A publication of The First Baptist Church of Westfield, NJ

Transcription

1 A publication of The First Baptist Church of Westfield, NJ I am keenly aware of the anxiety and the stress of daily life. Most are overscheduled, overworked, and have the on switch all of the time. We are connected to a screen 99% of the time even over dinner, or while we sleep (or not) and when we are summoned by a ding, or groan or buzz or music, we ve got to respond immediately not later NOW! In the process we have become a distracted society with shorter attention spans and even shorter tempers. People flock to the gym or spas for exercise, for meditation classes, or seek connection in support groups, and/or resort to spirits to at least provide a temporary respite from the chaos and continued storm. We suffer from the ills of stress all the while stressing that we should not be so stressed! Our spirit and heart, however, longs for simplicity, serenity, loving and real relationships, and a deep and abiding connection to the holy. We just want to breathe a God breath. Does our Christian faith have a response to anxiety and stress? Yes. Does our Christian faith have a response to suffering and pain? Yes. The Lord Jesus offers us life and life abundant. The Lord Jesus offers us salvation and new life. The Lord Jesus offers us serenity amidst the storm. The Lord Jesus has promised to take our sins away and to lighten our daily load. The Lord Jesus will not give to us any much more than what we can handle, if we take it all to the Lord in prayer and if we get closer and closer to Him and practice what he taught. The Lord Jesus knows about worries and concerns, death and suffering, sadness and joys, temptations and victory so the Lord Jesus is able to walk with us and give us the peace that surpasses all understanding. The offer is there always. We need to take him up on it in word and deed. As we approach the summer months, I invite you to think on the following: God does not take a vacation Worship the Lord with all of who you are and worship the Lord with a gathered community the local church! While some may take a vacation from church during the summer, know that God is still creating, recreating and making someone new by giving the breath of new life. A time to get away from daily routines, to rest and play and restore energies is essential but this won t provide the steady and longlasting holiday of the soul and restoration that it seeks. God is steadfast and his love endures and God seeks steadfastness from us. Remember that if you are not worshiping God, you are worshiping something or someone else. Christian Spiritual Disciplines are not optional Although for some medication to aid in overall body and mind health is needed, these don t replace the essentials of eating a healthy diet, of drinking plenty of water, of exercising, of sleep and of play. Likewise, Christian Spiritual Disciplines that keep us connected to God and to each other (prayer, meditation, Bible study, solitude and service) are not optional for our spirit s health. A rhythm of life that considers all who we are in body, mind, heart and spirit leads us to vibrant and joyful, refreshed and to stress-free restored soul. And by obtaining that, wouldn t you want to share that with others who needed just like you? He said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? If then you are not able to do so small a thing as that, why do you worry about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you--you of little faith! And do not keep striving for what you are to eat and what you are to drink, and do not keep worrying. For it is the nations of the world that strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, strive for his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. (Luke 12: 22-31) Pastor Mayra

