Below is our family update for Christmas Merry Christmas and have a Happy New

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1 A monthly newsletter for members and friends of First Baptist Church of Painesville - December 2013 Church Link Below is our family update for Christmas Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year from the McCurdys: God is changing the vocation of our family! This year God has been working in our hearts and we have accepted a calling to become missionaries in the Dominican Republic and Cuba. This year has given us an opportunity to travel as a family to Santo Domingo and La Romana in the DR. It was an eye opening experience for each of us as we learned the needs and what ministering to the pastors and their family would look like. Peter has reached the end of his studies with Northeastern Seminary. He will not be receiving his doctorate at this time but will receive a certificate of advanced pastoral studies. This is the start of the seventh year as Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Painesville and God is transitioning us from pastoral ministry into missionary work. God is working and doing great things at First Baptist! We are expecting a six month transition. Peter is excited about the ministry happening at FBCP with the Homeless Family drop in center and 200 Hispanic children playing soccer in the church s field over the summer. Sarah s home based bakery and teaching is in the process of transitioning! Business has been slow and steady. This summer, Sarah and the kids planted her vegetable garden. Sarah is following God in facilitating a women s bible study class which continues to do well. Sarah is getting ready to start visiting churches and raise support, sometimes with Peter but a lot of the time without him. He still has pastoral responsibilities in Painesville. Sarah is excited about God s calling on her life. Teaching at Lakeland has transitioned to homeschooling the kids. Elisabeth is now in 8 th grade and turned 13 on Dec 2! WOW! We have a teenager. She continues to play the piano and we enjoy it very much when she plays for us at home. Elisabeth continues to dislike mowing but is beginning to babysit and enjoys that. Elisabeth and the rest of the children are adjusting to being homeschooled. She is doing well and is helping with her younger siblings. Elisabeth played soccer this year and did not hate it. Nathaniel is 9 and in 4 rd grade! He played soccer this past spring and enjoyed it but likes baseball better! Nathaniel is a compassionate boy who always wants to help everyone. He is learning at home and doing well. It took some adjusting for all of us but Nathaniel is doing good. Samuel is in 2 nd grade and will turn 8 in less than a month! This coming January Samuel

2 will have been on a gluten free diet for two years. He is also now lactose intolerant. Both Peter and Sam (and the rest of the family) are thriving on a gluten free diet. It is necessary due to their Celiac disease, a genetic disorder which means the body treats wheat and any byproduct of wheat as a foreign object. The body in turn attacks itself (stomach and intestines) and can make them very ill. Sam loves that the entire family enjoys a gluten free diet and loves the food Sarah makes. He also played soccer this past spring and had fun learning more about the game. He wants to play again this spring! Elianna is 4 and is becoming quite the charming little girl! She has a way with words and humor that continues to amaze us each day. She has enjoyed having Mom & Dad and her siblings around. She loves to draw and color and has an eye for details! Elianna loves to wear fancy dresses; she would everyday if Mom would let her! To her, the best dresses are the ones she can twirl in. Our prayer for each of you is that you celebrate the birth of our Lord & Savior during this Christmas season. May God Bless you this Christmas and may your heart be filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, & hope this Christmas and always! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! In Christ s Love, Peter, Sarah, Elisabeth, Nathaniel, Samuel, & Elianna McCurdy Financial Ministry Team 1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2 saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. Matthew 2: 1-2 With Advent about to begin, I think the Star of First is rising. There are many things we need to consider in the coming months as we transition from one Pastor to another. Certainly patience will be a virtue. We need to be capable of waiting and accepting of all the changes that are about to take place. It will be like working with the government. We think we know what is happening and what the schedule is, only to find the things are different and we would have changed it if we knew the answers before we accepted a schedule. I used to work with EPA Regions on various landfill sites. I would read their guidance documents and check with colleagues to submit the work plans according to the rules only to find out that EPA had changed every thing and was preparing a new guidance that I had to follow, even if it was not published very similar to the Affordable Care Act implementation. You never know for sure until you get it. Let us search for the King of the Jews as did the Wise men. Our Star will shine with the Lord s help and guidance. The Lake county area is replete with opportunity for the Lords work. As you may know, the playground equipment has been decimated by insects eating into the wooden structure. By all reports the structure is more than 30 years old. Maybe someone can tell me when it was constructed and who may have donated or helped build the playground set. Since it has become unsafe we will need to demolish the structure. I would like to replace it with a suitable structure. Many people have said to me the wood playground sets are no longer considered safe for a verity of reasons. This likely means that more expensive metal structures may be required. I think for the sake of our children and grand-

