Extraordinary Time
Dear Beloved Community, After Pentecost Sunday we entered that long season of the church year known as “Ordinary Time”. Since this season does not includ...
Summer Reading List
Dear Beloved Community, Every so often, I use this space in the newsletter to share with you some recent, non-churchy books I’ve read and loved, or podcasts ...
Embracing the Gift of Rest
Dear Beloved Community, Facebook told me yesterday that it was nine years ago that Amy McClure and I had become (Facebook) friends. I remember the in-person ...
April 2024: All Things New
Several days have since passed, but the deep and abiding love I experienced alongside you this Holy Week and Easter will not soon abate. What a week! ...
March 2024: The Place Our Beloved Community is Housed
As I was preparing my sermon on Mark 8 this past Sunday, considering Jesus’ call of discipleship – the call to take up our cross, to count the costs of fait...
February 2024: The Realm of Possibility
In these weekly letters, I often enjoy the opportunity to write reflectively for you about a happening in the life of the church, or the chance to tell a meanin...
January 2024: Tender Care
December's whirlwind of presents and parties and performances and places to go are always peppered with complexity. You know them well, I'm sure. "Oh what fun t...
2023 Year in Review
On this final day of 2023, I find myself awash in reflections and gratitude from the year we've shared together. For what a season it’s been, our joy made ful...
December 2023: To Dwell Among Us
I’ve had a recent conversation with one of my children about Santa, the mystery that stirs the imagination about a man who circles the earth in a night, nary ...
November 2023: The In-Between of November
Just a couple of nights ago, my family and I drove into Ardmore (our usual Halloween haunt) for some trick-or-treating....
October 2023: Welcome New Members
Perhaps you have noticed that we have some new members around here. And not just some – to date, we have welcomed 59 new members into the beloved community of...
September 2023: The Metaphor for Life
As I have attempted to become a half-decent plant parent over these adulting years, I figured that in order to shed my “accidentally kill all the plants that ...
August 2023: That of Gratitude
When the dear old dad of my oldest friend Anna gave me a hard time last week for turning the ripe old age of 42 -- "that sure sounds like an age when you'd know...
July 2023: CBF’s General Assembly
This past week, twenty First on Fifth folks traveled to Atlanta for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's General Assembly, the annual gathering of more than 100...
June 2023: Gifts of the Spirit
About this time two years ago, Kim Towles pulled me aside after worship to make sure I saw the family that was visiting and happened to sit alongside her and Ch...
May 25, 2023: Reflecting on Pentecost
Pentecost Sunday in 2015 was our family’s final in Louisville before making the journey across mountains and miles to make our home here with you in Winston-S...
May 18, 2023: How Can We Keep From Singing
“You know, my grandmother would pinch us grandkids when we got loud in church, but she insisted we learn all these hymns. This is one of them.”...
May 11, 2023: Forever Beloved
An author I enjoy talks about the gauntlet that is May for parents of kids – with all its graduations, proms, appreciation weeks, celebrations, toasts to the...
May 4, 2023: Several Bits of Staff News
This Sunday, we’ll give thanks for our wonderful interns, Zack and Amelia, and celebrate the transformative year of ministry we’ve shared together!...
April 27, 2023: The Word Blessing
Of blessing, John O’Donahue once said this: It would be infinitely lonely to live in a world without blessing. The word blessing evokes a sense of warmth and ...
April 20, 2023: A Sign of Good Health
If you were part of our Congregational Conversation on Sunday where we talked about the people resources of the church, you heard our friend, Chris Gambill, rem...
April 16, 2023: Pilgrimage of Reflection
Every year, I am wholly and holy surprised by how the rhythms of Lent, Holy Week, and Easter capture precisely the mood and spirit I need in order to most fully...
April 6, 2023: Journey with Your Church Family
Two of my favorite reflections on Holy Week and the Christian faith are these:...
March 31, 2023: Spectrum of Emotions
As I write to you today, I’m reacquainted with the truth that our minds and hearts can be filled with the spectrum of emotions. Today, mine are full…...
March 24, 2023: Our Baptist Family
One of the great joys of practicing our faith is the joy of doing that together. We don’t walk alone on the way, as we’ve been talking about this year!...
March 16, 2023: Congregational Conversations Begin
It is my regular custom to share in a First Impressions class about our church’s Baptistness through the lens of the great Baptist historian, Dr. Buddy Shurde...
March 9, 2023: Our Church Staff
Among the greatest gifts in the daily living of my life are the rich relationships I share with our church staff. ...
March 2, 2023: Context of Community
I read this quote yesterday from the late American author and activist bell hooks, and wondered if a more apt word has been written in the last several decades ...
February 23, 2023: 40 Days of Reflection
A few nights ago, our family was talking about Lent (prompted, of course, by me), and after a brief refresher on the season, I asked everyone what they thought ...
February 16, 2023: State of the Church
In my inaugural year of ordained ministry, I experienced my first “State of the Church” presentation. ...
February 9, 2023: The Story of God’s Work
Several of you named for me over the past several weeks, “have you noticed all the visitors we’ve had recently?”...
February 2, 2023: The Dear Friends
Today, I’m departing for a quick trip to the mountains of North Carolina with my dear pastor friends (affectionately called the Dear Friends, because we’re ...
Faith-Filled Future: N.C. Church Celebrates 150th Anniversary
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....
January 27, 2023: Learning, Experiencing, Exploring
Every now and again, I like to share with you in this weekly newsletter space some non-churchy things I’m learning, experiencing, exploring....
January 19, 2023: 2023 Deacons
This Sunday, we celebrate the ministry of our deacons as we install the 2023 deacons and ordain three newly-called deacons to service: Holly Kessler, Jim Nelson...
January 11, 2023: The Waters of Baptism
“This is our boy!,” I wept as he arrived, marveling at the good gift long-awaited now tucked into my arms....
January 5, 2023: First on Fifth in the New Year
A blessed new year to each of you! It's a gift to greet this turning of the year alongside of you, dear church. ...
150th Anniversary at First Baptist Church on Fifth Not Dampened
Waiting an extra year because of COVID-19 to mark its 150th anniversary has not stopped First Baptist Church on Fifth from celebrating its history through conti...
2022 Newsletters
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2021 Newsletters
Archive of 2021 Newsletters....
A Downtown Church Forges New Path
More than 50 years ago, a church member with a love of children badgered the Rev. Randall Lolley about the congregation’s underused space: “We can’t have ...