Near the end of our year-long conceptualization process, the time arrived to “launch” ourselves into the world officially. During October and November 2019, five churches across Virginia hosted us for a breakfast meetings with local pastors and other local religious and community leaders. During these events, we were able to speak and listen to folks from Richmond to Charlottesville to Petersburg to Williamsburg to Fredericksburg. The interest and enthusiasm from those we met in each of these five churches was an inspiration, infusing our work with further energy and purpose.

We are grateful to God for these five host churches along with their gracious pastors who opened to us both their literal and their symbolic doors and allowed us to begin building partnerships for the work and mission of Sophia Theological Seminary and Sophia Farms.

List of host churches and pastors:

• Grace Baptist Church, Richmond; Rev. Courtney Allen Crump, pastor
• Broadus Memorial Baptist Church, Charlottesville; Rev. Nick Deere, pastor
• West End Baptist Church, Petersburg; Dr. Mark Hughes, pastor
• Williamsburg Baptist Church, Williamsburg; Rev. Daniel Wilson, pastor
• Fairview Baptist Church, Fredericksburg; Dr. Jim George, pastor