Hanging of the Greens

On Sunday we begin the season of Advent and look forward to the birth of our Lord. In anticipation of our services a crew gathered to decorate the church today. Sue Vanase called in the troops and within an hour and a half we had transformed the sanctuary into a winter wonderland, filled with greens and angels, bells and bows.

Tomorrow we will focus on the coming of the Prince of Peace who take away our worry and fear. I hope you will join us. Each week this month we will savor the delight of knowing that God is with us in this babe of Bethlehem.

Enjoy these photos from today's activities.

Cal

Thanksgiving was in the air

On Sunday afternoon we set out to put together 25 Thanksgiving baskets. Cynthia Strouse, Gwyn Green, Sandy Stone and Sharon Fishkin sorted and separated all the food that had come in over the last three weeks. The amount of food donated this year, despite the economic crunch, was amazing. We also received over $800 in cash to fill the gap.

Gwyn Green, Dick and Cynthia Strouse left church to go to Shop Rite to finish shopping right after church. Because of the generosity of our congregation, they not only picked up the few items needed to complete the baskets, they also added several perishable items that had been cut from our lists this year. I met up with them at the checkout line and saw three wagons filled with milk, eggs, butter, bread, juices and other goodies. We ended up spending $450 and put the rest aside for Christmas and to stock the food pantry. (Since then we had spent an additional forty dollars to supply Thanksgiving meals to two additional families within the church family.)

At 3:00 p.m. our crew gathered to put the baskets together. Sandy & Bethany Stone, Chelsey Calkins, Madelyn Fishkin, Zelda Earle, Bella, Fred Green and Steve Contois all jumped in to make the job go quicker. Just before 4:00 p.m. the crowd started arriving to pick up their baskets. It was a heartfelt time as we passed out the food and received words of gratitude from the people we were serving.

At the end of the day we delivered 20 baskets for families in our community and seven for people within our wider church family. Thank you for your generosity. It made a happy day for a lot of people.

Cal

Thanksgiving Sunday worship

Sunday was a great day. We celebrated Thanksgiving in Church and also finished up our three week stewardship emphasis. During the service I invited everyone to come forward and share their gifts with God in the symbolic act of placing a leaf on the communion table. After listening to Patricia Ohlund sing a song titled, "Blessings" people filed forward with their leaves, offerings and pledge cards. It was a moving moment.

We also heard Mark Kane's testimony on how he was blessed by going on the Mission trip to Mexico last spring. He talked about growing up in a religious home, drifting away from church and then coming back when he and Pam were married. Then he spoke a bit about his faith and how it was tested in the loss of his daughter. But God carried him through and made his faith stronger. Mark talked about wanting to give back to God and saw the mission trip as an opportunity do that. He even got a bonus because he got to spend time with his son as a result.

Curt Brockway, Stewardship Committee Chair, noted that we had received $50,000 in pledges during the past two weeks. He noted the fact that this was the last official week of the campaign but that we would be receiving pledges and gifts through the end of the year as we make plans for 2009.

My message was introduced with a video clip featuring the music of Jars of Clay that challenged us to reach out with Christ's love to those around us. Preaching on the text from Matthew 25:31-40 which lifts up Jesus words "If you have done it to the least of these, you have done it for me..." I suggested that the best way to say "Thank you" to God was to share his love with our neighbors.

It was a great morning.

Cal

The Super Bowl

Well I survived the all nighter and actually enjoyed it once I made up my mind that I was going to do it. The group left for Springfield at 5:00 p.m. and watched an amazing hocking game. The Springfield Falcons won the game and it was filled with action right from the start. The boys liked the fact that the fighting began ever before the game had started.

After the game a speaker from the sponsor, Word of Life Ministries, spoke to the kids about God's love. He talked to them about making a commitment for god and several hundred young people did just that. Then the games and giveaways began. A number of kids were invited to come down onto the ice to participate in a few different games. They also threw a number of prizes into the stands. Our kids picked up a couple of shirts, and some other souvenirs.

