Bob's Day in the Spotlight

Our own Bob Booth was recognized with a proclamation from the City Council yesterday for his longstanding service to our community. A small group of his friends gathered as City Councilman Pete Desaulniers, former Councilman and current State Representative, Chris Coutu and former Mayor Art Lathrop made the presentation. With Marge and Stephanie by his side, Art Lathrop read the proclamation citing Bob's service to his country in the Army, his years of teaching at Norwich Technical School, his service on the City Council, the Board of Education and on various committees and Board within the city, his service to his church and ministry in the prisons and his faithfulness in all things. Chris Coutu presented the plaque to Bob and all of his friends gathered around him. Even the Administrator of Haven Health and several employees looked on and wished him well.

Bob is another example of someone who has what we are calling a "missional church faith." He carried his faith with him into the world and it informs everything he does. Congratulations Bob and Marge!



Cal

Notes from our Church Annual Meeting

On Thursday evening we met for the 209th Annual Meeting of the First Baptist Church. Reports were presented on the activities of the past year. A motion was made to accept the reports with a few minor changes and place them on file for all to see. It was passed and now the booklet is available at church for all members and friends to peruse.

We then enjoyed a slideshow of sights and scenes from the last year.

We followed that with a few items of business. The report of the By-laws committee was tabled until the Spring Quarterly meeting. Prior to that meeting a list of the proposed changes will be on display for all the members to see. Most of the changes being proposed are aimed at clarification or spelling and grammatical mistakes in the previous documents.

The Church budget for 2009 was presented by Bob Sullivan and me. George Rezendes and Curt Brockway noted that the $103,000 in pledges reflected a net increase of six new families making a pledge this year. A major gift of $9,500 was also noted. After some discussion about how the donations from our ethnic churches are recorded, a church budget of $167,953 was approved.

Our mission budget was presented by Nancy Allen. She noted that the only real changes were in two new "in and out" items. These areas will be funded only to the level that they receive gifts. We added a category for targeted giving for Rick and Mercy Barnes, our special interest missionaries in Mexico. We are hoping families will adopt them for a month and give $50 toward their salary for a total of $600. We also added a $1,000 line item for the mission trip to Mexico. All donations made to that will go in that line item. The total mission budget of $12, 133 was passed.

Oliver Bray offered the report of the nominating committee and a slate of officer, boards and committees was put forward for us to discuss. It was noted that we had not listed a treasurer. I told the group that we had a candidate that we were talking to but he had not accepted yet. It was decided that when the nominating secured a candidate for treasurer and determined who the representative from the Stewardship Committee would be to the Board of Trustees that we would hold a special, very brief, meeting, during worship and elect them to office. We thanked Bob Sullivan, our retiring treasurer, and all those who were stepping down from office this year, for their service to the church.

Moderator Curt Brockway then turned the meeting over to me and we spent some time looking at our ministry and celebrating what we do well and making suggestions for what we could do to improve or enhance what we are doing.

In worship we celebrated the following:

*We involve others in leading worship through the use of worship assistants. It's nice to hear other people's voices. We could use even more volunteers.
* We enjoy the various styles of music and the sources that offer them. Solos, choir, praise team all enhance worship. The various types of music (contemporary, classical, sacred, country, gospel) touch everyone.
* We like the circle of fellowship at the end of communion service.
* We like the fact that children are included in worship. They are there for the offering, to witness baptisms, and are a part of worship through the Children's time.
* We like having Muriel talk to the kids. Someone commented that she needs a microphone so everyone can hear her.
* We like the prayer time. It is important and every week it allows people to be in communion with God. We also like the fact that every prayer request is not repeated again in the pastoral prayer.
* We like the invitation for prayer that was offered last week. Occasional invitations and altar calls are good additions to the service.
* We like the Pastoral leadership, preaching and spirit of worship that is being offered today.
* We like the way Adele sets the tone and mood of worship through her leadership on the organ and in the music ministry.

Then we asked the question: What can we do to improve our worship time?

