First Baptist Church October 2013
Beloved,
The seasons roll around and we are enjoying my
favorite right now. Temperatures are a little cooler, and sleeping is better.
The colors of fall are beginning to show and the lawn doesn’t need to be mowed
as often.
But, though nature is winding down to a slower, and
then seeming sleeping, time, our life continues with vigor. It is exciting to
have people expressing their commitment to Christ in baptism, and their
commitment to First Baptist by joining us as members. Some have been following
Jesus for some time already and others are making their decision for the first
time. Either way, it thrills my heart to see others committing to follow the
God that I love and serve
We need always to keep in mind that ours is a
fellowship, not of good people, but of forgiven sinners and followers of the
one who gave his life to pay for our sin, and who commands our love and
obedience. As we celebrate those who have chosen to obey and follow, we too
need to renew or continue our commitment. Let us encourage and strengthen each
other as the seasons of our journey to heaven bring us closer to our goal.
October Birthdays
1 – Margaret Mills 14
– Jayda Schroo
7 – Polly Logan 16
– Greg Marion
8 – Jean Brewer 25
– Pam Scutt
8 – Pastor Steve 25
– Scott Robbins
Sunday Coffee Hour and Monday Church
Suppers
Remember the fellowship times after Sunday’s services
and at 5 PM Monday evenings!
Hearts & Hands Ministry – October 6
We will be meeting on Sunday, October 6, from 11:15 -
2 pm in the 2nd floor alcove. We plan to assemble Welcome Bags,
Sunshine Baskets and make cards. All you
need is a loving heart and hands ready to work. Bring your own bag lunch.
Recycle Your Greeting Cards
The Hearts & Hands committee can use your greeting
cards! Just cut off the front and drop it into one of the blue/green
polka-dotted recycle boxes at church. We have a new project we are working on.
Steeple Restoration
On June 23rd the congregation voted to
accept a bid of $15,448 for the restoration of the steeple. The money to cover
the cost of the project is to come from Memorial Funds, our church’s general
fund and individual contributions. Since we have many plans for future
improvements to our church it is very important that we do not deplete our
church’s memorial funds and general fund. So please, let’s try to cover as much
of this expense with individual contributions as possible. Please give what you
can and designate it for the steeple restoration. You may send a check to the
church office at any time. Thank you for your continued generosity. ~ Nancy Marion, Moderator
From the Trustees Board
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A big thank you goes out to Peggy for working so hard
to have our honey bee infestation removed.
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Thanks to all for the additional donations towards the
$15,448 steeple roof restoration costs. Please stop and look up to see the
shingles and spires. Also, notice the beautiful paint accents Mast Roofing and
Coatings Co. has done in addition to the roof project.
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For those who have noticed the stains in the carpets, Sandy will be cleaning all
the carpets in the church. Thanks Sandy!
Stewardship
Our Stewardship Campaign is coming up soon. Please
begin to prayerfully consider your pledge for next year. Also,
a reminder that the church brokerage account is available for donations.
Nursery Help
We are looking to fill some vacancies in our nursery
now through December. See Ethel Clancy (536-6265) if you are able to rotate in
once in a while.
Community News
Bereavement Presentation
A presentation entitled, “Loss and Grief: New
Perspectives”, will take place from 7:00 to 8:00 pm, on Tuesday, October 8, at
the First Baptist Church,
in the Great Room. The speaker will be Michele Allman,
LMSW, Medical Social Worker and bereavement support group facilitator for
Visiting Nurse Service of Rochester and Monroe County, Inc. The program is free
and open to the public. Pre-registration is appreciated by calling Keuka Comfort Care Home at 536-1690.
A second discussion will take place on Tuesday,
November 12, at the First Presbyterian Church of Penn Yan.
This talk will be on the experience of grief during the holiday season.
Turkey Hunger Walk
Sunday, November 3, 2013 -
Starting from First Presbyterian Church at 1:00 pm
Please help us buy meat for the Christmas for the
Needy distribution
Walkers: pledge forms are now available on the table
at church entrance. Now is the time to start talking to those who will sponsor
you!
For additional info: Donna Johnston – 536-2683 or
donna_johnston1@yahoo.com
From the Board of Missions
Tim & Patti Long
Both Tim and Patti are busy organizing their schools
for the new school year. From registrations, a full one third of the students
at Mt. Horeb Grade School will be enrolled in Patti’s
special needs classes. There will be more students than ever at the Mexicali
Baptist Seminary. Expecting 13 full-time students to return, Tim says 7 new
students are also enrolled. There are also 50 extension students attending the
seminary or one of its satellite centers. Tim also tells us of Teresa Miranda,
a graduate of the Mexicali Seminary, who is a
missionary for the Baja Baptist Convention to Southern
Mexico. She specializes in training people called to
cross-cultural ministries. This will be her fifth year of doing this work.
Roberta Stephens
Volunteers from Pomona
FBC arrived in Japan
June 1st. Seven people came
to work in the Kato Gakuio Schools and to work in NE Japan.
Charles-West
After 15 years of volunteering in South America and Zambia, the Wests
returned to the USA
for God’s direction to a new mission assignment.
Since the giving for their personal support goal was very low, Sarah West
resigned as a missionary and is seeking employment. (How Sad). Charles in
invited by the All African Baptist Fellowship to serve as a Regional Missionary
to Africa.
Kristy Engle
Kristy is changing her role after 13 years in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. She is now working with
ministries all over the world promoting health care and starting New Health
Partnership. Her journal details the work she is doing in Haiti, Bolivia,
Mexico and Nicaragua. She is also visiting Myanmar, Thailand,
Cambodia, India and Nepal.
Be sure to real all the journals on the
Reader’s Table.
