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tbc Testimonies

Embracing God-Sized Vision: Harrison Lahpai

Even before I came to this country, God had already introduced me about TBC. God’s plan for me and my family is unbelievable. His timing is always on time. I met Pastor Dan along with his friends from TBC on Judson Sunday at Kuala Lumpur Baptist Church in 2013; it was the day before we came to Richmond. I could feel the warmth and kindness of TBC through Pastor Dan even before I actually came to Richmond and participate in TBC. I introduced myself and told Pastor Dan that my family and I will come to Richmond the next day. He gave me his phone number and asked me to call him when I reach Richmond. Before I got the chance to meet with Pastor Dan and fellows, our first departure date to come to U.S was postponed and; at that time, I was so upset about it. I could not understand why God let it happened. However, later I could see God’s preparation for my family to be part of this Church because if it wasn’t postponed, I would not get the opportunity to meet with Pastor Dan and TBC.  

On our first Sunday, I could feel the peace in the church when I enter the church’s sanctuary. I have never felt like this before in my life. I can see the love of God when I look at the faces of TBC’s church members. Rev. Sterling welcomed us warmly and introduced to the congregation. I was surprised when I saw different ethnic groups from Burma and I felt this church is the right place for me to worship to God. Even though TBC has congregation of different ethnicities, skin colors, languages, and cultures, they welcomed everyone including our family with bright smiles regardless of differences.

I could still remember my experience of the very first Sunday at TBC that I discovered this church is filled with God’s love, peace, and praises. The church’s program is also similar to the way we worshiped in my church back in Burma. Especially when I listen to the choir, the words give me strength for my faith in God. Sterling’s sermons guide me the way of a Christian life. I don’t know how to express well but every time I attend TBC, I can get full sense of worship to God and fellowship with God. Here I testify that TBC has drawn me nearer to God. I am very grateful to be part of TBC. I love Tabernacle Baptist Church!

– Harrison Lahpai

 

I pray for the success in ministering different ethnicities.

tbc Worship & Fellowship

Vision Event, May 4, 2014

Our Campaign Vision Event is Here–Sunday, May 4th!
Whether by bulletin note, a printed invitation, or phone call from another member of our congregation, we hope you are aware of our Vision Event taking place on Sunday, May 4th in the Fellowship Hall after worship services. More importantly, we hope that you plan to be there!

Why are we holding this special luncheon?

Tabernacle has embarked on an important campaign in the life of our church. We have taken this opportunity to look back on what the church has accomplished in its past to base how we want to approach creating a vision for our future. Our campaign focuses primarily on our spiritual mission and then how we modify our physical footprint to make it flexible enough to support that mission. The Vision Event is meant to provide you with testimonies that inspire us about the path ahead of us, as well as help us all begin prayers regarding our individual roles in making facility changes possible.

What’s on the menu?

Let’s start with dessert! You will enjoy John Burgess’ cookies–that might be reason enough to attend! The main course will include foods for everyone, including those with a vegan diet. Chicken salad wraps, veggie wraps, fried chicken and a variety of salads are highlights for the youth and adults. Our children’s group has its own delightful menu of chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, fruit cups, and other fun treats. This is a no charge buffet—one you don’t want to miss!

How do the children get to their event? 

If your children are with you at the end of the church service, we ask that you escort children fifth grade and under to the Yellow Room immediately after worship services. Kristin Koger and Meghan Strollo will meet you there. They have a terrific program in store for our children so that they too can learn about the role they have in the future of Tabernacle. Children in the nursery will stay in the nursery throughout church services and the Vision Event.
When does the Vision Event start?

The Vision Event starts for children, youth and adults immediately after worship services on May 4th. As soon as Sunday’s service is over, we ask that you make your way to the Fellowship Hall– unless you are a parent that is going to the Yellow Room first. The buffet will be ready for you!

What is the event program like?

As soon as you have a chance to eat most your delicious meal, we will begin the Vision Event program. After introductions to your Campaign Leadership Team, you will experience a series of testimonies from various members of our church. These testimonies are brief, heartfelt statements about the wonder of Tabernacle and how they view our potential for what God has in store for us. Included among those testimonies is a special video recorded for the event. Bill Welstead will then explain the Vision Campaign packet that you will receive, and your event hosts and hostesses will ask for your assistance in recording who receives the packet. That will help us follow-up with those who could not attend and receive the packet in person. If anyone has to leave early, we will be certain that you get your packet before you leave.

