Our One Priority Briefing for Congregational Leaders from George Bullard — Monday, June 8, 2020

A Family of Baptist Congregations in the Midlands of South Carolina

Our One Priority: Starting and Strengthening Churches to Serve as Vital and Vibrant Missional Communities.

Thriving Congregations Soar with Faith

WHEN: Tuesday, June 9th at 2:00 p.m.

WHERE? Our One Priority Briefing Live!  As an extra security and for us to connect with you, please register for this dialogue at https://forms.gle/LVsK9JH4xbZW5K6U7. You will be sent the Zoom connection link by Tuesday morning. (If you are already on the permanent list for the Live! briefings, you do not need to re-register. This Live! briefing will also be recorded and posted on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/CMBAssociation/ and our website at www.ColumbiaMetro.org.)

WHAT? An Introduction to Thriving Congregations Soar with Faith

DETAILS? A new emphasis has been created for congregations in three of the five stages of development in the congregational life cycle. Thriving Congregations Soar with Faith is the name of this emphasis and it will be introduced during this video conference on Tuesday. Already a Facebook group has been developed for dialogue on this approach and you can connect with it at https://www.facebook.com/groups/thrivingcongregationssoar/. Soon we will be updating our website at www.ColumbiaMetro.org to have a clear section that focuses on this emphasis.

To Our African-American Sisters and Brothers

Our hearts are grieving with you. Our grief is in response to the brutal loss of human life, most recently George Floyd, and the systemic mistreatment of African-Americans in our country. Our souls hurt for you. Yet we realize we can never know the depth of hurt you feel. Our minds are swirling with thoughts of love for you. We commit our strength to you so that our unconditional loving efforts against the sin of racism will not fail.

Every person is a person of worth created in the image of God to live and to love (Genesis 1:27). Our God has a plan for every life. A plan to take care of you and not to abandon you. A plan to give you a future for which you hope (Jeremiah 29:11 paraphrased).

We believe all people are one in Christ (Romans 12:5), and we share a deep desire and commitment to learning a new language of love for one another as we stand up for justice and lasting reconciliation.

We cannot be silent during this time. We speak out for peace among all people. We stand up for non-violent justice. We sit in community with one another. We kneel in prayer together. Maranatha! (Come Lord Jesus!)

Our One Priority Briefing and the Our One Priority Briefing Online Gathering are made possible by the financial gifts of the member and network congregations of the Columbia Metro Baptist Association at www.ColumbiaMetro.org, CMBA@ColumbiaMetro.org, or 803.619.7110. To donate go to https://columbiametro.org/donate/. Gifts can be made to the general fund, to hunger ministry, or to disaster response.

About the author 

Kyndra Bremer