* Using the name tags would help us get to know one another a little better.
* Make sure every visitor or newcomer is greeted in our greeting time, with some kind of a special outreach (we mentioned the bread program one church uses) by giving visitors a coupon for some special meal or event. In general we want to try to do a better job of making newcomers feel welcome so they will come back again.
* We want to do more to recognize special events in peoples lives. We want to tell each other that we care when a baby is born, someone retires, someone is married or a loved one dies.
* We liked the patriotic music last week. Can we use it more?
* We'd like to see even more special music in the service. More solos and duets. More anthems. We love the music at FBC.
* We would like to have better instructions in the bulletin for newcomers. When to eat and drink during communion was mentioned as an example. Noting the words for Edelweiss are in the bulletin was another one.
* We'd also like the music as well as the words in the bulletin for the songs offered by the praise team.

The Second Area We looked at was Mission and Outreach. We asked:

What Do You like about the things we are doing in mission and outreach currently?

* We talked about the efforts surrounding our Missional Church emphasis. Those who participated in our giveaway last month applauded us going out into the neighborhood. Others wanted to know more about it and what we were going to do next.
* We celebrated our participation in the Interfaith luncheons.
* We applauded our efforts of supporting local mission interest like Madonna Place, The soup Kitchen and other agencies.
* We lifted up our participation in interfaith and ecumenical events like CROP walk.
* We noted the ministry of my weekly column to our community.
* We highlighted our long history of outreach through the sports ministries.

Then we asked, "Is there more we can be doing as part of our outreach ministry?

* It was suggested that we reach out to those people who are absent from worship. Each of us can make phone calls and check in with those we have a relationship with when they are away for a time.
* It was suggested that we have a lay led team of people who visit the sick and those in the nursing homes. this could double the Pastor's efforts and say we care. Training may be needed but it could be a special outreach ministry of the congregation.
* We also added home bound communion to the list of things to offer.
* A community vegetable garden was suggested as a way to reach out into the neighborhood. some one said we may already have one at the Martin Luther King Center. Another person suggested finding out and seeing if we could add to it.

The Final area we looked at was Children and Education. We asked

What Are we doing now that is good in the area of Children and Education?

* We have a lot of little ones in Sunday School
* We have a large adult class.
* We have interesting Bible Studies.
* We offer quality child care during worship.
* We recognize our youth in special Sundays and with a scholarship.
* The Children's time in worship makes the children feel welcome.


Then we asked the question, How can we improve what we are doing?

* Increase the involvement of the youth in worship. We could have children light candles for example.
* We could highlight a different Sunday School class each month and invite the children to do something in worship.
* We could start a youth choir.
* We could offer more arts and crafts during Sunday School.
* We could provide a snack during nursery care time. It is a long morning.

At 8:35 we closed the meeting by remembering the three members of our church who passed away in 2008, Hal Brockway, Stephen Roscoe and Bill Rossoll in a moment of silence.

It was a good meeting and we hope it will be the start of a good year in the life of First Baptist Church.

Cal

PS If you have thoughts about our ministries and suggestions on things we might consider doing, please drop me a note or make a comment on this blog entry.

A friendly event for the Mission Team

Because of some miscommunication, I had to run around a bit and was late in getting to the restaurant tonight. I was stressed. I was worried that we wouldn't have enough people to make our quota. I was feeling pressured because I didn't know if anyone else would show up to help. I knew Pastor Michelle Madsen Bibeau was going to be running late and that she had to leave early because of another commitment.

Then I saw the welcome smile of the store manager and I knew everything was going to be alright. Across the room I saw Judy Vickers and Janet Laflamme and the kids. A few minutes later Patty and Sarah Bober walked in the door and from that moment forward the night zoomed by.

Patty and Sarah stepped up and took the hostess job and began seating people and I did my thing. I went around greeting people and taking pictures. We got credit for all the folks we brought in and anyone else who walked in the door. At one point there was line of people waiting. Once that cleared up it was smooth sailing.

It was a lot of fun and we had a number of folks from both churches drop by. We also got some more donations in the jug and one check in my hand. We could have just had our hands out, but these fund raisers have been fun because we have got together in a couple of different venues.

I want to give a big thank you to those who came out to support the fundraisers as well as to those folks who have become a part of our mission team by making donations at church. We are trying to raise a lot of money and everyone has been so generous.

