Greetings from
Florida and the Caribbean
May 29, 2024
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Here's a quick look midweek to strengthen your faith and connect with your CBF family. | |
Prayer from Meditations from Feasting on the Word, Year B | Welcome Iglesia Bautista Celada! | |
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Last Sunday, May 26, Iglesia Batista Celada voted to partner with CBF. The Church of Celada is the 3rd church of the Baptist Churches of Puerto Rico with dual affiliation with CBF. Pastor Carmen Waeska Lebron was a member of the 1st Thriving in Ministry Cohort for pastoras in Puerto Rico in 2023.
This new relationship with the Church of Celada will strengthen the missional collaboration agreement signed with IBPR in 2022 and opens up countless possibilities for CBF FL to partner more effectively in the Caribbean.
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Left: The church board and Xiomara Reboyras Right: Pastor Waleska
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Now is the time to express solidarity with women in ministry and boldly affirm their calling, leadership, and gifts. Restricting their roles stifles the church’s potential and our collective witness of God’s transformative power in the world.
Join us online for the 2024 BWIM Annual Gathering Prayer Vigil.
Learn more and reserve your spot at www.bwim.info/2024annualgathering
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Worshiping with Circle of Faith | |
Rev Courtney Jones pastors Circle of Faith, a CBF church in St Petersburg that shares space with Lakeview Presbyterian Church for which she serves as Church and Office Administrator and Pulpit Supply. Now that's creative ministry leadership! Last Sunday they celebrated Yvonne Johnson's 96th birthday. Several years back, Yvonne was the city of Gulport's mayor :) Bottom left photo incudes Ed Rawson, Liturgist, Rev Courtney Jones and Keisha Prime, Musician | |
The 2nd Thriving in Ministry Pastora Cohort continues in Puerto Rico
May 24 & 25
Proverbs 17:17 A friend loves at all times.
They are there to help when trouble comes.
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Uganda 2025 Meeting Thursday, 5/30/24 at Noon EST | | |
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Are you curious about immersing yourself in the life of Amani Sasa and the impact this organization has on people's lives? Wondering how much will the trip cost? What will we do? Where will we stay? Join us on Zoom, Thur, May 30 at 12 Noon EST.
Meeting ID
867 4107 2478
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A few more 2024 Spring Celebration pics... | |
What's Up Wednesday
is changing...
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Beginning in July, What's Up Wednesday will become CBF FL & Caribbean Coast 2 Coast Connections or Coast 2 Coast for short. Between Florida, Puerto Rico, The Bahamas, Cuba and the Dominican Republic, we have lots of coasts within our region. Send us your favorite coastal photos and we will be sure to share them. Here's what's new:
- The name
- Time of Publication - monthly, not weekly
- More inclusion with our state and regional partners
| Will we see you in Greensboro? | |
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This summer at General Assembly, we will re:imagine as we live out our faith through our unique Baptist identity. Together, we’ll consider transformation through imagination – our own and that of the Holy Spirit moving through us as a community. With the idea of re:, we’re exploring the idea of “regarding imagination” as well as the transforming quality of re-imagining – revising, reinvigorating,
re-energizing and renewing.
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CBF FL /CI will host a dinner and other opportunities for you to meet your CBF FL/CI family who are present. These events will be shared here as they are planned.
June 4 is the last day to register for our CF FL & C dinner Wednesday evening, June 19, 5:30 - 7 PM. Join 60+ friends and family who have already registered.
No flip flops, surfboards and glasses this year,
but we DO have another fun dinner planned!
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2023 General Assembly, Atlanta, GA | |
3 Vocational Ministry Openings at CBF
Director of Identity
Congregational Stewardship Officer
Church Development Officer
| Other opportunities exist within Florida. Visit our Website to learn more. |  | |
CBF May Book Club
We Aren’t Broke: Uncovering Hidden Resources for Mission and Ministry
By Mark Elsdon
Many Christian churches and related institutions in the United States are struggling or, in some cases, facing imminent crisis, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Attendance is down. Funding is harder to come by. People are no longer drawn to traditional church services and programming in the ways that they once were. Often, we feel broke and powerless to do much about it.
This book is an invitation to envision a different way of putting God’s gifts to work in the world. It draws upon a remarkable story of rebirth at a Presbyterian affiliated campus ministry center at the University of Wisconsin, along with profiles of other creative social enterprises, to describe how church property and investment assets can be put to work for innovation, transformation and financial sustainability.
Theologically rooted but practically minded, it provides guidance and tools for church and nonprofit leaders, entrepreneurs and investors of all kinds who are seeking new ways to fund and participate in God’s work in the world.
Learn more about CBF Book Club.
Find the study guide here
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Baptist Seminary of Kentucky will become BSK Theological Seminary
Enshrining its commonly used acronym in its formal identity, Baptist Seminary of Kentucky will be known officially as BSK Theological Seminary effective May 15.
BSK trustees approved the change earlier this year, a move that came after two years of discussions involving the board and representatives of the seminary’s students, alumni, faculty, administrators and supporters, BSK President David Cassady said.
Cassady explained the new identity reflects both a “refreshing of our brand” and a “recognition of our heritage.”
“BSK Theological Seminary is a name that allows our identity to thrive and helps posture our school for a growing future,” Cassady said. At the same time, he noted, the name will not sound unfamiliar to those already familiar with the school. “Our identity to this day is grounded in the vision of the progressive and ecumenically minded Baptists who birthed the school and called it Baptist Seminary of Kentucky.”
To learn more about this name change, click here.
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Pathlight curriculum
Pathlight is a (free) weekly resource helping children to explore the Good News of Jesus through stories, scripture and activities. This new curriculum presents stories of CBF field personnel, chaplains, churches and pastors, and invites children to grow in their relationships with Jesus and their neighbors.
Each Pathlight download offers an easy-preparation teaching guide with a story, discussion questions and learning activities as well as a take-home sheet for students. Pathlight is also available in Spanish.
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An easy way to give to
CBF FL and Caribbean
Venmo
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Bank Account
Paypal
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"As you explore this report, do so with gratitude for the collective impact we've made and with anticipation of the transformative possibilities that lie ahead." Paul Baxley | |
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This year’s theme, “Equipping With Every Good Thing,” is based on Hebrews 13:20-21: "Now may the God of peace … equip you with every good thing to do his will, by developing in us what pleases him through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory forever and always.” The Offering for Global Missions equips the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship with the gifts and passions of 46 Field Personnel in 17 different countries and the United States, spreading the hope of Jesus Christ. When you give to the Offering for Global Missions, you also participate in this mission of Jesus Christ around the world.
This year we have a goal of $4 million. Every gift helps us reach this goal to support the presence of Field Personnel.
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Get your copy of the
OGM Prayer Guide below
| " Writers were invited to share about someone who has made a significant impact on their lives, a spiritual guide so to speak - one who has shaped their faith, their theology or their prayer life." Thanks Meg Lacy Vega for compiling these beautiful Spiritual Guides. | |
Stay connected with a quick click. | |
[813.810.7499] [tsnyder@floridacbf.org] [www.floridacbf.org] | |
A direct and compelling headline | | | | |
