Florida Fellowship NewsFlorida Fellowship News A publication of The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Florida

Second Quarter - Vol. 22, No. 2

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Page 2 www.floridacbf.org Florida Fellowship News

CBF Florida Celebrates “Earthy” Ministries: Annual gathering in Gainesville provides insight and inspiration

CBF Florida’s 2012 spring assembly, hosted at the First Baptist Church of Gaines-

ville, drew approximately 150 attendees during its two days of fellowship, worship,

and workshops. Dr. Brett Younger, Associate Professor of Preaching at

Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology, interpreted the assembly’s

theme, “On Earth as it is in Heaven: Earthy Ministries with a Heavenly Scent”

during each of the weekend’s three worship services.

Younger challenged the worshipers to acknowledge the difficulties of actu-

ally practicing real, hands-on ministry. At the same time, he reminded them

that such “earthy” ministries are a source of joy and hope for the follower of

Christ. Citing several CBF Florida ministries and churches as examples of such

ministries, Younger encouraged all who were present to accept the chal-

lenge and the call to authentic Christ-like ministry.

Pastors and church leaders came from more than twenty different Cooper-

ative Baptist churches in Florida. Two CBF churches from the Bahamas – St.

Cleveland’s on the island of Grand Bahama and

Mount Hope on the island of Abaco – were

represented by their pastors and their wives,

Preston and Carol Cooper from St. Cleveland’s

and John and Enid McIntosh from Mt. Hope.

Cooper and McIntosh also were part of a panel

discussion on mission opportunities that exist

in the Caribbean Islands.

Besides worship, Friday evening’s award and

recognitions banquet also was a highlight of

the Celebration. J. Brent Walker, the Executive

Director of the Baptist Joint Committee for

Religious Liberty in Washington, D.C., encour-

aged Christians to “fight like Heaven” in a call

for more Christ-like political discourse. During the

same banquet, Lynn Williams, Associate Pastor of

Families of Children and Youth at First Baptist Church of

Gainesville, was awarded the 2012 Findley and

Louvenia Edge Award, for Leadership in Christian

Education. The award was presented by Greg

Magruder, the pastor of Parkview Baptist Church in Gainesville and the

current Moderator of CBF Florida. Williams received the award in part for her

courage and leadership in equipping and empowering women in Christian

ministry. (For more on Williams and the Edge Award, see page 4.)

Commenting on the success of the spring Celebration, Ray Johnson, CBF

Florida’s Coordinator, remarked that “John Fairless (pastor of First Baptist

Church of Gainesville), Greg Magruder, their staffs and an incredible group

of volunteers from the two churches were fantastic hosts.” He continued,

“John and Greg and their staffs were a tremendous blessing to us in Lake-

land. We could not have pulled together a program anywhere near this

caliber without their sacrifice and hard work.”

Continued on page 3

For a helpful document on

civil public discourse, read

and download “Ten Com-

mandments for a proper

relationship between

religion & politics,” found at

the Baptist Joint

Committee’s website,

www.bjconline.org .

Florida Fellowship News www.floridacbf.org Page 3

A variety of workshops, led by local Gainesville ministry leaders as well as several invited

guests brought a practical dimension to the weekend. From the informative and entertain-

ing, “Preaching from the Lectionary by Two Bubbas and a Bible” (led by John Fairless and his

Lutheran pastor friend, Delmer Chilton) to the hands-on workshop on community gardening

(facilitated by Connie Baker and Jean-Paul Calixte), conference-goers were offered opportu-

nities to learn “earthy” ways that churches are ministering throughout Florida and the

Caribbean.

On Saturday morning, attendees heard reports on changes and developments in Cooper-

ative Baptist life. Patrick Anderson, CBF Florida’s first Coordinator and the interim Execu-

tive Coordinator of CBF, reported on transitions around the retirement of Daniel Vestal and

the implementation of the 2012 Task Force’s recommendations. Jean Willingham (a

member of the Task Force) and Kyle Reese, pastor of Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church,

respectively reported on the Task Force report and the search for CBF’s next Executive

Coordinator.

Sheila Fairless, First Baptist Gainesville’s Minister of Music, and Marlene Gardner, Parkview’s Music Minister, worked together to

develop the musical components of the weekend’s worship services. Featuring a variety of hymns, choral anthems, praise songs,

and congregational readings, the worship experiences concluded on Saturday morning with a celebration of the Lord’s Supper.

As the 2012 Spring Celebration came to its close, Cooperative Baptists from around Florida and the Caribbean Islands could cele-

brate the three facets of their name: the genuine cooperation that permeated the planning, preparation and celebration during

the annual meeting; the celebration and practice of Baptist values of free worship practiced and led by free believers in a free

church and society; the pure fun that comes from fellowship with like-minded followers of Christ.

