In the good old summertime

Attendance was down at church yesterday. It was probably due to two factors. First there were several families away due to the holiday weekend. Second there were some families who started the summer break because Sunday School is now over for the year.

Every year we lose some families once we hit summer. Life becomes much busier and between Little League, family picnics and the heat, they take a break. Years ago the minister used to take August off and the church would literally close down. Even when they did hold services attendance was very sparse. When I came in 1985 we met downstairs in Fellowship Hall and had an average between thirty and forty in July and in the teens in August.

We started growing again in the late 1980's and summer attendance began to rise. I used to joke that we weren't telling the new people that they could take the summers off. Anyway we began to have special Sundays and plan events during the summer and it became a fun time to be at church.

On Sunday we sang America and remembered those who gave their lives for our freedom and those who served so bravely. The choir sang a great anthem entitled, "Shine on Us" and I preached about being faithful and sharing the Gospel in our every day lives.

It was a nice day and a good start to what I hope will be a wonderful summer. Next Sunday we will have the first of our special days as we celebrate the Big 50 Party" and recognize our fifty year olds, our fifty year members and our fifty year marrieds. I hope you will join us if you are reading this. It is going to be fun.

Cal

Children's Day 2008

We celebrated Children's Day at Church yesterday. Our young people took over the service and we watched as they presented a couple of short dramas and did some readings. The kids also sang three songs including "the Bible Song," "Our God is so Mighty" and "Halleluia." The theme for the day was "God's Power!"

About fifteen minutes into the service the power went out and we finished up like they did a hundred years ago. We continued without the sound system and without lights or audio visual. The Praise team came out from the Junior Choir loft and led us in singing a couple of real cute songs. IT didn't hurt them. We had given Adele the day off so Cynthia Strouse and Lori Lord had already planned to use the piano instead of the organ so we didn't miss a beat there either.

The only class to really lose out was the Junior High class. Their presentation wasn't able to take advantage of the music and video that was going to support it. They ended up reading the passages the old fashioned way and had to let the words paint images in the hearers imagination instead.

Madalyn and Conner Fishkin received awards for perfect attendance and about 18 others received excellent attendance awards.

Paige Briggs received a Bible as part of her promotion from second grade to third grade and Jared LaFlamme, Amy Ketcher and Rachel Lord received Bibles in recognition of their eight grade graduation.

Special thanks to Sandy Stone, Lori Lord and Fran Rogers who helped lead the service.

Here are some more photos for you to enjoy.

Cal

A Day of Baptist fun

Yesterday was the big day. We celebrated our common Baptist roots in worship with our sisters and brothers from Central Baptist. We had a good turnout and a wonderful worship experience. We commissioned our short term mission team, heard the music of our Praise team and the combined choir. Michelle Madsen Bibeau preached and we came together around the communion table and then again in a circle of fellowship. Several of us then retired to Fellowship Hall for a pot luck luncheon.

The day began with Sunday School and it got off to a good start despite some icy steps out back. The coffee pot was flowing and so was the fellowship. I've included a few photos to let you see the action. Janet Jeffcoate took some pictures during worship and I hope to have them up for you in the next week or so. Stay tuned for more.

Cal