Join Fellowship Southwest in Austin, on February 28, during the 2023 legislative session. It will be a day filled with networking, breakout sessions with key leaders, worship, and visits with Texas legislators where we will advocate on topics important to Fellowship Southwest: Public Education, Immigration, Hunger, and Criminal Justice/Death Penalty. We will meet at First Baptist Church Austin, which is located conveniently near the Capitol building where we will put our advocacy into action.

For those new to advocacy: A pre-conference training will be scheduled via zoom, and in Austin on Feb. 28, you will be given the opportunity to partner with experienced advocates. 

REGISTER HERE

So many of us care about immigration and asylum, but don't entirely understand it. You're not alone. It's a really complex system.

Fellowship Southwest is hosting a webinar January 13 to help you learn about the legal process asylum seekers undergo to stay and work in the United States. You will also be able to identify how you or your church can assist immigrant families while their asylum process is pending.

Elket Rodríguez is a CBF field personnel serving in the Rio Grande Valley, focusing on immigration. He is also the unofficial legal immigration expert for Fellowship Southwest. He will help us understand the legal process and policies around asylum and immigration.

Anyra R. Cano is the director for programs and outreach for Fellowship Southwest, helping churches engage with immigration. Because she organizes trips to the border, she is in frequent communication with pastors serving migrants currently seeking asylum. She also has many years of experience in faith-based immigration advocacy, especially around DACA.

Cameron Mason Vickrey is the director for communications and development for Fellowship Southwest. She will be a conversation partner and moderator for this webinar.

REGISTER HERE

Bruce Gourley, well-known Baptist historian, will be presenting a zoom seminar on Christian Nationalism, September 23 at 10:00 a.m. He gave this presentation at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly in Dallas this past June to a packed-out room. Rick McClatchy, coordinator of CBF Texas, was one of the lucky ones who got to hear Bruce, and he commented that "Bruce gave a great historical overview with a sober challenge of the work that lies before us American Christians. I wish all of our church leaders could hear him." Rick is facilitating this webinar so that more interested people can fully understand the dangers of Christian Nationalism and how to confront it.

REGISTER HERE

Bread for the World regional organizers hold quarterly regional online meetings to update and equip our members and to introduce Bread to those who are new. In these meetings, you will learn about the status of our Offering of Letters and current legislative priorities, hear from and connect with Bread members in your region, and consider timely action steps you and your group can take to advocate for an end to hunger.

• Southwest Regional Online Meeting (AZ, NM, OK, TX)

• Hosted by Lupe Conchas

• Thursday, March 31 at 2 p.m. (MT)/ 3 p.m. CT

• Register here.

This year's Spring Gathering will be held at First Baptist Church Oklahoma City. CBF OK business will begin at 4:30 PM. We will have dinner at 5:30 PM. Finally, we will then move to the sanctuary for worship at 6:30 PM.

During this year's Spring Gathering will get to support the start of a new organization: Oklahoma Baptist Women in Ministry.

• Sunday March 27

• Register Here

Migration is a frequently invisible aspect of our world, as people travel from country to country for work, to escape danger, and to rejoin families. M. Daniel Carroll R. (Rodas) and Elket Rodríguez will join the Sibert Institute to share about their work among migrant communities. We will get to learn what Scripture has for us to hear about migration, and to ask questions about what it would mean for ministers to engage in ministry around this important matter.

ACU’s Baptist Studies Center is partnering to offer this webinar.

This webinar is for anyone wanting to learn more about the ongoing state of ministry to migrants along the Southern border, and wanting to think of migration through the lens of Christian ministry and theology.

• Register Here

Upcoming webinar: Love Your Neighbors: Help Families Receive Full Tax Benefits

Wednesday, March 16 at 1pm Eastern Time

Register at: https://bit.ly/FaithfulTaxFilers

The American Rescue Plan Act passed last year included a historic one-year expansion of the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit. Everyone needs to file a tax return to access these tax credits. Register for this one-hour-long national webinar to learn about the changes to the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit and how you can help spread the word in your communities about these tax credits.

Equal Justice USA Evangelical Network is holding monthly webinars. Next week, March 15 at noon, Sam Heath will host Lynden Harris, founder and director of the arts collective Hidden Voices.

Her book Right Here, Right Now: Life Stories from America's Death Row is a collection of 99 moments from individuals who have been sentenced to execution. Hidden Voices gathered these stories into a haunting presentation of the childhood and adulthood of these incarcerated individuals. Hear from her about this process, the impact on Lynden herself, and the effect this work has on its readers.

• Register here.

• March 15, 12:00 p.m.

TCADP’s Annual Conference is a one-day event that informs and inspires advocacy against the death penalty in Texas. The TCADP 2022 Annual Conference: Transforming Justice in Texas will take place as a virtual event on Zoom on Saturday, February 26, 2022. It will include a keynote address by Sister Helen Prejean, a panel discussion featuring representatives of states that have abolished the death penalty, and the presentation of our annual awards. There will be four breakout sessions on topics ranging from forensic science to religious advocacy. Register now!