What if I have questions about the changes that are being planned?

We welcome your questions! We will provide blank cards for you to use to write down any questions that you have. We will have an upright mailbox at the back of the Fellowship Hall labeled “Vision Campaign Questions” that you can place your question card in. A member of the Campaign Leadership Team will make sure that your question is answered in the very near future. We will also publish an article called “Frequently Asked Questions” in the TAB so that everyone benefits from answers to some of the questions we receive. The question box will be placed in a convenient location near the sanctuary for the weeks following this event.

Again, we are so very excited about this special time for Tabernacle! Please make every effort to attend our Vision Event. Remember that the Collegiate Cycling Championship race is on the same day, so you may want to take Floyd Avenue or Cary Street when you drive to church on Sunday. We look forward to seeing you there!!

tbc Testimonies

Embracing A God-Sized Dream: Brynne

I see God at work at Tabernacle through the adults in the way they work with the children. Many adults have helped me to use my God-given gifts to serve Jesus. I appreciate the opportunity to participate in the choirs, including the All-State Choir. We get to help lead in worship in all kinds of ways. On Easter Sunday, we brought in the Christ Candle. Each kid was paired up with an adult. We read scripture in worship and help to collect the offering on second Sundays. Worship bags have been created for the children to help us understand who Jesus is and help us participate in worship.  The Sunday School, Worship Explorer, Nursery, and Godly Play teachers help us learn about the Bible and create fun activities to help us learn. I’ve made lots of friends at church. We help each other in lots of ways and love each other as family.

I was baptized two years ago on June 6. It was a very special day for me and my family. Mrs. Spain stood in the water with me to represent the entire congregation. I asked her to do this because she has always been a role model to me and is an important part of my life. Tabernacle is full of adults like Mrs. Spain who have been good examples to the children. They serve the church lovingly and help us to become the people God wants us to be. They encourage us to be leaders.

 

A Prayer for Tabernacle Baptist Church

  • I pray that Tabernacle will always be a place where children are welcome.
  • I pray that Tabernacle will help families spend more time together.
  • I pray that Tabernacle will never doubt the things God can do through the lives of children.
tbc Worship & Fellowship

How do you see us as we move forward?

God-Sized Vision Discovery Dinners – Part 2

In February, many of the members of our congregation gathered in homes to enjoy dinner and a discussion about their vision of the future of Tabernacle. This is part two of a series of articles about what you said, focusing on the second question of three.  That question was, “How do you see us as we move forward?”   Your responses helped us gain current insight into your thoughts about the future of our spiritual mission, as well as possible changes to the physical layout of our buildings.  We sincerely appreciate everyone’s honest exchange about the wonderful potential that we have ahead!

Most of the answers to the question about what you think is at the heart of our future growth seemed to fit several categories:  spiritual mission, nature of the congregation, diversity, and building changes.  Our spiritual mission is obviously at the core of your focus, including comments such as:

  • Maintain our core services of the food pantry and clothes closet.  Keep the Fan Feast and our Thanksgiving baskets going.
  • Agreed we are moving in the right direction – want us to continue investing in children and youth and walking beside brothers and sisters that have resettled in Richmond as refugees.
  • Keep the sponsorship of seminary students and their housing
  • Consider Gap group—between youth/young adults and the seniors—how we continue to grow by engaging folks of all ages; consider more programs for our teenagers.
  • Reach out to the immediate community – be more assertive about engaging the neighborhood and environs and VCU; consider “Coffeehouse” evangelism with music and fellowship.

As mentioned before, your outlook for our future is a positive one!  There is such a comfort level with the welcoming nature of our church, as well as the cultural diversity of our congregation.  As one member said, “The Burmese are not “our ministry” anymore; they are ‘us’.”  Additional comments about what we might do to build on our current sense of congregation as we go forward include:

  • Translate sermons into Burmese and other foreign languages; include multilingual graphics in our classes and sermons.
  • Continue making children integral to church life and worship.
  • Seek & promote ways to foster deeper personal relationships.
  • Bring new people in by invitation of the members, as we do today—our congregation is relationship-based.
  • Consider the place of our Childcare Center in life of the church – ways to purposefully reach out to these folks and be inclusive with activities.

