CRBA Update October 21, 2026

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10.18.2026 Go Light Your World Zion Baptist Church On Sunday morning, Amanda and I had the privilege of worshiping with our friends at Zion Baptist Church. Pastor Keith is walking through a series on personal evangelism and is challenging his congregation to prayerfully consider THREE NAMES of individuals they will pray for and invite in the upcoming weeks. What a great challenge for all of us!

Overwhelmed with Gratitude for All of You On Sunday evening, so many of you gathered for a powerful time of worship and shared celebration. What a blessing! During our time together in the Fellowship Hall, we enjoyed a great meal and fellowship, experienced remarkable unity in our business discussions, heard updates from our ministries and partners, and welcomed a new church into our association. Thank you to everyone who helped make the evening flow so smoothly. As we left the Fellowship Hall and entered the sanctuary, we were greeted by wonderful orchestral music that set the tone for the service—a time of celebration and praise. Our music ministers joined together to lead our combined choir, whose voices filled the room with praise to God. Many commented on the joyful praise rising to the Lord from both the choir and the congregation. Immediately afterward, several people said, “We need to do this more often!” Year after year, you have committed to coming together in a spirit of cooperation and unity, and we do not take that for granted. Several ministry partners, who attend *many* gatherings like ours, remarked, “This is unusual.” And that’s a good thing! We want our gatherings to reflect that same commitment to shared celebration, unity, and worship. Thank you for allowing me to share in such a wonderful evening!

Take a Thursday Break Be equipped and encouraged.

Pastor’s Luncheon Thursdays – 12noon   “Following the Jesus Way”      “Can there be anything greater in value than wholehearted devotion to and adoration of the Lord Jesus?” Francois Carr On Thursday, we’ll gather for lunch and a shared time of prayer. In addition, I will begin a conversation based on the book The Call by Francois Carr – a friend from South Africa who will be with us briefly in early November. Let’s consider what it means to “Follow the Jesus Way.”  Discussion will be led by Michael Hodge

Let’s Celebrate
Welcome to our newest Church McGalliard Falls Baptist! In our Annual Meeting on Sunday, October 18th at Mount Home Baptist Church the Catawba River Baptist Association unanimously voted to receive McGalliard Falls Baptist Church into our Association of now 68 churches! Praise be to God!
Momentum Youth Rally: Encouraging Students to Follow Christ     The CRBA Momentum Youth Rally was a wonderful time of fellowship, worship, and encouragement! Students enjoyed connecting during the tailgate party with Pizza @ Park, followed by powerful worship led by Zac Calloway. Jesse Carr shared an engaging and challenging message, encouraging students to embrace who God has called them to be and to live boldly for Christ.     We are grateful for our CRBA youth pastors and their teams, whose continued partnership makes a difference in reaching and teaching students to follow Christ. A special thank-you to Burkemont Baptist Church for graciously hosting this meaningful gathering. We celebrate what God is doing in the lives of our students and look forward to seeing them continue to grow in their faith!
Several of our CRBA Churches came together to serve our neighbors in Marion through the Baptist on Mission Rebuild Center (on the former Tom Johnson camping grounds). The students joined crews wiring a kitchen, installing flooring and a dishwasher, painting doors and walls at one location, and another splitting logs, sawing and stacking wood and building a fire pit space.  What a great example of what God’s kids can do together! So thankful for Zion Baptist, Burkemont Baptist and Trinity Christian School.
Upcoming Opportunities
This training event is for all Senior Adults to learn practical tips on passing along a Gospel Legacy to the next generation.  Come prepared to receive encouragement in the work we have before us and practical tips for engaging the next generation.  All Ministry Wives are invited to attend this fellowship event at Amanda’s home.  RSVP to admin@crbanc.org or 828-437-0137 to recieve the address.		Christmas Together: A Night for Pastors & Wives Pastors and Wives, you are invited to enjoy a special evening of Christmas fellowship, encouragement, and celebration! We are grateful for the faithful ways you serve the Lord and care for His people, and we look forward to a wonderful time together. Thanks to the generosity of Baptists on Mission, dinner is complimentary for all CRBA pastors and their wives. We hope you’ll join us! Please RSVP by November 16th. Date: Nov. 30th  6pm Location: Morganton Community House Please Note: We have adjusted the evening of this event due to the Morganton Christmas Parade that’s happening on Dec. 1. We are doing all that we can to make this a special evening for all of you. Sign up today!
We are deeply grateful for the faithful support of our giving churches!The Catawba River Baptist Association is your Association, and together, we are Standing Firm and Serving Together.Your generosity enables us to equip, encourage, and engage our network of 68 churches as we work together to strengthen our churches, serve our communities, and advance the Gospel. Thank you for being part of what God is doing through CRBA!		Thank you to these churches that have given so far in 2026 Abee’s Grove Amherst Antioch Asheville Street Bended Knee Cowboy Bridge 42 Brookwood Brown Mountain Burkemont Catawba Valley Congregation Beth Shiloh Cornerstone Cross Memorial Drexel Memorial East Valdese El Bethel Enon Faith Missionary First Baptist Drexel First Baptist Glen Alpine First Baptist Icard First Baptist Morganton First Baptist Rutherford College First Baptist Valdese First Hmong	Friendship Grace High Peak Hopewell Icard’s Grove Lake James Community Lakeview Missionary Ridge Mount Calvary Mount Home Mount Olive Mountain View #2 Mull’s Grove North Morganton Oak Grove Oak Ridge Pleasant Hill Pleasant Ridge Pleasant View Set Free Christian Fellowship Silver Creek Solid Rock Summit Trinity United Walker Road Wilkies Grove Zion