At midnight we left for the roller rink in Wilbraham, Mass. We all put on skates and made a few trips around the circle. Even the old guy took a few laps without injuring himself or anyone else. It was fun. They had pizza, more pizza than we could eat, there for us and we all had our fill.

At 3:00 a.m. we set off for Chicoppee, Mass to the bowling alley. The place was a zoo but our kids had dun. Fred Green was on his game. He rolled a 234 to set the pace for the adults. Rachel Lord hit 98 and was the high roller for the teens. We had a good time and t 5:00 a.m. we hit the road for home. It was a goon night after all and I can't wait for next year. ;-)

Cal

Rockin around the clock

Tonight I will be heading to Springfield with our kids for the Annual Word of Life Super Bowl. It is an all night adventure that begins with a pro hockey game and includes a worship service and prize give away on the ice. At midnight we travel to a bowling alley for three hours of play and lots of food and fun. At 3:00 a.m. we move to a roller rink for a time on wheels and more prize give aways. By 6:00 a.m. we are back home again, tired and ready to sleep.

I don't know why, but the kids always sign up to go again. I find that I must be getting older because for me, it gets a little harder each year. I'll let you know how I made out. Fred Green, Amanda Duntz and Jake Shanks are the chaperons.

Cal

A missional Christian

To be a "missional church" you have to have missional Christians as members. That means your parishioners have to see their faith as something that needs to be lived out in the community. You see faith isn't a precious collectible that is put on a shelf and adored. It is a piece of furniture that you use every day. Missional Christians see their work, their involvement in community affairs, their interaction with friends and neighbors as an extension of who they are in Christ.

I want to give you an example of someone who thinks this way. Dick Strouse grew up in our church. He was hanging out in the kitchen since before he could walk. He attended Sunday School classes all the way up through high school. He was involved in the Youth Group and always felt church was a good place to be. A few years after he and Cynthia were married (they met at church) the family settled back in own and began raising their family. Dick got involved and before long he took on several responsibilities including serving on the Trustees and acting as the Church Financial Secretary (Collector back in the day).

If all that Dick did in the church wasn't enough to tell you where his heart was, he also did some work with ABCCONN and the Camp Committee at Wightman. As time went on he began to serve in various capacities in wider Baptist Circles. His faith, which moved him to serve the greater community prompted him to join the Norwich Rotary Club where he soon became a Director. And then when the call came to serve on the Backus Hospital Board of Trustees, he answered the call because he believed in their mission to serve the community.

For the last three years Dick has served as the Chairman of the Board. He has spent countless hours in meetings and he's overseen the last major Capital Campaign and building project at the Hospital. He has given himself to the job and the whole community has been blessed by it. You ask Dick why he got involved and he'll tell you it goes back to the way he was raised and it goes back to his faith. He was born to serve.

Dick Strouse understands that our faith is not something to talk about. It is something to be lived and he has let Christ shine through him as he has served God in each of his roles through the years.

Congratulations Dick on a job well done!

This is my story - Testimonies that touch us

For the last four years we have asked members of the congregation to share their testimonies with us during the Fall Stewardship Campaign. We began with having them tell us how they "answered the call the first year." Who can forget Dave Murray or Lori Lord's thoughtful words. Dave spoke about the tithe. Lori spoke about supporting what you believe in.

This year our theme is Unearthing your Treasure. Last week Amanda Duntz talked about her teaching experiences in California working with AmeriCorps. She felt God was calling her to share Christ's love in tangible ways. Then she talked about her sense of call to work with WAIM and our own Missional Church Project.

This past past Sunday Patricia Ohlund spoke about this gift God had given her that she didn't know what to do with. She sings and has been singing since she was a little girl. She aid she even learned to read by opening the hymnal at church. It is her way to honor God today. She uses that gift to praise him.

Next Sunday Mark Kane will offer our third testimony as he talks about stepping out on the mission field and what it meant to him to go to Mexico earlier this year. I hope you will join us this week at service.

