By: Rev. Dr. Paul Raybon Recently I have been reflecting on folks who were once at the very center of life at church. Many have gone on to their eternal home, where they wait for us to arrive one day. Others have moved away and created stories of love and ministry in new church homes. […]
Connecting with Your Legacy Read More »
By: Rev. Dr. Paul Raybon Ministers have a particular if not unique exposure to trauma. (Trauma is our body’s emergency response to an experience that overwhelms our normal coping mechanisms). Not only do we carry the bodily memory of our own private traumas, but we can also be traumatized directly and indirectly through our ministry.
Your Trauma Narrative Read More »
By: Rev. Dr. Paul Raybon Folks in Western North Carolina are balancing deep empathy and compassion for the people in the hill country of Texas with a fair amount of anxiety and even PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). It is a tough balance to maintain. Nine months after Hurricane Helene, even before the recent news,
By: Rev. Dr. Paul Raybon I am blessed to serve in a congregation that has developed healthy attitudes and perceptions over the last 50 years of our 200+ year history. Both pastors during those years*, in very different ways, reminded us that “we’re going to do the right thing, the Jesus thing.” Pastors and lay
Do the Right Thing or…?, Read More »
By: Rev. Dr. Paul Raybon In the days when we were still numb in the midst of the devastation of Hurricane Helene, I was in a Zoom meeting with Baptist pastors from across Western North Carolina and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina (CBFNC). A seasoned pastor from East Carolina, David Elks, was there
Do the Right Thing, Right in Front of You Read More »
By: Rev. Dr Paul Raybon In my recent article I pointed to the radical days of Pentecost as a model for the church to navigate uncertain times. There is another option found in Acts 5.Do you remember old Rabbi Gamaliel? Rabbi and mentor of Saul before he was Paul? He speaks out at the trial
The Gamaliel Option Read More »
By: Rev. Dr Paul Raybon We live in crazy times. Not just for each of us as individuals, but for the church. And you know the old definition of insanity? “To do the same thing you’ve always done and expect different results.” The way of doing church that was perfected in the mid-20th century does
By Rev. Dr. Paul Raybon I’m continuing to read and reflect on this idea of “resilience” as a metaphor and design for what we do as church. (See here if you missed it.) One of the practical applications, as described to me by Co-Pastor Ernesto Bazan of Iglesia Bautista Kerygma in Holguin, Cuba, was reorganizing
Ministry of Accompaniment Read More »
By: Dr. Paul Raybon You may have heard this word in the news, it is one of the “go to” words of our times. Resilience is the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulty, trauma, and disaster. The interesting thing about resilience is that scientists have determined that there are ways to build
By: Dr. Paul Raybon My church, Hominy Baptist in Candler, North Carolina, is over 200 years old. We are a small-medium sized congregation, which in the post COVID world means about 150 folks participating in worship and/or ministry on a regular basis, and about half that number in worship on any given Sunday. Many churches
Your Building Is a Gift! Read More »