Praying for our CRBA Pastors

Churches Without Senior Pastors Bethlehem  Catawba Valley Community Missionary FBC Connelly Springs FBC Morganton Mountain View #2 Silver Creek

Each week, we feature several of our Pastors who faithfully serve in our CRBA churches. We are providing a contact email for encouragement purposes. Action Step: Pray for these churches and pastors – then send an email of encouragement and support! Featured Pastors for this WeekMount Olive Baptist Church (Pastor Michael Gantt- mgsouthwest2001@hotmail.com)   Mountain View I Baptist Church (Pastor Pete Cox)   Mull’s Grove Baptist Church (Pastor Dean McCurry- casey_mccurry@yahoo.com )   New Perspective Church (Pastor John Whisenant- powerhouse76@aol.com)   North Laurel Baptist Church (Pastor Mike Wakefield- pastor@northlaurel.org)   North Morganton Baptist Church (Pastor JC Bradley- blakabradley@gmail.com) CRBA Churches Seeking Staff Please be in prayer for our churches seeking to fill staff positions. When we have a new position posted it will appear in this newsletter for a few weeks, but all our positions are always available to view on our website.

More CRBA Calendar Events

October 27- Gospel Legacy Training for Sr. Adults @ 10am 28- RSVP due for Ministry Wives Fellowship November 2- RSVP due for Men’s Rally 3- Ministry Wives Event 8- Timothy Project 9- Men’s Rally @ Hopewell 16- RSVP due for Pastors and Wives Christmas Dinner 21- NC Baptist Marriage Conference with Gary Chapman @ Burkemont 30- Pastors and Wives Christmas Dinner December 3-6- Coats for City Trip to NYC 6- Toy Store Prayer Walk 7-10- Toy Store

CRBA Resource of the Week
	Your CRBA has a Popcorn Machine available for you to check out for your ministry events. 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 or email admin@crbanc.org

	Arden Biltmore Church – Arden Campus, 35 Clayton Rd, Arden, NC 28704 Thursday, February 25th, 2027 The Disciple-Making Conference exists to equip every church to engage every generation with the gospel. With hundreds of leaders gathering from every size, every context and every area of ministry leadership, this is an opportunity to call church leaders to pursue God-sized vision for their church. This year, our focus in the main sessions is on calling and equipping churches to engage in disciple-making that has an impact beyond their walls.
NC Faith and Freedom Coalition invites all Pastors to a free Lunchwon at the Morganton Community House on Oct. 23, 2026 from11:30-1:00. Use QR code to RSVP.	Fall Revival at Pleasant Hill Oct. 25-27 Sunday 10:30 am and nightly at 6pm Guest Speaker Dr. Michael Hodge Worship Leader Daniel Hodges (click for more info.)
	High Peak Youth Rally Dec. 12 6-8pm  Churches call 864-510-4135 to register