3 (Financial Team Continued) children, we as a community need to replace the playground set. Please send your thoughts and comments to the church for review. I will look through them and determine what the next steps may or may not be. If someone has knowledge or connection for this type of equipment please send an to the church with instruction on how this may be pursued. For some time I have thought the multiuse room needs to be painted to give it a fresh look. I have suggested that we paint the inner walls along the hallway with an accent colors (green, red, blue) while the rest of the room would remain the same color with headers and door casing being painted a dark brown. What do you think we should do? What is your opinion on the color scheme? I leave you with these thoughts for the coming Christmas Season. Peace be with you and praise to the Father. Gordon Kuntz, Financial Ministry Team Leader Hosanna Circle Hosanna sisters last met Monday, November 4 with 11 in attendance. We agreed that until further notice, we will continue to make meals for Project Hop four Thursdays in Sign up is complete for the January 2014 meal to be prepared. The Men s Fellowship has been contacted and they will again put up the Christmas tree so it can be decorated with mittens, scarves, socks, caps, gloves, etc. Once again we prayerfully remembered several in need of healing and comfort. Our next meeting is to be at 6:30 p.m. our annual Christmas potluck at the church on Monday, December 2, In closing, I quote Psalm 107:1: O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good. Jacquie Wolf, Hosanna Circle Leader Families Moving Forward If God has placed it on your heart to help with this very important ministry, register online at e m a i l a t v o l u n - teer@projecthopeonline.org or call For your convenience, there are also volunteer applications in the church office. Interested in Seeing the Families Moving Forward Site? Just call the church office at and make an appointment to tour the downstairs anytime between 9 am and 12 noon Monday through Friday. In November FBCP was able to help 3 families with food through our food pantry ministry. We also helped 8 families with Thanksgiving baskets! A big THANK YOU......for all your donations of food! Food Pantry Please continue to help us keep the following food items on our shelves so we may be able to help the needy in our community: applesauce, canned fruit, vegetables, tuna ad soups, cereal, pancake mix ad syrup, spaghetti sauce, macaroni & cheese, boxed potatoes, Hamburger or Tuna Helper, mayonnaise, fruit juice, and Jell-o. Monetary gifts will be gratefully appreciated, as well. ChurchLink A Monthly Newsletter for Members and Friends of First Baptist Church Johnnycake Ridge Road Painesville, OH Phone:(440) Fax:(440) Pastor s Cell # fbcpainesville@sbcglobal.net Website: fbcpainesville.org Minister - Reverend Peter McCurdy Mrs. Sandy Namestnik - Editor

