seems like a financial setback.
The times that we had to share were very well received as various people spoke with the panelists after our workshop. (There was so much interest in the second workshop, the panelists volunteered their chairs to those attending and there were still others standing due to a lack of space.) Some expressed that their churches were inspired by the story of our church to begin their own Big Serve efforts. I anticipate opportunities for our church to partner with other churches in our state for missions advancement in the near future. Thank you again for your prayers for me in this opportunity and continue to pray that we can be a church that multiplies the faith by helping other churches to live the mission!
Craig
(Pictured above: One of our college students, Thomas Starchia, leading the LU Praise group. They did a phenomenal job!)
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