| In this issue: New AMS Announcement Let’s Celebrate State Bible Drill Congratulations to Micheal Pardue Cakes for Kids Food Round Up Timothy Project May Opportunities Men’s Rally BurkeChangers Forms Due Today Save the Date Underwear and Sock Collection June and July Armenia Mission Trip Resource of the Week Church News Partner News Pastoral Training Lab |
Announcement from CRBA Search Team    Dear CRBA Churches, Your AMS Search team is excited to introduce to you all our new Associational Mission Strategist, Dr. Michael Hodge and his wife Amanda. On May 5th at Burkemont Baptist Church, Dr. Hodge was elected unanimously to become our next AMS. We are excited about how the Lord will use Michael and Amanda to build off of the great legacy that Robby and Sharon have established over the last 9.5 years. We would encourage you all to pray for them as they begin this transition phase from the church in the Greenville, SC area as Sr. Pastor to the CRBA as AMS. You will find the timeline for their arrival in Burke County immediately following this letter. I would recommend using the announcement that Michael has provided to share with your congregation. It will not be long now before we officially partner with them for the glory of God. It has been a great pleasure to serve alongside: Marty Bess, Stephen Collins, Justin Cunningham, Sally Dixon, Jack Hodges, Gene Kirby, and Lori Matthews as your AMS Search team. We will now transition to being Michael and Amanda’s “chief cheerleaders” moving forward. To God be the glory for all that He has done through this process. In Christ, Luke Lane Michael and Amanda’s timeline of arrival in Burke County Tentative move date is scheduled for Wednesday, May 27.May 31 – Worshiping with CRBA Church. June 1 – First day in the CRBA Office. Morning in the office/flexibility in the afternoon. For that first week – the goal is to be there in the office every morning through lunch – with flexibility in the afternoons for still getting our move completed. This is what we have called the “soft start.” This flexibility keeps us from pushing the start date out further into June. June 5 – Travel Day for Southern Baptist Conference for Associational Leaders Conference. June 6 – Saturday in Orlando. June 7 – Sunday – SBCAL Conference Begins. June 8 – Monday – SBCAL Conference continues. June 9 – Travel Day returning to Morganton, NC. June 10 – At CRBA and participating in final day of BurkeChangers. June 11 – CRBA Office Regular Schedule continues going forward. Let’s Celebrate Celebrating Our Bible Drillers!  We are proud to celebrate Sarah Siniard, Luke Abernathy, Kyleigh Lane, and Lydia Siniard for representing the Catawba River Baptist Association at the NC State Bible Drill Competition! A special congratulations to Luke Abernathy, who earned 2nd place and completed an incredible nine consecutive years of Bible drilling, what a remarkable achievement and testimony of dedication! We are also thrilled to share that Lydia Siniard is advancing to the National Bible Drill Competition, what an exciting honor!Please join us in celebrating these students and praying for Lydia as she prepares to compete at the national level in Brunswick, GA. Congratulations to Pastor Micheal Pardue Congratulations to Pastor Micheal Pardue on receiving the prestigious Mark Cortz Preaching Award from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. This honor reflects his diligence, faithfulness, and commitment to proclaiming God’s Word with clarity and conviction. We are grateful for the way Micheal represents our Lord so well through his life and ministry. Congratulations, Micheal, on this well-deserved recognition! Cakes for Kids Praise God for the incredible response to this year’s Cakes for Kids ministry! We received 258 cakes from 12 churches and the Pregnancy Care Center to bless children and families through this special outreach. Thank you to everyone who participated and helped make this ministry such a success!  Food Round Up Thank you to the churches who participated in this year’s Food Round Up for the NC Baptist Children’s Homes! Together, 7 churches donated $2,180 in gift cards to help provide for children and families served through this ministry. We are grateful for your generosity and partnership in supporting this important work. Timothy Project  This month’s Timothy Project youth ministry gathering at the Catawba River Baptist Association featured an engaging and informative presentation by Pastor Micheal Pardue on the cooperative structure of the Southern Baptist Convention. Through a memorable chair-carrying demonstration, students gained a visual understanding of how Baptist churches work together, from individual believers, to local churches, associations, state conventions, and ultimately the national Southern Baptist Convention, to fulfill the Great Commission. Participants also wrote encouragement notes to North American Mission Board missionaries and learned about key SBC ministry entities, including the International Mission Board, North American Mission Board, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, and the six Southern Baptist seminaries. Upcoming Opportunities Men’s Rally- Please RSVP by May 11th  BurkeChangers Forms Due Today All forms and Payments for BurkeChangers are due on May 7th! If you haven’t signed up, please give us a call (828) 437-0137 so we can add you. Save the Date Underwear and Sock Collection  The Women’s ministry of the CRBA will be collecting new underwear and socks for all ages to distribute on their mission trip to Copper Basin Crisis Center in Ducktown, TN. Armenia Mission Trip  We are excited about this year’s mission trip to Armenia. We would love to take a group of 10 men and women to serve in those wonderful churches. Please respond by May 18th if you are interested in going. The estimated cost is $2100. A down payment of $600 is due by May 18th. Resources 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.VBSWe’d love to help promote your VBS! If you’ll send us your dates and theme, we’ll include them here in the newsletter. Sharing this information also helps our churches connect and coordinate—especially for those using the same theme who may be able to share decorations based on their schedules. Church News Several of our churches are hiring a variety of positions. We list them here for just a couple of weeks and then ask you to visit our website to see all the positions open. If you have a community event we can advertise for you, please send us a .jpg to admin@crbanc.org and we would be so happy to put it in our Church News Section Partner News Pastoral Training Lab Date: May 19 Location: Pee Dee Baptist Association, 111 Raleigh St, Hamlet, NC 28345 Finding Joy When the Work Feels Heavy Pastoral ministry is one of the greatest callings and one of the hardest. Every shepherd knows the weight of loneliness, criticism, exhaustion and unmet expectations. Discouragement can creep in quietly, leaving even faithful pastors wondering if their labor is in vain. In this session, we’ll take an honest, biblical look at discouragement in ministry, why it happens, how it affects us, and how to overcome it through the grace and joy of Jesus Christ. You’ll walk away refreshed, encouraged and equipped with practical truths to help you persevere with joy in serving both the Lord and His church. Topics include:The reality of discouragement in ScriptureCommon causes of pastoral wearinessBiblical principles for endurance and renewalPractical rhythms to restore joy in ministryWho should attend: Pastors, ministry leaders and anyone shepherding God’s people who needs a reminder that God’s work is never in vain. Come ready to be encouraged, grounded in God’s Word and reminded of why you said “yes” to this calling.Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.Galatians 6:9 Register for Pastoral Training Lab Here Pregnancy Care Center Bottle Drive  |
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