Abee s Grove Amherst Antioch Asheville Street Bethel Bethlehem Bridge 42 Brookwood Brown Mountain Burkemont Catawba Valley Central Community Missionary Community of Drexel Connelly Springs First Cornerstone Cross Memorial Drexel First Drexel Memorial East Valdese El Bethel Enon First Hmong Friendship Gilead Glen Alpine First Grace Grandview Great American Cowboy High Peak Hopewell Icard s Grove Lakeview Missionary Ridge Morganton First Morganton First Deaf Mount Calvary Mount Home Mount Olive Mountain View I Mountain View II Mull s Grove New Hope In Christ North Laurel North Morganton Oak Grove Oak Ridge Pleasant Hill Pleasant Ridge Pleasant View River of Life Riverside Rutherford College First Silver Creek Smyrna Solid Rock South Mountain Southside Summit Community Table Rock Trinity United Valdese First Walker Road Wilkies Grove Zion Grace Notes April 2017 It was a blessing to be at our Associational Spring meeting last week at El Bethel Baptist. Thank you El Bethel for hosting us and for having an attitude of servanthood. You truly blessed our Association. Also at this meeting we collected $915 for our Acts 1:8 Mission Fund which will be used for missions, ministry and evangelism. To God Be the Glory! At the meeting the messengers made two major decisions: To allow the associational officers to pursue the repair and eventual sale of the house located behind the Associational building. All proceeds from the eventual sale will go towards Associational debt which is currently approximately $264,000. Begin a three year partnership with Chicago. We will be working with church planters in an effort to saturate Chicago with the Word of God. Your church can help in the following ways: Send mission teams to Chicago. Pray for individual church planters in Chicago. Send birthday cards to Chicago planters. Routinely send encouraging notes to the planters and their spouses. Meet needs of individual planters. God is doing a special work in our Association as we partner together to reach communities for Christ and I m grateful for each of you as you strive to be faithful to our Lord individually as well as corporately. Blessed to Serve, Robby
Catawba River Baptist Association Page 2 We have two mission trips planned in the United States this year and we are hoping you will decide to join us on one of these trips. First, we will be taking a group to Fayetteville, West Virginia July 23-30 where we will do VBS, Nursing Home ministry, Block Parties as well as some light construction. This is a great trip for adults and youth as well as families with children. The cost of $200 per person includes food, lodging (sleeping on air mattresses at New River Baptist Church), and supplies. For more information and registration forms please call our CRBA office or email me at rsmith@crbanc.org. Also, we will have an information meeting at our CRBA office this Thursday, March 30 th at 6:30 p.m. Second, July 29 through August 4 Stephen Collins of Zion Baptist will be leading a team to minister in Chicago where they will be doing light construction, Vacation Bible School and Block Parties. If interested in this exciting trip please give Stephen a call at Zion Baptist or contact me at CRBA and I will fill you in. Catawba River Baptist Association will be leading a mission trip to Cuba September 15-22. This will be an exciting trip where we will do construction, prayer walking, personal evangelism and preaching. The cost for the trip which includes transportation, food, lodging and supplies is $2,000 per person. This trip is open to both men and women. If interested in ministering in Cuba with us you will need to begin the process of getting a passport as soon as possible. If you are ready to sign up please place the following in your browser: https://goo.gl/tcsvh5 Scroll to the bottom of the Cuba Partnership Page and then find and click on our project CU17-31 (the Details/ Register button). You will need to either sign in or create a new volunteer account to add to the team. You will need your passport to register. Once on our project page it should ask you to sign in or create an account. 1. The e-mail/username has to be unique (i.e. husband and wife cannot share the same e-mail). If you have been sharing an e-mail with your spouse, you will need to create a unique one for one or the other of you. 2. You will also be required to establish a new password since the site is new. You will need to use a "special character" (i.e. - @ # $ % & etc.) in your new password for added security. Once you have either signed in (updated your password, etc.) or created a new account: 1. Click 1 at the bottom of our project page where it asks you to Choose Quantity. Then click the Continue button. It should take you to a second page. 2. The second page should ask you to put in our team name, which is CRBA (case/space sensitive). Click Continue. 3. The third page should present your account information (general, passport, etc.) for verification. If anything on your account is unfinished, it may require you to complete it. Once you have, click the Register Button. 4. You will be taken to a Thank You page. Please read it carefully. (You will also receive an e-mail with the same information you see on the Thank You page.)
