Online

Giving
Fall 2015

A New Day for KBF

Making donations via the internet is not a

new concept. Many Americans pay bills online or have mortgages automatically deducted from the bank account. Online giving is
easy, its convenient, and its safe.

What a year of transition for the Kentucky Baptist Fellowship! KBFs founding coordinator, John Lepper, retired
in June, 2014. Earlier the same year Associate Coordinator for Misssions, Josh Speight, accepted a position with
the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship in Decatur, Georgia. Laura Barclay assumed additional duties as the Interim
Associate Coordinator for Missions. She resigned in August, 2015, to become the Interim Young Adults Coordinator at Highland Baptist Church in Louisville. Chris Sanders took the helm in August, 2014 as the Interim
Coordinator, completing his duties when a new coordinator came on board August 1, 2015. As we welcome new
leadership, we give thanks for these individuals and their contributions to the KBF and the kingdom of God.
And now, meet those charged with leading us into our future!

Sign up for E-Newsletter

Stay more up-to-date with our weekly online
newsletter. Simply go to the website and sign
up. Its that simple!

www.kybf.org

Rhonda Blevins

Coming Soon to a Town Near You

KBF Staff Tours Kentucky in October

The ministries workgroup of the Kentucky Baptist

Fellowship invites you to attend one of four Meet
the Staff meals during the month of October. This
is a chance for you to get to know Rhonda Blevins,
executive coordinator, and Kristin Belcher, operations
coordinator. Additionally, you can hear whats going
on in the Fellowship, ask questions, and participate in
crowdsourcing to help chart the course for the future.
Youll enjoy a casual lunch or dinner with time for fellowship with friends from across the Commonwealth.
The tour begins October 13 at Faith Baptist in Georgetown, zigs to Buechel Park Baptist in Louisville on October 15, zags to First Baptist Corbin on October 20,
and finishes at Third Baptist Owensboro on October
29. No reservation needed. Mark your calendars now!

KENTUCKY BAPTIST FELLOWSHIP

Come Join the Fun!

October 13, 12:00 pm

Faith Baptist Church, Georgetown

October 15, 6:00 pm

Buechel Park Baptist Church, Louisville

October 20, 6:30 pm
First Baptist Church, Corbin

October 29, 12:00 pm
Third Baptist Church, Owensboro

4000 Brownsboro Road, Louisville, KY 40207 . 502-426-1931 . info@kybf.org

www.kybf.org

Executive Coordinator
Rhonda Abbott Blevins returns to Kentucky Baptist Fellowship from Loudon, Tennessee, where she served a local church. Blevins previously served KBF as Associate
Coordinator for Missions from 2005-2007. In 2014, Blevins completed her Doctor of
Ministry degree from Mercer Universitys McAfee School of Theology. She holds a
Master of Divinity from Southwestern Seminary and a Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education from Tennessee Tech University. Rhonda is a trained clergy coach;
she practiced coaching through Pinnacle Leadership Associates. Earlier this year,
Blevins published Awaken: A Prayer Experience through Pinnacle Leadership Press.
She was a featured speaker at the KBF Spring Gathering in Owensboro in 2013 and at
A [Baptist] Conference on Sexuality and Covenant in 2012. Blevins is the recipient of
the 2012 Charles A. Trentham Homiletics Award. She was ordained to the ministry
in 2005. Blevins lives with her husband, Terry, and their sons, Jake and Rhys.

Kristin Belcher

Operations Coordinator
Kristin Belcher is no stranger to KBF. She has been involved in KBF life since 2007,
when she attended her first Spring Gathering. Through volunteering at several Extreme Builds, helping to plan multiple Youth Missions Weekends, working at KBF
Current retreats, and traveling to Morocco, Kristin has grown to love the churches
and the people of KBF. She has spent the last three years getting to know more about
the intricacies of the administrative side and seeing all the day-to-day tasks that keep
the KBF running smoothly. She has also spent the last three and a half years serving
at First Baptist Frankfort as the youth minister. Kristin is excited to incorporate all
of her past experience into this new role while she creates and dreams for the future
of KBF. Kristin is a graduate of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary with a
Master of Divinity. She received her Master of Science and Social Work from the Kent
School of Social Work at the University of Louisville. Her loyalties, however, will
always lie with the University of Kentucky, where she completed her undergraduate degree in social work. Kristin loves spending time with her nephews Jaxon and Parker. She also anticipates the arrival of her niece this fall.

@ revb l e v

From the Executive Coordinator

Hey Kentucky Baptist Fellowship . . . Im baaaaa-aaaaack!

