Author: tbc

Music and Worship Arts Report

The third quarter of each year is always a fun mixture of wrapping summer activities and worship planning with the challenge of planning and organizing for the fall season and Christmas to seeing those plans begin to be implemented in September.  July, August and September are busy!

In July 23 of us attended Music and Worship Arts Camp at Eagle Eyrie sponsored by the Virginia Baptist Resource Center.  Children from grades 4 -10 attended under the supervision of Judy Fiske, Bonnie Bailey, Peggy Strong, John Burgess and Paul Lian. The group was divided between two choirs, Alpha, grades 4-6 and Omega, grades 6-9.  Kekoa Burgess attended camp in a leadership track, Delta Track.  Everyone learned a lot of music, singing and playing.  It was a wonderful experience for both youth and adults.  A special thank you goes to everyone who donated money to help make attendance at this camp possible.

The Sanctuary Choir, ensembles and soloists made the worship services during the month of August a special event each week.   The services in August each centered on a hymn or a group of hymns.  The different hymns were sung by the congregation and by ensembles.   The background of the hymns was shared in the service.   We also were gifted a large amount of music and a wonderful large folder cabinet by Patterson Ave. Baptist as they disbanded their congregation in August.  The end of the month of August was spent in preparation and construction of the large art project for use in the Sanctuary in September.  The theme of  “Looking Backwards-Walking Forward” was chosen and the large collage of pictures from our history and current experience was created and placed in the sanctuary to be an integral part of worship for the fall.  The youth group worked really hard on this project.   

In September all of the choirs began again.  Sanctuary Choir began on September 6^th and the children’s choirs began on September 13.  The Youth Worship Arts Ensemble began on October 1.  The Preschool Choir is being led by Helen Davidson and Larry Allen, the 1st-2^nd grade choir is being led by Judy Fiske and Kathy McGraw with frequent help from Susan Braden, the 3^rd-5^th grade choir is being led by Jessica Corbitt and Terry Witt.  Ron Simmons, Judy Fiske and Marty Watkin are leading the Youth Worship Arts program.  Each of these groups has between 15-22 participants.  We are busy!  If you are interested in a music group please contact Judy and we will connect you with a choir.  

Ryan Corbitt continues to provide amazing leadership from the piano each Sunday morning as well as wonderful accompaniments on both the piano and guitar.  He has spent a large amount of time this year enlarging his piano teaching/tuning/sales business with a new location on the “other” end of Grove Ave.  His business is operating at a new location in the area of Libbie and Grove as well as here at the church.  He spends a lot of time encouraging young and old musicians.

Ron Simmons and Terry Witt provide strong leadership in the Sanctuary Choir and in the children’s and youth music program.  They are the steady and strong voices that allow our volunteer Sanctuary Choir members the flexibility to come and go without leaving us singer-less on Sunday mornings.  They work hard to make sure that we present the best possible music with the groups of singers we have available each week.  

We are all looking forward to the next quarter as Christmas is coming!!  We are all rehearsing Christmas music and preparing to lead worship and sing concerts.  Plan now to join us.  If you want to sing it is not too late to join us!

Judy Fiske

Minister of Music/Worship/Organist

My name is Jacquelyn (Jacque) Green. I am the pastoral intern for the 2017-18 school year. I am a third year student at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. I am pursuing a dual degree – Masters of Divinity and Masters in Patient Counseling from Virginia Commonwealth University.  My course work does not require that I take a supervised ministry internship. However, I felt that I was lacking the type of congregational experience that I needed to balance my divinity studies and prepare me for ministry. Therefore, I was introduced to Tabernacle through our Dean, Dr. Tracy Hartman.

I believed Tabernacle would be an ideal place for me to train. After taking my first unit of Clinical Pastor Education at VCU, I became increasingly interested in ecumenical ministry. Therefore, I returned for my second year at BTSR with a few learning goals in mind.  First, I wanted to serve in a culturally diverse congregation. Secondly, I wanted serve in a church that worshipped around the liturgical year. Thirdly, I wanted to gain experience in planning and leading worship, along with general pastoral responsibilities. My husband, Ray and I are members of St. Paul’s Baptist Church.  St. Paul’s has a large, predominately African American congregation, with a progressive, contemporary worship style. So, the specific ministry training I desired wasn’t available in my church context. 

As of this writing, I am participating in all of the learning goals listed above, especially assisting with planning all aspects of worship.  Most recently, I helped with the funeral for Ethel Isaacs, served communion during World Communion Sunday, provided pastoral care to home-bound members, and I am co-facilitating Wednesday night Bible Study with Art Wright. 

I am grateful for the generosity of the anonymous donors who made the financial 

investment in me through this internship. Equally, I am humbled by the personal investment of Rev. Sterling Severns and Judy Fiske in mentoring me, as well as the prayers and encouragement of the Tabernacle family. I am diligently seeking God’s guidance in how he will continue to use my ministry training in the months and years to come.

Respectfully submitted,

Jacque Green 

Greetings Tabernacle Baptist Church family!  The Associate Pastor Search Team is happy to announce that we have found a candidate to present to the church.  As you will read below, we had a thorough and exhaustive search.  We are very excited and hopeful for how our candidate can serve TBC and the abilities she will bring to the role.  We have enjoyed getting to know her and look forward to introducing her to you all. 

