Bold Faith Resources is a hub of diverse ministry resources to benefit Christians and congregations living out bold faith in our COVID-19 context.

From the CBF Blog

Youth Resources

 

Bible Studies

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Toward Bold Faithfulness Bible Study for Youth

A Bible study on Acts 16:6-10, focusing on Bold Faith
Free Download

Reading Guides

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
The uneasy balance of Starr Carter’s life is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend at the hands of a police officer. As the only person alive who knows what really went down that night, what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community and endanger her life.

Download the free discussion guide for The Hate U Give

BrownGirl

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement.

Download the free discussion guide for Brown Girl Dreaming


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The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry
Set in 13th century Provence, Berry draws from meticulous historical research to offer the portrait of a young matchmaker and a condemned heretic who feels called by God to heal the sick. Love, faith, violence, and power intertwine as the teenage girls struggle to survive against insurmountable odds.

Download the free discussion guide for The Passion of Dolssa

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
When Theodore Finch and Violet Markey meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries.

Download the free discussion guide for All the Bright Places

Children's Resources

Choose Your Own Adventure VBS

An Original VBS created by Rev. Jessica Asbell Oravec

Includes 5 learning paths with 5 daily lessons each. Each day includes a Bible story, several craft activities and active games. Each day may also include an experiment and/or a snack idea.

Lessons written by:
Path One – Roswell (GA) United Methodist Church Children’s Team
Path Two – Roswell (GA) Presbyterian VBS Team
Path Three – Rev. Jessica Asbell Oravec, First Baptist Roswell (GA)
Path Four – Roswell (GA) United Methodist Church Children’s Team
Path Five – Rev. Hannah Marshall Coe, First Baptist Church Jefferson City (MO)

Explore the Overview Document.

Faith Words Coloring Pages

Children's Mission Videos


Everyday Helpers
Sparks and Glow learn about the helping ministry of CBF field personnel Steve Clark and Annette Ellard.

Visit Steve Clark and Annette Ellard's web page.

Partners in China
Sparks and Glow talk about CBF field personnel Brittany and Casey in China.

Visit Brittany and Casey's web page.

Sharing Hope
Sparks and Glow learn about the ministries of CBF field personnel Anna Anderson and her husband LaCount.

Visit Anna Anderson's web page.

Exchanging Gifts
Sparks and Glow exchange Christmas gifts while learning about CBF legacy partner Africa Exchange.

Home in New York
Sparks and Glow talk about the ministry of CBF field personnel Lesley-Ann Hix Tommey.

Visit Lesley-Ann's web page.

A Place for Peace
Sparks and Glow discuss CBF field personnel Janee Angel (and other angels).

Visit Janee's web page.

Being a Good Neighbor
Sparks and Glow share a joke and learn about CBF field personnel Diann Berry

Visit Diann's web page.

Yes, Jesus Loves
Sparks and Glow share how Jesus loves through the work of CBF field personnel.

Missions Education Curriculum

Suggestions for using CBF missional formation curriculum at home or in a virtual setting
Choose and engage in one activity from the Learning Centers/Activities provided. Read the story together and discuss using the Large Group Time or Closing Activities questions.

 
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!nspire 2020

Celebrate!
In this VBS insert, children will learn about Chaouki and Maha Boulos, CBF field personnel serving in Lebanon, and the many ways in which they are helping refugees and their families. The focus of this unit is on celebration. Children will learn what it means to celebrate sharing, to celebrate friendship, to celebrate learning, to celebrate caring, and to celebrate Jesus.

Includes suggestions for at-home use in keeping with a virtual VBS situation. Teacher helps and accompanying videos are available on our Inspire Helps page.

Free Download
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Summersalt 2016

Knowing and Serving in China
Summersalt 2016 invites children to explore two Chinese cities through the ministries to people in those cities. Bill and Michelle Cayard serve in Chengdu, China, by equipping and teaching church leaders. Larry and Sarah Ballew “serve the servers” in Macau, China, communicating the good news that God notices and cares about them.

Free Download
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Summersalt 2017

Beautiful Bali: Sharing the Love of Christ through Art, Music, and Dance
The ministry of CBF field personnel Jonathan and Tina Bailey is as unique and beautiful as the culture of Bali, their home since 1995. The Baileys share the love of Christ with Balinese friends through art, music, and dance.