We will be collecting pledge cards as we give thanks to God for this ministry we have. We will also rededicate ourselves to serving God during worship.

Cal

Faithul in small things

Every Sunday after everyone goes home, a couple of people stay and do an essential job for the church. We call them the counters. They take the weekly offering, record it,make out the deposit slip and then carry it to the bank. Their work goes unnoticed but it allows us to pay the bills and do the ministry of the church.

The counters are nominated each year by the Board of Trustees and they serve a one year term that can be renewed. They work in teams of two and serve once every five weeks. After they finish the job they leave the records for our Financial Secretary George Rezendes and his Assistant, Frank Royce to record in our church management data base.

This past week I caught Nancy Allen and Frank Royce in action. A big thank you goes out to these special servants. They include June Deptulski, George Strouse, Frank Royce, Bob Walker, Gwyn Green, Nancy Allen, Karen Barber, Mary Brockway, Mark Kane & Oliver Bray.

Who Says There Is No Free Lunch?

On Sunday afternoon we hosted the monthly Interfaith Luncheon at St. Mark's Church. Doreen and Roger Mainville of Central Baptist cooked up the lunch and several of the young people from Central served it up. About eighty five people came out for the dinner and were treated to American Chop Suey.

Amanda Duntz brought a lot of clothing to set out for the folks to take home with them. It was like a rummage sale where no money exchanged hands. Actually the whole afternoon was a picture of what the world should look like. I am reminded of Isaiah's proclamation in Chapter 55,
"Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost"

We were sharing God's love with the poor. Just before lunch was served I offered a prayer and although it wasn't meant to proselytize, several of the guests came up to me during the meal and thank me even as they thanked the servers. Several also took time to share their concerns. One young man even came up and asked me to pray for him.

I am so glad we began this ministry three and a half years ago. It has not only blessed those who come for lunch. It has blessed those who cook and serve.

Cal

Sunday School is on the rise

The kids sang Father Abraham in Sunday School and had fun. Everyone got into it and let it shine! Sunday School meets each week at 9:15 a.m. and we have classes for all ages... and that includes the adults.

In the next few weeks we will be gearing up for the Annual Christmas Pageant. This year we will be presenting the traditional Christmas play. We are looking for a director so here's your chance to use your gift.

The Pageant and Christmas party will be on December 14 at 6:00 p.m. We will have dessert and watch the kids perform. Afterwards, we will have a visit from Santa Claus. All the children are invited to bring some health and beauty aids to add to our Winter Survival Kits for those in need in our neighborhood. Examples of what to bring include, shampoo and bar soap. New white tube socks are also welcome.

Cal

Our nursery area is getting a facelift

On Saturday three members of our Property Committee began working on brightening up the nursery at church. Mark Rogers, Pete Adams and Nancy Allen gave up a morning to come down and begin the job. They primed two walls and have plans to finish the job in coming weeks. They also hope to add a suspended ceiling and additional lighting to the area.

Rosie Main, who teaches the nursery class for our Sunday School suggested the changes. She said the toddlers need to have a bright and cheerful area that makes them feel welcome. Her classroom also doubles as our nursery area during worship. A couple of the moms have also made plans to add a new television and dvd player to the space. with some new Veggie Tales dvd's on the way, the kids will have something to look forward to in the new year.

If you would like to help with the painting or any other aspect of the job, talk to Mark, Nancy or Pete.

Cal

A Night for discussing plans

The Trustees met tonight and discussed several things on the agenda. We looked at our finances and noted that giving was a little behind schedule. George Rezendes and Frank Royce noted that of things continued as they were, we would only be behind by about 2% which isn't too bad. The only category where we didn't have and hopes for meeting the budget was in fundraisers.

Mary Brockway volunteered to head up a community tag sale next spring if we wanted her to. We would sell tables and make our money that way. It would be a lot easier to manage and everyone would take their own stuff away afterwards. We could raise between $200- 500 with minimum effort.

