| July 29, 2026 | |
 | From the Desk of your AMS Upcoming Opportunities Community Choir Practice Tomorrow Men’s Rally RSVP Due LoveBurke Schools Needs 4 More Sponsors Created for This- Pastor’s Wives Interactive Art Event Pray for our CRBA Pastors of the Week More CRBA Calendar Events VBS at CRBA Churches Resource of the Week Church & Ministry Partner News |
 Michael preaching at Hopewell Baptist Church 07.26.2026From Michael…While Pastor Braden Martin was away with a family medical visit, I had the opportunity to meet & share with the great people at Hopewell. God is doing a great work in the lives of this church family. Pray for them as they navigate the growth!  VBS Kickoff Bridge42 Church 07.26.2026 What a great event at Bridge42 where about half the kids who showed up were connected with the church and half were kids from the community! This served to kick off their week of VBS. The volunteers of Bridge42 did an amazing job pulling together this wonderful community outreach!  Join us for our Thursday Pastors Luncheon We hope you can join us! Thursday, July 29 12noon. | From the Desk of your AMS (Associational Mission Strategist) July 29 – Getting There Soon Have you ever told someone, “We need to do that sometime,” while knowing deep down that “sometime” probably meant never? Maybe they invited you to a restaurant you did not enjoy, an event that was not exactly your preference, or an activity far outside your comfort zone. You smiled, nodded, and offered a polite, “Sure, we’ll have to do that”—without any real intention of putting it on the calendar. With an association our size, you may wonder whether my promise to visit your church soon is that kind of empty promise. I assure you, it is not. Each week, Amanda and I have the incredible privilege of worshiping alongside one of our CRBA churches—large and small, rural and in town. We are continually encouraged by the faithful ministry taking place throughout our association, and we genuinely look forward to worshiping with your church soon. In the meantime, please let us know how we can equip and encourage you in your ministry. This is your association, and we are here to serve our CRBA churches however we can. You have helped provide and fund many valuable resources through the years, and we want to make sure those resources are being used to strengthen your ministry. Pastors, perhaps you simply need someone to help you think through an upcoming opportunity, decision, or challenge. Stop by the office, give me a call, or invite me to meet you for coffee. We would be honored to walk through it with you. So, when we say, “We’ll be there soon,” please know that we mean it. We are working our way across the association, and we look forward to the joy of worshiping alongside you. Michael R. Hodge Associational Mission Strategist/Director of Missions Your Online Presence Last week, I focused on your social media presence. This week, I want to ask you – have you looked at your website lately? Are the service times and days clearly visible? Is there a simple explanation of what to expect? Have you told people what to wear – be honest with what they will see all around the room. Dressing up too much or dressing too casual compared to the rest of the room is a sure way to make your guest feel quite awkward – so tell them what to expect. Have you looked at your staff page lately? Often, churches will still have staff members listed who have moved on to another ministry. Are your activities current? Pages might list a “coming soon” event that occurred 2 years ago. It’s time to update those activities. As a general rule, make your website more of a constant (not requiring constant updates). Use your bulletin/newsletter as the ever-changing, ever-updating resource. That minimizes the number of times you have to update the website. Ask a friend to visit your website and listen to their feedback. Once again, these are the “front doors” of church ministry today. Even if you are using a WordPress or Wix basic template, some online presence is better than none. You may even have tech members who will pay for it and maintain it! See you soon at your CRBA church! |
| Upcoming Opportunities | |
 | Don’t miss the Joint Choir Rehersal tonight, July 29th @ 6:30pm @ Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church. We would love for you to join us as we learn these songs together and lead our community in worship during Praise & Prayer on the Square. The more voices we have, the greater our opportunity to lift up the name of Jesus together! |
| Men’s Rally- RSVP by Monday August 3rd!!! | |
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| LoveBurke Needs: | |
 | We have 4 schools that still have no sponsor. Would you be willing to sponsor a 2nd school, or perhaps split the cost and partner with another church to sponsor one of these schools? Schools still needing to be sponsored (as of 07.15.26): East Burke High School (90 staff) Hallyburton Academy (10 staff) (will be located at Draughn this year) Hildebran Elementary (40 staff) North Liberty (50 staff) Click this link to reserve your spot in this serve project. |
| Attention Pastor’s Wives | |
| CRBA Ministry Wives Mark your Calendars for this event in September. This will be an interactive art event led by Amanda Hodge. This is for all our CRBA ministry wives. Bring finger food to share. No Cost. Casual Attire Bible Study, Art Opportunity, & Encouragement! |  |
| Praying for our CRBA Pastors | |