Stay tuned for news about our next event.

Cal

The day flew by

Shortly after I got to church this morning I had a steady stream of visitors. Guy Brown dropped by to give me Amanda's email address. We chatted about the girls and what they were doing. Then Fran and Julia Rogers came by with a load of groceries for our Food Pantry from Wildwood Christian School.

No sooner had we filled the cupboards than we had a steady stream of people coming to get some food. Jeffrey, Shawn and Rebecca each went away with some food for a few days.

Meanwhile I ran down to Friendly's to make sure everything was set for our mission fundraiser on Tuesday night. I met the manager and he told me we were good to go. I also stopped by Staples to pick up some ink for the printer. Pretty boring, huh?

After I grabbed a six inch turkey sub and fresh value meal, I headed back to the church to write a fundraising letter. I sent out a few emails when I was done and then ran down to the Otis Library for a meeting of the Board of Trustees. Before I knew it the whole day had slipped away. And here I am now writing my blog entry for Monday.

Well time to put this day to rest and get ready for tomorrow.

Cal

One month to go for our mission adventure

Our mission team met today for its last formal meeting before we leave for Mexico on February 24, 2009. Seventeen of our twenty members were there. We did a gift inventory and went over the schedule for the departure date and gave a quick run down of the week's activities. I'll be contacting Rick and Mercy Barnes this week to see if we can get an idea of where we will be working this year.

We still need quite a bit of money and I'll be soliciting sponsors outside the church over the next couple of weeks and we will continue to look for donations from both of the churches as well. We are all getting excited about the trip.

Cal

A Sunday without snow

For the first time in three weeks we woke up and the skies were clear. No snow today but the temperatures were hovering around 0 degrees. That didn't stop us from having Sunday School and Church today. It was a great day and it felt good to see everyone.

George Rezendes had everyone up and singing for the opening exercises. Sandra Lucien brought orange juice and cookies to share with everyone in order to celebrate both Noah and Sebastian's birthdays.

At church Lori Lord was the worship assistant and she greeted everyone and got us up and singing that old favorite, "I Love to Tell the Story." The praise team lead us in singing a few very familiar songs, including "Lord I Lift Your Name on High." They also led us in singing "God Bless America" to mark the occasion of a new administration in Washington DC. The choir sang a song that was perfect in light of my message today.

I preached on Jonah and spoke about God and the way he reaches out to all of us with second and third chances. I noted that our failures are not final. We can always ask forgiveness and begin again. Then as we sang "Standing on the Promises" I invited people to come forward who wanted to ask God's blessing on a fresh start in the new year. It was a moving moment to end the service.

It was good to be in church today.

Cal

Why? Because we care

We had a great day as we got out of the church and met our neighbors this morning. At about 9:00 a.m. Cynthia Strouse, Phil Postler, Curt Brockway, Judy Dupont, Amanda Duntz, Sue Ferguson, Pete Ingoglia, Nancy Allen and June Deptulski gathered and carried all our stuff up to the Martin Luther King Center. We had lots of gifts to share with the people from the neighborhood to show them in a concrete terms that we care about them. We distributed 50 Winter Survival Kits featuring the "no sew" blankets, laundry detergent, bar soap, shampoo, socks, vegetables for a soup mix and a few other goodies. The folks were greeted with smiles, hot chocolate and cupcakes. We also had toys for the kids and hats, mittens and extra socks.

Our motto was "Because We Care" and it was printed on the bags that held the kits. We weren't there to promote church attendance or to proselytize. We simply wanted to make ourselves a little more visible to the people who live in the houses behind the church and across the street.

The truth is that many of these people drive by the church every day but they have no idea what goes on inside the walls. This year we are committed to becoming a growing presence in our own neighborhood. This was the first step and it went very well.

Not only did we accomplish our goals but we also helped the Martin Luther King Center sign up a bunch of kids for their Saturday morning programs. It was a win- win for our whole community. If you couldn't help out this time, stay tuned for our next event.

Cal

Our longest standing member

This afternoon I visited with our longest standing member of the church, Doris Regets. Doris grew up in the Church and Sunday School. After she and Ed married, they maintained a relationship with the church that has spanned the years. Both of her sons grew up in the church and Ed was active in many committees and Boards.