Marv Knox is a 2022 Appreciation Award recipient!

• Saturday February 26

• Virtual

• Register here.

Each month the Evangelical Network will be hosting guests for a webinar called "In the Movement." Each session will be a time to hear from some key, Christian voices in the movement who are working to see justice reimagined.

Lisa Sharon Harper is the guest for Tuesday, February 15, from 11:00 a.m - 12:00 p.m. (CT).

• Tuesday, Feb. 15

• 11:00 a.m.

• Register here.

Valarie Kaur’s in-person to visit to Dallas has been postponed. In the meantime, Faith Commons is hosting a special screening of Valarie’s film from 2008, documenting hate crimes in the aftermath of 9/11.

This work is especially relevant and important to understand following the hate crime targeting the Jewish congregation in Colleyville during Sabbath morning worship on January 15.

Faith Commons will lead an introductory conversation with Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker and then we will view the film together over Zoom. You are invited to participate from the comfort and safety of your home.

Please join us Sunday afternoon, February 6, at 5:00 p.m. until about 7:00 p.m. Register and the Zoom link will be emailed to you the day of the event.

• Feb. 6, 5:00 p.m.

• Zoom

• Register here

Pastors for Texas Children is co-hosting an advocacy summit with Friends of Texas Public Schools, Nov. 18 from 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in Waco at Truett Seminary. The in-person training event will feature educators and public school advocates. To register, click here.

• Nov. 18

• Waco, TX

• Register here.

The Center for Church and Community Impact at the Garland School of Social Work at Baylor University is hosting a virtual conference open to all church leaders (paid or not). The conference will address the shared congregational grief and trauma that has been experienced the last year and a half, and ways to move from grief to resilience through worship, liturgy and pastoral care.

On Nov. 16, the mini-conference will last three hours and includes a lecture, a panel discussion and a breakout workshop. Email Erin Hill for any questions at Erin_a_hill@baylor.edu.

• Nov. 16, 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

• To register, click here.

Baptist World Alliance Commission on Baptist Doctrine and Christian Unity is hosting a series of webinars on unity over the next six months. The first is Nov. 9 at 7:00 a.m. Central Time on "Christian Unity: What Difference Does it Make?" You can learn more and register here.

• Nov. 9, 7:00 a.m.

• Register here.

The Cooperating Baptist Fellowship of Oklahoma will honor a musician/composer, denominational leader, educator and pastor at its 2021 Celebrating Excellence awards dinner, Oct. 24 in Norman.

• Oct. 24

• 5:00 p.m.

• Register here.

Join Spring Creek Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, OK, for a morning of self-care and exploration as Tina Bailey leads a creative and spiritual journey.

Through the use of creative outlets, sorrows and wounds from the last 18 months can begin to heal.

Tina Bailey is a visual and performing artist, an ordained minister and endorsed chaplain working cross-culturally. Tina uses visual and performing arts in response to traumatic situations.

• Saturday, Oct. 23

• 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

• Springcreek Baptist Church, 11701 N. Macarthur Blvd, OKC 73162

• For more information contact Kristin McAtee: kmcatee@springcreekbc.com

Join Texas Baptist Women in Ministry for a “Women in Ministry Day” at Perkins School of Theology at SMU.

• October 13

• SMU - Baptist House of Studies at Perkins School of Theology

• Register here.

The Siburt Institute and ACU’s Baptist Studies Center are partnering to offer a webinar on hunger.

Hunger has become a growing problem for communities across America, with 1 in 4 children in Texas having inadequate food during the day. In this webinar, they will talk with Eugene Cho and Jeremy Everett about the state of food insecurity and hunger, and how churches can be involved.

This conversation is designed primarily for congregational ministers. Complete the free registration to receive a Zoom link.

• Sept. 29, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

• Register here.

CBF Book Club is currently reading I Was Hungry by Jeremy Everett.

Find a free discussion guide to use with your small group or Sunday school class and find all other titles we will read together this year at www.cbf.net/books.

There will be a Fellowship-wide Zoom discussion at 7 p.m. Eastern on September 28. The discussion is free to attend, but you need to register to attend here.

• Sept. 28

• 6:00 pm CT

• Register here.

A 3-part webinar series featuring in-depth dialogue between people of faith experts in migration, human rights and immigration policies.

• Three Mondays: Sept. 13, 20, 27

• 12:00 pm - 1:15 pm CT

• Register at www.thanksgiving.org

You, as a pastor or an associate pastor, are invited to apply to participate in a Thriving in Ministry Group targeted to your ministry setting. Two seasoned mentors will lead up to eight group members as you learn and grow together. Journeying together for a year, groups will gather for an opening retreat, monthly virtual meetings, and a closing retreat. Participants will build their capacity to thrive in ministry through personal goal setting, congregational support teams, and participation in a cohort of colleagues and mentors. Together you will develop and share best practices and build and sustain collegial relationships essential to ministerial well-being.

• Apply here: https://cbf.net/thrivinginministry

• Deadline extended to Sept. 20

• First virtual gathering is Oct. 24