April 2017

The NAVIGATOR Strengthening The Church and Impacting Lostness

April 2017 Website: www.tarriverbaptist.org

The Monthly Newsletter of the Tar River

Baptist Association

Volume 13 Issue 4

Calendar of Events Please check our calendar on the website on a

regular basis for updated calendar information. Our website is www.tarriverbaptist.org. Expect additional information to come to you electronically and check the TRBA Calendar for updates.

MUCH happening at time of publication.

April 2017 Closings for the TRBA Office

The TRBA Office will be closed on the following dates:

April 10th - 13th; Staff will be attending the 2017 Associational Missions Conference at the Caraway Conference Center

April 14th - Good Friday (TRBA Office open for appointments only)

April 17th - Staff Easter Holiday April 25th - Staff review day for Spring Meeting

April 2017

*5th Deadline for Easter Baskets to be delivered to the TRBA office by 2pm

*10th - 13th TRBA Office Closed for the 2017 NC Associational Missionary Conference

14th Good Friday (TRBA Office will be open by appointment only)

17th TRBA Office Closed for the Easter Holiday

19th TRBA Finance Meeting TRBA office 1 pm

*24th Baptist Children’s Home Food Donations Due at TRBA from 10am to 2pm

*24th TRBA Annual Spring Meeting 5:30pm @ Bethlehem Baptist

Please print The Navigator Newsletter for your church-

es bulletin boards!! We want to make our news and information easy for every-one to read and share. We

need you help in getting the information out.

Help us share & spread the news that happening

around us.

Words from Pastor Matthew Bowden; Pastor Corinth Baptist Church and TRBA Moderator…………..

As your TRBA Moderator, I would like to encourage you and the messengers from your church to attend the upcoming Spring Meeting graciously hosted by Bethlehem Baptist Church in Youngsville on Monday, April 24th. The Associational meetings have become a catalyst for encouragement, fel-lowship, and hope in my personal ministry, and hearing so many of you share how God has been at work in the ministry that our great God has placed you in is always a highlight. Our Spring meeting includes our annual sermon. Pastor Jason Havens, Pastor of Maple Springs Baptist Church, will be bringing a passionate and dynamic message from God’s word. Pastor Jason has lead Maple Springs in great Kingdom growth during his time there and as a personal friend of mine, I can give testimony to his Godly character and his steadfast Gospel integrity both in and out of the pulpit. Please know that your leadership at TRBA is praying for your church and we stand ready to lock arms together with you to make the name of King Jesus famous in our community’s and to the ends of the earth. I look forward to worshiping our King alongside you on April 24th!

April 2017 2

Please join us in prayer:

The following churches have called Pastor’s to service along side them:

Bunn Baptist: Tom Lamm - Transitional Pastor

Centerville Baptist: Doug Moore - Transitional Pastor

Mountain Grove: David Grindstaff - Interim Pastor

Perry’s Chapel Baptist: James Quinn - Pastor

Pine Ridge Baptist: Rev. Richard Walker - Transitional Pastor

Salem Community Baptist: Billy Webb - Interim Pastor

Union Chapel Baptist: Jason Wilkerson - Interim Pastor

Wood Baptist: Burwell Stark - Pastor

Please keep them in our prayers as they continue to search for the man that God

has chosen to lead them. Remember to lift ALL of our pastors and their families

up in prayer, as they strive to minister to God’s people.

April April 5th - Nathaniel Williams @ Cedar Rock

April 8th - Josh Parrott @ White Level April 28th - Earl Roach @ Hopkins Chapel

May May 11th - Matthew Bowden @ Corinth May 27th - Melton Tyson @ Rock Spring

May 29th - Brian Williams @ Ephesus

If you don’t see your pastors birthday listed, it is because we don’t have his information. Please email Pauline at paul-

ine@tarriverbaptist.com with his birthday so we can add him to our calendar. Thank you!!

April’s Safety Tip Distracted Driving

Distracted driving increases the likelihood

of a crash. Establish safe driving and cell phone-use policies to keep your drivers

and passengers safe.

Sponsored by:

Church Mutual

Insurance

April 2017

2017 Easter Basket Collections Schedule Start collecting and making baskets now because the ………

Delivery Deadline to TRBA: Wednesday, April 5th by 2pm

There is another great opportunity for your church to get involved and make a Godly

difference in a child’s life. The Women of Tar River will be collecting Easter Baskets for the foster children of Franklin & Nash Counties.

Baskets will also be provide to the Children of prisoners in the MATCH program. Please make baskets gender neutral for ages 2 - 12. Let’s fill

the baskets with God’s Love for these kids.

2017 TRBA Annual Meeting

Monday, April 24, 2017 Registration begins @ 5:30pm

Hosted by: Bethlehem Baptist Church, Youngsville, NC

The 2017 Theme: MISSION POSSIBLE: Becoming The Church He Has Called Us To Be – becoming transformational

leaders in His church

Scripture: Ezekiel 37: 1 – 14; Ephesians 5: 14b - 21 Each member church is entitled to 5 voting messengers - one is the pastor or interim and then 4 others elected by the church. If TRBA has email addresses of all messengers, we will get important information to you in time for review before the meetings. To be sure

email Pauline at Pauline@tarriverbaptist.com with your list of messengers. NOTE: Everyone is ALWAYS welcome to attend, but each church has only the 5 voting members.

April 2017 4

April 2017 - Food Roundup for the Baptist Children’s Homes

Start collecting now!! TRBA will be a drop off donation site. All donations must be to the TRBA Office by 2pm on Monday,

April 24, 2017. Downloadable resources are available at www.bchfamily.org/foodroundup. Volunteers will be needed to

pack up food, call Pauline if you are able to help.