Today Doris lives in Mystic at Academy Point. She gets out now and then and enjoys hearing news from the Hill. She was baptized by Rev. Percy Kilmister in 1936 and has been a member for 73 years. Think of her in your prayers when you get a chance. She will appreciate it.

Cal

W are ready for a special day on Saturday

On Saturday we will be stepping out into the neighborhood, meeting our neighbors and delivering our "winter survival" kits out of the Martin Luther King Center. If you are around, we hope you will join us between 10:00 a.m. and noon for a cup of coffee, hot chocolate and some cupcake. We have all kinds of goodies to give away and this will be the first of many events we hold in the coming years to reach out and share god's love with the folks in our own back yard.

We have a great opportunity here and I hope you will join us for part or all of the time. The other night Cynthia Strouse took a few pictures. The first shows the fifty "no sew" blankets we will be giving away. So many of you helped make them and it would be great to have you here as we give them away.



The kits will be distributed in special cloth bags that share our motto "Because We Care" that will also note that they were given by us. We also picked up some aprons that we can use on Saturday but will also be available when we serve lunch to the needy at St. Mark's on the third Sunday of each month. Nancy Allen and Rosie Main are picture below showing them off.


Now that is pretty impressive if you ask me!

Cal

Reporting from Charlotte NC

I've been on the road today. I am in Charlotte, North Carolina at the moment. I am getting ready to catch my connection to Louisville, Kentucky to see my parents. It has been an eventful day that began with some kind of a scare in Providence that closed the airport right down for over an hour.

I had just gone through the security gates when agents descended on the area and asked us all to wait. A few minutes later a policeman came through with a man in handcuffs.They let us go but the security checkpoint was shut down and the doors to the building locked. All planes were grounded and the main area was secured.

It wasn't really scary but it did make you think about all the things that could go wrong. Anyway. my plane left and hour and a half late and I missed my connection. So for the last three hours I have been sitting here at the airport. The good part of it is that I got to see President Obama take the oath of office. There was a crowd gathered around the television sets and they all cheered when he finished. From all I gather from listening to people speak, it will be a moment that they will long remember.

So that's all for now. I'll be back on Thursday. I hope you will join us on Saturday for the Missional church giveaway at the Martin Luther King Center as we meet our neighbors and share coffee, hot chocolate and cupcakes with them. Please come if you are free.

Cal

Lunch at Papa Ginos

It is Sunday so it must be snowing. At least it seems like it has snowed every Sunday for a month. We postponed our fund raiser at Papa Ginos last week because of bad weather. As this weekend approached there was talk of another storm. We decided to go for it snow or no snow. We had a good turnout and it was a lot of fun as several folks from church came by for lunch. We don't have any idea of what we made, but every little bit helps. We also had some cookies, cakes and snacks to share.

A slide show featuring photos from the last two mission trips played on the screen as people enjoyed their meals. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Next up is our fund raising night at Friendly's on West Main Street from 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 27th. No need to bring a flyer. Just come for dinner or ice cream. Pastor Michelle and I will be serving as host and hostess.

Packing up the goodies

During Sunday School our Junior/Senior High class helped sort and package some of the materials we will be distributing as part of our "Winter Survival" kit giveaway next Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. at the Martin Luther King Center. They counted each item and put them in plastic bags.


This coming Wednesday we will be putting the kits together. You can join us at 7:00 p.m. It should not take too long. The blankets, and everything else will be going in cloth sacks that simply say, "Because We Care - First Baptist Church." At that time you can pick up a box of cake mix too. We are asking people to bake a batch of cupcakes that we can give away with the coffee and hot chocolate for anyone who drops in.



The big day will be Saturday. I can't stress enough how big this will be. It will be an opportunity for us to get to meet some of our neighbors. I hope anyone who is free will come down to the King Center and join us. Stay for coffee and meet some of the families who will drop in. We want people to know that we care about them and that God cares about them as well.

Cal

Open Mic Night at FBC

We hosted the Open Mic tonight at church and it was really good. There were about twenty five people present. It was a shame there weren't more people there to enjoy it. Our Praise Team was great. They shared some new songs that they will be doing in church in the future. They also did a few that they have shared before. Fred sang "Mercy's Child" and it quieted the whole room.

