tbc Worship & Fellowship

Pastor’s Report: January 2019

PASTOR’S REPORT: Rev. Sterling Severns
Fourteen and a half years ago I stood before you and attempted to preach my first sermon as Pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church. I don’t remember much about the specific sermon. I remember feeling both nervous and hopeful. I remember telling you that I had no idea what I was doing or where God was taking us. However, I also remember telling you that I didn’t feel the need to know the specifics because I was confident that God would reveal our collective calling as we continued to take leaps of faith. There was a tremendous sense of purpose in those fragile days of transition. Against all odds, we were still here. The nursery only had 2 active children, conveniently they relocated to Richmond with their parents when the church called their father to serve as Pastor. Back in 2004, our resources were fairly sparse and our vision was vague at best. Many outsiders didn’t think the church would survive. The odds were against us but God was for us. 

All these years later, I look back to those tender days with delight. What a journey it has been. The vitality, and spiritual growth, we experienced in 2018 is a continuation of God’s faithfulness in our story. We are small but God is doing great things through us. The legacies of the every-day-saints that came before us continue to prosper through their generosity and examples. The new life that has come to us is a direct result of God’s desire for us to grow into our identity as Christ’s followers. Each day brings a sense of adventure and each relational opportunity helps us to reclaim an influential role in the kingdom. I am more hopeful and optimistic about our future than ever. Whereas, I still don’t know what I’m doing or where God is taking us, I am confident that God isn’t finished with us. If anything, we’re just getting started….

Here are some highlights from this past year of life and ministry together:

Steady and Faithful Leadership
Our veteran staff members continued to use their God-given gifts, and love of the church to guide us forward into a productive year of ministry. Thank you to our veteran equippers: Judy, Susan, Vincent, Ron, Terry, Ryan, Dianna and Kara. You have been such a blessing to us. Your tireless energy and creativity help to make this place a beacon of light in the city. 

I can’t begin to express the depth of my gratitude for the faithful leaders that guided the flock throughout 2018. I am grateful to Woody Jenkins and Kathy McGraw, the chairpersons of our two major Boards. You, and all of your colleagues, led us well! Connie Jones, our beloved Treasurer, spent innumerable hours serving behind the scenes in the financial office and clothes closet. Connie, your integrity and dedication never ceases to amaze us. Thank you for your faithful service. We also owe a debt of gratitude to Allen Lowery, Jacque Green, and Terry McMahon for taking the helm in the office during the first portion of the year. Thank you also to Brenda Brown, for stepping back into service at the organ while Judy’s wrist healed.

I never cease to be amazed by the caliber of gifts and generosity represented in our pews. Thank you to all of our Ministry Team and Committee leaders for a stellar year of ministry together.

New Leadership
One of the strongest markers of health in the life of a congregation is exhibited trust. Our little church took an enormous leap of faith in hiring six new staff members in 2018. Meg, Hogan, Jerusha, Hope C., Hope N, and Kristen also took leaps of faith in coming to us. God has honored our collective trust in bringing each of these gifted servants into our fold. Our new staff members have brought a tremendous amount to joy to Tabernacle. The veteran staff and congregation have found deep wisdom in their words and inspiration in their leadership in the form of servanthood. Welcome home, friends.

Jacque’s ordination
One of God’s greatest gifts in 2018 was the ordination of Jacquelyn Brown Green. What a blessing it was to join together with multiple churches and mentors in Jacque’s life to affirm her calling and nudge her forward in ministry. We are better as a community of faith because of Jacque’s presence in our lives. Her unifying voice is needed in the Kingdom of God and we are humbled to play a small role in helping to shape her call.

Zoe and Kekoa’s Baptism
Two of the most memorable moments in 2018 centered on Kekoa Burgess and Zoe Jamerson’s baptisms. These two disciples, both wise beyond their years, professed their faith in Christ through spoken testimony and the waters of baptism. We are grateful for their trust and eager to see what Jesus will do as they continue to walk in faith.

A Strong financial year
Another strong marker of health in the life of the church is stewardship. We started the year with a huge leap of faith in the creation of the budget and ended the financial year in the black! Thank you, Tabernacle, for faithfulness and sacrifice.

A deepening relationship with leaders and families in our Child Care Center Ministry
Two years ago, we set out to reorganize the leadership structure of our Child Care Center Ministry. We did this in anticipation of Frances Thrift’s retirement and also with a desire to connect with the TCCC leaders, children, and families in a deeper way. I am continually amazed by what God is doing through the ministry of Kristen, our Director, and the unstoppable leaders on our TCCC Ministry and Administrative Committees. We’re gaining momentum with each passing season. The center is thriving.