Catawba River Baptist Association Page 3 Antioch Baptist Church Amherst Baptist Church Bethel Baptist Church CRBA Churches Without a Senior Pastor Brown Mountain Baptist Church East Valdese Baptist Church Mountain View #1 Baptist Church Catawba Valley Baptist Church Oak Ridge Baptist Church Pleasant Hill Baptist Church Pleasant View Baptist Church Please pray for these churches as the Lord leads them to their next pastor. For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; Colossians 1:9
Catawba River Baptist Association Page 4 On Tuesday, May 23 rd we have the honor of hosting Dr. Steve Parr as he talks to us with ideas on how to reach and keep the millennial generation. Dr. Parr will be speaking from decades of experience and his emphasis will be on Why They Stay which is the title of his most recent book. Do you want your children to be actively serving in the local church when they turn thirty and beyond? This seminar can help! Much has been written about younger adults and their departure from church involvement. Concerned parents and church leaders want to know what has caused them to depart. Instead of asking why young adults are leaving the church, Parr and Crites conducted a national research project of those who grew up in church and are still serving faithfully. They studied why they have stayed and the results are compelling. You will learn as a parent, pastor, or church leader specific actions that you can take to make a definitive difference in whether or not the fifteen-year-olds attending your church now are still attending and serving when they turn thirty. Join us at 6:30 at Mulls Grove Baptist for this very important seminar. OUT OF THE BOX (Ideas to help churches reach people for Jesus) TRACT SUNDAY Tract Sunday has a two-fold purpose. First, many Christians feel inept at sharing the Gospel, especially in leading someone to trust Jesus as his or her Lord and Savior. Giving them a tract to hold in their hands gives them added confidence and a clear Gospel presentation. Secondly, as the pastor reads through the tract, lost people in the service hear the Gospel in a different way and then have the opportunity to receive Christ. Step 1: Determine which tract to purchase for training. Choose one that is Biblical, attractive to the eye, and convenient in size with illustrative pictures such as Steps to Peace with God by Billy Graham. Step 2: Prepare Pastor make sure you are very familiar with the tract and illustrations, the verses used and so on to have a full understanding of the tract before teaching in the Sunday morning service. Step 3: Tract Sunday! Give each person a gospel tract and then take them through it during sermon time. Be sure to offer an invitation to receive Christ following the teaching time. Encourage each person to share that tract with an unbeliever during the following week. Please be in prayer for this week s Churches of the Week: Burkemont (pastor David Mills) Catawba Valley (interim pastor David Orders) Central (pastor Thom Hartman) Community Missionary (pastor Tony Land)
Catawba River Baptist Association Page 5 Chicago Partnership Please pray for Church Planter and Pastor Paul Cartright. Paul planted Jesus is the Life Church in the Park Forest neighborhood of Chicago 5 months ago and now they average over 20 people in attendance. The church focuses on evangelism with an emphasis on teaching/preaching and community partnership. Paul said their ministry is teaching and preaching for inspiration and transformation. Their current needs are: Prayer 3 Computers Computer software Mission Teams Financial Support Please pray for Pastor Paul and Jesus is the Life Church as they reach their community for Christ. Quote of the Month The wrong question is whether your church is traditional or contemporary and which is better. The real issue is whether your church is biblically faithful, acting as the presence of Christ in the community at large, able to relate Christ to people in culture, and is on mission. In short, is your church missional? - Stetzer Thank you to the following churches who have financially supported CRBA during the months of January March 2017. Amherst Antioch Asheville Street Bethel Brookwood Burkemont Catawba Valley Community of Drexel Cornerstone Drexel Memorial East Valdese El Bethel Enon First Baptist, Glen Alpine First Hmong First Baptist, Morganton First Baptist, Rutherford College First Baptist, Valdese Gilead Grace High Peak Hopewell Icard's Grove Lakeview Missionary Ridge Mount Calvary Mount Home Mount Olive Mountain View II Mull's Grove North Morganton Oak Ridge Pleasant Hill Pleasant Ridge Pleasant View Silver Creek Summit Community Church Trinity United Walker Road Wilkie's Grove Zion
