Page 8 - CBFK SUMMER Newsletter 2020 flip

What I’m Learning About Church Ministry
During Our Pandemic
(continued)
to top it all off, procedures for our return. It was and continues to be a lot to keep up with, and I’m sure there are areas where I have dropped the ball, and for that I’ll have to rely on the grace of God and my church members. However, without the face to face contact and the daily grind to keep me on pace, “remembering” was key to church ministry these past couple of months.
And so, it is in that space where I feel the Lord has somewhat redeemed this pandemic for me. I could write a whole other page on how the Lord has taken care of me and my family financially through this, and for that I give Him thanks, but pastorally, He has used this time, I think, to shape my heart after His.
I continually turn to the parable of the Lost Sheep for my own spiritual sustenance, and one of the character traits of God and Jesus that always speaks to me is His willingness to stop at nothing in order to find me. The Bible says He came to “seek” and to save. We talk a lot about His saving, and rightfully so, but oftentimes, the Shepherd’s tenacity to seek us gets lost or undermined.
And if there’s anything I’ve learned from this pandemic it’s that maybe the Lord is making me more of a shepherd. That just as Christ intentionally reaches out to the individu- al, this scattering of our own, has made me more intentional in seeking out the individu- al in my own congregation.
Through this crisis, I have had to be more mindful and strategic to remember my peo- ple and to look for contactless ways of “con- tacting” them, and it was in that desire and intentionality where I feel I was able to en- ter into a smidgen of God’s desire for me and His desire for the world. And for that I praise Him.
And so, it is because of that love and tenacity and intentionality and the “impatience” of the Good Shepherd to get me back no mat- ter the cost and as quick as possible, that I keep pressing on in ministry in hopes to ex- tend to my people the same love and desire of the Good Shepherd that I am continually growing in.
What I’m
Learning About
Cooperative
Baptist Fellowship of Kentucky During Our Pandemic
by Tim Hobbs, Pastor, Community Baptist Church, Owensboro
What I am learning about CBFKY during our pandemic is not so much “what I am learning;” it is more of what is being affirmed for me. I say that because I was already aware that the qualities I want to specify in this article are endemic to the CB- FKY I know and love. That being said, I want to brag on three qual- ities that have been helpful to me during these uncertain times.
1. CBFKY is Flexible.
During my days supervising Sum- mer Missionaries, the watchword was always “Be Flexible.” The thought was that a missionary never knew when a situation might change at a moment’s notice.The inflexible would become frustrated and an- gry. The flexible would “roll with it.” CBFKY has demonstrated its ability to “roll with it” in the midst of great uncertainty. Long-planned activities like our Spring Gathering and Extreme Build would not be cancelled, but postponed to a time when we can meet safely to carry out our mission. But there was im- portant business that needed to be addressed immediately, so for the first time in history CBFKY held a business session via Zoom. CBFKY is Flexible.
2. CBFKY is Encouraging.
Leading churches through the mul- titude of difficult decisions and de- tails that must be addressed in the midst of isolation and in the new ways that we have been forced to do church is pushing the limits of those in church leadership. It has been extremely helpful for me to join the
weekly Zoom Pastor’s Meetings, just to know that all of us are go- ing through the same thing, and we are going through it together.We are able to lift each other up in prayer and with words of encouragement. CBFKY is Encouraging.
3. CBFKY is an Idea Generator.
Most of us never imagined the sce- nario in which we find ourselves today. Circumstances preclude us from carrying on almost any minis- try in the same way as BC (Before Corona). But the church must be the church and continue ministry to her people and community.This has required creativity and innovation.
I, for one, am tremendously appre- ciative of fellow CBFKY church leaders who, through Zoom Calls and Facebook Posts, have shared ideas of what is working for them. I am not ashamed to say that I have “borrowed” some of their ideas, and applied them to our situation with great results. CBFKY is an Idea Generator.
The truth is that this pandemic has generated many questions for us as CBFKY Churches and individu- als for which no one has definitive answers. We do not know how long our isolation will last. We question when to return to in- person wor- ship. We don’t know what that will look like when we do. But that’s OK. Because CBFKY folks are flex- ible, encouraging, and able to help each other find the answers we seek. I am thankful for CBFKY during this time of pandemic and am con- tinuing to learn from and appreciate the gifts of my sisters and brothers in Christ.