Author: Wesley

Recently, Valley View Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee, embarked on a significant journey through the Church Consultation process facilitated by the Nashville Baptist Association (NBA). This process was designed to assess the church’s health, legacy, and future potential by examining aspects like attendance, financial trends, and community demographics. Here’s how this journey unfolded for Valley View Baptist Church, according to Mitchell Karnes, a church member, and Matt Wilson, the Interim Pastor.

Challenges Identified
Mitchell Karnes highlighted several challenges faced by Valley View Baptist Church, including recent tensions, a drop in attendance, and a perceived disconnect with the community. “We haven’t changed with our community. We need new connections with the people around us,” he noted. Interim Pastor, Matt Wilson echoed these sentiments, emphasizing the church’s failure to evolve alongside its neighborhood.

Impact of the Futuring Process
Engaging in the NBA’s futuring process brought a new perspective to the church leadership. Karnes expressed that the process instilled “hope and a plan,” while Wilson found it “eye-opening,” providing a spiritual renewal and strategic direction for the church’s leaders. This process unified the leadership in understanding the church’s lifecycle and the necessary steps forward.

Key Insights and Learnings
The process was likened by Wilson to a medical diagnosis for the church, offering clarity on past and present states, and focusing on future possibilities. Karnes pointed out the value of an honest assessment, the potential for partnerships with other churches, and the NBA’s guidance as crucial insights.

Leadership and Congregation Benefits
Both Karnes and Wilson noted significant benefits from the consultation. For Karnes, it brought “renewed excitement and hopeful anticipation,” while Wilson learned extensively about the congregation and the broader implications of church strategies like replanting or revitalization. This educational aspect was pivotal in helping the congregation understand and accept future directions.

Future Hopes
The church now looks forward to a future marked by life, growth, and relevance, as Karnes put it. Wilson expressed hope for Valley View to continue as a “Gospel outpost” in East Nashville, actively engaging in outreach and renewal efforts.

Reflections on the NBA’s Role
Karnes was “very pleased and impressed” with the NBA’s approach, while Wilson appreciated the association’s experienced guidance, which was both pastoral and straightforward. This support was instrumental in navigating the church’s future.

Encouragement for Other Churches
Both leaders strongly recommended the futuring process to other churches. Karnes emphasized the communal aspect of church, suggesting that struggling churches should seek help from the broader body of Christ. Wilson added that the knowledge gained is empowering, allowing for more targeted prayer and Spirit-led decision-making.

The NBA can help your Church
The NBA’s church consultation process is a valuable tool for congregations seeking renewed health and vitality. By honoring a church’s history, assessing its present, and envisioning a Spirit-led future, the NBA helps churches like Valley View move forward with clarity and purpose. If your church is at a crossroads or ready to take the next step toward revitalization, consider reaching out to the Nashville Baptist Association.

Bob Bickford
Executive Director
bbickford@nashvillebaptists.com

Yves’s broad smile is instantly welcoming. His joy is infectious as he begins to tell me his story in passable English, tinged with a heavy Creole accent. Yves is the pastor of our only Haitian church, Église Baptiste Nouvelle Jérusalem. Their congregation joined our association this past spring. Previously, they met at Crievewood Baptist but now gather at Community Bible Church in South Nashville.

 Yves grew up in Milot, Haiti, a village near Cap-Haïtien in the north of the island. His family was devoutly Christian, but he fell away from the faith when he was around thirteen or fourteen years old. By divine providence, his older sister was registered for a Christian youth conference but was unable to attend. Yves decided to go in her place, and this became a life-changing event for him; he returned to Christ and felt called to ministry.

 He later attended a seminary in Port-au-Prince, the capital, but transferred to a school in Limbé to be closer to home. There, he studied Greek and Hebrew as part of his pastoral training. After graduation, Yves pastored four different churches across Haiti.

 In September 2010, while pastoring a church and serving as the principal of a school, Yves faced a grave challenge. His assistant principal, apparently envious of Yves’s position, became unhinged and took drastic action. In October of that year, the assistant paid a mob to set fire to Yves’s home while his son was inside. That night, Yves received a text informing him that his son will be kidnapped very soon. Fifteen days later they kidnapped him.

 Yves’s church, with around 500 members, assembled that night to pray desperately for the boy’s release. In a remarkable turn of events reminiscent of Paul and Silas’s miraculous release from prison in Acts 16, Yves’s son was freed in the middle of the night after being held for just one day. He wandered the streets until he stumbled upon a radio station, where, inexplicably, he found a school friend who helped him return home safely.

 Despite this ordeal, the assistant was never arrested, and Yves felt compelled to flee to the United States. He initially found work as a security guard and later on went to college to become a math teacher but  unfortunately could not finish due to his wife passing.

 In 2019, Yves was called to be the pastor of the First Haitian Baptist Church of Nashville, now renamed Église Baptiste Nouvelle Jérusalem. He faithfully serves his congregation of Haitian Americans who have relocated to Nashville.

 Ways to Pray:
-Pray for Haiti and its new government, as parts of the country are plagued by gang violence.
-Ask the Lord if your church might partner with this Haitian congregation.
-Pray that Église Baptiste Nouvelle Jérusalem continues to grow in faith and numbers.
-Pray that Pastor Yves and the church serve as a witness to the Haitian community for God.

EMERGENCY IMMERDIATE AFTERMATH DONATIONS OF GOODS

“Immediate Aftermath” items are usually needed in the weeks to a Month after a storm, after that please focus on the “Long Term” needs as people try and set up their homes again.

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