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How Faith and Gaming Help Us Survive the Worst of Times

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If you have a couple of minutes, check out this article by one of our innovators, Rev. David Petty with Crossfire:faith+gaming! David was one of our Hatchletes in 2020 in the Mountain Sky Conference.

For decades, people have talked about churches “meeting people where they are.” Getting out of the building and into community requires speaking the language of the people, being where the people are, and engaging deeper than a pre-church coffee and cookie. In 2017, David asked the question, “Could church exist as a group of gamers with a shared purpose, faith, and community?” The answer has become a resounding “YES!”

Since 2017, Crossfire:faith+gaming has actively created a faith-based community of gamers who engage in life-changing fellowship and share practical tools for resilience in a challenging world, aiming to break down the barriers many gamers face: social isolation, disconnection, and stigma. Crossfire does outreach and builds community with their Twitch stream, Facebook group and page, and podcast.

In 2020, the long-standing debates about whether online church was “valid” ended. With this shift, Crossfire:faith+gaming was in a unique position to showcase the resilience of gamers and be a model for how to do ministry. Read the article to learn more!

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Rev. Petty also currently serves as the pastor of Meeker UMC.

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God Plays Indoor Soccer

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Check out this article by Rev. Meg Gaston about Konnoak Hills UMC (with Pastor Chris Smith) in Winston-Salem integrating into the community, offering their largely unused gym for kids’ indoor soccer! It’s an outcome of our process at Western North Carolina Conference and an example of the kind of work we’re midwifing there.

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A Conversation About the Church After Covid-19

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While none of us have a crystal ball to help us predict what the Church will look like after Covid-19, here is a helpful conversation hosted by The BTS Center, featuring Paul Nixon and our Kenda Creasy Dean. You can find a video and an audio recording of this conversation on the Reports from the Spiritual Frontier website – http://reportsfromthespiritualfrontier.com/kenda-creasy-dean-and-paul-nixon-the-future-of-faith-communities-after-covid-19/.

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A Student Social Enterprise Needed Now More than Ever

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Jesus Mendoza and Gabriela Izaguirre prepare lunches at the Global Blends deli. They are interns with the Baptist Student Ministry at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, which runs the restaurant. Photos by Mark Menjivar

Check out this inspiring story on Duke Divinity’s Faith & Leadership about the students of the Baptist Student Ministry at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. They started a pay-as-you-can deli at the end of 2019, not knowing that their service to the community would be more important than ever!

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