Pastor’s Prayer Fellowship Tuesday, April 25, 2017 @ 10am

Host Church Not Yet Determined. Update coming later.

Join us for fellowship and prayer time. Come and strengthen the fellowship among the TRBA pastors. It is our prayer that we can build up clusters of pastors and churches, engaged together with renewed commitment to prayer, ministry to the communities they serve, and

reaching the lost throughout the region. Join us in praying daily!!!

TRBA Staff, Email Addresses & Office Hours: Dougald McLaurin, Associational Missionary - Dougald@tarriverbaptist.com

Pauline Muller, Ministry Assistant / Bookkeeper - Pauline@tarriverbaptist.com Matt Atwell, Church & Community Ministries Intern - Matt@tarriverbaptist.com

Office Hours: Monday - Friday 10:00am to 2:00pm Other times by appointment only. Website: www.tarriverbaptist.org

Let Tar River know what is happening in your church!! Send information that you would like us to

publish in our monthly newsletter to Pauline at Pauline@tarriverbaptist.com. Help us get the word out of events, mission trips, mission projects, etc.!!

Newsletter deadline is 15th of each month.

April 2017

Special Time of Prayer: 10 AM—11:30 AM at TRBA Office.

(More details will be shared with you in upcoming emails)

The 66th Annual National Day of Prayer

Thursday, May 4, 2017

As citizens and residents of the United States and as believers in Christ Jesus, we not only have a spiritual responsibility according to 1 Timothy 2:1-2 to pray, but a civic duty as well to heed our President’s call to stand in the gap for our nation. Who but God’s people have the ability to enter into the very throne room of Heaven with prayers and petitions!

Our theme this year is For Your Great Name’s Sake! Hear Us... Forgive Us...Heal Us! Taken from Daniel 9:19, which says, “O Lord, Listen! O Lord, Forgive! O Lord, Hear and Act! For Your Sake, O My God...”. As the 2017 National Day of Prayer on May 4th approaches, thousands of individuals, churches, and communities will be working to rally millions of Christian’s to once again heed this call!

Scripture tells us again and again that our fervent prayer is effective. That our loving God re-sponds to His children’s earnest pleas in mighty ways that avail much, and ultimately determine the course of history.

At this crucial time for our nation, we can do nothing more important than pray. Thank you in ad-vance for making this spiritual discipline a personal priority and for standing with us as we encour-age others to incorporate prayer in their lives. The Lord has graciously anointed our efforts, em-powering them to touch and change many hearts and lives. We look forward to seeing His hand move across our land in exciting ways each May in response to our petitions! In closing, we ask that you prayerfully consider becoming a volunteer in your church or community to lead a National Day of Prayer gathering. May the Lord’s peace

April 2017 6

There are policy changes for the 2017 Season!

Please be sure to read the new policy before

completing the on-line application for reserva-

tions. Dates are staring to fill up for 2017.

Check the on-line calendar for open dates!! The cost for reserving and use of the Outreach Trailers will be $300.00 per event. We want to encourage our churches to use these trailers for ministry events. Reservations are going fast

for 2017 events so visit www.tarriverbaptist.org to see the available dates and apply online. More info: Email Pauline@tarriverbaptist.com

Developing leaders

MUCH is being said about church revitalization! Training opportunities are being offered to our churches everywhere we turn! As I have stated over and over in recent months, the ONLY reason a Baptist church in NC can not become better equipped to impact lostness/make disciples that WILL make disciples is that they do NOT want to! That is not being harsh, it is just saying if it IS the desire of our hearts, there are plenty of opportunities available to you. THIS week, TRBA’s new LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT TEAM is meeting to discuss training needs they are working to present within our churches. Please pay attention to emails and newsletters, we will be sharing MANY opportunities for you to attend trainings—and we are offering to YOU/YOUR CHURCH our services to equip your church leaders on a one-to-church basis if that will better serve your church.

Right now, we have 5 or 6 people trained by BSCNC to come in and work with your church leaders. We will ask that you offer your church to host and invite neighbor churches to join in the training if at all possible. However, each of these people STAND READY to do whatever it takes to better equip the leadership of any/every church that really wants to reach their communities and advance the Kingdom!

ALREADY this year, we had two trainings — CHANGE YOUR CHURCH OR DIE and THE SECRET OF TEAMS. An adaptation of the first will be offered again in the Fall. 4 members of the LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT TEAM stand ready to offer THE SECRET IF TEAMS training. After going through that with members of 3 churches this past Saturday, I am convinced beyond measure that IF your church leadership has ANY inkling to BE the church God has called it to BE, THE SECRET OF TEAMS will challenge them to examine where they are and discuss/plan/implement changes that will have impact in the ministry of your church!!!!

In addition to these two, there are plans now being made to include training opportunities in Tar River Baptist Association in the following: THE DEACONS AS PEACEMAKERS (really for all leaders but we will be encouraging deacons to serve their churches in this manner); EVERY MEMBER A WITNESS (designed to engaged ALL believers in Gospel Conversations); in May we will introduce pastors to NAMB’S 3-CIRCLES training (tool pastors can use to engage people in Gospel conversations); and we are working on CORE CHARACTERISTICS OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERS. We will have a detailed schedule of all offerings for 2017 at TRBA’s Spring Meeting on 4/24 at Bethlehem Church!

April 2017

2017 Associational Missions Emphasis (AME) Week of Prayer & Mission Emphasis

May 21 - 28, 2017

Prayer Guides and additional information will be online and available to member churches by April 24th (day of TRBA’s Spring Meeting). We ask that you prayerfully consider have a Week of Prayer Emphasis and to consider taking up a special offering during the Month of May to assist with the various ministries of the association and special training to equip member churches to engage more of their members in missions and ministry locally and globally.