Posted in Bonus, tagged farmer's market, food, good neighbors, Monument Market, neighborhood market on July 31, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Photos by Skyler Cumbia, Anthony Nesossis and Paul Kreckman.
Creating a neighborhood market is part of FBC’s role as a good neighbor. Every Saturday morning from May through August, Robinson Street parking lot converts from metal and asphalt to the textures and colors of the farm. Vendors offer produce, crafts, clothing, jewelry, baked goods, eggs, and meats. People meet, children play, the weekend begins – a neighborhood connection is made.
Posted in FBC Family, tagged pastor's wife, Richmond Hill, Southern Baptist Convention, Tasha Tudor on July 19, 2012| 6 Comments »
Story and photos by Jeannie Dortch.
“I’ve always done what I wanted, but it takes patience.” Tasha Tudor
As the wife of Jim Flamming, First Baptist’s former Senior Pastor of 23 years, Shirley Flamming folded herself into church members’ hearts with her conviviality, sincerity and spiritual depth. Since Jim’s retirement in 2006, Shirley has not withdrawn as much as she has drawn within.
In a recent conversation, she shared some milestone events that shaped her life since she and Jim made Richmond their home in 1983.
The daughter of a Southern Baptist preacher and educator, Shirley attended Hardin-Simmons University, a Southern Baptist institution. She met Jim there and after their marriage, Shirley spent as much time at church as her husband, eventually becoming the Director of the Children’s Department at First Baptist, Abilene, Texas. “It was church 24/7,” said Shirley. “And by the time we moved to Richmond, I had been exposed to no other life than that of a Southern Baptist.”
The trajectory of Shirley’s life began to shift soon after she and Jim arrived in Virginia. She read a book about the life of Tasha Tudor, a children’s book illustrator. Tasha lived the last third of her life secluded from modernity, surrounded by her plants, her animals, and, most importantly, her family. Shirley declared, “After reading that book, I wanted to be Tasha Tudor, and I knew I was at a perfect place in my life to start over.”
As a young mother, Shirley balanced the demands of church and home with the medium of clay.
Her studio has provided her a prayerful retreat for over 40 years.
The division in the Southern Baptist Convention had an enormous effect on the Flammings. In the late 70s a conservative group in the convention announced their intention to take control of the denomination’s agencies and institutions. For a few years in the 80s, Jim served on a “Peace Committee” that tried to heal the rifts between “moderates” and “conservatives.” That experience gave Shirley a new look at denominational life. She wondered how God could be working amidst all the ugliness she was seeing. She questioned her previous assumptions: “I had always thought that Southern Baptists were the only denomination doing something good. If this was no longer true, then I wanted to be part of a larger framework to see what God was accomplishing through other Christians.”
Shirley found an opportunity to do that as one of the founding board members and later president of Richmond Hill, an ecumenical retreat center. She was attracted initially to its interracial and interdenominational makeup. Through participating in its programs, she began to discover the contemplative nature of her own faith. “This was a life changing experience for me. My own spiritual life was deepened through silent prayer and reflective retreats. But more importantly, by being with people of other faiths and ethnicity, I learned that God was bigger than I had imagined and that I needed to bless what people were doing for Him in this world.”
Shirley’s mornings spent in silence and prayer led to her giving workshops on praise and thanksgiving in the U.S., Mexico and South America. Shirley stated, “Significance of purpose for Jim was accomplished through the church, but I was learning that I had been given a different set of gifts, and one was to make friends for the church outside of church.”
In 1989, the Flammings’ second son, Dave, moved to Richmond with his family to be closer to the Medical College of Virginia for his treatment. They lived with Shirley and Jim for two years before leukemia took Dave’s life. “After Dave died, no one in our family was the same,” Shirley confessed. “I saw how the Lord had gone before me preparing me in such a powerful way. Dave’s children had lost their dad, and I didn’t want them to lose their childhood, so I put my all into Dave’s family to bring delight back into their lives.” That decision continues to bring comfort and joy in the midst of pain.
Soon the Flammings’ other sons, Doug and Dee, had children. Shirley began traveling, infusing her spiritual energy and gifts into their families, as well as into her larger extended family. “I love worshiping with God’s people, but I no longer feel the need to be a constant presence at church to be full of God’s spirit while doing His will. God sends me people to befriend, to bless, and to pray for. But, as my family has grown and aged, God’s heart has prompted me to remain close to them in order to be true to myself.”
Posted in FBC Family, tagged Connections class, emergent literacy, ExCELL, family literacy, kindergarten, literacy coach, Murch Elementary, reading, St. Michael's Episcopal School on July 9, 2012| 12 Comments »
By Jeannie Dortch.
Christy Somerville has spent the last 10 years consumed with her calling: Raising the literacy level of preschoolers so they’re better prepared for kindergarten.
Christy commented, “Though certified pre-K through 12th grade as a reading specialist, I’m hyper-focused on emergent literacy, which starts at birth. Opening literature’s rich doors at this age can make life or death differences, literally. In Virginia, reading scores of third graders are used to determine how many jail cells to build.”
This startling statistic drives Christy to help as many children as she can, her part in bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to Richmond.
Engaging pre-K students in compositional
writing as part of Christy’s Masters’ research,
“Bringing Words Out of Pencils.”
Before coming to Richmond in 2008, Christy taught pre-K for seven years at Murch Elementary School in Washington, D.C. In 2009 she entered graduate school at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in the Masters of Education in Reading program. While taking two classes a semester, Christy worked part-time for Richmond’s Northside Reading Foundation.
As her education and experience grew, so did Christy’s responsibilities. Employed by VCU until graduation in May 2012, Christy worked as a family literacy specialist and literacy coach for ExCELL- Excellence in Children’s Early Language and Literacy. ExCELL kept Christy and other team members on the road visiting schools in Virginia Beach, Arlington and Norfolk.
“I worked three to four days a week in one of two schools either in Richmond or Virginia Beach, but in weekend workshops, I spoke to at-risk families about what they could do at home to enrich their child’s early literacy experiences. I also coached and trained teachers through videotaping, co-teaching and modeling. In sharing new research with them, teachers were able to reflect and implement what they learned with my help.” As a result of the success of this pilot program, ExCELL has plans to expand to other cities around the state.
Positive results motivate Christy. She recalled a recent home visit at 7:30 in the morning. “I shared breakfast with a very young father still dressed in his uniform, after working the night shift. He was struggling to stay awake for our meeting. But he obviously wanted to learn how literacy could make a difference for his daughter. I was inspired to see how deeply he cared for his child. This kind of experience is repeated often.”
On Sundays, Christy hosts FBC’s Connections class for newcomers. She finds that her consistent presence each week is a comfort to those seeking a new church home. During the week, Christy will be teaching kindergarten students at St. Michael’s Episcopal School beginning in September 2012. “I have missed the classroom and [having] my own students so am very excited to start my new job.”
First Things First 