Though autonomous, Baptist churches historically have cooperatively pooled resources, shared encouragement, and challenged one another to greater vision and ministry. We work together with and financially support the following Baptist partners:
- River City Faith Network (our local Baptist association)
- The Alliance of Baptists
- The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
- Baptist Women in Ministry
- The Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America-Bautistas por la paz
- The Baptist World Alliance
- Sophia Seminary
We also see great mutual benefit in partnering with ecumenical, interfaith, and non-religious organizations whose work in the world is moving us ever closer to the Beloved Community and God’s Kin-dom here on earth. We work together with and financially support the following non-Baptist partners:
- JourneyPartners
- Richmond Hill
- Richmond Public Schools Education Foundation
- Side by Side
- Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy
Baptist Partners
River City Faith Network
In 1951, the Richmond Baptist Association (RBA) was organized in the sanctuary of Ginter Park Baptist Church. Since that time, we have worked alongside other churches in Richmond to do together what we cannot do separately. In 2014, the RBA was renamed the River City Faith Network. Ginter Park Baptist Church encourages our members to volunteer time, energy, and finances to support the work of the RBA.
The Alliance of Baptists
The Alliance of Baptists began in 1987 as a prophetic voice in Baptist life. While the Alliance was born out conflict surrounding the fundamentalist takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention, today it is much more than a reaction.The Alliance is a movement. It is a progressive movement of individuals and churches valuing theological education; missions as partnership; ecumenism; racial reconciliation; full inclusion and affirmation of differing sexual orientation; affirming men and women in ministry; peacemaking; and ecological and social justice. The Alliance of Baptists was instrumental in the establishment of the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond.
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF), like the Alliance, had beginnings in the Southern Baptist takeover. It is a network helping people put their faith to practice through ministry efforts, missions, and a community of support. We support both the national body of the CBF and the CBF of Virginia. CBF of Virginia hosts mission immersion experiences encouraging congregations to engage in God’s mission in our state and around the world.
Baptist Women in Ministry
Baptist Women in Ministry seeks to draw together women and men, in partnership with God, to illuminate, advocate, and nurture the gifts and graces of women, committed to advocating for, connecting to, and networking with Baptist women in ministry and those who care about them. Ginter Park Baptist participates in the BWIM Month of Preaching in order to be an encouraging church, one in which the voices of young women and new-to-preaching women will be celebrated and affirmed.
The Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America-Bautistas por la paz
The Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America (BPFNA) “gathers, equips, and mobilizes Baptists to build a culture of peace rooted in justice.” It is the largest network of Baptist peacemakers in the world. The BPFNA supports the work of peacemaking by bringing peacemakers together in regional and international gatherings and by providing resources, speakers, and training. BPFNA offers an annual intergenerational gathering affectionately called “Peace Camp.”
The Baptist World Alliance
When the Executive Board of the Southern Baptist Convention withdrew funding for the Baptist World Alliance (BWA), many churches, including Ginter Park Baptist Church, took up the slack. The BWA is made up of national organizations and seeks to coordinate among the various Baptist groups so that there will be a more effective use of resources throughout the world.
Sophia Seminary & Farms
Sophia Seminary is an embodied community of learners committed to God as revealed in Jesus Christ that sees theological education as a holistic endeavor, undertaken with rigor, built upon a curriculum that is integrated across disciplines and that moves freely between “church” and “academy.” Our interim preaching minister, Mark Biddle, was instrumental in bringing the vision of Sophia to reality, while two of our church members currently serve on the Board of Trustees.
Non-Baptist Partners
JourneyPartners
JourneyPartners is an ecumenical and interfaith not-for-profit ministry working nationally and internationally to develop networks and partnerships for mutual learning and spiritual growth, through cross-cultural immersion experiences, educational endeavors, construction and renovation projects, and service-learning opportunities. Their work primarily focuses on education, clean water, and health in Zimbabwe.
Richmond Hill
Richmond Hill is an ecumenical Christian residential community and retreat center that seeks God’s healing of Metropolitan Richmond through prayer, hospitality, racial reconciliation, and spiritual development. Richmond Hill has hosted Ginter Park Baptist Church for several church-wide retreats. We also have joined in covenant with other churches across Metro Richmond to pray together weekly for the people of our metropolitan city through Richmond Hill’s Metro Richmond at Prayer initiative.
Richmond Public Schools Education Foundation
Richmond Public Schools Education Foundation(RPSEF) donations fund music and arts, college readiness, teacher training, after-school programming, and so much more. They have also provided COVID relief in the form of meal and housing assistance. As the district’s fundraising partner, RPSEF works to accelerate success across Richmond Public Schools.
Side by Side
Side By Side is a local non-profit dedicated to creating supportive communities where Virginia’s LGBTQ+ youth can define themselves, belong, and flourish. Ginter Park’s relationship began with church volunteers providing a meal once a month for one of their weekly support groups. When COVID brought that practice to an end, we decided to add financial support for the organization in our ministry partner budget.
Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy
Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy(VICPP) is a non-partisan coalition of 23,000 members including 700 faith communities and 1,000 clergy of all faiths and people of goodwill, all working to advocate for economic, racial, and social justice in Virginia’s policies and practices through education, prayer and action. Each year during the General Assembly in January, VICPP sponsors an advocacy week, Days for All People, engaging people of faith and goodwill to advocate for economic, racial, and social justice in Virginia’s policies and practices through education, prayer and action.