We also talked about the Stewardship Campaign this Fall and made some suggestions to the Budget Committee. Ray Deptulski shared that the Property Committee is planning on painting the nursery area and adding lighting and a drop ceiling to the room.

We discussed the furnaces and decided that we would wait until next year to tackle the possiblity of replacing them with gas furnaces.

Then we spent some time talking about the Kitchen project and the Capital Campaign. The final cost is going to be about $100,000. Curt Brockway is going to put together a team to raise the money. They will probably be looking for gifts to be paid out over between three and five years. It was suggested that the team needs to be made up of people who are really excited about the project. We also recognized the facxt that we will need to adjust our timeline if we are going to go ahead with the project. We would move into the funraising phase in the Spring and look to do the construction in the summer or early Fall.

Cal

New life in the Stroud home

Shane and Nikki Stroud are the proud parents of two beautiful baby boys. The Strouds moved up here last July and came to church this summer. Shane is in the Navy and is stationed in New London. Over the last few weeks we have had them in our prayers.

The two boys were born on Saturday and I got to see them up close at the Yale New Haven Hospital. Little Daniel is doing fine. He is starting to eat and may be home soon even though he was born a month early. His brother Chase may have to wait a bit longer. Chase has a heart problem that may need surgery. Things look good right now. The doctors are suggesting they wait and see how he does. If he doesn't need surgery right now he could also head home in a little while.

Nikki came home from Yale New Haven Hospital on Tuesday night. Her God-mother is up and helping out. Nikki had to have emergency surgery to bring the boys out. She has to take it easy for the next four to six weeks. We will be providing some meals for the family over the next few weeks. Call the church office if you can help.

Cal

Basketball season returns

Basketball season is underway at First Baptist. Fred Green has been recruiting players and it looks like we will have one very good team in the Church league this year. Coach Leonard Miller will be working directly with the kids with help from Joe Jensen and his assistant coach from last year.

The season will start within the next couple of weeks. Check out our web site for upcoming games!

Cal

A night of heavenly music

On Sunday night ten choirs came together to celebrate the music we sing in the churches at the 16th Annual Choir Festival. Maggie Schumaker of United Congregational Church pulled everything together again this year. Every year the anthems get better and the fun seems to grow. This year Doug Green was the guest director of our combined choir which featured over one hundred and twenty voices.

Here are a few photos that I took during the festivities. Enjoy.

Cal

Faith in action

On Sunday morning Curt Brockway unveiled our stewardship theme and campaign poster. The theme is "Unearthing Our Gifts: Growing our Ministries First Baptist Church." Curt explained that we all have been given gifts and talents by God and called to use them. As we use them in the church, our ministry will grow and be blessed by God.

The Poster features a "leafless" tree. For every $2,ooo given in pledges, leaves will sprout on the tree depicting the ministries that we are engaged in now, as well as the people who are a part of them.

A bit later Cynthia Strouse came up front and displayed one of the "no sew" blankets that we will be giving away as part of our missional church project in January. After telling us about the project, she asked for volunteers to help put them together. The blankets are made of four square yards of fleece and are tied off in knots all around the exterior. All eighteen blankets she brought with her were claimed. She promised some more would be available in the coming weeks. We hope to do at least fifty of them. Speak to Cynthia if you want to help.


In our Stewardship Moment I interviewed Amanda Duntz. She is the first of three people we will hear from during the three weeks of our Stewardship Campaign. Amanda grew up in Lebanon and has been coming to our church since the day she was born. After graduating from Lyman High School she volunteered for AmeriCorps and spent a year teaching English as a second language in an inner city school just outside Sn Jose, California. When she came back home, she got involved with the Windham Interfaith group which meets the needs of the poorer folks in the Willimantic area. She also went on our Mission trip last year and is now actively involved in our Missional church project. When I asked her why she did these things, she responded that it stems from her understanding of what it means to be a Christian. She explained that faith is meant to be lived out in the world. It isn't something to talk about. It is what you do. It is making a difference because of what you believe.