Cheryl Dutrumble sang a song she is working on and tried to coax her kids to join her. She said they always sing along at home. She managed to get her daughter, Anna, on stage to sing one verse with her and grandpa. Cheryl also sang a few with her dad, Paul. Paul plays the banjo and he entertained us with a few tunes on his own as well.

Jake Shank's dad, Bruce, brought his guitar and shared a moving song too. He said it was hi first time in front of a crowd but you couldn't tell from his performance. Cliff Vanase closed out the performance by borrowing a guitar and singing an old jazz tune. Then Fred and Gwyn got the whole ensemble together to sing and play, "I'll Fly Away."

I can't wait for the next one. I'll let you know when it is and I hope to see you there.

Cal

This morning we took to the streets. Amanda Duntz said it reminded her of what we did in Mexico. We got into the neighborhood and met the people who lived there. As part of our Missional Church project we walked the streets behind the church and distributed flyers announcing our "Winter Survival Kit" giveaway at the Martin Luther King Center next Saturday.

We met at the church at 10:00 a.m. and went up Fairmount Street. We took different sides of the street and made sure to leave one of our flyers at each house or apartment. We made up two hundred flyers and believe it or not, as we finished up over on Maple Street, we ran out of them and had to go back and make a few more to post in the Wishy Washy and at King Wah restaurant.

As we made our way back to the church Cynthia was telling us about several of the families who used to come to church and pointing out where they lived in the neighborhood. It struck me how things have changed. Only a few of the families in the neighborhood actually come to the church. Today June Coleman, Tag and Joy Griffin and the boys are the only regulars that attend.

Well that's not exactly true. Some of our neighbors do attend services at Buenas Nuevas. The point is that we don't know any of the people who live right next door. That's the point of the missional church project. It is aimed at getting us out into the neighborhood to find ways to share God's love and to get to know the people who live right in our own back yard.

Jesus asked "Who is your neighbor?" It is hard to answer that question if you don't know. I hope that several of you will come out to help us distribute the survival kits next Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m. at the Martin Luther King Center. We are looking for folks to bake cupcakes for the event. We will also have coffee and hot chocolate for anyone who stops by. I think it is going to be a great day.

Cal

Good bye to a dear friend

Edith Billings Robinson grew up on the West Side of Norwich and attended our church as a young girl. She was baptized in 1928. She was a bright and talented girl and graduated near the top of her class at the Norwich Free Academy.

She married Ellsworth Robinson and had two beautiful daughters, Courtney and Sharon. She was devoted Christian and she was at the church working on various projects and attending Bible Studies whenever she had free time.

She was a gracious lady and she loved everyone. She was a woman of prayer and a tower of faith. We will miss her for she inspired so many of the young people at church and in the community with her love of the Lord and her care for her neighbors.

There will be a graveside service for Edith at the Yantic Cemetery on Saturday, January 24 at 1:00 p.m. Donations in her memory can be made to the First Baptist Church.

Unearthing God's gifts

In a couple of weeks we will celebrate what God has done at our Annual Meeting. One of the things that always amazes me is the creativity of our members. Nowhere is that more evident than in our stewardship campaign.

Every Fall we put together a campaign that challenges all of us to give generously to the ministry of our church. Now the truth is that most of us believe in the ministry and feel called to support it. The Stewardship Committee doesn't take anything for granted. They want to challenge us to think about God's blessings and ask us to respond to them.

For years we bought a fancy campaign kit. They were nice. They made it easier to run a stewardship drive. But sometimes we came up with our own ideas that were just as ingenious and much more pertinent. Back in 1993 Patty Bell and her committee came up with a campaign the featured puzzle pieces and asked us to think about our giving as pieces of the puzzle that God is putting together. That campaign was featured at the ABCCONN Annual Meeting a year later and it launched a series of programs that we thought up ourselves.

This year's campaign was another good one inspired by Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life. Patricia Ohlund commissioned her daughter to draw a tree and Sandy Stone and I found a bunch of photos that represented our people and ministries. It was great. We also hear three testimonies on how God uncovered our gifts and allowed us to use them in ministry.

