Our 2021 Annual Gathering will offer a wide range of workshops for laypeople and ministers alike. Check back often as we continue to add to our growing list of workshops, and begin planning your schedule for engaging in these educational opportunities!
CBB – Reimagining Financial Wellness: Lessons from the New Normal
Rob Fox | President of CBF Church Benefits
Panel Discussion Participants:
Terri Byrd | Coordinator of Alabama CBF
Shauw Chin Capps | CBF Foundation President & CBF Chief Development Officer
Dane Jackson | Minister of Students with Providence Baptist Church. Charlotte, NC
Jim Morrison | Executive Vice President/COO of CBF Church Benefits
As you navigate the new normal in life and ministry, the CBF Church Benefits Board (CBB) is here to help. Join Rob Fox and a panel of CBB and CBF leaders as we reimagine financial wellness, explore new resources, and consider lessons learned in a post-pandemic world.
Storytelling as Digital Marketing Strategy for Churches
Christen Kinard | Founder, Digital Congregations
Many churches think expanding their reach online and increasing engagement will require more content, more marketing, more communication. That’s not the case. Instead, effective communication in the digital space is about moving away from merely sharing information and toward storytelling. Storytelling will enable churches to build relationships online and engage with their congregants digitally. This workshop will teach you how to adapt storytelling to your social media platforms, websites, emails, and more!
The Sun Do Move! Interpreting the Bible in Competing Cultural Contexts
Jonathan Lee Walton | Dean of the School of Divinity, Presidential Chair of Religion and Society, Dean of Wait Chapel
Each of us interpret the Bible. Like language, meaning is determined by context. In order to engage the Bible in the spirit of justice, compassion, and love, this lecture provides interpretive tools to understand the context of the Scriptures along with the Scriptures themselves. Our aim is to read and interpret the Bible as we consider society’s pressing issues.
The Four Senses of Scripture: Retrieving an Ancient Model of Theological interpretation
Barry Jones | Professor of Old Testament & Hebrew Campbell University Divinity School
The workshop will describe a model of theological interpretation of Scripture that updates the ancient pattern of a fourfold interpretation of the Bible for needs of the contemporary church.
Increasing Congregational Health
Chris Gambill | Director, Center for Congregational Health, Winston Salem
Beth Kennett | Ministries Coordinator, Center for Congregational Health, Winston Salem
In recent years, many resources have been spent on helping clergy thrive. While this is still much needed, congregations need more than healthy pastors in order to flourish – they need healthy lay leaders. This workshop will explore how to help congregations develop and sustain healthy, thriving lay leaders.
Encourager Church: What, Who, Why and How?
Ellen Sechrest | Manager of Global Missions Engagement, CBF Global
Come join us as we learn about CBF’s ministry of the Encourager Church program. This program partners churches with a specific field personnel for prayer support, short term mission engagement, financial contributions to their ministry fund, and creates a unique relationship for kingdom building.
Moving the Equator: The Families of the Earth and the Mission of the Church
Rob Nash | Professor of Mission and Comparative Religion, McAfee School of Theology, Mercer University
This workshop, based on Rob Nash’s recent book by the same title, explores the provocative possibility that God’s intention from the very moment of creation has been a diverse world of various cultures, languages, world views, and religions that offer blessings to each other. We will explore how twentieth-century perceptions of Christian mission were shaped by Western and white culture and tradition in ways that often violated this intention and how scripture itself encourages us beyond our theological captivity and toward openness to the blessings of others. Finally, we will explore practical ways in which followers of Jesus and local congregations can embrace such a vision.
Enoughness
Libby Johnson | Associate Certified Coach, Libby L Johnson Coaching & Speaking
You Are Enough! There is HOPE in that phrase, but we struggle to believe it…why? This workshop will take a dive into God’s word and some surprising truths about why it is difficult to believe that we are enough. You will walk away with a better understanding of this topic, some insight to what God’s word says about it, and some practical tips that may be life changing.