It was great to hear from three of our friends in church as they talked about what God wants to do with our gifts and talents.

Cal

God and family come together in church.

In a scene reminiscent of one pictured in the Scriptures where Joseph and Mary bring their son to the temple, Mark and Bonnie Ambruso brought their daughter, Trinity to church on Sunday. They came to give thanks for this precious gift from God. They also promised to raise Trinity in a Christian home and to help her come to know and experience the love of God in her life as she grows up.

Our congregation then promised to stand with the family and help them keep their promises by being available and supportive. I introduced Trinity to the people and then asked God's blessing on her. I also asked God to bless the family with wisdom as they sought to live to His glory.

The family had a number of family members and friends with them to share the special day. We were blessed to be a part of it.

Cal

Sunday School

Who said that Sunday School is boring and not very fun? No one at First Baptist would say that. This past week the children in our Primary Class presented us with a box of cans and non perishable food to share with the hungry through our food pantry. They were learning about generosity in class. Mrs. Weimer and Mrs. LaFlamme suggested they show how generous they were with these gifts. I was very pleased to accept them and I brought them down to our pantry. Every month we serve between five and twelve families. Some of them are single people who are looking for work. Others are families with young children. When they come to our door we simply let them do a little shopping. We also tell them that we will pray for them. Jesus told us to feed the hungry because in doing so, we were serving him. These kids learned that this fall.



In the Junior Senior High Class the kids played a game on Bibleopoly last week. As they were playing the game, they were learning Biblical cities and getting a taste of what life was like when Jesus was walking the countryside. It was fun too! In the end, even thou Ari had the most property, everyone came away a winner.



Cal

Friday prayer list

In our prayers tonight:

Edith Robinson

Bob Booth

Bob Duntz

Barbra Beliecki.

The family of Michelle Stutzer, who died suddenly after complications from surgery.

Veronica

Cecile Meyer

Mark Ambruso's dad

Thanks,

Cal

A Stewardship Moment

This week we sent out our first Stewardship letter. Every fall we begin planning for the coming year and to do that we need your help. We ask every member and friend to guestimate how much they are able to contribute to the ongoing expenses of the ministry. This is called making a pledge.

The pledges are non binding in the fact that if your circumstances change, no one is going to come after you. But it is a promise that you will try to put aside a certain amount each week and give it to God to use through the church.

Everything that happens at church is a direct result of your response to this campaign. We depend 100 % on the members and friends of the church. There are no special grants or funds to pay for programs or to help with operating expenses. With your pledges, we can open the doors of the church, put the lights on and turn up the heat. We call a pastor, hire an organist, a secretary and a custodian. We provide Sunday School and youth group activities for the kids. We do outreach ministry through our sports programs and engage in all kinds of activities outside the church like our short term mission trip to Mexico and the Interfaith luncheons.

You make ministry happen. so that's why we ask you every year to reconsider and renew your pledge. If you have never pledged before, we hope you will consider do this year. Your gifts will be a blessing. The fact that we know we can count on you will insure that all of our ministries keep on going.

So when you get your pledge card, think about the ways in which God has blessed you and then make a decision to return that blessing and give something back to your church. Our theme this year in Unearthing Your Treasure - Growing Our Ministries at First Baptist Church. It is based upon the parable of the talents. God has given us all gifts. We are told to use them to build up his kingdom. Praise God we are doing that together at our church.

Cal

Getting ready for the Choir Festival

On Tuesday night our choir had their final tune up for this week's Choir Festival. On Sunday night we will gather at United Congregational Church to sing our own anthem and then join with several other choirs in a combined piece led by Mr. Doug Green of the Cathedral of St. Patrick. The program is at 7:00 p.m. Come and be a part of an inspiration evening.

From Talk to Action - Purpose Drive Series enters next stage

On Sunday I preached my last sermon on the Purpose Driven Life. You can find all six of the messages on this series on our web site. I will have Sandy post them tomorrow afternoon on the worship page.

