We are excited for our new series, Chew on This! Spend your lunch break learning and sharing (and eating) as you listen to our guest presenter. The Chew on This series will alternate months with our VBWIM online Coffee Break.
We are pleased to welcome Rev. Dr. Martha Kearse, Pastor of Peakland Baptist Church in Lynchburg, to lead the session, “Lose the Bullying/Keep the People.”
When we hear the word “bully,” we all think of a big kid stealing someone’s lunch money. We rarely think of the older church lady who runs the kitchen for church-wide meals; we tend not to think of the man who wants to donate a bunch of money but has “conditions;” we definitely don’t think of a minister or someone on the ministry staff. Until some of us find ourselves dreading the next church event, stressed by potential contact, or worse, conflict, with someone in our Sunday School class, in the choir, in our youth group.
Bullying is a behavior, not a person. In this “Chew On This,” we’ll discuss ways to recognize bullying behavior and good language and policies that help churches fight bullying without targeting people.
If you hope to attend, please take a moment to register using the button below; after you register, you’ll receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting as well as an invite to add the event to your calendar.
And feel free to share with anybody you think would be interested. Despite our name, you don’t need to be from Virginia, a Baptist, or a woman to join in this conversation.
You may also join our email list to receive announcements and reminders of events like this.
Oh, and don’t forget to bring your lunch!
Rev. Dr. Martha Kearse is pastor at Peakland Baptist Church in Lynchburg, VA. She grew up in VA, daughter of Baptist ministers, went to the College of William and Mary, then spent 33 years in Charlotte, NC, first teaching high school English, then working in ministry at St. John’s Baptist Church. She has an MA in English and Rhetoric from UNC-Charlotte, and an MDiv and DMin from Gardner-Webb University. Martha has three adult children, Mattie, Conner and Anna, and a crazy-but-loveable dog named Merlin. She has published multiple articles in the Baptist News Global and has one published book: The Sun is Up: One Ministers Awakening to Racial Reconciliation.