 Churches Without Senior Pastors Bethlehem FBC ConnellySprings FBC Morganton Catawba Valley Silver Creek First Hmong | Each week, we feature several of our Pastors who faithfully serve in our CRBA churches. We are providing a contact email for encouragement purposes. Please pray for these pastors – and send a much deserved word of encouragement as well! Featured Pastors for this WeekBrown Mountain Baptist Church (Pastor Luke Gwynn- lukegwyn87@gmail.com) Burkemont Baptist Church (Pastor Luke Lane- llane@burkemontbaptist.org) Central Baptist Church (Pastor Thom Hartman- thartman827@gmail.com) Community Missionary Baptist (Pastor Chad Miller- CDM9977@icloud.com) Community of Drexel Baptist Church (Pastor Kelly Walsh- walshkelly58@gmail.com ) Cornerstone Baptist Church (Pastor Jay Robison- cb4faith@gmail.com) Cross Memorial Baptist Church (Pastor Jeff Beach- pastorbeach@crossmemorial.org) CRBA Churches Seeking Staff If you would like to see a list of the staff openings in our CRBA churches, please visit our website here. Please be in prayer for our churches seeking to fill staff positions. |
| More CRBA Calendar Events | ||
 Tomorrow, July 30, is the last day to bring your new undies and socks to the CRBA for the Copper Basin Crisis Center. The ladies will be leaving for this mission trip on August 7th .jpg?__nocache__=1) | July 30- Last day to bring in Undies and Socks 29- Community Choir Rehearsal @6:30pm @ Pleasant Ridge August Christmas in August Toy Drive all month 6- Pastors Lunch and Learn- Lifeway Disciples Path 7-8- Women and girls mission trip to Ducktown TN 9- Community Choir Rehearsal @ Pleasant Ridge 6:30pm 10- Men’s Rally @ Burkemont 6PM 16- Praise and Prayer on the Square September 10- 6:30pm Created for This- Pastor’s Wives Event at CRBA 13- Timothy Project 17- Pastor’s Breakfast at CRBA @ 8:00am. 15- Senior Adult Lunch 19- Golf Tournament 19- Women’s Breakfast 22- From Our Seats to the Streets 23- SYATP Youth Rally 26- Youth and Children’s Volunteer Training 30- Oct. 8- Armenia Mission Trip October 2- Tractor Show 5&6- Toy Store Registration 8- Timothy Project 18- Fall Meeting @ Mt. Home 18- Momentum Youth Rally @ Burkemont 27- Gospel Legacy Training for Sr. Adults @ 10am November 8- Timothy Project 9- Men’s Rally @ Grace 21- NC Baptist Marriage Conference with Gary Chapman @ Burkemont December 3-6- Coats for City Trip to NYC 7-10- Toy Store | |
| CRBA Resource of the Week | |
 | Your CRBA has Kan Jam available for you to check out. Checking out any resource is free of charge to all our CRBA churches. If you would like to reserve any CRBA resource just call (828) 437-0137. |
| Attention Pastors Please RSVP by Tuesday August 4th | |
| LifeWay Event @ CRBA UPCOMING EVENTfor all pastors.  A representative from LifeWay will be with us to introduce DisciplesPath (a free resource). Pastors Lunch & Learn August 6 – 11:30am Lunch will be provided. Registration will take place during July. | Most churches want to make disciples, but many don’t have a clear plan. Why do so many churches struggle with discipleship? 50% of churches are trying to make disciples without a clear plan. And half of those with a plan say it still isn’t reaching the whole congregation. It’s not about effort or commitment. It’s a clarity problem: unclear stages, languages, and next steps. DisciplesPath gives your church a shared, measurable pathway for spiritual growth — from first-time guests to fully formed disciple-makers. |
| Vacation Bible School | |
| VBS at CRBA Churches | |
Amherst- July 26-30 | Missionary Ridge– July 26-30 |
Bridge 42– VBS- July 27-31 | North Laurel –August 8th from 10am-3pm North Laurel invites you to attend their 1 day VBS from 10:00am – 3:00pm. Location: 1942 Laurel St NE, Valdese, NC 28690Phone: For more info: (828) 874-4080 |
| East Valdese- August 2-5 | Enon- August 2-5 from 6:00-8:30pm Ages 3 and up  |
Summit Community- August 3-6 | Icard’s Grove- August 15 from 9am-3pm  |
Lakeview- August 10-13 | |
August 2026
August 2026
| A local church is looking for a mini-bus or a 15 passenger van to purchase. They would love a wheel chair lift attached, but they are definetly considering vehicles without a lift as well. If you have one for sale please let Ken Davis know 828-569-4974 | ||
| Region 8 Mission Rally- August 18 In August 2026, Baptists on Mission will host a series of Regional Mission Rallies across the state. These rallies (10 of them) will highlight the variety of opportunities NC Baptists have to be involved in missions across our state, nation and world. Featured will be worship, testimonies, mission videos, and a prayer time for missions. These rallies are for anyone in your church who is interested in missions. A main focus of these rallies will be state, national, international partnerships and projects (including Disaster Relief) and the NC Missions Offering.Region 8 Rally will be held in Lincolnton: 618 S Grove St, Lincolnton, NC 28092 Please register for the rally by August 11th so they can prepare the correct amount of food for the evening meal.  Chainsaw Crews needed for Baptist on Mission Projects in our area. Call Danny Moore 828-310-2962 | ||
Missionary Care Training Calvary West, 136 Medical Dr, Advance, NC 27006 Thursday, August 27, 2026 Cost: $10/person | ||
| Catawba River Baptist Association 1812 US HWY 70 East Morganton, NC 28655 | Contact Us: (828) 437-0137 | Office Hours: Monday – Thursday 8:30am – 4:30pm Closed from 12:00-1:00pm |
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