Post number 200

I feel a little bit like AROD or even Tom Glavine, poised to hit a landmark but not able to hit the homer or win the game to strike the mark. I've been standing on 199 posts for almost a week. I have wanted to write but every day I've been too busy or each night I have been too tired. But here it is: This is the 200th post on First Baptist Life.

These posts have chronicled life at First Baptist. They have explained some of the things we do, noted some of our beliefs and traditions. These posts have included photos of activities and even paid tribute to some of the people who have made our congregation the place we all know and love.

Thank you for reading. I hope the next one hundred, two hundred and more posts will entertain and delight you as you keep coming back for more.

Cal

God is with us

Tonight I stopped in to the calling hours for Bob Sullivan's mother, Marion. The whole family was there and a steady line of friends and family paid their respects. To say good bye to one's mother is never easy.

As I left there I thought about the fact this has been a difficult week for several people within our church family.

The tragic news of a toddler who found a handgun and accidentally shot himself came close to home as I learned tonight that the family has connections within our congregation. As a parent and a Pastor, my heart aches for the family and there are no words to express the depth of their loss.

Bob Duntz was back in the hospital after a minor heart attack and I sat at his bedside this evening. His health has steadily gotten worse over the last few years.

As I think about these situations, where words cannot express our sorrow and alleviate the pain, it occurs to me that our job, my job, your job is to simply remind people that God hears our prayers and that He sits vigil with us in our time of greatest needs. We know thats true because we have all had our moments, our losses, our pain and God has carried us through. So we can know that we can be sure that He will always come through.

Cal

Choosing a project that will glorify God

The Missional Church is an authentic worshiping community that seeks to live out God's call to share the good news to the ends of the earth beginning with the community in which it lives. Since April a few of us have been working together to discern what this means for us here at First Baptist Church.

As part of the Missional Church project of the ABCUSA, we have made a commitment to live out this calling and to help everyone in our church family begin to understand the calling not only to "go" to church but to "be" the church.

You have already heard me speak about this in recent sermons. This Missional Church committee is now looking for a project that we can all get behind that will meet a real need in our community and allow us to share the love of Christ in a concrete way.

Over the last few months we have floated a number of ideas and thought about ways we can partner with various groups, business and agencies. Tonight everything came together as we chose our first project, the one we will present to the group from ABCUSA.

You will be hearing more about this in the coming weeks. Right now we are working out the details. So stay tuned. We a had a great meeting tonight that included prayer, exploration of the text from Matthew 25:31-40 and a brainstorming session led by Curt Brockway.

If you would like to get more involved with this group, speak to one of the members. The committee includes Curt Brockway, Amanda Duntz, Judy Dupont, Sue Ferguson, Phil Postler, Cynthia Strouse and me.

Cal

Monster golf in the afternoon.

On Sunday afternoon the FBC Youth Group met and traveled down to Groton for a session of MONSTER Golf. We had nine teens and four adults and a good time. After watching Jared outplay just everybody, we headed across the street to Pizza Hut for dinner. As they say, "A good time was had by all!"

Here are some photos that will give you better picture than words can tell.

Cal

Choir meets for fun and to look ahead

On Sunday afternoon several members of the FBC choir got together to have fun in the sun at Rosie Main's house. It was our annual summer picnic. We had burgers, chips, salad, soft drinks and lots of good conversation.

The choir is one of the mainstays of our life together as a congregation. Over the years we have had many different people join the group. It is a big commitment. It means rehearsing every Tuesday night and singing every Sunday from September to June. But the benefits are well worth it.

The choir actually has a crucial role in leading worship. They provide leadership in the singing and offer an inspirational anthem each week. In recent years we have tried to be more intentional in picking anthems that compliment the message or theme of the day. Many of the members also are tapped to provide special music during the holidays and at special celebrations.

Adele DiBiagio Cofer is our director and organist. She has been with us for 28 1/2 years. Like fine wine, she has gotten better over time. She works with Cynthia Strouse to choose the anthems to plan out the schedule. The big event outside of Sunday mornings that we look forward to every Fall has been the Annual Festival of Choirs. Time goes into preparing something special for that as well as lining up the music for each Sunday.

My favorite time of year is the Advent Season. The music seems to touch the hearts and prepare us for the joy of the Christmas Celebration. We will begin working on the music in mid-October so the choir gets and extended holiday season.

There is always room for new choir members. We have fifteen returning members as we start the 2008 season. They include Rosie Main, Patricia Ohlund, Mary Brockway, Gwyn Green and Susie Rothholz in the soprano section. Our altos are Cynthia Strouse, Nancy Allen, Lori Lord, Helen Walker and Melinda Brick. Cal Lord and George Rezendes are the tenors. Fred Green Sr, Oliver Bray and Cliff Vanase sing bass.

You don't need to be a member of the church to sing in the choir. So if you have a friend who likes to sing, mention our choir to them and invite them to come with you to a rehearsal so you can introduce them to Adele and some of the members.

Choir members also have an advantage over the rest of the congregation in a few ways. First they have a ready made group of friends. Second they have the best seats in the house. The choir sits up front and they get to see who is in worship. Third, they don't have to spend a lot on their Sunday church clothes. They get to wear a robe every week. Fourth, choir members always seem to have the inside scoop on everything that goes on at church, usually before the Pastor and everyone else knows.

So if you want to get involved and have some fun this fall, come join the choir. Our first rehearsal in on Tuesday, September 2 at 7:00 p.m.

Cal

Sports Recognition Sunday

Sunday morning we celebrated our 2008 Sports Ministries during worship. The service was nice and it included recognition of all who played in our bowling league, our softball team or basketball teams over the years.

Steve Moon, Mike Staron, Ken Kreger, George Rezendes and I were present from this year's softball team that finished the year with a 6-15 record. Mike Staron was named the MVP of the 2008 team with .727 batting average. Chip Chaffee was the best defensive player, Sean Wilding the Most Improved player, Eric Poore was named the Eleventh Player and Eric Larsen was the Rookie of the Year.

We then recognized the 2008 class of Sports Ministry Hall of Fame Inductees. The class included Jeremiah Lee, Nancy Girardin and Mike Staron for their accomplishments on and off the field of play and James Brown and Brian Goldin for the contributions they made to our programs.

Our Praise Team added some special music and my message pointed out seven things we need to do to stand out in the crowd as Christians. Afterwards we were able to look at some of the historical displays and enjoy some refreshments that George Rezendes and Don Walberg prepared.

A night with new member candidates

On Thursday night we hosted a very special meeting of the Board of Deacons. We invited four individuals to join us as they expressed their desire to become members of the church family. Our format for these meetings is pretty informal. We take turns introducing ourselves and sharing a bit of our faith journey and how we came to First Baptist.

Everything began as it usually does as I shared a bit of my journey and then my call to ministry. We went around the room and before long even our prospective members joined in. The way God works in our lives always amazes me and you could see the hand of the Holy Spirit as each person spoke. I wish everyone of our members could have been present. It was truly an emotional time.

After the meeting we began making preliminary plans to welcome these four into membership. They are Luis Pabon and Ashley Stewart by baptism, Jim Smith by confession of faith and Pam Smith by reinstatement. Right now I am looking at the last week of September as a probable date for baptism and welcome into membership but I hope to firm up plans in the next week or so. I can't wait.

Cal