Scan the tag below with your smart phone to be taken to the Report of the 2012 Task Force, which will be presented for approval at the General Assembly in Ft. Worth, June 20-23.

You can also read the report online at http://cbfportal.wordpress.com. Just press control and click on the link to the report.

Page 4 www.floridacbf.org Florida Fellowship News

Lynn Williams receives 2012 Findley and Louvenia Edge Award for Leadership in Christian Education

Rev. Lynn Williams became the eighth recipient of the Findley and Louvenia Edge Award for

Leadership in Christian Education during the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Florida’s 2012

Spring Celebration. Williams is the Associate Pastor of Families of Children and Youth at the First

Baptist Church of Gainesville.

Prior to coming to First Baptist of Gainesville, Williams served as the Minister of Education at Parkview

Baptist Church, also in Gainesville. Her pastor at Parkview, Greg Magruder (who currently serves as CBF

Florida’s Moderator), presented the award to Williams during the awards banquet on Friday evening, April 27.

Citing Rev. Williams’ contributions as a writer of Sunday School youth materials, as a former teacher and trainer for Sunday

School workshops for the Florida Baptist Convention, Magruder noted that it was her courage in defending her calling to be

ordained when confronted by the local Baptist association, that set her apart as a particularly apt choice for the Edge Award.

The Edge Award is presented each year to an individual, couple or group whose ministry exemplifies the teachings and the

qualities of leadership as lived by Dr. and Mrs. Edge. The Edges were active members of College Park Baptist Church in Orlando

after Dr. Edge’s retirement from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville where he was the Basil Manly Jr. Profes-

sor of Christian Education.

Recipients of the Edge Award receive a $500 award (funded in part by the Edge Award Fund), a copy of Deena Williams

Newman’s work on Dr. Edge’s teachings, Findley B. Edge: A Search for Authenticity, and a commemorative plaque. This year,

Deena Williams Newman was present at the Spring Celebration to present her book to Rev. Lynn Williams.

For anyone interested in sustaining the legacy of Dr. and Mrs. Edge as well as promoting Christian Education, contributions

to the Edge Award Fund will help fully fund the annual financial award. Gifts to the Edge Award Fund can be made directly

through the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Florida.

CBF Florida Income Summary 2012 CBF Florida Receipts (January - April)

Pennies per Kilowatt Hour to Cool TML's Kids

CBF Florida’s Representative Assembly came up with a very creative plan to help with the

purchase of new air conditioner units. During the summer months, take a look at your electric bill.

For every kilowatt/hour of electricity that you use, would you contribute one penny to CBF Florida

earmarked for TML's AC repair? For example, if you used 1,500 kilowatt/hours, you would

contribute a gift of just $15 for the repair of the AC units. It's a little bit, to be sure. But, we all know

what the Lord can do with just a little. In addition to your contribution, please share this need and

this offering idea with your church family and your friends. It will be exciting to see what we will be

able to do with our pennies to help "cool the kids" of Touching Miami with Love.

Meet Robbie Matteson

Robbie Matteson is a second year student at Baylor University’s George W. Truett

Theological Seminary in Waco, Texas. A member of Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church

in Jacksonville, Matteson was one of CBF Florida’s seven ministerial scholarship stu-

dents during the 2011-2012 academic year. In a recent interview, Robbie discussed

his calling, his affinity for Cooperative Baptists, and his indebtedness to his home

church.

Why CBF?

I love the ministry and missions focus that the CBF has. I have always had a passion for missions and I have worked with the

CBF on many of the projects they sponsor. I have worked with the Ruth school all the way in Romania and I have stayed close

to home working with Touching Miami with Love. Mission work is something the CBF does very well and I have been blessed to

be able to partner with the CBF in many different ministry settings.

What’s playing on your iPod now?

I usually listen to ESPN radio in the car, but bands like Wilco, Switchfoot, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and The Rolling Stones.

Tell us a little bit about who was instrumental in your being called into Christian ministry.

Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church was very influential on my ministry, especially the staff at the church. Growing up in the

church I was influenced by Dr. Jack Snell and I had a great mentor in Dr. Brett Foster as I reached middle and high school.

What was it about your home church that helped you hear God’s calling?

Hendricks Avenue is a great community of people that care about each other and the community around them. It is a church

where I was guided by many great people that helped to strengthen my faith.

What are your plans for ministry when you finish your degree?

My plan is to leave Truett Seminary with a Master of Divinity and receive an MBA from Baylor. My goal in ministry is to com-

bine these two degrees and work in overseas ministry in order to help use funds for mission work in the best way possible.

