Sabbatical Update From KBF Coordinator

Intensive Study Phase of Sabbatical Complete
By John Lepper

As I write this I’m completing the intensive study phase of my sabbatical.  The class, “Bowen Family Systems Theory and Leadership in the Congregational Context,” has given me opportunity to gain new insights of systems theory and understand how it can be applied to congregational leadership.  While the theory was originally developed in a therapeutic context, Edwin Friedman, Ron Richardson, Peter Steinke and others have applied this to the work of pastors.  

Reading for the class included seven books as well as numerous assigned articles. Professor Israel Galindo spent the first of the three weeks helping us become acquainted with the concepts of Bowen Theory.  The second and third weeks were used to make practical applications to leadership in the congregational setting and also to help us incorporate it into a theological framework.

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Senator Mitch McConnell to Visit Crescent Hill Baptist, Discuss Burma

On January 13-18, Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell is going to Burma.  After he returns, he has requested that Crescent Hill Baptist Church of Louisville host a community meeting so that he can meet with folks from Burma and those in Louisville concerned about what is happening in Burma to hear his thoughts on what he saw in Burma and to get feedback, particularly from folks from Burma, about what changes they would like to see occur there.  The meeting will be held, Saturday, January 21, at 10:00am.  All are invited to attend.  This remains a fluid situation and if further information about this meeting unfolds, the latest news will be posted on Crescent Hill's website at www.chbcky.org.  

Since 2006, Steve Clark and Annette Ellard have been serving as Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Global Missions field personnel in Louisville in partnership with Crescent Hill.  Steve and Annette welcome the Karen and other refugees from Burma while encouraging churches in Louisville and across the country to build relationships with these refugees and develop ministries to meet their spiritual and physical needs.  Primarily a ministry of availability, Steve and Annette share the love of God through pastoral care, social work, crisis management, advocacy and consulting to refugees from Burma and those who seek to serve them.

January 2012 KBF Newsletter

January 2012 KBF Newsletter

A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood

By KBF Intern Chelsey Constant

As I continue my internship here at Kentucky Baptist Fellowship I discover all of the wonderful things that KBF and its partner churches are doing locally as well as globally.

For the past few weeks I have begun to assist Josh with a project that he has been working on. The project is an asset map. This map will help KBF to recognize the things that a specific church is doing mission wise both globally and locally. It will lead into helping churches better network together across the state.

Josh and I have met with a few pastors from different churches to discuss their churches ministries over the past week or so and I have found that each church has its own special way of reaching out to people, whether those people are in the houses around the church or the people who live miles away.  

God calls us to love our neighbors as we love our selves and often we ask “who is our neighbor?” Well, I have realized, from the discussions we have had with the pastors, that our neighbors are everywhere. Our neighbors can live right next door or across the globe. We love all these people just as we love ourselves and each church is being a great neighbor to all of these people.

I look forward to learning more and more about the ministries at the other churches that KBF partners with and meeting many more of my neighbors along the way. 

2012 KBF Youth Mission Weekend

 

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Kentucky Baptist Fellowship is excited to invite you and your youth group (grades six-twelve) to the 2012 KBF Youth Mission Weekend. KBF Youth Mission Weekend is a weekend retreat for youth to gather together for worship, fellowship, and a full day of mission work in a local Kentucky community. 

In 2012, we are serving Kentucky in two locations - an urban and a rural setting - to give you more options and schedule flexibility (host sites subject to change):

• March 9-11, Louisville, KY (Hosted by Broadway Baptist Church)

• March 23-25, Jackson & Booneville, KY (Hosted by Emmanuel Fellowship Baptist Church) 

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CBF Field Personnel to Visit Kentucky

CBF Field Personnel Bob & Janice Newell to Visit Kentucky Bob and Janice Newell, CBF Field Personnel serving Albanian Immigrants in Greece, will be at Broadway Baptist Church and First Baptist Middletown on December 3 and 4.  Commissoned with CBF in 2003, Bob and Janice have influenced this community most notably through PORTA, a spiritual and cultural center for Albanian Immigrants in Athens.  PORTA is both an artistic and a reconsiliation center in a city that has often discriminated against Albanians.   There will be two opportunities to hear from Bob and Janice:   Saturday, December 3 - Broadway Baptist Church (4000 Brownsboro Rd) 2:00-4:00pm - Friendship Hall (desserts and coffee/tea served) Meet with Bob Newell as he shares about their ministry and life in Greece Sunday, December 4 - First Baptist Church Middletown (11721 Main St) Bob and Janice Newell will lead during the Sunday School hour at 9:30am and then during worship at 10:45am For more information, contact Josh Speight.   Click here for more information about the Newells.

Sabbatical Update: Bird By Bird

  My first four weeks on sabbatical/study leave continue to provide opportunities to read, rest, renew and write.   Colonial Williamsburg and this whole area provide a good context in which to remember our past as Americans. We have seen places where Civil War and Revolutionary War History took place. I have completed reading a large book on Civil War history and am in the middle of a book on the American Revolution.

        I continue to enjoy this change of pace with only occasional contact with business email and contact with the office. Ruth Haley Barton’s book, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership continues to bless and provide guidance.  I have also begun reading books that will be used in a class I will take at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond in January. 

 As in the first two weeks, in addition to reading and reflecting, I have also been productive.  A major focus of this sabbatical is writing and producing a resource that would be helpful to churches during the interim. These past two weeks have been characterized by stops and starts but, overall, much progress and forward motion.

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Update from CBF Field Personnel, Annette Ellard and Steve Clark

300 Thousand - By Annette Ellard and Steve Clark

Lately, it seems the number 300 thousand has popped up a lot in the news. A few days ago, a California man was captured by police and accused of stealing over 300 thousand identities. Folks in Connecticut suffered for weeks after the massive wet snowstorm the last weekend of October. I saw an announcement during the ordeal that the power company hoped it could bring down the number of people without power to 300 thousand by the first weekend in November - a full week after the snowstorm.

On the lighter side, Macy’s announced they plan to expand their New York store at Herald Square to a whopping 39 thousand square feet and create the world’s largest shoe department. They anticipate it will carry more than (wait for it) 300 thousand shoes. (This is news Annette is going to love.)

Annette and I just experienced our own 300 thousand “milestone.” Today, on 11/11/11, the odometer on our ’96 Mercury Villager rolled over to 300 thousand miles! Fittingly, it happened as we were about to park the van for the day in our church parking lot. God shared in our celebration of the HUGE blessing God gave us with this van. What a tremendous asset this van continues to be to our ministry.

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