Barnabas File

We have probably heard a story something like this.     A loud crash is heard in an adjoining room.     Mom or Dad rushes in and finds a child in collapsed chair.     The child’s response: “It was already broken when I sat down on it.” Although the chair was probably not already broken when the child sat down, it certainly was not in shape to handle the weight of the child or perhaps some healthy childlike activity! This is a good illustration of what has happened to many congregations during the volatile events of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The church may have looked good on the outside and was functioning adequately, but the pressures of change brought on by these times exposed latent inadequacies.  In the fall, Pam Durso,   president of Central Seminary, and Carol McEntyre, pastor of First Baptist Church in Columbia, MO, conducted  a survey of  Baptist pastors  who had left their congregations between July 1, 2020, and Oct...

My LinkedIn account reminded me recently that I have been associated with Central Seminary in Shawnee, Kansas, for fifteen years this month.  It has been an interesting journey that has taken me to unexpected places.   Association with Central Seminary began while I was Coordinator of Tennessee Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.  The seminary offered an “alumni by choice” certificate to invite those who had attended other seminaries to show their support and I readily signed on.    My more official relationship with seminary began in 2005 when I became the volunteer site coordinator for Central’s teaching church site at First Baptist Church in Murfreesboro.  We provided the opportunity for students who were already immersed in ministry, work, and family life to pursue the Master of Divinity degree without uprooting their lives and relocating to pursue a seminary degree.   During the Tennessee Site years, I was invited to become an adjunct i...

Dr. Molly Marshall My association with Central Seminary began while I was Coordinator of Tennessee Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.     The seminary offered an “alumni by choice” certificate to invite those who had attended other seminaries to show their support and I readily signed on.     Due to our previous contacts through campus ministry activities, I was pleased when Molly Marshall became the president.     She was a popular speaker both in Baptist Collegiate Ministry events in Tennessee and on campuses where I served. My more official relationship with seminary began in 2005 when I became the volunteer site coordinator for Central’s teaching church site at First Baptist Church in Murfreesboro.  (By the way, I now teach a Bible study class each week in the room we used for a seminary classroom.)  As I have continued to relate to CBTS in various ways, I have observed and benefitted from the effective leadership of Dr. Marsha...