When the world seems to be spinning out of our control, we often don’t have the right words to say. Words are so important, aren’t they? The words we say and reflect on can inform our character and lead us towards-or away from-the truth. We invite you this season to reflect on your gifted word from Epiphany. What do you think of this word? What do you hope to learn about it in the coming year?
If you haven’t received a star with a word on it (if you’re wondering what we’re talking about) please see our Epiphany service from January 3. Please send us a message if you haven’t yet received a star and would like one!
1. Decrease Associate Pastor Meg Lacy Vega’s schedule from 40 hours per week to 25 hours per week. Duties will include but will not be limited to: Spiritual Development for Adults and Youth, including leading the church youth group, as well as preaching up to 12 times per year. Meg will continue to receive her current hourly rate of pay, and will work with the personnel committee on any necessary re-allocation. Meg will continue to work with personnel committee, staff, and the Deacon Board on updates to her job description appropriate for the needs of the church and her expertise, and according to the limitations of a reduction in hours.
2. Decrease Minister of Music & Worship Judy Fiske’s schedule from 32+ hours per week to 20 hours per week. Duties will include but will not be limited to: planning worship, leading choirs (when possible) and coordinating musicians. Judy will continue to receive her current hourly rate of pay, and will work with the personnel committee on any necessary re-allocation. Judy will continue to work with personnel committee, staff, and the Deacon Board on updates to her job description appropriate for the needs of the church and her expertise, and according to the limitations of a reduction in hours.
3. Increase the Community Ministry Director (April Kennedy) from 50 hours per month to 20 hours per week.
This will bring April’s pay more in line with the number of hours she has been working since March of this year.
This change would become retroactive to December 1, 2020.
FROM THE PERSONNEL COMMITTEE AND THE ADMINISTRATIVE BOARD
1. Contract with Amanda Rone to replace Hope Cutchins as Communications Coordinator for 20 hours per week in addition to the 15 hours per week she is now working as Media and Worship Coordinator.
This is a 6-month contract (January 1 – June 30, 2021) for a total of 35 hours worked, 15 as Media/Worship Coordinator and 20 as Communications Coordinator.
2. Create a 6-month position to work with Pastor Severns approximately 10 hours per week on logistics and scheduling. We recommend that this position be offered to Ron Simmons in addition to his Music/AV Assistant role.
This will essentially double Ron’s current workload at TBC for the 6-month period January 1 – June 30, 2021. This will be in addition to the wages budgeted for Ron’s position as music / AV assistant.
3. Authorize church staff to seek up to two (2) Worship Interns for the 6-month period January 1 – June 30, 2021 to work specifically with Dr. Judy Fiske and Amanda Rone on Worship planning.
Partial funding for these positions already exists in the current church budget, and additional funding and/or partnership with other churches may also be available.
Costs for changes in recommendations 1 and 2 will be paid for out of current staff salary fund with no anticipated increase.
Proposal for Leadership and Procedures in Q1&2 2021
1) Leadership for the following 19 key roles needs to be nominated and confirmed. Those leaders willing to remain in existing positions will be asked to do so:
Church Clerk
Trustee Board (3 members)
At-Large Administrative Board Members (3 members)
Buildings & Grounds Committee (2 members)
Finance Committee NEW (3 members)
Personnel Committee (2 members)
TCCC Administrative Committee (2 members)
Row House Oversight Committee NEW (3 members)
2) The Board of Deacons will identify at least 5 members to serve in 2021. 100% of their focus will be on congregational ministry and care.
3) Returning at-large members of the Administrative Board (serving terms for 2021 and through 2022), and representatives from church boards and standing committees will continue to serve as a streamlined Administrative Board.
For the first half of 2021, no additional, at-large members will be nominated to the Administrative Board
Committee representation to the Administrative Board will occur on an “if available” basis
The streamlined Administrative Board will function to approve customary requests by the Finance Committee and other standing church committees. Information will be shared via Basecamp and meetings via zoom will be called as required. Requests requiring major financial commitments or arrangements will be referred to the church’s congregation for vote.