Free Download
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Summersalt 2018

Cultivating Beloved Community through Hospitality
CBF field personnel in the Middle East offer hospitality as a way of creating beloved community in a region where being a Christian can be difficult and dangerous. By loving their neighbors, the field personnel show that God loves everyone—people of all religions and nationalities.

Free Download
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Summersalt 2019

Partnering with our Neighbors in Cuba
In 2017, CBF delegates traveled to Cuba to become partners with Baptist churches in Cuba. FIBAC and CBF representatives listened, shared, and prayed for each other as they discovered ways to work together as partners.

Free Download
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Spark - September/October/November 2020

Children learn about CBF field personnel Butch and Nell Green in Texas, Matt and Michelle Norman in Spain and Karen in Northern Africa.
Free Download
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Form - September/October/November 2020

Preschoolers learn about CBF field personnel Butch and Nell Green in Texas, Matt and Michelle Norman in Spain and Karen in Northern Africa.
Free Download
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Spark - August/September 2019

Children learn about CBF Global Missions and the ministry of CBF field personnel Diann Berry in Texas.
Free Download
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Form - August/September 2019

Children learn about CBF Global Missions and the ministry of CBF field personnel Diann Berry in Texas.
Free Download
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Spark - October/November 2019

October/November 2019 Spark features the work of CBF field personnel Janée Angel in Belgium and Lesley Ann Hix Tommey in New York City.
Free Download
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Form - October/November 2019

October/November 2019 Form features the work of CBF field personnel Janée Angel in Belgium and Lesley Ann Hix Tommey in New York City.
Free Download
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Spark - December 2019/January 2020

The December 2019/January 2020 publication features the ministries of CBF legacy partner Africa Exchange in Kenya, Africa, and CBF field personnel Anna Anderson in North Carolina.
Free Download
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Form - December 2019/January 2020

The December 2019/January 2020 publication features the ministries of CBF legacy partner Africa Exchange in Kenya, Africa, and CBF field personnel Anna Anderson in North Carolina.
Free Download
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Spark - February/March 2020

The February/March 2020 issue of Spark features the work of CBF field personnel Brittany and Casey in China and Steve Clark and Annette Ellard in Kentucky.
Free Download
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Form - February/March 2020

The February/March 2020 issue of Form features the work of CBF field personnel Brittany and Casey in China and Steve Clark and Annette Ellard in Kentucky.
Free Download
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Spark - April/May 2020

April/May Spark shares about the ministries of CBF field personnel Jon and Tanya Parks in Slovakia and Karen Morrow in Texas.
Free Download
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Form - April/May 2020

April/May Form shares about the ministries of CBF field personnel Jon and Tanya Parks in Slovakia and Karen Morrow in Texas.
Free Download

Spark - August/September 2018

Students learn how CBF is helping to reach the world next door with the good news of God's love. They also learn about CBF field personnel Karen Alford and her medical ministry in Uganda.
Free Download

Form - August/September 2018

Students learn how CBF is helping to reach the world next door with the good news of God's love. They also learn about CBF field personnel Karen Alford and her medical ministry in Uganda.
Free Download

Spark - October/November 2018

Children learn about the work of CBF field personnel Greg and Sue Smith and LUCHA Ministries as well as the ministries of CBF field personnel Dianne and Shane McNary in Slovakia.
Free Download

Form - October/November 2018

Children learn about the work of CBF field personnel Greg and Sue Smith and LUCHA Ministries as well as the ministries of CBF field personnel Dianne and Shane McNary in Slovakia.
Free Download
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Spark - December 2018/January 2019

This issue of Spark focuses on the ministry of CBF field personnel Marc and Kim Wyatt in North Carolina and on the ministry of CBF field personnel Alicia and Jeff Lee in Skopje, Macedonia.
Free Download
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Form - December 2018/January 2019

This issue of Form focuses on the ministry of CBF field personnel Marc and Kim Wyatt in North Carolina and on the ministry of CBF field personnel Alicia and Jeff Lee in Skopje, Macedonia.
Free Download
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Spark - February/March 2019

Children learn about Kirk and Suzie, CBF field personnel who are working among the Bisu people in Thailand and about the work of CBF Disaster Response.
Free Download
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Form - February/March 2019

Children learn about Kirk and Suzie, CBF field personnel who are working among the Bisu people in Thailand and about the work of CBF Disaster Response.
Free Download
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Spark - April/May 2019

