tbc Media, Worship & Fellowship

TCCC Q&A Session

Many thanks to everyone that came together for last night’s Q&A Session with our Pastor, Rev. Sterling Severns. We encourage you to continue to bring questions to Sterling or any of our committee members. please continue to pray for those leading the search process. The TCCC Administrative and Ministry Committees will be in touch soon about upcoming listening sessions for parents and teachers. We need your thoughts about how to best describe the center to potential candidates and your thoughts about qualifications/characteristics we are looking for in a new director.

We are indebted to Frances for her continued leadership and to all of the parents for your continued trust. 

 

****Scroll to bottom of this post to listen to podcast. It should be available via iTunes in next 24 hours or so. Please feel free to share. 

 

Q&A OVERVIEW: 

Dear Parents:

I hope and trust this message finds you well. I’m writing today to invite you to a special Q&A Session next Tuesday, June 20, at 5:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary. I’m eager to sit down and meet with you to offer reassurance, field questions, and share some insight on next steps as we begin to think about the next chapter together. Tabernacle Baptist Church, and innumerable families in our community, have benefited tremendously by the gifts and guidance of Frances Thrift. She has cared for, and ministered alongside us, for the better part of a quarter of a century. Words cannot begin to express our gratitude for her faithful ministry. We celebrate with her as she casts her eyes towards a well deserved retirement and will cherish these last six months with her. While Frances isn’t leaving until the end of the calendar year, we know that we need to get busy thinking about next steps. Frances, and the TCCC Ministry and Administrative Committees will soon begin looking for an interim Assistant Director. It is our working plan for the new Director to work with all of us in creating a job description, and then seeking out, a permanent Assistant Director.

I hope you will make plans to join me next week as we begin some meaningful conversation together.

Here is a preview of what to expect:

1) Transparency -I’m eager to give you a brief snapshot on where we’ve been and let you know what the beginning of our search process looks like. I know that there is a lot of anxiety surfacing. I look forward to answering your questions and hopefully putting you at ease with transparent responses.

2) Reassurance – I want to offer you assurance that we have no intention of making significant changes to our Child Care Center Ministry anytime in the foreseeable future. We have offered nurture, community, and care for generations of children through this ministry area and it is our intention to reaffirm our commitment. Consistency will be critical and we are asking for your continued trust as we walk through this process together.

3) Gratitude – We are all indebted to the leadership, educators, and volunteers that make this ministry possible. That said, we are equally grateful for the gift of your family’s presence in our center. You, and your children, are cherished and we are beyond grateful for your trust.

4) Request for help – Lastly, I will spend a brief amount of time next Tuesday asking for you help as we begin the difficult task of creating a job description for our new Director. The last time we did this was 25+ years ago. We need your help and we are eager to sit down and listen to teachers and parents. We won’t dedicate time at this particular meeting to do this as it is too important to rush. However, I hope to give you an idea of what we need you thinking about. We’ll share future dates for listening sessions in the next couple of weeks.

Looking forward to seeing you soon.

Yours in Christ,

Grace and Peace,

Sterling W. Severns

Pastor
Tabernacle Baptist Church
804.355.0134

www.tbcrichmond.org

1925 Grove Ave.
Richmond, Va. 23220

tbc Media

Podcast: Sunday Worship 6-4-17

Happy Birthday Church!

Join us today as we celebrate the birthday of the church universal, Pentecost!

The scripture passage today is Acts 2:1-21.

Today we also say goodbye to Rev. Kristin Koger as we send her on her way to her new church in Decatur, GA.

tbc Worship & Fellowship

Thank you, Tabernacle

My dear Church Family,

Many of you have heard this story, but I’ll share it again. Who knew that when I was first introduced to Tabernacle in 2009 when they came to Passport, and I had three Karen students in my group that I would have the chance to be reunited with them years later in a line at a business meeting lunch. Who knew that a miscommunication about a pastoral care rotation 5 years ago would have led me to find a home at Tabernacle. Who knew that when I wandered in on that Sunday during the Epiphany season that God was already working in my life and yours and this place that would help me become a Pastor. As I look back over the last five years, I am continually shocked and amazed and grateful for the ways God has nudged me and guided us together. It has been a wonderful journey. 

