JA N UA RY 2026
With Christ at the Center
VO LU M E S S N O. 1
CONNECTIONS 'Providence Together' gatherings are intentionally intergenerational gatherings of Providence people to worship, fellowship, and have fun together!
From the Senior Pastor Baptists have always believed that the Holy Spirit blesses every one of us with gifts for ministry so that we can use these Spirit-given gifts to help build up the common good (1 Cor. 12:7). This faith conviction is foundational to our “congregational” form of church governance.
know how to find out what the needs are. I want to serve, but nobody ever asks me to serve.” It should not be hard for people to serve their church.
What congregational governance means, in practice, is that—with God’s help and in the name of Jesus—we are the body of Christ. We do the good work of ministry. Nobody does it for us. Rather, we do it together.
Our HR Committee—with loads of help from Ryan Stewart, our Ministry Associate for Communications and Technology— spent most of last year developing The Chart. The goal was to produce a user-friendly, intuitive way for Providence people to take the initiative in putting their God-given gifts to good use. Ministers and other leaders shared their volunteer needs, along with detailed, whowhat-when-where information about these needs. Ryan did the tech-work required to turn this information into a comprehensive sign-up portal that works.
With this basic Baptist faith conviction in mind—and in response to a wish frequently voiced during our church governance conversations back in 2024—our Human Resources Committee is ready to introduce Providence Baptist Church to The Chart. What is The Chart? Good question. It’s an online clearinghouse for volunteer service ministries at Providence. It’s one-stop shopping for people who want to use their gifts to build up the common good. It’s where you go to find out how your time and talent can be used to make our church work better. It’s how you sign up to do things here at Providence. Two years ago, we heard multiple Providence people express the same sentiment over and over again: “I want to serve, but don’t
The Chart provides an innovative solution to this problem. In fact, The Chart makes it easy.
A lot of work went into creating The Chart, but I believe that the payoff will be huge for Providence, now that each of us has the ability to see for ourselves what volunteer opportunities there are and then to respond as we are led. We can direct new members to The Chart to help them plug into ministry at Providence more quickly. We can plan ahead for how we will help— and, hopefully, keep ministry leaders from engaging in last-minute scrambles for volunteers.
It took a while for us to develop The Chart—and it’s going to take a while for us to develop the habit of using it. This ministry tool is something new. It’s different. Most of us tend to resist new and different. I get it. But what I also get is that we are Baptists who believe that God gives each of us gifts for ministry and expects us to use these gifts. We end up squandering our gifts when we don’t use them. We can do better than that—and I believe that The Chart will be a valuable tool to help us get there. So, take a look at it. Get familiar with it. And then use it. I am confident that Providence will be a stronger church—and a more effective witness to Jesus Christ—as a result. May the peace of Christ be with you!
Lee Canipe Senior Pastor
To learn more about The Chart, visit www.providencebc.org/the-chart. SERMON TEXTS THIS MONTH January 4 January 11 January 18 January 25
Matthew 2:1-12 Psalm 29 John 35-42 Mallory Challis preaching