Bread for the Journey
We offered bread for the journey to numerous family members that have moved into various ministry positions and/or opportunities in other cities, states, and countries. Whereas, the goodbyes have been very difficult, we can’t help but feel connected to the Universal Church, as they plant roots in new places. I won’t make a list of names for fear of leaving someone out. However, God continues to use these difficult transitions to keep our motives pure and help us to see that we are participating in something so much larger than our little corner at Grove and Meadow.

Marriage Enrichment
One of the strongest highlights of 2018 came in our open dialogue about the strengthening of marriage and the expression of our desire to support couples seeking marriage. The deacons were charged with a difficult task on the other side of the official acceptance of our Statement of Welcome in 2017. That role does the church play in helping couples grow into their covenant with God and one another? What is the role of the church in the area of accountability and mentorship of couples before, during, and after their wedding day? I encourage you to take a moment to review the working draft of our marriage policy in the appendix of this Book of Reports and pray for guidance as we live into re-commitment to marriage enrichment.

BTSR
The greatest collective loss we experienced in 2018 was the official notice of the closing of the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. The seminary will close their doors in January 2019 and hold their last graduation in May. God has used BTSR to give us life in so many ways….for so many years. We are indebted to the students, graduates, faculty and staff for their partnership over this last quarter of a century. We grieve with the seminary community and trust that God will bring resurrection in surprising ways.

A turning point with our neighbors
Of the residual effects of the renovation of our row houses is positive connection with our neighbors in the Fan District. What a blessing it has been to encounter neighbors with a common sense of hopeful investment in our community. It is hard to believe we were slated to tear the houses down two short years ago. God is good!

Race Dialogue
We are a historic church located in the heart of the capitol of the confederacy. We are uniquely obligated and poised to actively engage in racial reconciliation. We spent the first half of the year in active dialogue and the back half of the year praying about next steps. I encourage you to look at the overview of our dialogue in the appendix of this document. I have no idea what fruit will be born through our lengthy conversations and faithful work of our leaders. However, I am eager to see what God will bring as we have opened the door and prepared our hearts for a new chapter together.

Hunger Ministry
We recommitted ourselves to hunger ministry in 2018. The emergency assistance program shifted to first Saturdays and we added a new weekly program for senior adults. We are eager to focus our efforts on a deepening of relationships with our neighbors and we are especially grateful to Hope Nycum for her tireless leadership, Miriam Kennedy for her support last summer, and to all of our former and current lay leaders.

Family Ministry is growing
Would you believe that we now have 90+ children and 15+ teenagers actively engaged in church life in any given month? What a difference a year makes! We’ve hired Hogan and Jerusha to focus their gifts in discipling our children, students, and parents. Ministry teams have offered stellar support and all signs point to more growth in the year ahead!

A renewed commitment to our global neighbors
2018 brought a renewed focus on support of the global community. The Rone Support Team served faithfully. The Coppages remained in touch on a weekly basis. Rob and Amanda began a new company and planted roots in a new city. Both couples came home for furlough. Our ESL mentors worked diligently with our brothers and sisters from Myanmar. Our citizenship mentors celebrated with hard working students on the other side of numerous hours of study and successful citizenship test taking. Jim McMurray helped multiple refugee families purchase their first homes. Re-Establish Richmond
continued to thrive in their support of the Refugee Community. Kate Illian moved to Indonesia to teach English. Lindsay Comstock, and her wife Mary, began a new company in Bali, and several families were blessed to return home to visit with loved ones they haven’t seen in years.

God bless the little church at the corner of Grove and Meadow. Looking forward to another wonderful year of life and ministry together.

Yours in Christ,
Rev. Sterling W. Severns, Pastor

tbc Worship & Fellowship

128th Anniversary Celebration!

Over 130 years ago, a little church school, inspired by the dreams of a paperboy, was planted amidst a grove of trees in the quiet countryside on the outskirts of Richmond. Over the years, a neighborhood grew up around the little school and, in turn, the little school grew into a full-fledged church (January 28, 1891)  The neighborhood and church grew up together. The grove of trees was eventually transformed into Grove Avenue, a bustling corner of a an expanding city. The church thrived where it was planted. What began as a little school would later become one of the largest Sunday Schools on the eastern seaboard.
 
Tabernacle Baptist Church and the Fan District reached a numerical zenith in the years preceding WWII. However, the years that followed the war would bring a steady decline of both congregants and neighbors as young families migrated to the suburbs. During this period of time, many downtown churches followed the families out of the city and some churches were even forced to close their doors. The little church, that became a big church at the corner of Grove and Meadow, found itself “little” once again. The congregation found itself at a crossroads, “do we follow the others out of the city or do we take a risk and remain?”.  The church took a courageous stand and chose to remain true to the vision first cast in 1887. Limited resources made it difficult to maintain deteriorating facilities. However, the church never lost sight of its original commitment to serve God and to share the love of Christ in this community. There was always the expectation that God would honor the church’s continuing commitment and prayers for renewal. 
 
