GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH OF BLUE BELL

Transcription

1 GRACE NOTES GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH OF BLUE BELL Skippack Pike & Lewis Lane, P.O. Box 122 Blue Bell, PA Volume XXXI, Number 8 August 2012 Newsletter Grace Baptist Church of Blue Bell is a Christ-centered community sharing God s love with the world. Sunday Schedule 9:30am Worship Summer Office Hours Tuesday-Friday 9:00am-12:00pm Closed Mondays REACH WORKCAMP TEAM HAD PRODUCTIVE WEEK JULY On July 14 th, eighteen youth, young adults and leaders departed for Eleanor, WV. Our first stop was in Pittsburgh, PA for a little team-building at Kennywood Park. After our team building fun, we headed south. Due to some last minute changes, we actually stayed in Buffalo, WV at the old high school. Throughout the week, approximately 270 workcampers from many churches worked on 25 houses throughout Putnam County, WV. Our youth group members were placed on different crews to help with the work. Amazing things happened during this week! Please take a look at the pictures included below and elsewhere in the newsletter, and then ask any teenager at church about their experience. Each one has a great story to tell. Some of the students will be sharing pictures and stories from the week during the church service on August 5 th. Please come and hear all about it!! -Kristin Paluszka, Youth Leader Church Staff George M. Hawthorne Minister ghawthorne@gbcbb.org Barbara Green Director of Music/ Organist Casey Stauffer Director of Children & Family Ministries cstauffer@gbcbb.org Trish Simpson Administrative Assistant staff@gbcbb.org

2 Catch SUMMER WORSHIP 9:30 A.M. Sunday, August 5 Serving in West Virginia Youth, Youth Leaders & Rev. Hawthorne speaking Service of Communion Sunday, August 12 No Peace Without Pain Matthew 10: Rev. Hawthorne preaching Sunday, August 19 Bearing Fruit John 15: 1-8 Rev Hawthorne preaching Sunday, August 26 Invitation to a New Life Acts 2: 14a, Rev. Hawthorne preaching STEWARDSHIP UPDATE as of July 4, 2012 June YTD Income $ $ 19, $ 136, Expenses $ 24, $ 156, This fall, as we continue to implement our new Strategic Plan, we will be participating in a comprehensive program for invitational evangelism called, Catch. This resource will show us how to attract visitors to our church, connect them with our faith community, and help them learn to know, love, and serve God. That is primarily why we exist as a church and I believe that this program will help us take a significant step forward in reaching our community. The Catch program is broken down into four basic parts: 1. Attracting People in Your Community (Marketing) 2.. Making Visitors Feel Welcome (Hospitality) 3. Connecting and Following Up with Visitors (Connection) 4. Inviting Others to Grow in Faith (Membership). Throughout the Catch program I ll be preaching on these important topics and you ll be invited to participate in a weekly small group or Sunday School class to discuss these important matters. In addition, leaders in our church will be following the Program Guide to help implement important changes in our approach to outreach. Everything about this program is designed to help our church become outward focused to become fishers of people outside the confines of our building. Like many churches, we are pretty good at an inward focus. We have all kinds of programs and ministries to meet the needs of people who are church members or already attend. What really excites me about this program is that it has the potential to significantly shift the culture of our church to reach people outside the walls to the task to which Jesus calls us. Ultimately, we as a church are called not just to disciple believers but to equip them to reach unchurched and irreligious people with God s love. As the program guide suggests,...making this culture shift will change just about everything you do; you will be amazed at the excitement created by a church that is passionate about the ministry of reaching people for Jesus Christ. I look forward to this exciting program and invite you to become involved! You ll be hearing much more about it in the days to come, but for now, I just wanted to give you a brief glimpse into our future...a future that I believe looks very bright as we seek to be faithful to the Great Commission of our Lord... to make disciples of all people. Centered in Christ, Pastor George

3 More Workcamp Photos! Before and after photos of a bathroom renovation! In right photo above the homeowner stands in front of her new bathtub.

4 Noemi Ayuso Debra Sharpe Amy Bocklet Kristin Paluszka Kate Stremme Gene Stremme Bob Stremme Steve Choyce Steve Lloyd Rubia Lloyd Betty Helpa Don Helpa Beth Hargis Doug Hargis Pete Sharpe Leigh Foyle Pastor George Reena Philips Supriya Philips Nicole Bamberger Megan Bamberger Haruko Arango Harry Jenkins Harold Mathues Butch Swanson Scott Brookes We had another successful Vacation Bible School July Fifteen children attended from our church family and the community. Thank you again to all the great volunteers for making the week a fun experience for these kids. Our children are looking forward to Parents Night Out starting up again in the fall and Rally Day on September 9th. Stay tuned for more information on both events. Casey Stauffer

5 August Birthdays From Diane Schwartz, Rider #19: Thank you so much for your support of my 9th ride in the American Cancer Society Bike-a-thon on July 10. This year I rode in honor of my son, Timothy, who continues to battle brain tumor cancer. During these nine years of riding, my supporters have donated over $50,000 to the ACS (over $6,000 this year). I really appreciate it. God bless you always! College students and parents, please let the church office know your new school addresses, phone numbers, and so we can keep in touch during the year. Address Changes: Linda Dietch new phone number Tim and Jenn Schwartz 2214 Wincrest St. Galveston, TX Bill Clewell 2 Barbara Green 4 Chris Lewis 4 Taylor Burke 5 Kathe Perry 6 Amy Hawthorne 8 Brian Edgar 9 William Bodis 9 Jeff Ledbetter 9 Rebecca Winner 10 Nancy Burns 12 Judie Bussom 13 Katherine Thetgyi 15 Ken Green 18 Vee Fry 22 Davis Rhea 27 John Plostnieks 28 Gene Stremme 31 Dorothy Craver Summer Office Hours: The office is open Tuesday- Friday, 9:00 A.M.-12:00 P.M. and closed on Mondays until after Labor Day. August Game Nights If you enjoy playing games for fun you are welcome to attend any or all of the Game Nights that fit your schedule. The games begin at 7:00 P.M. and end about 9: 00 P.M. Optional: bring a friend; bring a favorite snack; bring a favorite game. All August Game Nights will be at the home of Doug and Beth Hargis (103 W. North Lane, Conshohocken 19428) Please RSVP to or dhargis5@juno.com. Wednesday, August 8 Tuesday, August 14 Tuesday, August 21 Thursday, August 30

6 P.O. Box Skippack Pike & Lewis Lane Blue Bell, PA FAX If you would prefer not to receive future mailings, call or and let us know. The monthly newsletter is also available at the church website. RALLY DAY, Sunday, September 9 All ages are welcome to enjoy a special program during the Sunday School hour at 9:30. Award-winning, internationally-acclaimed professional storyteller Kristin Pedemonti will present an Interactive Folktale Theatre Storytelling Program. Following the worship service, plan to enjoy a cookout picnic! Return to regular schedule on September 9: Sunday School 9:30 A.M. Service of Worship 10: 45 A.M. Youth Group (6th-12th grade): Sunday evenings 7:00 P.M. Mark your calendars and join us for a fresh start on the year!