As I said, it is amazing to see how much talent and creativity we have in the congregation. No wonder we feel so blessed.

Cal

The baby boom continues

Yesterday I got to do one of those things that some people only dream about as part of their job. I got to visit two beautiful little babies and their mom. I stopped in to see Nikki Stroud and her twin sons, Daniel and Chase. The boys are eight weeks old now but since they were born six weeks prematurely they are really about two weeks old developmentally. They are the cutest little guys.

They were just waking up when I got there and Nikki threatened to put me to work. She fed Chase first and let Daniel sleep a little longer. She joked that they usually didn't like to take turns. After eating, Chase got to play with his little musical toys and I tried to entertain him while his brother ate lunch.

It's funny but we used to joke that we have had an unbroken line of babies being born in the congregation since the day Lori and I arrived in June of 1985. We came along while Lori was 8 1/2 months pregnant. Since then someone has always been expecting. The most amazing period was in 1993/1994 when we had seven babies born including Rachel Lord, Margaret McFalls, Colby Chaluto and Derek French. Who knows how long the streak will continue? It is a good thing. Today it continues with Kristen Deptulski who is expecting a little boy in May.

This is the best part of being a pastor. I have been blessed to see a whole generation of children come along. The first baby I visited in the hospital was Allison Walberg. She was born the end of February 1986. Today Don and Pam's little girl is a teacher and engaged to be married later this summer. It could make a person feel old. It makes me feel extremely blessed.

Cal

Lifting up the vision

Yesterday morning Sandy Stone and I began tasking inventory on the reports we have received for the Annual Meeting. Sandy is now correlating them and putting them in a book form that can be passed out next Sunday.

The Annual Report is always very interesting to read. It gives a snapshot into the depth and breadth of our ministry. It shows the finances, the outreach ministries, the health of the membership, and the various ways we serve God.

At this year's Annual Meeting we will take some time to talk about our ministry. We will listen to each other as we share our dreams and the vision God has put in our hearts for our life together. I hope you will join us. The meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 29 at 7:00 p.m. The coffee pot will be on and there will be cake! :-)

Cal

You can help

Do you like to work on projects around the house? I'm not talking about doing things that you have to do because the house will fall down. I'm talking about working on projects that will enhance your home. If you do, then in between projects at home, you can have a real ministry here at church.

Our Property Committee is always working on one thing or another. Right now they are painting the Church nursery and planning on putting in new lighting and a suspended ceiling. Mark Rogers, Randy Sargent, Nancy Allen and Pete Adams are having fun. They have come down a few times to get the area ready and have applied a primer coat. They told me that they can always use more help.

Talk to one of them if you want to get involved. If this project doesn't suit your fancy, there are several others that are on the radar. The group is talking about gutting the old Men's room off the basement and turning it into a pantry area for pots, pans and kitchen supplies. Brent Weimer is looking to build a smoke proof room around our furnaces and he could use help raising the walls. Will Calderon could use some help waxing the floors in the sanctuary.

The truth is that there are always jobs to do around the church .Before long we will be doing some more landscaping. Sue Vanase, Nancy Allen, Carol Calkins, Cynthias Strouse, Andrew Higgins, Marge and Bob Booth and Patricia and Steve Ohlund and a few others did a lot of work last year. They could always use help watering, planting and pruning.

Someone noted that the parking lot has several gaping cracks. Do you know how to resurface driveways. Maybe you could lead a group of volunteers to tackle that project next summer.

Now I know this sounds silly but with this past Sunday's storm, I was reminded that we need people to shovel after every storm. Some people actually enjoy getting out there and doing it.

Well there you go. These are just a few more ways that you can contribute to the ministry using your God given talents.

Cal

Live Worship on a Snowy Day

The big snow storm fizzled out and didn't live up to its hype. We canceled Sunday School but went ahead with worship. It turned out to be a good decision and proved to be a very special day. Attendance was down but we sang two great hymns, "Great is thy Faithfulness" and "In His Time." Rachel Lord jumped in and offered us special music when we didn't have enough people to man the choir. She sang "Majesty."

