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Blog Archive
September 27, 2021
Terry's Thoughts October 2021
Fall has officially dawned, and the cooler temperatures have certainly been a welcomed relief. Additionally, along with the dawn of Fall, comes the Fall activities, “sort of.” While the ravages of covid are still with us, to some degree, we are making progress with our recovery. Churches from around our association have begun, on a limited bases, to conduct revival services, restart ministry gatherings of all sorts, and have modified homecoming celebrations, but most of all, many have begun to rediscover what it truly means to be a church. Of all the lessons we have learned from the pandemic, the one that seems to be among the most revealing is just how much we need Koinonia (fellowship). We have realized that the body of Christ not only is tasked with spreading the gospel, but it also has a giant responsibility to nurture true fellowship among its members. It is from this fellowship that we draw our strength to conduct ministry together. Isolation, as it has been learned, simply does not help our mental and spiritual wellbeing. It is extremely vital to have an intentional connection to each other. A second, and more important, lesson we have learned is how important it is to concentrate on the proclamation of the gospel. Isolation, as has been illustrated throughout the pandemic, is a tool our enemy uses to slow down evangelism/discipleship and therefore, must be resisted at all costs. Fortunately, there has been a proliferation of new methods of sharing the gospel through technology and that has been a good thing which provides less excuses for not sharing our faith. The key to making the new methods work is our intentionality to use them along with the most tried and true methods of personal evangelism and discipleship. I would ask that you join me in being more intentional and resist the temptation of shutting down that most important responsibility given to us from the Lord.
In addition to lessons learned, October provides two great opportunities to experience Koinonia. First, we can come together and honor our pastors through Pastor Appreciation Month. While we all appreciate what our pastors do, October has traditionally been set aside to highlight their service to the Kingdom and us. There are several resources available that provide ideas for honoring your pastor. We have provided, on our website https://westchowan.org/Pastor-Appreciation.htm, several ways to honor your pastor and his family. PLEASE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS OPPORTUNITY TO BLESS THOSE WHO FAITHFULLY SERVE US ALL AND FOR MANY AT GREAT SACRIFICE. A second opportunity, here in the month of October, to experience Koinonia is through our Annual Fall Meeting. This year we are back to a more regular schedule. We will meet at Aulander Baptist Church on Sunday evening October 17, beginning at 4:00 P.M. Following our first session, at 4:00, we will enjoy a time of Koinonia around the dinner table beginning at 5:30 P.M. Finally, we will enjoy a great time of worship beginning at 6:15 P.M. The praise team, from Cashie Baptist Church, will lead us in worship and Dr. Tate Cockrell, from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, will bless us with a great message surrounding the theme of “Rebuilding.” Dr. Cockrell is a great friend to us and an amazing preacher of the gospel. There will also be reports from the many agencies we support along with our own ministry teams. One of the highlights of our gathering this year is to welcome Dr. Alan Thompson from the Mountain State Baptist Association located in Princeton, WV. Our goal is to enter into a new partnership with the association Alan leads. We have concluded our partnership with the Hudson Baptist Association of Upstate New York and are moving on to another five-year commitment to the MSBA. Our mission development team has been working on this and will present this opportunity with a covenant of commitment for us to formally sign during our gathering. There are several developing opportunities that will be available very soon that I am excited about. I am not yet able to reveal all those plans, however, it will mean reaching out to our sister churches, our communities and world in new and fresh ways. Please be praying for how your church can be involved and let’s experience God’s grace together in true KOINONIA!!! Remember West Chowan I love you and consider it one of the greatest honors of my life to serve YOU!
Terry