Our One Priority Briefing for Congregational Leaders from George Bullard — Wednesday, July 29, 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.

CMBA Congregations – ReGathering Stories

During July, Julia Bell, Our One Priority Storyteller has written stories about our congregations and how they are ReGathering. Check out what other members of our CMBA family are doing to ReGather:

ReGathering Stories: Opening Perspectives — https://columbiametro.org/regathering-stories/  As COVID-19-related concerns forced the sudden stop of in-person worship services in March, churches began planning and discussing issues related to ReGathering. CMBA resources were immediately available to help churches prepare for closures, produce livestream or prerecorded worship service options, begin incorporating safety measures and start planning for the eventual day when members could meet again for live worship. This ReGathering journey has been unique to each CMBA church as they consider congregational and community needs.

ReGathering Stories: Lessons Learned — https://columbiametro.org/lessons-learned/  Across the CMBA churches have implemented similar plans leading to ReGathering, using a phased approach with differing time frames for each level of reopening. At press time, some have been meeting in person for weeks and even months, while others are happy to continue offering online worship services for the foreseeable future. COVID-19 has forced churches to learn many important lessons and the ReGathering experience is no exception.

ReGathering and Future Forecastinghttps://columbiametro.org/regathering-and-future-forecasting/ This is the final installment of a three-part series sharing how CMBA churches have planned for ReGathering, valuable lessons learned and now, how some are looking to position themselves for ministry in the coming fall and winter months. The only predictable thing about COVID-19 has been its unpredictability, including how it is affecting nearly every aspect of church planning and calendaring. Many CMBA churches are reporting an openness to how God might lead their congregation in new and different ways moving forward.

Our One Priority Podcasts

Chris Reinolds, pastor, Killian Baptist Church coordinates the recording of Our One Priority Podcasts. Here are the two that have been posted during July.

OPP 041: Andre Rogers & Brian Thomas on the Road to Racial Reconciliation https://columbiametro.org/podcast-041/

OPP 040: Robbie McAlister on Reaching the Unreached Locallyhttps://columbiametro.org/podcast-040/

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