This has been a great series and it emphasizes our new focus on becoming a Missional Church. We are not here to serve ourselves. God has called us to share his love with the people in our community. In the coming weeks we are going to be recognizing some of our members who have ministries within the church and also out in the community. Stay tuned and join us on Sunday mornings this fall and winter.

The Enchanted Cottage

On Saturday night the Church took to the road and made a stop at the Spirit of Broadway theater. Shawn Rucker was starring in the production of "The Enchanted Cottage." Seventeen of us met at the theater and stepped back in time to post World War I England.

The cast was bringing this new musical to life and getting it ready for its run that could ultimately lead to Broadway. The show told the story about a young couple who meet at this lovely cottage. Both of them both are facing disappointment and disillusionment with life but something magical happens and the two fall in love. Everything changes and joy fills their world.

It was a lot of fun and we had a good time. After the show Brett Bernardini allowed us to pose for a picture on the stage. For that one moment we all stepped back in time and became a guest at the Enchanted Cottage.

Cal

A by-laws review.

On Thursday night our By-laws committee met for the first time. Our By-laws call for a review of our organizational rules every four years. The last major revision was done in 1994. At that time we did an overhaul on the whole document adding limited terms and getting rid of our Executive Council in favor of Quarterly Congregational Meetings.

Those changes stood for ten years without much modification. Then in 1994 we added a group of Counters and changed the name of our Collector to Financial Secretary. They weren't major changes but they reflected the way we were doing business at church.

In 1995 we adopted the "leap year" changes of 1994 and added provisions for a Church Historian and Trustee and Deacon Emeritus positions. These were basically confirming things that we were already doing.

I like to joke that we look at the by-laws as a "guide" rather than the law akin to Johnny Depp's line from the Pirates of the Caribbean. We use the by-laws to help us remember how to do the business of the church. They are also there in the event we get into some conflict. They give us the parameters of what we can and should do at any given time.

Now I understand that our BY-laws is a legal document. That is why they need to be reviewed regularly and changed so that we don't fall to far from compliance at any given time. This allows us some flexibility. We are also very aware that it is the spirit of the by-laws that is most important. The by-laws protect us from unscrupulous behavior by a Pastor or a member of the church who wants to push a particular agenda.

We always follow the by-laws to a tee when a major decision is going to be made. That way no one can dispute it and question the motives of those promoting the issue. It is always better to err on the side of caution and full disclosure than risk the accusation that things were voted on improperly.

Anyway, the committee met and is looking at what the document says and comparing it to our practice. You will hear more in the coming weeks.

Cal

Purpose Driven Nights

On Wednesday night we held our weekly Bible Study and talked about Rick Warren's SHAPE concept from the Purpose Driven Life. He suggested that we were shaped for serving God in that we have been given one or more spiritual gifts, a heart or passion fro doing certain things, several natural abilities that can be channeled to use for God, and numerous experiences that can be used as well to minister to others.

The discussion got lively when we began to talk about the Calvinistic idea of predestination. Warren tends to suggest that everything in life is pre-ordained. He talks about our life experiences as though god sent them to us. Some in our group really didn't buy into that. It makes God look awfully mean. Who would want to have cancer or go through a tragedy to learn something you can pass on to someone else? Why would a loving God do that?

I suggested that we need to filter some of these thoughts and check them out as we were doing. Warren is very careful to say "God allows" things to happen and not "God sends this difficulty." Although I believe that Warren does tend to believe some stuff is God sent, he really wants to simply make the point that God can and often does turn these tragic events around to bring hope and encouragement into others lives.

Anyway, you never know what is going to come up when you stop in for a Bible study. We may not have all the answers but we just keep going back to God's Word to see if we can learn something each week.

We have two more sessions this time around. We meet tonight, Sunday, November 2 at 6:00 p.m. and on Wednesday November 5 at 7:00 p.m. to close out the six week study. The good news is that we are going to run it again on Monday nights starting November 17th at 7:00 p.m. Come and join us. I still have copies of the book available for those who want to read along.

Cal