Bold Faith Resources is a hub of diverse ministry resources to benefit Christians and congregations living out bold faith in our COVID-19 context.
Featured Stories
From the CBF Blog
- Equipping with Every Good Thing: Matt and Michelle Norman bear witness to Jesus in secular Cataloniaby Daniel Potter on September 27, 2023 at 3:00 pm
By Marv Knox A 2017 meeting in a Spanish city hall typifies Michelle and Matt Norman’s ministry in northeastern Spain. By that time, they had been Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel in […]
- Equipping with Every Good Thingby Daniel Potter on September 26, 2023 at 12:00 pm
By Paul Baxley The theme of this year’s campaign for the Offering for Global Missions is “Equipping with Every Good Thing.” But this is much more than a theme. It is a description of a powerful […]
- Stimpson pours lifetime of skill, compassion into Welcome House refugeesby Lauren Lamb on August 16, 2023 at 3:00 pm
By Marv Knox Refugees who resettle on the western edge of North Carolina’s Research Triangle benefit from the same passion and commitment to excellence Delores Stimpson provided Fortune 500 […]
- A Ministry of Magic: Charles Tinsleyby Daniel Potter on July 24, 2023 at 3:00 pm
By Grayson Hester Ask any fan of fantasy stories and they’ll tell you that magic makes things out of nothing. It conjures out of thin air; it achieves the impossible. It leaves people befuddled, […]
Youth Resources
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
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
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)
Faith Words Coloring Pages
Children's Ministry Links
- Resource Ideas curated by the CBF Children’s Ministry Network
- Building Faith message on sharing and handling the topic with children
- Orange Kids remote solutions for children’s ministry
- Learn in Color - resources for teaching
- Illustrated Ministry - Illustrated Resources for Church and Home
- Free Virtual Tours of World-Class Museums
- Facebook Live with the Cincinnati Zoo
- Remote Learning for ages K-12
Children's Mission Videos
Everyday Helpers
Sparks and Glow learn about the helping ministry of CBF field personnel Steve Clark and Annette Ellard.
Partners in China
Sparks and Glow talk about CBF field personnel Brittany and Casey in China.
Sharing Hope
Sparks and Glow learn about the ministries of CBF field personnel Anna Anderson and her husband LaCount.
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.
A Place for Peace
Sparks and Glow discuss CBF field personnel Janee Angel (and other angels).
Being a Good Neighbor
Sparks and Glow share a joke and learn about CBF field personnel Diann Berry
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.
!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.
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.
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.
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.
Resources for Adults
Adult Education Links
- “From the Desk of N.T. Wright”
- “Faith and Fear” free download from BaptistWay Press
- Nurturing Faith Curriculum - use the password "hope."
- Sunday School helps, lesson plans and devotional thoughts from Bo Prosser and The Center for Christian Education. E-mail bo.prosser@gmail.com to subscribe for free for April and May.
- Curriculum for adults and youth from Next Sunday Resources
From the CBF Blog
- Faith-Filled Future: N.C. church celebrates 150th anniversaryby Daniel Potter on January 27, 2023 at 4:00 pm
By Laura Ellis The life of any church is affirmed on the faith-filled hope that came from those who paved the way, and that others will follow to carry the torch. The congregation at First Baptist […]
- Second Baptist Church, Memphis, Breaks Pumpkin Patch Revenue Record Amidst Pandemicby Carrie Harris on May 7, 2021 at 1:38 pm
By Caleb Mynatt In Memphis, Second Baptist Church’s Pumpkin Patch Ministry has been a church fundraising tradition for 17 years. Loved by church and community members alike, the pumpkin patch […]
- On Entering New Space a Year After Everything Changedby Carrie Harris on March 15, 2021 at 4:49 pm
By Paul Baxley One year ago today, a large number of congregations in and beyond the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship worshipped for the first time virtually as the coronavirus pandemic began to […]
- A Call to Rememberby Carrie Harris on October 7, 2020 at 4:41 pm
Mike Oliver, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Madison, Alabama, opened the Oct. 2 meeting of the CBF Governing Board with a devotional urging his fellow board members to heed a call to remember. […]
Bible Studies
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.
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
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 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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/
Articles
Care and Spiritual Care Links
- The Power of Setting Intention
- Meditation Practices
- Daily Worship Podcast from Peachtree Baptist Church, Atlanta, GA
- D365 - Daily devotional website curated by CBF, PCUSA, and Episcopal Church and produced by Passport, Inc.
Breath Prayer Images
Missions Resources
Field Personnel Messages
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
Worship/Production/Online Hosting Resources
Resource Lists and Webinars
- Resource list from Alabama CBF
- Resource list from CBF Georgia
- Resource list from CBF Heartland
- Resource list from CBF North Carolina
- Pinnacle Leadership Associates: Emerging Church Practice webinar
- Looking at what resources we do have in the church during this time by Laura Stephens-Reed
- Array of resources from Highland Baptist in Louisville
- List of resources from Faith and Leadership at Duke
- Guide to Funerals
- Sign up for webinar series hosted through the Center for Healthy Churches on Being the Church in the Midst of Crisis
- Tips for worshiping onlinefrom Michael and Rachel Sciretti, Chapelwood UMC, Houston, Texas
- Worship OnlineConversation with Brian Foreman of Campbell University
Podcasts
Online Giving/Technical Resources
Information about Online Giving Platforms
Spanish Language Resources
Podcasts
- Carlos Gustavo Simonini from Oklahoma about Social Distance and Mental Health from Podcast Familia Peregrina
- Jesús García interview for Podcast Familia Peregrina
- José Hernandez, President of Juan Wesley Seminary in Spain with encouragement words in the middle of their crisis from Podcast Familia Peregrina
Elket Rodríguez, Esq. about changes on immigration centers for COVID-19 from Podcast Familia Peregrina
Bible Studies
Resources
- El Sistema Migratorio en Tiempo del Coronavirus
- Video with words from Dr. Tomás Mackey, pastor of Iglesia Evangélica Bautista de Once in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and President de la Baptist World Alliance.
- Know your rights, Webinar about Labor Rights for immigrant communities in the Coronavirus Crisis
- El Movimiento con la Niñez y la Juventud - Guía Familias Saludables
- School of Divinity at Gardner-Webb University - Definiendo la crisis
- School of Divinity at Gardner-Webb University - Que esperar en medio de una crisis
- School of Divinity at Gardner-Webb University - Cómo manejar las Cómo manejar las emociones descompensadoras