Children learn about the work of CBF field personnel Gennady and Mina Podgaisky in Ukraine and about CBF field personnel Jessica Hearne and her husband Joshua in Virginia.
Free Download
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Form - April/May 2019

Children learn about the work of CBF field personnel Gennady and Mina Podgaisky in Ukraine and about CBF field personnel Jessica Hearne and her husband Joshua in Virginia.
Free Download

Resources for Adults

Adult Education Links

From the CBF Blog

Bible Studies


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Toward Bold Faithfulness Bible Study for Young Adults

A Bible study on Acts 16:6-10, focusing on Bold Faith
Free Download
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Toward Bold Faithfulness Bible Study for Adults

A Bible study on Acts 16:6-10, focusing on Bold Faith
Free Download

Witness Transformational Community Bible Study
Witness Transformational Community is a 6-session small group Bible study based on CBF’s Mission Distinctives. These distinctives offer Cooperative Baptists common language for our common witness to the Triune God.

Free Download

Bible Discussion - Easter Life
A Fellowship-Shared Resource

A 6-week series on experiencing Christ with our whole selves.
Free Download

Bible Discussion - Glimpes of the Kingdom
A Fellowship-Shared Resource

A 5-week series on glimpses of the Kingdom in Old Testament texts.
Free Download

Book Discussion Guides

About CBF's Reading Group Discussion Guides
Each year, CBF publishes a set of 10 discussion guides for use with reading groups or small group discussions. Some discussion guides are adapted from publishers or other trusted sources. Many are written by members of the CBF community.

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A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Behind Ove’s cranky exterior there is a story and a sadness. The arrival of Ove’s new neighbors leads to unexpected friendships that will change Ove and the community.

Download the free discussion guide for A Man Called Ove

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Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
The notorious murder case of Walter McMillian drew Bryan Stevenson into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship—and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever.

Download the free discussion guide for Just Mercy

All the names

All the Names They Used for God by Anjali Sachdeva
This short story collection spans centuries and continents but is united by each diverse character’s struggle with fate. Sachdeva has a talent for creating moving and poignant scenes, following her highly imaginative plots to their logical ends, and depicting how one small miracle can affect everyone in its wake.

Download the free discussion guide for All the Names They Used for God

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The View from Flyover Country by Sarah Kendzior
In this collection of essays, Sarah Kendzior—a former columnist for Al Jazeera English—tackles issues including labor exploitation, racism, gentrification, media bias and other aspects of the post-employment economy.

Download the free discussion guide for The View from Flyover Country

BrownGirl

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement.

Download the free discussion guide for Brown Girl Dreaming

GoodNeighbor

The Good Neighbor by Maxwell King
In the first full-length biography of Fred Rogers, King offers a view of the children’s champion that is both a feel-good tribute and a look into Rogers’ commitment to making the world a better place.

Download the free discussion guide for The Good Neighbor


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I'm Still Here by Austin Channing Brown
Austin shares an eye-opening account of growing up Black, Christian, and female in middle-class white America, inviting the reader to confront apathy, recognize God’s ongoing work in the world, and discover how blackness—if we let it—can save us all.

Download the free discussion guide for I'm Still Here

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The Path Between Us by Suzanne Stabile
Most of us have no idea how others see or process their experiences. Understanding the motivations and dynamics of the nine Enneagram personality types can be the key that unlocks sometimes mystifying behavior in others—and in ourselves.

Download the free discussion guide for The Path Between Us

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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Henrietta Lacks was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells became one of the most important tools in medicine. Henrietta’s story is inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we’re made of.

Download the free discussion guide for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

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A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza
A Place for Us unfolds the lives of an Indian-American Muslim family. In a narrative that spans decades and sees family life through the eyes of each member, the novel charts the crucial moments in the family’s past, from the bonds that bring them together to the differences that pull them apart.

Download the free discussion guide for A Place for Us


Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
Princeton sociologist Matthew Desmond follows eight families in Milwaukee as they struggle to keep a roof over their heads, transforming our understanding of poverty and economic exploitation while providing ideas for solving one of America’s most devastating problems.

Download the free discussion guide for Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City

The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott
Tracing three generations of an Irish immigrant family, The Ninth Hour tells a story that is both individual and universal in its understanding of the human condition. Meditating on fairness, faith, sacrifice, duty and love, it illuminates the bonds that unite or divide us.