Catawba River Baptist Association Page 6 Upcoming Events March 30 West Virginia Mission Trip Information Meeting @ 6:30 p.m. April (month of food collection for the Children s Home of North Carolina) 1 State RA Racer Day 6 Senior Adult Outing 16 Easter 17 Office Closed May 2 Church Security Seminar @ 6:30 @ Walker Road Baptist 21 Association Missions Offering 23 Why They Stay Seminar with Dr. Steve Parr at 6:30 p.m. @ Mulls Grove Baptist June 13-14 SBC Annual Meeting in Pheonix July 17-22 World Changers 23-28 Mission Trip to Fayetteville, West Virginia 29-8/4 Mission Trip to Chicago September 16-22 Mission Trip to Cuba October 5 Senior Adult Outing 15 CRBA Fall/Annual Meeting/Celebration @ Burkemont Meal & business session at 4:30 and Worship Celebration@ 6 November 6 S.S. Training with Ken Hemphill @ High Peak Baptist Church Concert Mount Home Baptist invites you to hear The Collingsworth Family When: Easter Sunday night, April 16, 2017 Time: 6:00 PM (Doors open 5:00 PM) Cost: Love Offering Where: 2272 Mount Home Church Rd., Morganton, NC More Info: (828) 437-0593 Christ Centered Recovery Program - 1st Annual Golf Tournament When: Saturday, April 22, 2017 Where: Quaker Meadows Golf Club, 826 N. Green St., Morganton, NC Registration/Lunch 12:00 pm; Shotgun start 1:30 pm Cost: 4-man Captain s Choice $ 50 per player $ 160 if register team and pay in full by April 1, 2017; 1st, 2nd, 3rd Prize Winners $ 15,000 Hole-in-One Prize; and Door Prizes $ 100 Hole Sponsor; $ 150 Hole-in-One Sponsor Contact: Tracy Whitley (828) 764-5030 or Jason Herrin (828) 764-3220 or Steve Smith (828) 403-2213
Catawba River Baptist Association Page 7 Catawba River Baptist Association is a drop-off location for the Children s Home Food Roundup The deadline is Thursday, April 27, 2017 2017 Needed Items List MOST NEEDED ITEMS: (in bold) Canned Fruits Paper Products (paper towels, toilet paper, Kleenex, napkins) Household cleaning products (i.e. bleach, Comet, Lysol spray and wipes, Clorox spray and wipes, Windex, Pinesol, Pledge, Tilex, etc.) Fruit Juice (Apple, Orange, Grape,Cranberry Laundry Detergent Bottled Water Dry Cereal Spaghetti Sauce Pasta (Spaghetti, Lasagna, Macaroni) Canned Tomatoes (diced, sauce, paste) Gift Cards are appreciated (i.e. Wal-Mart, Sams Clubs Food Lion, Lowes, Ingles, Piggly Wiggly) We can use all size cans. Some locations prefer #10 cans (family size). Please check for expired food dates. Please use small, sturdy boxes. Questions? Contact Alan Williams at 1-800-476-3669 ext. 1277 or awilliams@bchfamily.org See website for more information and a complete list of needed items. www.bchfoodroundup.org
Non Profit Organization US Postage Paid Permit #55 Morganton, NC 28655 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. John 7:38 Date Income Expenses Net February 2017 Pregnancy Care Center, Inc. 302 S. Main St., Drexel, NC (828) 437-HELP (4357) Hours of Operation: Monday-Thursday 9:30 AM 5:00 PM They are a Christ-centered organization whose mission is to reach out to women and families involved in crisis related pregnancies, offering real help for the present and hope for the future. CRBA Financial Report $ 15,544.67 $ 12,778.71 $ 2,765.96 Year-to-Date $ 30,118.45 $ 26,257.44 $ 3,861.01 Beginning Balance Income Net Acts 1:8 $ 11,000.00 $ 915.48 $ 11,915.48 April Birthdays Lawrence Robertson Southside 4 May Birthdays Larry Thompson Calvary 17 Greg Klapp East Valdese 30 Julia Bess Grace 24 Doris Bristol New Hope In Christ 11 June Birthdays Rex Shaver Pleasant View 3 Rebecca Hayes Abees Grove 28 Joanna King Friendship 27 Glenda Mashburn Mount. View 2 20 Anniversaries April-June Rev./Mrs. Shepherd Morganton First April 19 Rev./Mrs. Garner Enon June 14 Rev./Mrs. Thompson Calvary June 15 Rev./Mrs. Chandler Summit May 21