4 Several Ways to Get Into the Christmas Spirit Christmas Cards for the Homebound Place your Christmas cards for our homebound members and friends in the card box in the foyer. They will be delivered during Christmas Caroling. A list of names and addresses can be found next to the box. The Mitten Tree Hosanna Circle will sponsor our Mitten Tree again this year. Everyone is invited to bring mittens, gloves, warm hats, scarves, socks, etc. to decorate the tree, located in the foyer. The gifts will then be given to those in need. Christmas Caroling Spread Christmas joy by going caroling with your friends at First Baptist on Sun., Dec. 15 at 12:30 p.m. This year we will visit our homebound members and friends. New Years Eve Party The youth group will be hosting an all church family-friendly New Year s Eve Party on December 31 st in the evening followed by a Faith Flyers Youth Group overnighter for the teens. Watch the bulletins for more details! Children s Christmas Event Jammin with Joseph in your Jammies - On Sunday, December 22, children will jam to their favorite Christmas songs and hear Joseph s story of how he accepted his call from God and prepared for the birth of Jesus. Children are encouraged to come dressed in their favorite jammies. This will be a fun-filled event for the whole family to celebrate the birth of Jesus! Advent Worship and Music: We invite you to the Lord s house to worship Him with Carols of Christmas at 10:30 a.m. each Sunday in December. The theme for the 2013 Advent season is A Star in the East. Plan to attend the concert by the classical musical group, Ars Futura on December 5 at 7:00 p.m., at First Baptist. The Messiah Chorus will present Handel s Messiah on Sun., Dec. 8, at 7 p.m. at St. John Vianney Church, 7575 Bellflower Rd., Mentor, OH. Christmas Eve Candlelight Service Every Christmas Eve the congregation fills the church to sing carols and to celebrate the birth of Christ by lighting candles. The Christmas worship begins at 7:00 p.m. Bring your family and relatives.

5 Retired Ministers and Missionaries Offering A TRADITION OF THANKFULNESS Thank You For...Remembering us Please accept our thanks and our appreciation for the unexpected gift from the Retired Ministers and Missionaries Offering. As an American Baptist pastor, I remember collecting this offering for many years in our churches and now we are the happy recipients. Pastor Roger Jump Thank You For...Helping me help others Thank you to RMMO for the check I received this year. I was able to write a check for our church s offering. This year it went to help a young man in college. Thank you for enabling me to share with others. Millie Zediker Thank You For... Helping me save for a rainy day We placed it [our RMMO gift] in our savings so that we could keep it for a rainy day. We truly appreciate all who contribute to the Retired Ministers and Missionaries Offering as an expression of thanks to retired pastors and missionaries for the sacrificial service they gave to the Lord. May God bless them. Pastor Len and Shirley Lewis Join us by saying Thank you for... the many ways ABC s retired ministers, missionaries and their widowed spouses have contributed to our congregations. We will receive RMMO in December. Please help us reach our goal of $500.

6 December Birthdays Judy Whipple 1 Elisabeth McCurdy 2 Carol Pepin 5 Viola Batuski 6 Pamela Leivo 6 Marissa Sell 6 Bryan Manary 6 Mikey Wizniak 8 Anna Samples 9 Nathan Luzier 11 Paige Burkhammer 12 James Burkhammer 13 Lyle Pepin 21 Richard Cunningham 25 Norman Alber 29 June Barnes 31 Bradley Caton 31 No December Anniversaries If you are not included in our birthday and/or anniversary lists and would like to be, please call the office at Thank you! Missionaries of the Month Read all about Scott and Tan Coats in your December Sunday Worship Bulletins! Hospitality Volunteers Greeters Welcome Center 12/1 Peggy Ryan & Lindy Leathers & Mark Reilly Janet Neil 12/8 Phyllis Keto & Jacquie Wolf & Mary Anne Kelly Hal Rodgers 12/15 Betty Swails & Hal Rodgers & Mark Reilly Traci Burrington 12/22 Larrie & Jackie Dwyer & Martha Beam Peggy Ryan 12/29 Lynn & Carol Pepin & Judy Whipple Belinda Crockett Nursery Room (9:50 am) 12/1 Sandy Namestnik 12/8 Judy Whipple 12/15 Joy Reilly 12/22 TBA 12/29 Larrie & Martha Beam Toddler Room (9:50 a.m.) 12/1 Lori Humphreys 12/8 Lyn Samples 12/15 Aprille Donohoe-Caton 12/22 TBA 12/29 Lindy Leathers Junior Church/Library/ Junior Church Choir Leader Helper 12/1 Lyn Samples Jackie Dwyer 12/8 Sandy Namestnik Marisa Ross 12/15 Lyn Samples Caylee Samples 12/22 NO JUNIOR CHURCH 12/29 Sandy Namestnik Mark Reilly Worship Service Scripture Readers 12/1 Caylee Samples 12/8 Joy Reilly 12/15 Bob Wolf 12/22 Lynn Whipple 12/29 Lyn Samples