2 page 2 The Messenger Choir Notes THANKS... to the FBC Orchestra for playing during worship on May 12: Katie Engel, Carleen Morris, flute: Johnny Klikushin, Maggie McGuire, clarinet; Owen Martin, tenor sax: Paul Koslowski, Tyler Martin, trumpet; Carl, Joe, and Melanie Della Peruti, trombone; Kathy Briedis, Glen Brown, violin; Linda Battle, Beth Hanscom, cello; and Steve Lind, conductor to Katie and Carleen for also playing flute with the bells on May 19; to our Chancel Choir for leading us in song most Sundays from September to May: Jessy Brown, Wendy Engel, Ann Hinman, Donna Lind, Cherie Parker, sopranos; Pam Greenlaw, Carleen Morris, Elaine Pratt, Bette Savage, altos; Lee Romano, Dot Waugh, tenors; and Paul Clark, Paul Koslowski, Steve Lind, basses. to our Ringers (from lowest bells to highest): Steve Lind, Molly Engel, Carleen Morris, Katie Engel, Wendy Engel, Bette Savage, Dot Waugh, Donna Lind, Lil Wheeler, Judy Klein, Tyler Martin. to our Song Leaders who lead us in the contemporary songs each week, and will also lead the music during the summer months: Marlee Araujo, Melanie Della Peruti, Ann Hinman, Erin Klein, Maggie McGuire, Carleen Morris, Elaine Pratt, Megan Winey, Glen Brown, guitar, and Devin Araujo, drums and to our Children s Choir, who will sing on June 2 before starting their summer break: Erin Klein, director; Judy Klein, rehearsal accompanist, cont d. Christmas with the Westfield Chorale CD available for pickup Sunday, June 16 The CD s have arrived! As previously announced, a special 25 th Anniversary booklet is included with the double CD and this effort took longer than expected to develop and produce. We thank you for your patience and hope you will enjoy Christmas in June! The Chorale is celebrating their 4th recording at a CD Release Party on June 15. Audience members can pick their copies up beginning Sunday, June 16, after worship. For those who live out of the area, your copies will be shipped directly from AMP Recording & Production Service. Michael Klikushin, Grace Lloyd, Josie Lloyd, Charles McCloud, Jeffrey Morris, Julie Morris, Olivia Morris, Olivia Rosario, Daniel Singh, Michael Singh, Kaleigh Spinner, Lauren Thomas, Melissa Winey... As the choirs and instrumentalists take a bit of a break from the regular schedules, God be with you til we meet again. Happy Summer, everyone. Music in June Children s Choir June 2 Song Leaders June 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 We extend Birthday & Anniversary greetings to all those celebrating in the month of June. Birthdays 6/4 Trent Gabriel 6/5 Vickie Koslowski 6/6 Melissa Virzi 6/8 Charlie Lloyd MaryJane Schnitzer 6/11Owen Martin 6/12Chris Mancinelli 6/13 Janet Winey 6/20Tyler Barton 6/21Tom Ball Kathy Barton 6/22 Jesse Kline 6/25Kaleigh Spinner 6/30Wanda McCloud Anniversaries 6/1 Allen & Mary Chin 6/3 Ken & Cheryl Thomas 6/7 Mike & Mary Dobos 6/12 Dudley & Doris Painter 6/13 John & Marie Vastano 6/20 Barry & Ann Hinman 6/21 Dean & Elaine Pratt 6/27 Bill & Kathy Barton 6/30 Luis & Hilary Araujo New Address Shirley Miller 562 Wynn Wood Circle Camden, DE 19934

3 The Messenger page 3 JUNE 23rd, 12-3pm TAMAQUES PARK Please join us for a Kick-off to Summer picnic. CE will provide the burgers and hotdogs. Please sign up to bring a side or dessert to share and please wear your FBC Faith in Action t-shirts! Look forward to seeing you there! Prayer Walks Join Pastor Mayra every Saturday in June at noon! Meet at the church with your walking shoes. Walk and pray the streets of Westfield. YG in June All youth are invited -- 5 p.m. Come for the fun, stay for the learning, go and serve! Among activities planned are a Badminton Tournament, a Cooking Class and a Graduation Fiesta! (No YG on Father s Day-June 16) Parenting Seminar on Friday, June 28th at 7 p.m. (Second Seminar in our Family Matters Emphasis) Communication: Your teen and You! What is the most important skill any parent needs to help their son or daughter grow into their young adult years? Effective communication! Tending to this skill and learning with other parents is vitally important in minimizing conflict. Effective communication is foundational to strong relationships at any age. The seedlings that were planted and nurtured by the Sunday School children have been picked up and planted in the HomeFirst Community Garden in Scotch Plains. There may be opportunities to volunteer in the garden. If you and your children would be interested in this project, let me know. I will forward any information as I receive it. I hope that your experience at the Church Gathered, Church Scattered gave you a greater understanding of mission in our community and a desire to continue service to others. Those working at the Food Bank learned how big a problem hunger is. It is reported that 17 million children face hunger in the U.S. ConAgra is working with Feeding America to change that. You can help when you shop and purchase the following brands: Banquet, Healthy Choice, Peter Pan, Orville Redenbacher, Chef Boyardee, Hunts, Snack Pack, Manwich, VanCamps, Kid Cuisine, Blue Bonnet, Egg Beaters and PAM. Locate the red push pin and 8 digit code on the package. Go to and enter the code. One code equals one meal. Over 2 million codes have been entered in Don t forget to bring items for the FBC Food Pantry donation box over the summer. There are still two dates to volunteer for the ABCNJ Rebuild, Renew, Restore Project at the Jersey Shore July in Manaquan and August in Atlantic County. Contact me for information. The missions committee welcomes Chitra Singh. Janet Winey Women s Book Club Saturday, June 15,10am The group will discuss The Forgotten Garden, by Kate Morton. Lee Romano will provide refreshments and there will be an end of season luncheon hosted by Jean & Bette. Church Gathered/Church Scattered (see insert for some pics) On May 5, the congregation participated in a Sunday of service gathering to worship for a shortened service and then scattering to serve. More than 60 folks from the littlest to the oldest, church members and visitors, scattered in the name of Jesus to serve in our communities and lend a helping hand. For those not able to go out a couple of mission projects were done at the church and delivered to those in need. The service projects were: Food Bank sorting of goods Center of Hope Hospice deliver flower pots painted by the children and sing to/with residents and their families ABCNJ Disaster Relief prepare sandwiches for the shore rebuilding project teams Manor Care Health Services play games and visit with the residents Church World Services assemble hygiene kits Thanks to all who participated. A special thanks to Paul Koslowski for sharing his music talents at the Center of Hope Hospice. This was a meaningful experience for all us and we look forward to another opportunity to serve in the future. Many of us wore our FBC Faith In Action T-Shirt. If you don t have one, you may pick one up in the church office. Cherie Parker