4) The Finance Committee will assume responsibility for all customary decisions regarding banking, bill paying, receipt of gifts & offerings, record-keeping and reporting. They will also relate directly with the church’s financial services company (JP Consulting, Inc.). Any questions outside the established parameters of operation, as outlined in the Church Manual, will be brought to the Administrative Board or the church congregation for vote.
5) A budget for the first half of 2021 will be approved by this year’s Administrative Board and presented to the congregation in early December.
All church entities with identified budgets will be instructed to authorize only those expenses which are absolutely necessary.
The Finance Committee will have the authority to grant requests that are within established guidelines or refer decision to the Administrative Board or the church congregation.
6) Tabernacle Church will return to the normal Leadership structure in Q3 2021 unless the Church votes to approve an extension of this proposal.
The deacons spent several weeks this fall working to find Tabernacle members who would be willing and able to serve on the Nominating Committee for 2020-21. With so many of our members’ lives changed so radically by the pandemic, this has proved to be a challenge. As 2020 winds down, our key leaders want to ensure that our leadership nominating process goes forward, and that qualified and committed leadership candidates will be brought to the church for approval in a timely way. Tim Pohl, chair of the Deacon Board; Terry McMahon, chair of the Administrative Board; and Nathan Hatfield, chair of the Personnel Committee will be working together as an interim nominating team to recruit leaders for the six-month January-June 2021 period. Leadership candidates whom they recruit who volunteer to serve will be brought to the church for approval as soon as a completed slate of candidates can be shared.
If you would like to be considered to serve as a leader in the church, or have questions about the process, please contact us at communications@tbcrichmond.org.
Today I am writing to you on behalf of the “Safety Protocol Implementation Team.” Over the last few months, our team has worked together to put structures in place that have allowed us to re-enter the Church building as safely as possible. Over the last couple of weeks, we have been able to meet on Wednesday Nights, following all of the safety protocols that were voted on in a Church Business Session.
As we began Phase One of the protocol, our hope was to test out our safety plan for one month and then move to Phase Two, where we would open up the church for Tab Circles to meet. As I am sure you are aware, the number of Covid cases in the Central Region are on the rise, going above and beyond the threshold we set to move to Phase Two.
We are going to find creative ways to get individuals and individual families in the building. But at this time, it simply is not safe to meet together indoors in a large group.
While we yearn to be together and worship in community, the love that we have for one another calls us to be apart for this particular season, a season that will not last forever.
We will continue to monitor testing results daily and when the numbers hit the set threshold, we will begin the process of bringing Tab Circles into the building, leading to an eventual Sunday morning worship experience.
Attached is the safety protocol the church approved. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at marksnipes1@gmail.com.
For many years, for me, World Communion Sunday has been about the bread, as many different types and flavors as possible. It has also been about baking this bread with other people: Bonnie Dance, Kimberly Yednock and Todd Schall-Vess, James and Emma Braford to name a few. Sadly the church kitchen will be empty this year with no flour being spread from one end to the other. This means that bread baking will have to be done in your really clean and very solitary home kitchen.
One of the things we always made was cheese muffins—-don’t ask me what they have to do with World Communion Sunday, but most everyone in the Tabernacle congregation loves them. Because there is no communal baking taking place this year you are going to be on your own for bread baking. This is the recipe for the cheese muffins. It makes two dozen. I always use whole milk and full fat cheese, but you can make them with 2 % milk and low fat cheese if you would like.
Cheese muffins:
Wet ingredients:
1 stick of butter melted, 1/2 cup
2 cups of milk
2 eggs beaten
Dry ingredients:
3 ½ cups of flour
2 T baking powder
4T sugar
1/8 t salt
2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar Cheese
It is also possible here to throw in a quantity of bacon crumbles
Place the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir, make a small well in the center of the ingredients. Combine wet ingredients and pour into the well in the dry ingredients. Stir until just moistened, batter is thick.
