{"id":69803,"date":"2025-11-19T14:33:02","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T19:33:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/?p=69803"},"modified":"2025-11-19T14:33:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T19:33:05","slug":"florida-dcf-leader-challenges-florida-baptist-pastors-to-armor-up-to-serve-vulnerable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/florida-dcf-leader-challenges-florida-baptist-pastors-to-armor-up-to-serve-vulnerable\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida DCF leader challenges Florida Baptist pastors to \u2018armor up\u2019 to serve vulnerable"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ORLANDO\u2013Taylor Hatch, secretary of Florida\u2019s Department of Children and Families<\/a>, recently challenged hundreds of Florida Baptist pastors to \u201cput on the armor of God\u201d as they lead their churches to become partners in statewide efforts to serve the vulnerable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to put on the full armor of God because we are playing an offensive game (in serving the vulnerable), and we want to pursue,\u201d she said. The biblical passage on the armor of God, Ephesians 6:10-18, \u201cnever talks about protection on your back. Forward pursuit, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cListen, trust, be faithful\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at the 2025 Florida Baptist Pastors\u2019 Conference held at First Orlando<\/a>, Hatch described her personal journey to care for and serve the vulnerable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was blessed to have a mother and father who were God-fearing and raised me in the church,\u201d she said, adding that her parents provided opportunities for her to serve through missions. She recalled one \u201cmoment\u201d as she served when she saw words emblazoned on a \u201cbig, white concrete wall at the very top.\u201d The paraphrased message was from Isaiah 6:8: \u201cAnd whom shall I send? And Isaiah said, \u2018Here am I, Lord; send me,\u2019\u201d she shared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose words have been seared in my brain and in my heart and, unbeknownst to me, that was a seed that was planted back in my childhood that I believe has woven the path that I\u2019m walking today,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd what\u2019s great about that,\u201d she said, \u201cis it\u2019s God\u2019s plan and it\u2019s His design\u201d to call His people to serve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my job to listen, to trust and to be faithful to His plan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Every moment matters\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Celebration Church<\/a> in Tallahassee, where Hatch is a member, Pastor David Emmert often challenges the congregation with the words, \u201cEvery moment matters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hatch has taken those words to heart, \u201cYou don\u2019t know what moment\u2013that interaction with another human being\u2013is going to make all the difference in the world, not only to them but also for future generations. Moments matter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To maximize moments to serve the vulnerable, Hatch believes that partnerships are vital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHope Florida<\/a> works to serve people at the earliest moment possible,\u201d working with churches, not-for-profits and the private sector \u201cto help families get back on their feet,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGovernment cannot nor should not be all things to everyone,\u201d she believes, stating that partnerships with \u201cthe church, performing as a body, as the hands and feet of Jesus, serving people every single day\u201d is a key to making a lasting difference throughout Florida, with each partner embracing specific roles and \u201cmaking sure we do not work in isolation if we want to serve people well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hatch said that \u201cindividuals reach out to government many times on one of the worst days of their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow do we make the most of that moment and be the bridge? How do we as government make sure that we lift up people who need help with people who want to help?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2019, because of partnerships forged through Hope Florida, statistics indicate significant decreases in children entering foster care, in families relying on public benefits, in criminal justice offenders re-offending and in opioid-related deaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The task, now, she said, is to \u201cmaximize the moment. We want to put our foot on the gas a little faster. We want to keep going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not always easy. We live in an imperfect world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur prayer is that we are ready, as His followers, to try to make that moment matter not just for today but also for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information on how your church can become a partner in serving the vulnerable, go to hopeflorida.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO\u2013Taylor Hatch, secretary of Florida\u2019s Department of Children and Families, recently challenged hundreds of Florida Baptist pastors to \u201cput on the armor of God\u201d as they lead their churches to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":69804,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2894,38,40,2617,19,45,25],"tags":[2982,1058,2983,2981],"class_list":["post-69803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2025-annual-meeting","category-annual-meeting","category-developing","category-featured","category-news","category-statewide","category-stories","tag-deparment-of-children-and-families","tag-fbsc25","tag-hope-florida","tag-taylor-hatch"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69803","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69803"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69803\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69806,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69803\/revisions\/69806"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flbaptist.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}