Gary Furr, pastor of Vestavia Hills Baptist Church in Birmingham Baptist Association, and Arthur Price, pastor of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, live in two different worlds. But they have built a relationship and friendship that is helping each one to grow personally and professionally.
Although Furr serves in the suburbs and Price in the inner city, the two came together through the Resource Center for Pastoral Excellence (RCPE) at Samford University in Birmingham.
The RCPE — established in 2003 with a $2 million grant from Lilly Endowment — encourages the spiritual, physical, social and intellectual renewal of ministers.
The center offers sabbatical leave programs, peer support programs, pastoral sustenance networks for pastors in rural areas, apprenticeship programs, conferences and the Pastoral Partnerships for Excellence (PPE) program.
PPE is the program through which Furr and Price met about three years ago and became pastoral partners. The program’s purpose is to team pastors from different races, denominations and ministry contexts to gather valuable information and resources that will help others.
Furr and Price’s experience has become the model for RCPE’s PPE and they continue their relationship even though their time in the program has technically ended.
“We developed a friendship,” Furr said. “We still call each other from time to time.”
PPE allowed the two pastors to study each other’s ministries and bring their congregations together for worship and fellowship.
“Early on, we took it to the churches and worshiped together,” Furr said. “Everything starts with community and we’ve had nothing but fun.”
While Furr and Price differ from each other as far as the community they serve and their race, they also differ in age and experience. Price is younger and has fewer years in the ministry than Furr.
“It has been beneficial to me to be partnered with someone who has been through the trenches and fought the battles,” Price said. “He can suggest cooler, calmer strategies to me.”
Furr said while one church is predominantly white and the other is predominantly black, “we don’t want [the partnership] so focused on racial issues.”
“We are just two Christian churches wanting to become friends,” he said. “All of this is learning more about the kingdom of God.”
For more information on RCPE, visit www.samford.edu/rcpe or call 205-726-4064. (TAB)
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