I am so thrilled to be back among you as your new coordinator. You may remember me from 2005-2007 when I
served as your missions coordinator. I am proud of what we accomplished in those years together, and even more
proud of the good work for Gods kingdom youve accomplished as Ive been away. Since Ive been back on the
job, Ive enjoyed reconnecting with old friends and making new friends as well. Meeting folks, being in churches,
listening and learning is my top priority in my first months as your coordinator.
Another priority is staffing for our future. KBF has been blessed with strong
leadership over the years with John Lepper and Josh Speight, and more recently Chris Sanders and Laura Barclay. During the interim, Kristin Belcher
has proven herself as competent and resourceful, taking initiative to make
good things happen for KBF and the churches and individuals committed
to our cause, a cause to which Kristin is highly dedicated. She has a strong
educational background, proven leadership experience, and a deep and
thoughtful faith commitment. For those reasons and more, I am delighted
to have Kristin serve as our new Operations Coordinator. Her charge will be
to lead and develop missions opportunities, provide educational resources
and networking with churches, ministers and laity, and administer the KBF office. She began this new role on
September 15.
Finally, my third priority in these first months is to think and act strategically for our future, which involves
doing our part to promote healthy churches and healthy clergy. That is why Ive launched the Clergy Coaching
Project, which begins in October (read more below). This investment in our clergy will have long-lasting effects.
Thank you for your confidence in me to lead KBF forward as we equip, empower, and engage in missions!
#buildingcommunity
Rhonda

Clergy
Coaching
Project

What is clergy coaching? A clergy coach partners with ministers in

a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires the minister
to maximize personal and professional potential. The coach honors
the minister as the expert in his or her life and ministry, recognizing every minister as creative, resourceful, and whole. Standing on
this foundation, the coachs responsibility is to: discover, clarify,
and align with what the client wants to achieve; encourage client
self-discovery; elicit client-generated solutions and strategies; hold
the client responsible and accountable. This process helps ministers
dramatically improve their outlook on work and life, while improving leadership skills and unlocking potential.
Coaching cohorts for young ministers and associate pastors begins
October 2015. Free for KBF clergy and BSK students. Limited space
available. Visit www.kybf.org for more information.

New Ministry Initiatives

By Sara Clarke Turpin

Encouraging KBF young people and newcomers is important to our

ministry outreach. To support involvement, the KBF Scholarship will
be expanded to include travel funds to attend Spring Gathering 2016.
There will also be two travel grants available for first-time attendees:
one for Spring Gathering 2016 and one for General Assembly 2016.
These will include travel, lodging, and meals. Information and applications will be available on the website by November and applications will be due February 8. In addition, KBF will sponsor at least
two young people to attend the Academy of Preachers 2016 National
Festival in Lexington this January.
In an effort to support both local churches and young ministers,
KBF will provide up to $300 each toward summer interns for four
Kentucky churches based on financial need. Those interns and their
pastors will form a summer cohort, with $500 in funding for travel
and resources to learn and grow together over the summer. Other
Kentucky interns and their pastors will also be invited to join this
cohort.
We recently began a group on Facebook, Kentucky Baptist Fellowship Forum, to provide a central place for KBF ministers and laity
to ask questions and share information. The ministries workgroup
also discussed ideas to better share resources with our congregations and we will continue exploring these areas in the future.

Empower West:
Urban/Suburban Dialogue
Dr. Kevin Cosby, president of Simmons College and pastor of St. Stephen Baptist Church in Louisville, invited our churches to St. Stephen
on September 23 for a continuing discussion with other Louisville
faith leaders around racial reconciliation and West End development.
Several KBF churches and pastors attended along with representatives from other churches and denominations. To learn more about
this exciting dialogue, visit our website at www.kybf.org or stay up
to date with current happenings by signing up for our e-newsletter,
also available on our website.

Relay for Africa

Lexington Avenue Baptist Church in Danville, KY invites you to join
them for a 10 Mile Relay Run/Walk for Africa, with four legs of 2.5
miles each. It will be held at Millennium Park at the picnic pavilion
on Sunday, September 27, 2015 at 4:30 pm. In addition to the relay,
there will be a cookout and games for kids. The proceeds benefit the
African Refugee Ministry in Morocco.

calendar
Sept. 23: Empower West,
St. Stephen, Louisville
Sept. 27: Relay for Africa,
Lexington Avenue, Danville
Oct. 13: Meet the Staff Tour,
Faith Baptist, Georgetown
Oct. 15: Meet the Staff Tour,
Buechel Park, Louisville
Oct. 20: Meet the Staff Tour,
First Baptist, Corbin
Oct. 22-23: Kentucky Council of
Churches, Bardstown
Oct. 29: Meet the Staff Tour,
Third Baptist, Owensboro
Oct. 31: Regional Festival of
Preachers, Louisville
Jan. 2-5: National Festival of
Young Preachers, Lexington
Jan. 28-29: Church & Academy
Conference, Georgetown College
Mar. 5: Coordinating Council,
Midway
Mar. 18-19: Young Adult Retreat,
Louisville
April 1-3: Youth Missions Weekend,
Broadway, Louisville
April 22-23: Spring Gathering,
Campbellsville University
June 8-18: Extreme Build XI,
McCreary County
June 20-24: General Assembly,
Greensboro, NC