I have had the incredible opportunity to care for your youngest children in the nursery on Sunday mornings; to guide parents as they are leaving their precious gifts for a few hours. I have sat on the floor and wondered about the stories of our faith with the children of God. I have talked with parents and married couples about the struggles that married life and parenting brings and grown in deeper relationship with these folks. I have sat around tables on Tuesdays and discussed sermons and scripture passages with folks twice or three times my age, and been inspired and changed by their faith stories. I have stood at bedsides, wedding altars, and gravesides, treading on the most holiest of grounds in some of life’s most challenging and meaningful moments. I have learned to claim and own the identity of Pastor that was given to me by God, but allowed to grow and bloom in me through you, the Church.  

Two and a half years ago when I was asked if I would consider being Tabernacle’s pastoral resident, there was no doubt in my mind that I should say “Yes!” to this opportunity. Of course I wanted to spend more time with you! Of course I wanted to continue to be shaped and taught by this congregation! I will be forever grateful to you, Tabernacle, for the ways you have continued to embrace and challenge me.

Just as I knew two and a half years ago that a residency was what God was calling me to, I knew in the depths of my heart last summer that when my residency came to a close that I would be sent from this place, ready for whatever lies ahead. And although the thought of leaving this place that has been home is painful and difficult, I still know that it was and is the right decision to move on to the next place. It’s the next natural step. The residency is meant to equip and to send; I have been equipped better than I could have ever asked. And now it’s both our turns to follow through with the next part of the task- to send.

I have accepted the call to serve as Minister to Families with Children at First Baptist Church, Decatur, GA. My position as pastoral resident will conclude on May 31, and I will be in worship one last time as we gather to celebrate Pentecost- the day that we acknowledge as the Church’s birthday, when the followers of Christ were empowered and filled with the Spirit and sent out into the world. What a fitting day to be sent out into the world! 

I am confident that this is not the end of our journey together. The bridge to Decatur has already been built, and I look forward to seeing how our journeys and paths continue to intersect. This is not the end.

With all my love,

Rev. Kristen Koger

tbc Media

Tabernacle Stories: Penny and Woody Jenkins (05/03/17)

“We need to tell stories as a testimony to what God has done and is doing. If we do not share the stories, their power and truth are diluted, and their impact forgotten” (Wright/Davis).

This seven-week series centers on the theme of “testimony.” Each week, we will invite one or two people from our congregation to share stories about their spiritual journeys and where they have seen God at work in their lives. We will have time to ask questions and explore together how God is moving among us at Tabernacle and in the world. This series meets in the fellowship hall from 6:00pm to 7:00pm on Wednesday evenings. Tabernacle Stories begins on March 22nd and will continue until May 17th.

On May 3, 2017, we welcomed Woody and Penny Jenkins. We are grateful for their willingness to be vulnerable, to share their stories, and to give testimony to God’s presence in their lives and among us at Tabernacle.

We hope you’ll join us on May 10 and May 17, 2017 as we finish out this series for the spring!

tbc Media

Tabernacle Stories: Amanda Rone (04/26/17)

“We need to tell stories as a testimony to what God has done and is doing. If we do not share the stories, their power and truth are diluted, and their impact forgotten” (Wright/Davis).

This seven-week series centers on the theme of “testimony.” Each week, we will invite one or two people from our congregation to share stories about their spiritual journeys and where they have seen God at work in their lives. We will have time to ask questions and explore together how God is moving among us at Tabernacle and in the world. This series meets in the fellowship hall from 6:00pm to 7:00pm on Wednesday evenings. Tabernacle Stories begins on March 22nd and will continue until May 17th.

On April 26, 2017, we welcomed Amanda Rone. We are grateful for her willingness to be vulnerable, to share her story, and to give testimony to God’s presence in her life and among us at Tabernacle.

We hope you will join us for one of our upcoming TBC Story sessions:

May 3, 2017 – Penny and Woody Jenkins

May 10, 2017 – TBA

May 17, 2017 – TBA