 

The search has been a significant effort by all of the team members.  We began meeting in late May and met once a week through early September.  The job description was widely publicized, and received 37 resumes.  After reviewing and grading the resumes, the team developed a questionnaire for selected candidates.  From the 18 questionnaires returned to the team, we identified 7 candidates to interview.  Following the interview process, the team unanimously presented a candidate to the Deacon Board, September 17th .

 

Information about the candidate will be presented to the church October 15^th.  

 

The candidate will be visiting Tabernacle November 9-12.  There will be three Question and Answer sessions for members to meet the candidate and learn more about her.  Please make plans to attend one of the sessions.

 

Question and Answer Sessions

Friday, November 10, 7pm Coffee and Dessert in the Fellowship Hall

Saturday, November 11, 11:30am-1:30pm Picnic Lunch at Dunncroft/Castle Point Park

Sunday, November 12, 9am Breakfast in the Fellowship Hall

 

The congregation will vote to call the candidate to ministry at TBC November 19.  

 

Thank you for your prayers, encouragement and wisdom for the team during the search process.

 

The Associate Pastor Search Team

April Kennedy

Brang Ja Mahka

Brenda Gradwell

Burdette Robinson

Kathryn Hall

Monica Lang

Nathan Hatfield

 

Without fail, the arrival of Fall brings with it heightened activity in most aspects of life.  It is certainly true of life here at TBC!  Full-swing is almost an understatement… and it’s all good.

The Associate Pastor Search Committee did not take a break all summer, and have, with much deliberation, brought to us their highest recommended candidate.  April Kennedy, chairperson, and team: Nathan Hatfield, Brenda Gradwell, Brang Ja Mahka, Burdette Robinson, Monica Iang and Kathryn Hall are to be thanked for their extraordinary diligence and for a task of service well-done.

A strong church body doesn’t exist without strong leadership.  As we look toward the up-coming church year, we seek your prayers and discernment for those among us who will step up and assume roles in the various positions, committees and teams that comprise TBC leadership.  You will each soon be asked to consider where your own gifts can be best utilized as well as those among us whom you would recommend to serve in key leader roles.

During a recent meeting, the Deacon Board received excellent instruction and suggestions from our very own hospital chaplain, Jeff Walton, regarding Do’s and Don’ts of Making Hospital Visits.  Thank you, Jeff, for sharing your expertise from your own experiences.

Church staffing needs continue to be front and center on our agenda.  Most pressing are the urgent needs for our youth and children’s ministries.  Prayers for God’s leading in these matters are of utmost importance.

A team is being formed to bring to our church family recommendations for a church-wide marriage and marriage enrichment process.  Here again, your prayers are coveted for the formation of the team and working together toward this sensitive and urgent need.

The Tabernacle Child Care Center report is an addition to this report.  Please note new developments and the first steps in the search for replacing our beloved Frances Thrift upon her retirement at the end of this year.

It has long been our tradition to provide and distribute Christmas Baskets to individuals and families in our areas of contact and awareness of need.  The baskets are provided by contributions ($50 per basket) within our church family and distributed by our own efforts.  This year’s delivery date is Wednesday, December 20th.  This does not happen without enormous effort from a team of leaders and volunteers.  In the near future, you will receive additional information on this annual event and learn of ways to assist in this love gift to our neighbors.

Respectfully submitted,

Jerry Jones

Chairman, TBC Board of Deacons

Hello TCCC & TBC Family!

We are reaching out to you all today in hopes of keeping everyone in our
community up to date on the progress of the formal search for the new TCCC
Director, and to also engage our core network in the search itself. First,
we would like to let you know who is currently working to make the match
for our next TCCC Director. The team consists of 3 church members, 3
center members, and 1 hybrid member. We are all very dedicated to finding
the strongest and most experienced match for the position. We align on
values, agree on need, and are actively taking on tasks and objectives
related to the search. Our ultimate goal over the weeks and months ahead
is to make our current Director Frances Thrift’s transition to retirement
a smooth one, while we search for a new TCCC Director who will continue
the highly-valued care that TCCC provides for its children and their
parents.

  – Search Committee (Voting Members): Jonathan Barton, Annie Miller,
Beth Wright, David Brown, Kristen White, Melissa Hoban, Katye Snipes
  – Process & Committee Support Partners (Non-Voting Members): Donna
Soyars & Kathy Allen (TCCC Ministry & Administrative Committees)
  – Additional Support and Committee Partners (Non-Voting): Rev. Sterling
Severns (Pastor, Tabernacle Baptist Church) & Jerry Jones (Chair, TBC
Board of Deacons)

As we work to inform and notify the communities we (individuals listed
above) are all involved with the position and the details of the role, we
are asking each of you to thoughtfully share the information we are
providing to you today. We are actively working to reach viable candidates
and new network(s) and network members who will be progressive and
positive partners to us in our search.

Please reach out to our team via email
(DirectorSearchTeam@tbcrichmond.org) if you have any questions moving
forward, and THANK YOU all for your support as we move forward.

Below, you find the job posting and job description. Please feel free to distribute to
your own networks as we work to reach the best applicants!

In Kindness,

Jonathan, Annie, Beth, Katye, David, Melissa, & Kristen

 

Click here to View the TCCC Director Job Posting 

Click here to view the TCCC Director Job Description