When it comes to how we think about facility changes as a part of our future, we are ready for just that—change.   Many of you are interested in more details about those plans.  The blueprints and how we prioritize the modifications we make are topics that we will delve into in the months ahead.  Our focus today is to be sure that the kinds of changes we envision are ones that support our spiritual mission, both current and future.  Over the past eight years we have thought through how we could best use our existing space and modify that space to provide flexible use as we grow in our spiritual mission.  We measured rooms and hallways to help us begin the process of estimating possible construction costs.  Now we are on the verge of making it happen!  Your suggestions for how we approach finalizing building-related changes include:

  • Find ways to maximize the use of the Grove Avenue entrance while making the Meadow Street entrance more appealing.
  • We need to address having a more secure entrance or our Childcare Center and universal access to our church facilities for persons with special needs.
  • It is good to provide housing for seminary students and visiting mission teams.
  • Make sure we ensure flexibility within our facilities to implement new and existing church programs and activities.
  • See if we can address parking as we grow.

Our next article will cover the responses you gave to the final question we asked at our Discover Dinners—“How does the community see the church?”  Again, we are grateful for your input and interest as our future unfolds!    Everyone is integral to our success.

tbc Testimonies

A God-Sized Vision: Anna Tuckwiller

Tabernacle was the third place that I visited when I started looking for a church home.  I liked the Wednesday night lectures and visiting with BTSR and Camp Alkulana friends.  I appreciated that Tabernacle was a ministry simulator for seminary students.  I was charmed by the way it honored the coming and going of its members with bread for the journey.  I loved that the leadership of Sunday services reflected the diversity in the pews.  And, as I get distracted as easily as I get tearful during worship, I was glad that I could sit by myself on Sundays.

You know those people at the pool, the ones that go from dry to underwater with one cannon ball or dive?  I’m not one of them.  I’m one of those “toe test people.”  It takes me a while unless there’s an audience, in which case it takes an eternity.  That’s just me in part but also my church experience.  Like most people with ministry experience, I know about going through the wringer.  Every minister I know has been disappointed or burnt at some point in the course of their ministerial service. Every church goer I know has stories of being both loved and wounded by the community entrusted with Christ’s message.

It wasn’t long before Sterling and Judy were on to me.  He did his recon with my church friends and asked if I’d like to go for “coffee.”  Naturally, I braced myself for the “how are you going to plug in deeper here?” bit.  Judy, I knew from our BTSR days, where I sang in the school choir.  Between those two the jig was up, dashing my plans of hiding out barefoot in the balcony.

I’ve lived long enough to learn that risk and love are traveling buddies.  I knew it was time to put my shoes on and walk the aisle one Sunday morning to join Tabernacle.  It’s that aisle walking bit that I don’t like.  Apparently, there’s no backdoor membership plan void of that front-and-center-while-the-pastor-talks-about-you part.  Believe me, I asked. So I stood there embracing the awkward as Sterling welcomed me.  As he did so, hand on my shoulder, he said, “we thank you for your trust.”

Trust.  Love.  They are always risks.  They are the courageous vehicles that open us up to the deep joys and sorrows of ourselves and of life together with God.  And here’s the kicker: we’re gonna mess up.  From the pulpit to the taco casserole I’ve heard us share our stories of following and flailing as disciples of Christ.  This is one of the brightest lights that I find in this place: people striving to show up, just as they are, daring to be blessed and broken together.

I’m thankful.  I’m grateful for the solidarity in this crazy story of a God who puts skin on, loves, dies, and lives again, to make all things new.  Our efforts to love and understand things in light of that story will be fraught with: failure and success, joy and sorrow, rest and struggle, frustration and calm, annoyance and laughter…  But Christ’s were too.  That gives me hope that we are bumbling in the right direction and gladness to be doing so together.

God, please help us find the courage to receive and accept love, affirmation, and gifts from you and from our neighbors.  It can be scary.  In that receiving, may we risk being known, being givers and friends, when it’s tempting to hide as benefactors.

 

God, may your grace inspire us to courageously “show up” with you and with one another.  Please be our strength when we find ourselves being changed, blessed, challenged, or grieved from doing so.
God, please lend your wisdom and bless us with a vision that serves you and your children.  Show us how to listen and how to speak up in the visioning process.

 

And gracious God, thank you for loving us and letting us share in this kingdom of yours, toes, cannon balls, bumbling, and all.

 

Amen.