Thoughts from our Pastor
Dear Family,
I spent a good portion of last week with 63 teenagers and adults from various parts of the state. They gathered in Richmond for Urban Impact, a ministry of the VBMB, and I had the good fortune of serving as Camp Pastor. It was a significant week of worship, mission, and introduction to churches serving in an urban environment. I am really looking forward to sharing some insight about the week as God changed lives and there are some amazing stories to told. However, today I would like to share a thought about the perception of Tabernacle Baptist Church through the eyes of many that had not seen us before. We brought two teams into the church to serve in various capacities:
* help prepare supplies for the upcoming mission trip to New York
* organize closets with supplies used in children and youth ministries.
* weed the little plot on the outskirts of the Meadow Street Parking Lot (ask me sometime about what they found in the little “garden”)
* tutor children and teenagers at colonial apartments
*create a bulletin board to promote the ministry of Lindsay Comstock
* hang a large picture of our church family engaged in social ministry (e.g. stable roots, Fan Feast, Food Pantry, the Coppages in Hungary ,etc.)
* take twenty refugee resettlement and inner city children/teenagers to Maymont and a festival at Mt. Tabor Baptist Church
* bag food in the pantry to prepare for Thursday
I can’t begin to tell you how enlightening it was to see the church through the eyes of these kids as they served. If you look at the above list you will discover a church that is reaching out to the world, engaged in the city, and sharing the light of Christ in dynamic ways. You will also see the beautiful picture of a universal church coming together with a knowledge that we are stronger when we are united. I am more and more convinced daily that we are in a unique position to facilitate ministry in our city. God is using our resources, our location, our facilities, and, more importantly, OUR PEOPLE to facilitate authentic ministry and equip people to use their gifts in the Kingdom of God. We are blessed to be involved in so many little corners of the world and, simultaneously, we are blessed to find the world on our doorstep. The mandate of Christ-like hospitality has never been more clear and the call to organize is upon us. These are good days and I am incredibly proud to serve as your Pastor.
Hope to see you on Sunday.
Yours in Christ,
Sterling W. Severns
Pastor
Tabernacle Baptist Church
1925 Grove Avenue
Richmond, Virginia 23220
