We say, “Woodland is a CBF church.” Do you know what that means? This is the first in a series of articles that I’m writing to help answer that question. Shortly after the earthquake in Haiti, Dr. Steve James, a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) missionary-physician who lives in northern Haiti, went to Port au Prince to assess the needs. One obvious crisis was the large number of suddenly-orphaned children. Many of these children will be adopted and moved to different countries around the world. For their future emotional and spiritual stability, it will be critical for these displaced children to be reminded about their identity - their family, culture, beliefs, and roots. Losing of our sense of identity is costly and increases our chances of losing our sense of security, faith, values and even self-worth.

Many Jews, interviewed after the Holocaust, maintained that they and their families overcame the Holocaust and centuries of persecution mainly because they had a deep sense of identity. They felt they belonged to something bigger, more lasting and stronger than themselves. They knew where they came from and were proud to live or die as a part of a family of faith that stood for some basic, time-tested beliefs, traditions and values. In some ways, churches are like people. Churches that lose their sense of identity are more susceptible to instability and confusion. They are more vulnerable to the latest trend or the most sensational leader of the day. It’s easy to forget who we are and why. Like a family, church members need an ongoing recital or reminder of their most basic beliefs, traditions and values. Do you know what we mean when we say Woodland is a CBF church? What is Woodland’s identity? How do we see ourselves? Where do you and I stand on the basic beliefs and practices of CBF? Over the next several weeks, this space will be used to help us examine our knowledge of our faith-identity and our church family’s CBF-identity. See you next week at this same place. Bill Nichols