7 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 10:00 a.m..praise Practice 10:30 a.m. Worship, Communion 12:00 noon Faith Flyers Youth Group 1:30 3:30 p.m. Messiah Practice 2 6:30 p.m.. Hosanna Circle Potluck 3 4 6:30 p.m. Kid s Club 6:30 p.m. Bible Study/ Prayer Meeting 5 7:00 p.m. Ars Futura Concert 8:00 p.m. Pearl Street Thursday 6 8:00 p.m. Painesville Friday 7 Keep Coming Back 8 10:00 a.m..praise Practice 10:30 a.m. Worship 11:30 a.m. Business Mtg. 12:00 noon Faith Flyers Youth 7:00 p.m. Handel s Messiah at St. John Vianney :00 p.m. North Coast Historical Recovery 11 6:30 p.m. Kid s Club 6:30 p.m. Bible Study/ Prayer Meeting 12 10:00 a.m. Marry/Martha Circle 8:00 p.m. Pearl Street Thursday 13 8:00 p.m. Painesville Friday 14 9:00 a.m. Men s Fellowship Keep Coming Back 15 10:00 a.m..praise Practice 10:30 a.m. Worship 12:00 noon Faith Flyers Youth Group 12:30 p.m. All Church Caroling :30 p.m. Ministry Team Meeting 18 Link Reports Due 6:30 p.m. Kid s Club 6:30 p.m. Bible Study/ Prayer Meeting 19 8:00 p.m. Pearl Street Thursday (AA 20 8:00 p.m. Painesville Friday 21 Keep Coming Back 22 Children s Event - Jammin with Joseph in your Jammies 10:00 a.m.. Praise Practice 10:30 a.m. Worship 12:00 noon Faith Flyers Youth Group :00 p.m. Christmas Eve Candlelight Service 25 OFFICE CLOSED 26 OFFICE CLOSED 8:00 p.m. Pearl Street Thursday (AA 27 8:00 p.m. Painesville Friday 28 Keep Coming Back 29 10:00 a.m.. Praise Practice 10:30 a.m. Worship 12:00 N. Faith Flyers Youth Group New Year s Eve Party sponsored by Youth OFFICE CLOSED

8 FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH Johnnycake Ridge Painesville, OH Return Service Requested Guest December Special Events Hosanna Circle Potluck - 12/2, 6:30 p.m. Ars Futura Concert - 12/5, 7:00 p.m. Handel s Messiah - 12/8, 7:00 p.m. at St. John Vianney Church Men s Fellowship Breakfast & Workday - 12/14, 9:00 a.m. All Church Christmas Caroling to our Shut-ins - 12/15, 12:30 p.m. Children s Event Jammin with Joseph in your Jammies - 12/22 Christmas Eve Candlelight Service - 12/24, 7:00 p.m. New Year s Eve Party sponsored by Youth - 12/31 Weekly & Monthly Events & Meetings Bible Blast & ABF - Sundays, 9:00 a.m. Worship - Sundays, 10:30 a.m. Communion - First Sunday of each month, 10:30 a.m. Worship Service 1st Baptist Singers - Third Sunday of each month, 12:30 p.m. Faith Flyers (Youth Group) - Sundays, 12:00 noon (after church service) Hosanna Circle - First Monday of each month, 7:00 p. m. (October thru June) Ministry Team Meeting - 3rd Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. Kid s Club - Wednesdays, 6:30 p. m. Bible Study/Prayer Meeting - Wednesdays, 6:30 p. m. Praise Practice - Sundays, 10:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Mary/Martha Circle - 2nd Thursday, 10:00 a.m. Men s Fellowship - 2nd Saturday of each month, 9:00 a.m. The Staff of First Baptist Church of Painesville wishes all of you a Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!