First Baptist Church of Penn Yan,
NY
September, 2012
We as God’s people will use our gifts and talents to
seek out and bring people to Christ
By maturing in our faith, by deepening our fellowship,
and
by caring for people for the honor and glory of God.
Dear Church Family,
The summer is quickly coming to an end.
I will be glad to get into the swing of a new season. Jump starting the season
on August 31st we will be manning a game booth at Keuka College’s first ever Religious Carnival.
The purpose of the gathering is to acquaint the students with the local
religious communities. We will be there to let them know we are available to
the college community.
As I get to know you all better I will
be asking you to share your faith stories. These remind us of the One who
called us, forgave us and made us part of his family. He is the basis for our
fellowship and the one who commissions our work as an outpost in His Kingdom.
He also gives us the strength and the tools to accomplish what he has called us
to do.
That is why I mentioned last month that
we need to relate our good works to our faith and to do so more openly. If we
do not begin and end with Jesus, we work pointlessly. John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who
remains in me - and me in him - bears much fruit, because apart from me you can
accomplish nothing.”
Let’s bear much fruit! ~ Pastor Steve
Wish
These Friends a Happy September Birthday
7 ~ Kathryn Clayson 20 ~ Pat Ames
7 ~ Sean Ahearn 24 ~ Greg Miller
8 ~ Mary Lou Hainsworth 25 ~ Jack Clancy
11 ~ Sylvia Ansley 30 ~ Barbara Burke
17 ~ Matt Scutt
Church Meeting Bulletin
Board
Diaconate - Tuesday, September 4th at
7 pm.
We still have a couple of spots left to fill for this
committee and if anyone is interested in serving on this board, please contact
Barb Stewart at 536-8079 or bstew@roadrunner.com
Missions - Thursday, September 6th at
3:30 pm
Trustees - Sunday, September 9th at
11:15 am
Christian Education – Thursday, September 13th
at 7 pm
Mary
& Martha Circle - Tuesday,
September 11
Ladies you are invited to join us for another year of
fellowship, devotions and out-reach. The 2nd Tuesday of the month we
meet in the church library at 10:30 am, for devotions, cutting and rolling
bandages and a lite lunch and dessert.
Sounds good, right? We’ll see you there!
ABW Sunday - September
16th
Join us for a special service planned and presented by
the women of the church. The morning’s message will be “Surrounded by
Missionaries.”
Several of our
women will share some “on the job” information about projects and programs they
are actively involved with.
Installation Party for Rev
Sanden – September 30
The formal Installation of our new pastor, Rev.
Stephen Sanden will be held on Sunday, September 30th, at 2 pm. A
number of guests have been invited to attend and the service will include American
Baptist Regional Staff and American Baptist Association Members. There will be
a special reception following the service. This is a very important event in
the life of our church and every member is encouraged to attend. The members of
the committee arranging the Installation Service and Reception are: Nancy
Marion, Moderator and Search Committee; Barbara Stewart, Diaconate; Cindy
Ovens, Hospitality Committee; and Tammy Miller, Pastoral Relations. If you have
any questions please see a committee member. Please join us for the
Installation of Rev. Sanden as our new Pastor!
Advisory
Council – October
18
There will be a meeting of the
Advisory Council on Thursday, October 18th at 7 pm in the church library. All boards and
committees need to have a representative attend this meeting. Bring your budget figures for 2013.
Christian Education News
Our program begins on September 9th with
Rally Day. We hope to have our campers tell us about their camping experiences
at Camp Vic, and under the direction of Shane
Furman, our FBC Thesbians will present a drama based
on the life of Paul, the Apostle. At that time we will be asking you to
register for Sunday School. After the Worship Service
and Sunday School, join us as we try our hands at
fishing as we picnic at the boat launch.
We will offer classes for everyone. The adult class
will begin with an opportunity to study significant current issues in the life
of the church. Ed Castillo and Don Lawrence will lead the discussions. Sue Willson will oversee our primary programs and Greg Marion
will handle the Elementary Sunday School. New this
year will be a Youth Sunday School after the regular
service. This course will focus on Baptist Beliefs and Practices.
Kidz Klub will
also meet monthly for dinner and good times. Save September 22nd as
we are planning a trip to Ithaca to visit the
Museum of the Earth and the Science
Center. Everyone is
invited to go! Stay tuned! More trips are in the planning as you read this!!!
Look for our Christmas Pageant in December as well as
our Easter Egg Hunt in the Spring as that will
spring-board us to Vacation
Bible School.
Please pray for our programs that they may bring us and our community closer to
Jesus in this new church year.