Place the batter in greased muffin tins and bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
We also made some yeast breads. I have usually just gone to the King Arthur Flour website and chosen a couple of easy bread recipes to make from there. One easy one is the “No-Knead Crusty White Bread.” It is easy to mix and then make into loaves. Making bread is not terribly difficult and while it is time consuming, it is not labor intensive.
Grab a family member and make some bread or muffins this week in honor of World Communion Sunday. The abundance of bread on the Communion Table for World Communion Sunday at Tabernacle is to remind us of the abundance of God’s grace and care for ALL people in the world. Pray for Christian communities all over the world this week as we and they celebrate World Communion Sunday.
There will be Special Called Business Meeting (voting only) for the purpose of seeking approval of several important items recommended by the Administrative Board and the Ad Hoc Constitution Committee. The ballot will be available through the Tab Weekly and on the website on Thursday, October 1 with voting closed at 5 PM on Wednesday, October 7.
An adventure to worship alongside sister congregations
Combined Worship: First Baptist Church Cooperstown NY, First Presbyterian Church Cooperstown NY and Tabernacle Baptist Church, Richmond VA. September 6, 2020
The visit with Rev. Joe Perdue and the congregants from First Baptist and First Presbyterian was a balm to my broken soul. I can tell that they are struggling with many of the same things we struggle with. There were technical difficulties that they worked through real time. Mask usage and distancing was mixed.
There were prayer requests for loss of a loved one, adjusting and healing and a request for the people of Vietnam. Joe also asked for prayers for the people of Rochester NY. Because of the murder of a man by police last spring and the violent response to the protestors from local police. This was close to home as Joe has two pastor friends in Rochester who are walking through this. He asked for prayer for “peace but not at the expense of justice”. The two pianist, tenor soloist and hammered dulcimer player were all delightful. I enjoyed the comfortable mixture of musical styles throughout the service, with English classical, a spiritual and the black national anthem. The sermon “Fault Lines” was an excellent illustration of the behavior of conquerors. God sent 10 plagues before Pharaoh let the people go. The reminder that there are natural consequences for actions and that God’s grace has often given us forgiveness. He recounted the trouble and demonic forces that we face in 2020. Joe said that when things are as bad as they can possibly be, we are called to worship and encounter God. He closed in challenging us. God chooses to act through us, so we “better get to it”. He challenges us to do the work of the Exodus in caring for others, wearing masks, hearing people of color, valuing black lives, protecting, and serving our neighbors. I was truly inspired by the closing “We are not obligated to complete the work, neither are we free to abandon it”. The closing was equally powerful with the Canticle of Turning as the last hymn and a benediction from Benedictine Sister Ruth Fox of Sacred Heart Monastery.
May God bless you with discontent with easy answers, half-truths, superficial relationships, so that you will live from deep within your heart. May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, abuse, and exploitation of people, so that you will work for justice, equality, and peace. May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you will reach out your hand to comfort them and to change their pain to joy. May God bless you with the foolishness to think you can make a difference in this world, so that you will do the things which others tell you cannot be done. If you have the courage to accept these blessings, then God will also bless you with:
In the coming days we should continue to pray for the unrest in New York as well as other communities including our own. We need to lift up First Baptist in prayer as they begin a bible study on race. We should pray that God’s provision be upon them in their upcoming fundraiser.
I am thankful that God has graced us with Joe Purdue and will make sure to pray regularly for his ministry and the community in Cooperstown.
Respectfully Submitted By Denise L. Walters
Celebrating Churches Crossing Racial Boundaries: Neighbors Under the Son in Ashland
First Baptist Church of Ashland is a mostly White church; their neighbor, Shiloh Baptist Church, is mostly Black. For the past year, teams from each congregation have been partnering to build friendships and learn how worship can bind the two churches together. Terry and I joined their remote service on September 6 for a celebration of that partnership, “Neighbors Under the Son.”