The best part about seminary for me is . . .

the people I have gotten to know. The school has excellent professors that are great in the classroom and are easy to talk to

outside of class. Truett has a strong student body that is a tight community. I have been challenged in many ways and I con-

tinue to grow as I progress through seminary

Editor’s Note: A significant portion of Robbie’s scholarship is made possible through the Lucille A. Smith Endowment Fund for

Youth and Education Ministries. The Smith Fund was endowed by Lucy A. Smith, who donated a portion of her estate to assure

the future of Cooperative Baptists in Florida. In addition to funding through the Smith Fund, scholarship students receive funds

from the annual ministries budget of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Florida. For more information on the Lucy A. Smith

Fund, estate gifts, or the ministries budget of CBF Florida, contact Ray Johnson at Florida’s Cooperative Baptist Fellowship office in

Lakeland.

Florida Fellowship News www.floridacbf.org Page 5

Robbie Matteson and Ally Wesley

TML’s

Kilowatt Watch

Thank you for your support!

Four Florida Students to Serve as Ministry Interns

Three students with Florida roots will be serving as summer interns through the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s partner

ministry, Student.Go (pronounced Student Dot Go). Will Baxley and Stefan Kinnerly will both be serving as interns at Touching

Miami with Love. In fact, TML will receive seven interns from Student.Go this summer. Baxley is a student at Jacksonville State

University and a member of Chet’s Creek Baptist Church in Jacksonville, FL. Kinnerly is a student at the University of Miami and a

member of New City Church in Coral Gables.

Missy Ward, who will be commissioned this summer as a CBF field personnel, will be serving with Student.Go in Kampala,

Uganda. Ward is a graduate of McAfee School of Theology and a frequent alumna of Student.Go, having served in Fremont,

California (2008 and 2009) and in Uganda (2010 and 2011).

Another student, Holly Johnson, will be serving in another CBF Next Generation initiative, the Congregational Collegiate

Internship program. Johnson, a 2011 graduate of Flagler College, will observe and participate in a wide range of ministries at North

Stuart Baptist Church for eight weeks during the summer.

Page 6 www.floridacbf.org Florida Fellowship News

On May 27, I had the rich joy of performing my son’s wedding. The picture on the left is of

him (Matt) as he first sees his bride, Angie, enter the aisle. Another year, another change. Our

personal lives are constantly in flux. So, too, are the lives of our communities; no less so the

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. In the May 16 edition of CBF Florida’s weekly e-letter, I wrote

about the season of change through which Cooperative Baptists are now going. I thought it

might be helpful to reprint that column here. After all, things are still changing.

This year seems to be, for a variety of reasons, a year of change in the world of Cooperative Baptists. Daniel Vestal, our national

Executive Coordinator is retiring at the end of June. Pat Anderson, CBF Florida's first Coordinator, will serve as the interim Execu-

tive Coordinator. A large part of his role will be to begin implementing the recommendations of the 2012 Task Force, should they

pass at the General Assembly. CBF Florida is currently searching for its new Associate Coordinator, a position which will become

part-time. Rob Nash, CBF's Global Missions Coordinator, has resigned to teach at McAfee School of Theology. Terry Hamrick, CBF's

Coordinator of Missional Leadership, is also retiring. Add to this mixture of change the cultural component of 2012 being a presi-

dential election year, and the resulting product is capable of producing some worry if not anxious heartburn.

Should you be experiencing a bit of nervousness over all of the change, allow me to prescribe three palliatives. Consider them

sorts of spiritual Pepcid. First, Pat Anderson's column, entitled "Change is here to stay," in the June/July 2012 issue of CBF’s Fellow-

ship! newsletter. Pat offers an excellent perspective on how we might best handle these transitional moments. What Pat has to say

reminds us of our higher calling and our source of peace in the midst of change. You can read Pat’s article online at http://

issuu.com/fellowship. Just click on the thumbnail for the June/July issue.

Second, I want to encourage you to read the report and the recommendations of the 2012 Task Force. I believe that when you

read what is being proposed, when you discern the spirit in which the recommendations have been formed and presented, and

when you sense the air of promise that permeates the document – when you do those things – you will be inspired and hopeful.

Third, let me invite you to pray. In this age of incredibly rapid, often unpredictable change, what better remedy for nervousness

and jerkiness (as my dad would have described it) can there be than prayer? Pray for Pat and Carolyn Anderson during this interim

phase of leadership. Pray for CBF national's staff as many of the Task Force's recommendations fall upon them to implement and to

experience. Pray for the search processes for our new Executive Coordinator, Global Missions Coordinator, and CBF Florida's Asso-

ciate Coordinator. And, pray for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Clearly, in a time of so much change, God must be up to some-

thing extraordinary.