My message was titled, "Prior Planning is God's Motto!" and I talked about the fact that God is always working on His plans. The text was from Mark 1 and we read about John the Baptist. I also unveiled our second Memory Verse of the Week. It is from Jeremiah.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. " Jer 29:11

I'm going to try something new in 2009. I'm going to send an e-mail out on Sunday or Monday with follow up notes from worship. Many of you will get this tomorrow morning. But since you checked in at the web site, you get a sneak peak.

God bless. Hope to see you in person next Sunday.



Hello everyone,

I hope you were able to dig out of the snow and have a good day. I just wanted to pass along a few announcements from church today. Most of the activities in the area were cancelled or postponed including our Papa Gino Fundraiser.

We have rescheduled the event at Papa Ginos for next Sunday, January 18 from 11:30 - 4:00 p.m. Bring in the flyers or print out this one I have attached. We get 20% of all the proceeds from eat in or take out. (Deliveries don't count.)

We also noted the passing of Edith Robinson. Edith was our member with the longest tenure. She was baptized in 1928 as a young women. There will be a graveside service for her in the coming days.

We lifted up Jane Seder (broken femer and surgery this morning) and Betsey Adams (spent two days in Backus for tests) in our prayers.

We also reminded everyone of the upcoming Annual Meeting of the Church on Thursday, January 29 at 7:00 p.m. We will take the time to lift up a vision for our ministry for the next few years based upon your thoughts and suggestions. We will also take a look back at 2008 in a video presentation and vote on a budget, the election officers and a few by-laws changes.

Well that's all for now. See you next Sunday.

Cal

Planting seeds of ministry

On Wednesday night our church was a busy place. In one room the Budget Committee was hashing out the final budget that will go before the congregation on January 29th at the Annual Meeting. In the other room the Missional Church Committee was finalizing plans for our Winter Survival Kit giveaway on January 24th.

The Budget Committee, chaired by George Strouse, had to prune several thousand dollars off the proposed budget. The truth is that the pledge cards came back with many increases. George Rezendes, the Financial Secretary, reported that about ten new families made pledges. In a normal year we would have been able to add new programs or invest more money in a few ongoing projects. As it is 52 families pledged $103,000 to the current expense budget and another $7,300 to our mission and benevolence budget.

The Trust & Memorial Funds have suffered due to the failing economy and that meant we had less interest to draw on for the budget. The last few years we have taken twenty thousand dollars or 4.5%. This past Fall we lost over twenty five percent of the value and the Trustees felt we need to be very conservative with what we draw from that account.

We also had a few families whose situation had change and they had to pull back from the level of their past support. The good news is that at the end of the day the Budget Committee worked their magic and no major programs had to be cut. God is good!

The Winter Survival Kit Giveaway is scheduled for January 24th at the Martin Luther King Center from 10:00 a.m. - Noon. We have all kinds of neat things to give away. The "No sew" blankets that so many people helped make are the centerpiece. WE also have some laundry detergent, shampoo, bar soap, toothpaste, tooth brushes, white socks, the ingredients for a vegetable soup,hats and mittens and some goodies for the kids.

The kits will be put together on Wednesday, January 21 at 7:00 p.m. and we are looking for help. Anyone woh can come should speak to Cynthia Strouse, Judy Dupont, Amanda Duntz, Sue Ferguson, Phil Postler or Curt Brockway.

We will be distributing flyers throughout the neighborhood on Saturday, January 17th at 10:00 a.m. Anyone woh can help should speak to me. We also need people to bake cupcakes. We have the mix and frosting. You can pick it up at the church next Sunday. We will be serving coffee, cocoa, and cupcakes to everyone who drops in that morning. Our Motto is "Because We Care" and it will be on the bags that we put the stuff in and on our aprons as we serve them.

It was a great night that will see its promise in the coming weeks. As I left the church I left with an image of the gardner who had just planted seeds. We are going to nurture them and water them but God will make them grow.

Cal

Finding our place to serve

On Monday night the Church Nominating Committee met to consider who would lead our congregation and serve in the various ministries for the coming year. Some people look at being nominated for a committee or office as a real chore. I look at it as a recognition by someone else of one's gifts and calling.