It was a wonderful worship service. Readings, reflections and prayers from members of the two teams gave a glimpse into the year they spent talking, fellowshipping, praying and working together. The service also included original worship songs written and led by songwriting interns from Urban Doxology, a summer program that mentors young adults in learning how worship can help them bridge racial boundaries (Tab’s own Alan Lowery was an intern with them not long ago!).
Finally, the pastors of each church preached together about repentence and reconciliation. Pastor Josh Hayden of FBC said the world approaches sin in two ways–seeking revenge or avoidance–but the church has a different call. “If we as the church will acknowledge the sin between us, staying out of the ditches of revenge or avoidance, healing can begin. There is no resurrection without the cross, no healing without repentence.”
Pastor Randell Williams of Shiloh said the question is, “How much is the price of a person’s dignity or humanity?” He said there is a price to loving others across racial lines, a cost to not standing by while others devalue the person I care about. But, he added, “If we are faithful to repent, God will take on the matter; He will not leave us alone in working this out.”
Pastor Josh said the partnership between the two churches started small, with just 12 people from each church committing to build their relationships over a year. “We brought our two fish and fives loaves, and told God we needed a miracle to help this little group become friends, a foretaste of God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven,” he said.
“And,” he added, “we found God’s intervention came through our shared intention. It is in the small places that healing begins.”
In a time when the voices about race in the U.S. are strident and the anxiety is high, it was such an encouragement to see two churches who are building friendships in the context of the kingdom of God. It’s obviously God’s providence that they began their relationships before the pandemic and the groundswell of tension in the wake of George Floyd’s killing. And this worship service offered a prophetic word in a world that values and devalues according to the color of skin. God’s way to healing is neither avoidance or vengeance, but open-hearted confession and repentance, which opens the door for reconciliation.
As a friend recently reminded me, “Racism can’t be healed with the head, but only with the heart and the body.” The partnership between First and Shiloh put feet to bridging the distance between them, and spoke through the heart in confession of the sin of separation. In turn, hearts are being healed and learning to love. I’m sure the journey so far has been neither easy nor perfect, but it lifted my spirits to hear the good news of these two congregations learning to walk together.
And what about my own church family? My hope is that we at Tab, like First and Shiloh, will be open to God’s call to us. God brought together “neighbors under the Son” in Ashland…what might God want to do between us and our neighbors at Meadow and Grove? I pray our ears, eyes and hearts will be open.
The Prelude portion of worship on the Sabbath is a time spent at the beginning of the day deliberately reminding yourself of the presence of God in your life and preparing to spend the day celebrating and enjoying that presence.
You could choose to do this in many different ways. Some people will spend time in prayer, some will read and reflect on the scripture passages for the day, some will take a walk outside paying close attention to the beauty of creation all around them, some will listen to music, some may choose to engage in a small creative project. There are numerous ways to turn your heart and mind toward acknowledging the presence of God. These activities are personal and for many people private.
God calls us into personal relationship, but God also calls us into a communal relationship with others who are worshiping each Sabbath. If you would like to participate in a communal preparation for worship on the Sabbath, the resources for this are found in this space. You may join this Livestream experience of preparation for the Sabbath at any time between 8:00 AM and 9:30 AM to prepare silently with others in our congregation for worship on the Sabbath Day. Stay for as long as you like! The lighting of the Christ Candle at the beginning of worship reminds us that we are deliberately stepping into the presence of God. Come quiet your mind and soul, light your candle and prepare to worship God.
Prelude is just the beginning of a day of worship. We hope you’ll also join us for a virtual church-wide communal gathering at 11AM (EDT) and spend time with a small group of other disciples nurturing your spiritual growth. Find more information about our rhythm of Sabbath here.