4 page 4 The Messenger Evangelism Invitation Ideas for June As Ken Wooster recently pointed out at the May Congregational meeting, we are ALL members of the Evangelism committee! Here are a few upcoming events that you should consider issuing invitations to: June 1 Men s Fellowship Breakfast Invite a male neighbor, co-worker, or friend. June 2 Children s Sunday Invite a family with young children. June 9 Youth Sunday Invite a family with teens, or youth invite your friends! June 16 Father s Day Invite all the dads in your extended family. June 23 Church Picnic at Tamaques Park Invite neighbors, co -workers, friends, family You get the idea. Discuss the topic of interest, and start inviting some people to join us! Elaine Pratt Chair, Evangelism Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not turn from it." -- Proverbs 22:6 Each child will be included in worship in a way that uses and respects his or her creative gifts. Let's pray about it and look forward together with the goal that this Children's Sunday be a time for children to share their gifts with God and the congregation; a thank you to teachers and those dedicated to serving the children; and a challenge to our church family to become involved in training children to know and love Jesus. Jesus loves you! Miss Katie S more love! Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. --Proverbs 4:23 for FBC children & friends!...glen Brown, Katie McGuire, and Ricardo Resende for helping with Youth Group Sunday nights....dot Waugh, and Lil Wheeler for helping with the May Messenger All those who volunteered for our Church Gathered/Scattered Sunday opportunities...carleen Morris for sorting out the large closet in Fellowship Hall My family wishes to thank Pastor Mayra and the many members of FBC Westfield who upheld us in prayer and comforted us by sending expressions of sympathy during the illness and death of my mother, Alice Esposito. You have communicated to us the unity, support, and love our Lord desired for His followers. Gratefully, Pastor Dee Dee We can use our senses to help us develop our creative gifts in art, music, cooking, flower arranging, writing, theatre, sports and other areas. Save the date and time (8/26-30 from 9am noon)! We'll begin first thing by making tie-died shirts, and a rite of passage for any young camper is learning how to craft a friendship bracelet! The goal of each day is to expand the creative mind through an icebreaker, sensory creation station involving teamwork, mission project / giveaway, high-energy game / activity, Biblically themed storytelling around the "campfire" and a snack! The children will even keep a camp journal! Our senses help us to learn about the world around us. There is a way for everyone to be included! What YOU can do is what WE need! I m EXCITED AS EVER to talk with you ALL and to develop OUR program! Praising God for S'more connections to each other, to the community and to Jesus! Scholarships available Miss Katie ABCNJ Seminarian Scholar Award and Undergraduate Emerging Scholar Award 2013 Scholarships are available on a limited basis. Contact FBC for more details.