Contrary to popular belief, not everyone is considered for an office. Some people just don't fit at a given time. Maybe that's you or me this year. But if you are called, then please know that someone prayerfully lifted up your name. If you have the slightest inkling that you would enjoy the task, then go for it. You will not only bless us, but you will be blessed as well as you serve God and the community.

If you don't get a call it doesn't mean that there isn't a place in our ministry for you. Maybe you have been thinking about a place you'd like to serve or some ministry you would like to get involved with. We have several tasks, jobs and ministries that are a part of our church life that aren't run by committees. Things are done by people who feel called to step up and do them.

That's how all of our sports ministries began. This is how our church nursery operates. The worship leaders, counters, parents who help with youth group, members of the choir and praise team all volunteer to help.

The truth is that every member of our congregation should have a ministry within the church and a ministry out in the world. Drop me a note or come see me if you want to know what you can do or if you want to find your ministry out in the world. We can pray about it.

Cal

Mission Mexico 2009 ready to take flight

On Sunday afternoon our Baptist Mission team met for lunch. We began by reintroducing ourselves and then listening to Carol Wojcik and Carol Calkins and a few other others who went on our previous trips. They shared some of their experiences and what being a part of the team meant to them.

We had lunch and then Pastor Michelle and I talked about some of the logistics of the trip. I passed out a ton of papers including information about Mexico, the air travel itinerary, and some forms that need to be filled out.

We also spent a few minutes talking about our fund raisers. On Sunday, July 11th we will be hosting as many people as we can at Papa Ginos on West Main Street for lunch. We get 20% of all the proceeds of anyone who comes in with a flyer. We are also going to have a bake sale in conjunction with the event and we get 100% of that. We have flyers at church for those who want to come. There will also be some at the cash register for those who ask for them. The event will run from 11:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. We are also planning to set up our slide show featuring pictures from the last two years.

We closed our meeting by taking a group picture. 14 of our team members were present.


Our next meeting will be on January 25 at First Baptist at 4:00 p.m.

Cal

The First Sunday of the Year

On Sunday we began the year with a full plate of activities. George Rezendes, our newest grandfather, welcomed everyone back after the Christmas holiday. He led the opening exercises and we began the new year with singing and a puzzle on the big board. After our intergenerational time together, we broke up into classes.

The new year provides a great excuse to jump in and start Sunday School if you missed the kick off in September and we had a few newcomers join us. If you are thinking about it for you or the kids, next week won't be too late either. Rosie Main does a great job with the toddlers. Rachelle Weimer, Janet LaFlamme and Zelda Fellows work with the Elementary school kids. Doris Calkins and Laura Kreger work the upper elementary school children. I work with Kristen Deptulski to teach the middle school and high schoolers.

Curt Brockway leads an adult Bible study that meets at the same time. They are studying the book of Acts this winter.

At church I was back in he pulpit and we had a full house. The choir was back after a week off and they helped prepare us for the Lord's supper with an anthem entitled, "A Communion Invitation." The scripture was from Ephesians 1 and my message was titled, "We Are God's Prized Possessions."

We began something new this week as we read the "Memory Verse of the Week" together. Each week this year we will learn another of the foundational verse of our faith. Not only will we recite it together during worship, it will also connect to either the message, the anthem or both.

To kick things off this week we read John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." It was an easy one for most of us because it is one of the first memory verses many of us learned as children. I think this will be fun and as we learn these verses we will also take our faith a step deeper.

I also had some fun with the Children's Moment as I talked about my favorite Christmas gifts. After hearing about their favorite presents I told them that each year I always had a new favorite. But then I reminded them that we are God's favorite gift and that never changes no matter how old we get.

We finished the service at the Lord's table and then formed a circle of fellowship around the sanctuary. It was a very good morning.

Cal

Christmas Sunday in the snow

On a snowy Christmas Sunday 91 people came out to church for worship. Brian Goldin sang "Immanuel" and our choir shared a beautiful introit to start the service and then an anthem titled, "Unto Us A Son Is Given." Kevin Mariano offered us a trumpet prelude of "O Holy Night." Muriel Roderick spoke to the children about the real meaning of Christmas and I preached on the Purpose of Christmas. It was a great day for those who managed to get out.