Pastoral Leadership in Chaotic Times: A Theological Approach / Liderazgo Pastoral en tiempos Caóticos: Un acercamiento teológico
Dr. Nora O. Lozano | Professor of Theological Studies at the Baptist University of the Américas
Leadership has been a constant energy source to empower change, seeking the transformation of thoughts towards new ways of seeing the world. This workshop seeks to explore the implications of leadership in chaotic times from a theological perspective.
Faith at Home and the Church
Joshua Breazeale | Minister of Education and Children, Oakmont Baptist Church
Parents have the greatest influence on their children than anyone else. Parents are uniquely positioned to have a profound impact on the spiritual development of their children. As parents we are called to be the primary nurturers of our children’s faith. The church has a unique opportunity to partner with families by equipping and encouraging them to nurture faith at home. During this workshop we will talk about ways the church can partner with parents to help them nurture the faith of their children in the home.
Ministerial Transitions: Challenges and Opportunities
Matt Cook | Assistant Director, The Center for Healthy Churches
Bill Wilson | Director, The Center for Healthy Churches
A change in ministerial leadership, whether it be your pastor or other ministerial position, is a crucial moment in the life of a church. Anticipating and managing the inevitable challenges and opportunities is a must if you hope to emerge from your transition prepared for a hopeful future. Come and learn some new insights and best practices for transitioning well.
Lead with Purpose: Vocation Embodied in Beloved Communities
Faithe Beam | Associate Vice President for Spiritual Life and Campus Minister, Campbell University
Colin Kroll | Director, Campbell Youth Theological Institute, Campbell University
How does discerning personal vocation in community challenge our approaches to faith and leadership formation, and how does that transform our understanding of Christ’s redemptive work in the world?
What is the Gospel? Second Thoughts from the Fourth Quarter
Dan Day | Pastor Emeritus, First, Raleigh
When one loses confidence in a “plan of salvation-centered” understanding of the gospel, where and how might a better, more holistic understanding be found? In this workshop, the pastor emeritus of First Baptist, Raleigh, tells of a “kingdom of God” gospel, its basis and its implications for today. Dan Day is the author of Finding the Gospel: A Pastor’s Disappointment and Discovery.
Jesus’ Paradigmatic Sermon: Luke 4
Jim McConnell | Assistant Professor of New Testament Interpretation Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity
This workshop will explore how Jesus’ sermon in the synagogue in Nazareth (Luke 4) sets the narrative stage for his ministry in Galilee. The immediate aftermath of the sermon will also be considered, especially the way in which it foreshadows Jesus’ ministry to the marginalized and his eventual rejection by his own people.
Welcome House Ministry Best Practices
Amanda Atkin | Special Projects Manager, Welcome House-Raleigh
A preview of the upcoming Welcome House Toolkit and the best practices learned by Welcome House-Raleigh. During this seminar, hear how the ministry of Christian hospitality formed a network of housing ministries in North Carolina and get tips that may help other churches begin a similar ministry in your community. Marc and Kim Wyatt, CBF field personnel, and Carolyn McClendon, Welcome House manager, will join the live Q&A session following this presentation.
The Unique Ministry of Podcasting
Paul Burgess | Senior Pastor, Winter Park, Wilmington
Most people in church get to see their preacher from one platform – the pulpit. This helps congregants to know their preacher in one way, but there are other angles to a minister’s personality that are helpful to see. Podcasting is a medium that can offer insight into those “other angles,” allowing Christians and non- Christians alike the opportunity to know the minister as something more than just a righteous body separated from the people by a pulpit. Podcasts invite ministers to present a unique authenticity and relatability that many in our world are eager to see.
Emotional intelligence: A fundamental competence for pastoral care / Inteligencia Emocional: Competencia fundamental para el Cuidado Pastoral
Dr. Daniel S. Schipani | Professor Emeritus of Pastoral Care & Counseling at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary and Affiliate Professor of Pastoral & Spiritual Care for the topic of emotional intelligence
As religious leaders, establishing an effective emotional intelligence competence in our ministry will help us be compelling in earning others’ trust and creating a connection that can empower their growth and ours. This workshop will explore the need for this competence for leaders working within a sacred context.