Download the free discussion guide for The Ninth Hour


The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (YA)
The uneasy balance of Starr Carter’s life is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend at the hands of a police officer. As the only person alive who knows what really went down that night, what Starr does—or does not—say could upend her community and endanger her life.

Download the free discussion guide for The Hate U Give

The Summer that Melted Everything by Tiffany McDaniel
This debut novel centers on Fielding Bliss in the summer of 1984, the year a heat wave scorched Breathed, Ohio, and Fielding became friends with the devil.

Download the free discussion guide for The Summer that Melted Everything


Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I've Loved by Kate Bowler
Bowler shares her battle with cancer in an account populated with friends, mega-church preachers, relatives, and doctors. Bowler offers up irreverent, hard-won observations on dying and the ways it has taught her to live.

Download the free discussion guide for Everything Happens for a Reason

When the English Fall by David Williams
When a catastrophic solar storm brings about the collapse of modern civilization, an Amish community is caught up in the devastating aftermath in this thought-provoking examination of how we live today and what remains if the center cannot hold.

Download the free discussion guide for When the English Fall


Inspired by Rachel Held Evans
Drawing upon recent scholarship and literary analysis, Evans creatively retells our favorite Bible stories and connects them to our present-day ones. Readers are invited to fall in love with Scripture all over again without checking their intellect at the door.

Download the free discussion guide for Inspired

Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
Addie Moore pays an unexpected visit to a neighbor, Louis Waters. Her husband died years ago, as did his wife. Addie and Louis have long been living alone in empty houses. As Addie and Louis come to know each other better, a story of second chances unfolds.

Download the free discussion guide for Our Souls at Night


Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits by Laila Lalami
Four Moroccans illegally cross the Strait of Gibraltar in an inflatable boat headed for Spain, each with his or her own story. What propels them to risk their lives in search of a better future?

Download the free discussion guide for Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits

The Shepherd's Hut by Tim Winton
Jaxie Clackton flees from the scene of his father’s violent death and strikes out for the vast wilds of Western Australia. But once he discovers he’s not alone out there, all Jaxie’s plans go awry. He meets a fellow exile, the ruined priest Fintan MacGillis, a man on whom his life will soon depend.

Note: The Shepherd's Hut contains strong language and themes which may be offensive to many readers.

Download the free discussion guide for The Shepherd's Hut





Prayer and Spiritual Care

Connect with a Chaplain

Connect with a CBF-endorsed chaplain or pastoral counselor who will listen and offer spiritual care and support. You can connect confidentially by e-mail at chaplaincy@cbf.net or fill out the form here and a CBF-endorsed chaplain or pastoral counselor will be in touch with you as soon as possible.

Online Courses

Pastoral Care and COVID-19 online course from Baptist Seminary of Kentucky, Led by Dr. Wade Rowatt and Dr. Dartanya Hill, the first lecture is free online now, with the full course beginning April 23, at 7pm. Registration is just $39 per person (normally $125).

Register here: https://flourish.bsk.edu/product/pastoral-care-and-covid-19-course/
Free first lecture here: https://flourish.bsk.edu/pastoral-care-covid-19-workshop/

Care and Spiritual Care Links

 

Breath Prayer Images

Missions Resources

LeadersGuide

OGM Leader's Guide

Free Download
Worship Resources

OGM Worship Resources

Free Download
 

Field Personnel Messages

View the Video Collection on Vimeo

Lesley-Ann Hix Tommey - Manhattan, New York

Tina & Jonathan Bailey - Bali, Indonesia

 

Janée Angel – Antwerp, Belgium

Matt & Michelle Norman - Barcelona, Spain

 

Karen - North Africa

Jon & Tanya Parks - Košice, Slovakia

 

Carson & Laura Foushee - Tokyo, Japan

Nell Green - Houston, Texas

 

Rick Burnette - Immokalee, Florida/CBF Disaster Response

Angel and Jason Pittman - Miami, Florida

 

Gennady and Mina Podgaisky - Kyiv, Ukraine

Scarlette Jasper - Eastern Kentucky

 

Anna and LaCount Anderson - Rocky Mount, N.C.

Keith Holmes and Mary Van Rheenen - Westervoort, Netherlands

Church/Worship Resources

Online Giving/Technical Resources

Spanish Language Resources