~ Respectfully,
Greg Marion, Chairperson
Board of Mission
Report for July - August
In the first 7 weeks of the summer we have received
$244.20 in the Loose Offering and $1,263 in Pledges. This puts us about $400
behind this time last year. We need to keep up our pledges to Missions if we
hope to meet our obligations to schools and homes we support. We still need to
cover $300 for the PSALM Fund (for pastoral support in smaller churches) $1,750
in Institutional Support, $450 for Missionary Support, $4500 for United
Missions by the end of the year. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to
our Mission Budget.
Notes from the Choir
There will be a choir meeting on Monday, August 27th,
at 6:30 pm. We will prepare for the new choir season which begins in September.
This is an excellent opportunity for any new and interested persons to join one
of the best choirs around. Don’t hesitate, check us out. It’s a lot of fun and
hard work and, this is an excellent way to share your stewardship talents by
sharing your vocal expressions. Also, if you play an instrument and would be
willing to share that talent, join in this meeting or contact Barb Stewart at
315-536-8079 or email at bstew@roadrunner.com
~ Thanks,
Barb Stewart
Top Reasons You Should
Join the Choir
1. You’re running out of clean clothes and the robe
saves on laundry.
2. You’ve just been selected for Jury Duty and you
want to get used to sitting with a large group of people.
3. From your special vantage
point every Sunday in which you look out over the entire congregation from the
choir seats, you will develop interesting new hobbies. Among these is a little guessing came called,
“Who’s Praying, Who’s Sleeping?”
4. For years you’ve wanted to know who sits in the
back of the church but you didn’t want to turn around and look.
5. When people ask if you’ve
been behaving yourself you can say with the utmost sincerity, “Hey, I’m a choir
member!”
A BIG Thank You!
To everyone who had a part in supporting the American
Baptist Men by providing sandwiches for their conference: those who contributed
food or money and those who helped make the sandwiches.
They were enjoyed by all.
Another Thank You!
From the Board of Trustees a big thank
you! We have realized a profit of $1,876 from the sale of hot dogs, hamburgs, sodas and chips at the summer outdoor concerts on
the courthouse lawn! Most note-ably, thank you to Greg Miller for showing up
every week to do the grilling for us. Also, Tammy, Erik and Kyle!
There were three others who faithfully showed up every
week of the eight concerts to set up, sell and clean up. They are: Stan Ovens,
Erma Mullins and Diane DeLooza. There were also several
others who showed up to lend a hand when they could. We greatly appreciate the
help of everyone who helped out in any way!!!
~ Sheryl
Robbins, Trustees Chairperson
Congratulations
to Sean & Carrie Ahearn on a
successful first 3 months of business of the Penn Yan
Diner! The food is great and the service is very friendly!!!
ABW
Church World Service Kits
We
decided that we would like to do Church World Service Kits again next year.
Hopefully you've been watching for supplies for school kits to be on sale. We
will collect these in September. We will
collect for Hygiene Kits in January. We might also work together to create at
least a couple of Baby Kits as well. Here is a list
for you to keep in your wallet or post on your refrigerator as a reminder of
what is needed:
School
Kits:
blunt metal scissors (rounded
tip)
70 page spiral notebooks (not
loose paper, 3 per kit)
30 centimeter ruler (12
inches)
hand held pencil sharpener
large eraser
new pencils (do not sharpen, 6
per kits)
box of 24 crayons (only 24!)
Baby Care Kits:
six cloth diapers
two t-shirts or undershirts
(no onesies)
two washcloths
two gowns or sleepers
two diaper pins
one sweater or sweatshirt (can
be hand knitted or crocheted)
two receiving blankets (one
can be hand knitted or crocheted)
Hygiene
Kits:
washcloth
hand towel (about 16”x20”)
wide tooth comb
finger nail clipper
bath size bar of soap (in
wrapper)
single toothbrush (in original
sealed wrapper)
standard size band aids (6 per
kit)
Can They Tell I Am a
Christian?
My husband and I were having
breakfast with several new acquaintances on a recent vacation. “You must be a
teacher,” one of them said. I was taken aback. This was the second time in a
week that someone had made this declaration.
I am indeed a teacher. How do
they know? I wondered. Do I dress like a teacher? Do I appear ready to pounce
on misspelled words with a red pen? Do I have that “teacher look” about which
my husband speaks? What clues give away my profession?
I then wondered if my
Christianity is as obvious as my occupation. Do I reflect the love of God? Do
people know by my words and actions that I am a follower of Jesus? Can they see
the love of Jesus shine through me? On that vacation I resolved to reflect my
Lord as well as I reflect my profession.
~ Elizabeth Cook
・Georgetown, Kentucky, taken from The Secret Place