FORMATION

Christ Central is positioned right at the heart of so many colleges and universities. So we were excited to have our college students back in town as they returned to in-person learning at their respective schools in the fall. We kicked off the fall with a Welcome Back luncheon for our students, where they enjoyed connecting and hearing from our staff team. We also hosted a three-week Theology 101 College Sunday School Class. We introduced college students to Dr. Brent Strawn (Duke Divinity School) and Matt Mahla (Duke RUF), who taught this class alongside our pastoral team. With students back in town, we relaunched our Adopt-A-College-Student program, which allows families at Christ Central to mentor and connect with college students by providing meals and supporting students away from home.

We believe that life is best lived in the context of community. In 2021 we continued our men’s and women’s ministries and returned to a sense of normalcy by gathering safely in person. We were incredibly thankful to have the ability to come together after an isolating year.

Christie Bowman and our women’s ministry team came into 2021 seeking to carry out the vision of Christ Central by providing avenues that foster spiritual growth and allowing women to connect and be known by one another. We hosted Women’s Sunday Suppers throughout the summer, allowing our women to come around the table together and enjoy community and a meal while learning from different women in our church. The women also studied Jen Wilkin’s God of Creation this fall as a part of our Women’s Bible studies that met throughout the week. In November, recording artist Christy Nockels joined us for a teaching time, followed by a churchwide concert. All of these events and the efforts of our incredible women’s ministry team made for an exciting year of ministry.

Participating in Wednesday morning Bible study this year has felt like a breath of fresh air. After feeling as though life has been in limbo over the last two years of Covid, it has been redemptive and restorative to once again gather regularly with women at our church to learn, pray, and fellowship with one another. The study of Genesis has been rich and deep. Learning such foundational truths along with women from all walks of life, including those who have studied the Bible for years as well as those who are brand new to Bible study, has been a muchneeded visible expression of the body of Christ after a season that tended toward loneliness and isolation for so many of us.

- Jennifer Vincent, Women’s Bible Study Participant

Our men’s ministry, led by Pastor Timothy, continued to grow this past year. In the fall, the men of Christ Central met early on Wednesday mornings for a study through Chip Dodd’s The Voice of the Heart, culminating in a weekend retreat led in teaching by Chip Dodd. Throughout the year, we hosted men’s events including our Men’s Pancake Breakfast, Durham Bulls Night, and Football Tailgate. Our 1:7 group also continued to meet, providing a safe space for men to Biblically process and grow from sexual sin. We are thankful for all the Lord has done and continues to do in our men’s ministry.

We offered many seminars in 2021. In April, we hosted our Loss and Suffering Seminar. Attendees heard from Wendy Alsup and Dr. Kelly Kapic on what the Bible says about loss and suffering and how we as believers should respond to the pronounced sense of pain we feel in those moments. We also hosted a Redemptive Ethnic Unity seminar in February; Dr. Soong Chan Rah and Yana Conner shared about how the Bible speaks about redemptive ethnic unity. Over the summer we hosted Rosaria Butterfield to our church to teach and discuss her book The Gospel Comes With a House Key, equipping us with ways to use hospitality as a tool to share God’s kingdom.