June 30, 2025 Update

Greetings to our Century family, from your Lead Pastor Search Committee.   The weekend of June 20^th was a busy one at CBC.  VitalChurch Ministry conducted their On-Site Weekend, which included multiple meetings with leadership and a presentation of our Diagnostic Assessment Oral Report during a special meeting with the congregation.   The VCM team that came to Bismarck was Pastor Dave Miles, and Nathan and Jennie Kimbrough.  We want to thank Melanie Kost and Andrew Weixel for coordinating with VCM for a successful weekend.  And we are so thankful for 267 of Century’s faithful that attended VCM’s presentation.  We are now on the path of what VCM calls “the mirror and the map”.   The mirror is the data they gave us, which came directly from our surveys.   What is next for CBC on this journey?   We have been given a lot of verbal “map directives” and will also receive a very comprehensive written report detailing our Assessment.   Pastor Carl will continue to lead us forward, as our IILP (intentional interim Lead Pastor) is encouraging us to pray, listen to the Holy Spirit and really dig into this assessment and work with the elders and staff to embrace the reality of the assessment, and then act on it.

Knowing there were members of our church family unable to join us for the VitalChurch Ministry (VCM) Oral Report and Question & Response (Q&R), there will be three replays of the VCM Report at Century Baptist Church in the upcoming weeks. The report will be shown on Sunday, July 6, 11:30 am, Wednesday, July 9, 6:00 pm, and Sunday, July 13, 11:30 am. Please know each of these will be accompanied by lunch or dinner, respectively. We ask that, if at all possible, you would RSVP your desire to attend to carl@centurybaptist.org and make certain to include the date you plan to attend so that we have an adequate room and food available to accommodate all planning to attend that particular date.

Pastor Carl spent this past weekend back home in Colorado and will return to Bismarck on July 2^nd.    For clarification, the contract with Vital Church Ministries, states that our IIP (Pastor Carl) will be on site at CBC for a majority of time, but allows for home visits, and some life balance.   In speaking with the CEO Garry Abbott, they have found this balance to ensure we have a healthy IIP and don’t experience burnout. 

We conclude this letter to our congregation with some words from Pastor Paul Herr.  We have his permission to share this, an excerpt from his weekly letter to all Community Life Group Leaders:

After sharing last Sunday the Tap Root Issue that the Century Baptist Church family has it that is has “drifted from the unifying presence and Lordship of Jesus Christ…,” one of the recommendations from VitalChurch Ministry (VCM) was: Pray, pray, and pray some more.

The two words that stood out to me from the weekend were shared by Dave Miles, founder of VCM, in his message Sunday morning and the Oral Report Sunday afternoon. Those words were empathy and humility (see below for definitions).  

Regarding humility, Dave offered the following passages to be read, meditated on, and prayed over. I share them here that we may allow the Word of God to infiltrate our minds and hearts leading to adjustment in our actions, attitudes, and behaviors as needed.

I John 4:20
If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.

John 13:34-35
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I 
have loved you, that you also love one another. ³⁵ “By this all men will know 
that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”