5 The Messenger page 5 M issions Corner You don t know me, but I know you. I ve been praying for you for the last seven years. And now I have the joy of meeting you in person! Helio declared as he gave us each a bear hug. The Borquists wrote that it is an incredible gift of God s grace - to meet a brother in Christ who has lovingly walked with them on this journey without us even knowing! Meeting Helio was one of the highlights of their recent visit to his church in Jundiaí near São Paulo. On my mission trips to Brazil I saw how hard the Borquists work, and I know that Alan Greenlaw feels the same way about the Schellingers. I ask you to keep our missionary partners, the Borquists in Brazil and the Schellingers in Mexico, in your prayers. If you want to know more about them and their work, check out People on Ann and Bruce Borquist and Ray Schellinger can also be found on Facebook. There is a page for Deborah s House (Tijuana, Mexico) as well. They don t update their status often, but when they do, I am always inspired by their words. This is a good time to support our missionary partners since International Ministries Matching Gift Campaign runs to June 30. Gifts will be matched from: a) new givers; or b) individuals who give toward a ministry above and beyond their regular amount. You can use the special matching gift link on the IM website or send a gift directly to IM with a note that says Matching Gift Campaign. Ann Borquist writes We are richly blessed by all who intercede on our behalf. Janet Winey Name Degree School Date High School Jillian Mathews Caesar Rodney High School 06/01/13 Patrick Martin Midland School 06/14/13 Marlee Araujo Brianna Virzi Tyler Martin UCVTS Academy for Allied Health Sciences 06/18/13 UCVTS - Academy for Performing Arts 06/18/13 Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School 06/20/13 Governor Livingston High Taylor Kline School 06/20/13 Hope Lloyd Westfield High School 06/25/13 College Neil Pratt BS - Nursing Northeastern University 05/13/13 Gillian Clark BA - International Business Saint Joseph's University 05/10/13 Stephanie McCloud BA - Speech and Hearing Kean University 05/16/13 Alexandra Lambros BA - Merchandising & Management Fashion Institute of Technology 05/23/13 Post Graduate Dean Pratt MS - IS Donnie Turlington MS - Technology and Policy Stevens Institute of Technology 05/23/13 Massachusetts Institute of Technology 06/07/13

6 170 Elm Street Westfield, NJ Ph: /Fax: Pastor Mayra Castañeda Bill Mathews Katie McGuire First Day of Summer! Nancy Lambros SUMMER Ongoing Schedule Sundays: 9:00 a.m. Singles Gathering (Fellowship Hall) Childcare available until 11:30 9:15 Adult Bible Study 10:30 a.m. Worship Service (Lord s Supper: June 2) 10:30 a.m. Children s Sunday School (pre-school-5th grades) 11:30 a.m. Youth & Children s Choir rehearsals 11:30 Sermon Rap 5:00 p.m. Youth Group (6th-12th grades) Tuesdays: 7 a.m. GRUB w/ the Guys (1st Tues. ea. month, June 4) 7pm Downtown Westfield s Jazz Night (weekly on our front lawn) Wednesdays: 12Noon Conversations with God (prayer time) in sanctuary 1-3 p.m. Knitting/Hobby Group (2nd Wed of ea. Month June 12) Raritan Association Clergy Fellowship Meeting Sunday, June 2, 4:00pm at FBC-Westfield Review of proposed new Constitution and By-Laws of the Raritan Association. Contact the church if you are attending. C H URCH S TAFF Rev. Mayra Castañeda, Senior Pastor William R. Mathews, Minister of Music Katie McGuire, Director of Children s Ministries Nancy Lambros, Church Administrator Adriana Rodriguez, Custodian O UR PURPOSE Coming together in joyful worship, we re here To share the reality of God s love, To connect our lifestyles to Christian truth, And to put our faith into action through responding to needs in our community, nation, and world.

7 June 2013 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 Men s Breakfast, 8:30am 2 Children s 3 Deacons, 4 Grub w/the Youth Sun F&F & Evang, 7pm; Missions, 7:30pm 12 Jr. Musical Book Club discusses The Forgotten Garden lunch to follow Church Agape Sup Sunday 7pm day Picnic at Tamaques 30 Guys, 7am Club, 7pm CE, 7:30pm per, 6:30pm