Bd of Mission
Report
We thank you profusely for maintaining your giving to
the mission program throughout the summer. We start September with a balance of
$1164.60!
We have received many Thank You’s for your gifts:
Milly’s Pantry $275.32 for the Backpack Program
Christmas
for the Needy $100
ABC
Home Mission Society $370.67 for a total of
$876 for the
America for
Christ Offering
PY Area Council of Churches $200 for Jail Ministry.
Cameron
Community Center $300
NYS
Council of Churches $100
Church
World Service $454 for Blankets Plus
World Mission
Offering promotion started in September. We will
receive the offering on October 20th. This year’s goal is $1000. We
hope to exceed 2012’s WMO of $1050.
It is with great joy that we report the country of Myanmar (Burma) has opened its door again to
the ABC missionaries!!!
You will be pleased to learn that $50,000 has been
given to International Ministries (BIM) by Christian Community Credit Union.
This year’s contribution is being used for AIDS Prevention in Africa, Medical
Assistance in the Caribbean, Church Planting in Central America and
evangelistic efforts in Asia.
General Secretary Rev. A. Roy Medley has been busy
representing ABC/USA. He traveled to Green Lake,
WI for the Holy Spirit Conference, gave
greetings to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship at their annual meeting in Jamaica.
Dr. Medley also attended “Rhythms of the Spirit” in Green Lake, WI.
This is a new conference sponsored by ABC/USA.
To wrap up this report, we want you to learn about
actions by the kids who attend Cameron
Community Center
programs. In May the Rochester
D&C published an article “Neighborhood Besieged”. The article described the
horrible crime spike on Rochester’s
west side-6 shootings in 8 days with 10 people either injured or dead.
Two of the shootings forced Cameron to bring children
inside from their playground.
Cameron kids and staff decided to do something about these conditions. They
organized a Peace Walk on June 4th. They took participants on the
usual route to Lyell
Ave. library thru many of the streets where recent
violence had occurred. They were joined by the Rochester Chief of Police as
well as other neighborhood officials, many Cameron supporters and some of the
press. ~ Your Board of Mission
Dear Members of FBC and Friends,
Part of what it means to be a follower of Christ is to
share the good news of Jesus not only in our neighborhood but also around the
world. Each year, the World Mission
Offering (WMO) gives the opportunity to learn what is happening around the
world thru International Ministries (IM) and to support those important mission
efforts.
On four Sundays in our worship services from Sept. 22nd
to Oct. 13th, we will gain information about WMO, using the theme
EMBRACE THE CAUSE. You, your children and grandchildren have heard how God
promised Abram that all the peoples on earth would be blessed through him.
Genesis 12:3b reminds us that we are called to be a blessing to others. We can
bless others by being active in mission in our community and globally.
We will celebrate how our WMO gifts make possible the
ministries of 109 long-term missionaries and more than 1800 short-term
missionaries and volunteers. They, along with more than 200 partner
organizations, work in more than 70 countries in
EVANGELISM
HEALTH
AND HEALING
ANTI-HUMAN
TRAFFICING
THEOLOGICAL
EDUCATION
ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT
EDUCATION
PEACE
AND REFUGE
We believe that when we EMBRACE THE CAUSE, God will
lead us to provide increased support for our world-wide missions. Our 2013 goal
is $1000. We hope that we will exceed our 2012 giving of $1050. ~ Your Board of Mission
FYI – There is going to be a Mission Conference
featuring BIM Missionaries on October 4th and 5th at Delta Lake
Conference Center.
There is going to be a car going from FBC for the Saturday program. This
conference is open to all. There is money in the Jessup Education Fund to help
people attend. If you are interested contact Don Lawrence or Ed Castillo
Prayer for Our Nation
God of our fathers and our God, we thank you for this
good land which you have given us for our heritage. For the statesman’s wisdom,
the citizens’ devotion and the toil of hands and brain by which we have become
strong and great, we give you thanks. For the homes and schools and the
government of free people under your sovereignty we give you thanks this day.
In the crucial days in which we live, keep ever before us the vision of our
founding fathers – of a people dedicated to justice, righteousness and truth –
a nation under God whose citizens’ highest incentive is to serve others. Make
us fit for our times, correct what is wrong, confirm what is right, spare us
from idolatry of the past and the fear of the future. Enable us to cherish all
that is holiest in tradition and to welcome all that is healthiest of the new
world which is yet to be. Be especially with the youth of this land wherever
they may be – in institutions of learning, on missions of mercy around the
world, in the Armed Forces – guarding them in moments of temptation and
strengthening them in hours of peril. Lift all consultations for peace into the
higher order of the kingdom. Bless us all in our efforts to conserve ideals of
duty, honor and country, to create and nourish new objectives for freedom and
to keep our spiritual sinews strong. And to you shall be all praise and glory,
world without end. Amen.
About
PYFBC
First Baptist Church
Church Staff
224 Main Street
Rev. Stephen M. Sanden
Penn Yan,
NY 14527 Barbara
Stewart: Music Director
Phone: 315-536-9821
Carrie Ahearn: Organist
E-Mail: pyfbc224@gmail.com Peggy S Smart: Secretary
Website: pennyanfbc.com
Office Hours: Mon thru Fri 9AM - Noon
Church
Officers
Our Schedule
Moderator: Nancy Marion Sunday
Worship - 10 AM
Vice Moderator: Rick Willson Sunday School - 10:15 AM
Church Clerk: Cheryl Stewart Adult Sunday School - 11 AM
Church Treasurer: Mary Watkins
Finance Officer: Diane DeLooza
Missions: Ed Castillo
Trustees: Sheryl Robbins
Deacons: Barb Stewart
Christian Education: Greg Marion
ABW: Diane DeLooza