Coordinator’s Column By Ray Johnson

Florida Fellowship News www.floridacbf.org Page 7

A Touch of Art touches Miami with Love

The staff, board of directors, and friends of Touching Miami with Love raised more than $12,000 for the downtown Miami minis-

try on Sunday, May 20, through an art-themed fundraiser at the Fairchild Tropical Gardens in Miami. Billed as the Touch of Art:

TML’s Art Show and Auction, the afternoon event featured live entertainment, an auction, “Be Your Own Artist” painting sessions

coached by local professional artists, as well as plenty of works of art by TML’s children and youth.

Diana Diaz, co-anchor of WSVN Channel 7’s morning news show Today in Florida, hosted the afternoon’s auction in which partici-

pants bid on such items as a four-hour private yacht cruise on Biscayne Bay, a SeaWorld® getaway package, a Marlins Park VIP

Experience package for four, as well as a large variety of works of art.

One highlight of the day, according to Angel Pittman, TML’s Director of Development and Volunteers, was the “artists creating

art live.” During this time, four local artists as well as four more artists in collaboration painted a piece of art during the afternoon.

Each piece of art was available for auction during the afternoon.

The “Be Your Own Artist” sessions provided even novices a chance to create their own works of art and bring them home with

them. These sessions were extremely popular, even selling out during the day.

Phil Bacon, chairman of TML’s Board of Directors, commented that “Angel and Jason marketed and staged the event

masterfully.” “The Touch of Art,” he continued, “ignited the imagination and confidence” of the board and staff for other similar

events in the future.

Touching Miami with Love is a ministry of

the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Florida.

Directed by Jason and Angel Pittman and

led by an extraordinary staff, the center

provides ministry and a place of grace to

the children, youth and families of

Overtown, the historic African American

community of downtown Miami.

Two of Florida’s CBF churches – College

Park Baptist Church and First Baptist

Church of Vero Beach – each contributed

their own works of art for auction during

the Touch of Art. College Park’s quilting

ladies made two twin-sized quilts, and the

ladies of First Baptist Vero Beach added

baby quilts to items for auction. For

anyone who was unable to attend A Touch

of Art it is not too late to purchase pieces of

art. From July 9 to July 20, TML will host an online auction. Watch TML’s website, www.touchingmiamiwithlove.org for updates

and links to the online auction.

In Memoriam: Larry Wynn, former executive director of Touching Miami with Love

The staff and friends of Touching Miami with Love, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, and the

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Florida were saddened to receive news of the death of Larry Wynn, the

second executive director of Touching Miami with Love. Rev. Wynn served as TML’s director beginning in

1996. Prior to that, he spent 21 years in the corporate world, coming to TML from the staff of The Miami

Herald.

Rev. Wynn passed away on May 24 in San Antonio. He is survived by his wife Laquita, with whom he

served at TML, his son Geno Mullins, his daughter Cindy Mullins, and three grandchildren.

At the time of his death, Wynn was a consultant and coach for Transforming Possibilities, Inc.

A mother and her daughter create their own work of art during one of TML’s “Be Your Own Artist” sessions at the Touch of Art fundraiser.

Florida Fellowship News is published bi-monthly by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Florida, Ray Johnson, Coordinator, P. O. Box 2556, Lakeland, FL 33806-2556. Postage paid at Jacksonville, Fla. Phone (863) 682-6802; Toll free (888) 241-2233. Fax (863) 683-5797. CBF-Florida’s e-mail address is contact@floridacbf.org; Web address is www.floridacbf.org. A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE WITHIN THE STATE: 1-800-435-

7352. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE.

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Return service requested

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Florida

P. O. Box 2556 · Lakeland, FL 33806-2556 217 Hillcrest Street, Lakeland, FL 33815-4720

Second Quarter Issue

Contact CBF Florida at:

P. O. Box 2556 Lakeland. FL 33806-2556

217 Hillcrest Street Lakeland, FL 33815

Toll-free 888•241•2233

Email: contact@floridacbf.org

---------------------------------

Staff

Ray Johnson Coordinator

Marti Edwards Administrative Assistant

Newsletter Editor

Pat Herold Financial Secretary

Serving and connecting churches and individuals in their calling to be the presence of Christ

CBF National’s General Assembly Fort Worth, Texas

June 20-23 See Page 1 for more information

Check out Pages 2, and 3 for pictures and information on CBF Florida’s Spring

Celebration

So much to celebrate!

Touching Miami with Love celebrates A Touch of Art. More information on Page 7