Many years later, the little church found itself turning a significant corner. Positive signs began to surface in the late 1990s and momentum came steadily into the turn of the century. We began to see some dramatic growth in 2005 as young adults, students and professionals alike, began to stream into the church. Three years later, a massive influx of refugees from Burma arrived on our doorstep. Our brothers and sisters from east Asia brought numerous children back into the corridors of the old church building and together our wonderfully diverse family began to live into something new. The veterans that remained so faithful, for so many years, welcomed each and every newcomer with open arms. A surge of public and private educators, social workers, investors, lawyers, construction workers, seminarians, nurses, doctors, architects, artists, sushi chefs, etc., soon joined the ranks. Today, the momentum continues to build and we are eager to live into the vision God has put before us. 
 

Tabernacle Baptist Church looks back over these 130 years of ministry with a full awareness that we are participating in a story larger than our own. We are celebrating renewal and recommitting ourselves to the initial vision cast thirteen decades ago: the nurture, care, and spiritual development of children, teenagers, and their families. We are also uniquely equipped to facilitate ministry for partners wishing to serve in the city or for others wishing to develop their gifts in a healthy ministry environment. 

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tbc Worship & Fellowship

TCCC New Entrance Update!

TCCC New Entranceway Officially Completed!

Last week the final steps to complete the new TCCC entranceway were completed when Jay Hartman, Jim Soyars, and team installed the canopy over the new exterior door and added ramps to help the baby carts have an easier roll in and out of the facility.  Work began last fall with the creation of a new wall that now provides more privacy for the Yellow Room children.  Since then there has been a lot of activity including the addition of a new glass door and signage, painting, updated bulletin boards, and a new front desk in the entranceway.  Work is almost completed with just a few cosmetic changes still to be made.  Additionally, over the Christmas break a new classroom door was added in the Yellow Room giving the children direct access to the main TCCC hallway and the bathrooms.  It is all looking really good—we welcome you to check out our progress in person!

This new entranceway was needed to provide a safe and more private access for our TCCC families as we begin renovations of the row houses to apartments.  What was the main TCCC entrance door will be closed off from now on.  We are all excited about the changes that are still to come—we will continue to provide updates for you in the weeks and months ahead!

 

          

tbc Worship & Fellowship

Members on Mission: Mark Snipes – Metro NYC Christmas Lunch

16 Turkeys–That’s A Lot of Bird!

Over the course of 48 hours, eight members from Tabernacle traveled to Metro Baptist, in New York City, to prepare a Christmas lunch for over 300 New Yorkers.

One evening, as I was waiting for three of the turkeys to finish cooking, I sat down with one of the pastors of Metro and asked about the people who would be eating this meal. Pastor Megan said that this was her third time being a part of this meal and she has learned two important lessons about those the church serves: 1. Each person has a unique story; and 2. When you sit and listen, you learn that those you serve have a deep, rich understanding of God.

Pastor Megan went on to say that those who will eat this meal are an assorted group of people. From veterans, some struggling with PTSD and others just unable to reengage with normal society, to people who have made some very bad decisions in life, to those who have just had some hard breaks. Others are people who have recently lost jobs and others who have been disowned from their family for lifestyle choices. Some have been poor for a long time (generations, even) and others are just temporarily in this position.  

As I sat on the church van on the way back to Richmond, I began to think about the people who would eat a part of one of those 16 turkeys. Perhaps somehow we were connected. Though we may never meet, the cooks and the diners have a common experience through a meal. In a very sacred way, we have broken bread together.

I do wish that I could have sat and eaten with some of the diners. Remembering my conversation with pastor Megan, I wonder what I would have learned about God?

I live in a world where I, and most of those I have chosen to live life with, have little to no idea what it is like to be poor or marginalized. My tribe is often middle class Americans who live in adequate homes, eat three meals a day, have never been incarcerated and, though addiction affects all of us in one way or another, live lives where addiction does not control us.

I wonder what I could have discovered about God from those who are aware of their need for God’s provision daily, from those who know what it means to be hungry, in need and even oppressed?

When I approach scripture, I acknowledge that these texts were written to groups of people who knew what it meant to be marginalized, to be poor. I wonder, then, how those who have this similar experience today relate differently to scripture from me? Do they have life experiences that I am missing that give them a more keen insight to God?

Most of my life I have looked for mentors who are well-educated, successful people. Perhaps it is time that I pass the microphone to those who have different experiences, seeking to learn from those who have traveled down different avenues of the Kingdom hoping that our understanding of God is shaped in ways that I never thought possible.   

May God bless and continue to enrich the lives of all those who accept turkey meals, and may God open the ears and hearts of all the cooks.