Tapestry. Children learn about hunger. This Week at Wilshire

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1 This Week at Wilshire Tapestry Weekly newsletter of Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas Building a community of faith shaped by the Spirit of Jesus Christ Volume 63 No. 25 u June 21, 2015 Children learn about hunger Preschoolers and children at Wilshire spent three days last week learning about the needs of hungry people and the Bible s teaching about feeding the hungry. Practical lessons mixed with music, recreation and art to form the unique Hunger Advocacy Camp, which took the place of Vacation Bible School this year. The normal full-week VBS was not possible due to Wilshire s extensive participation in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of last week. Artist-in-residence Ken Medema led the children to use music and songwriting to express what they were learning about hunger. Some of the results of that music education will be part of worship in both services this morning. As usual with VBS, a team of adult and youth volunteers made the camp happen, under the leadership of Julie Girards, minister to children, and Joan Hammons, minister to preschoolers. It was a great week of learning, as our children learned about the connection between faith and actions, Julie said. As they became more aware of the hunger situation in our community, state, country and the world, they learned through Bible stories and stories of those who were part of the solution how they could be advocates and help those who are hungry. Joan added: Our preschoolers loved our community garden that Kay Brashear and Davenal Fitzgerald did with them. Each class had their own grow bag for a garden. On Wednesday, six families adopted grow bags. When their tomatoes and peppers are ripe they will share them with others. As a missions offering, children collected peanut butter and canned meats to give to the North Texas Food bank. Any money that was given will go to the Texas Baptist Hunger Offering. The camp was created as part of Wilshire s new emphasis on Christian advocacy, in partnership with CBF. See more photos inside on pages 4-5. Today 8:30 a.m. Worship 9:40 a.m. Sunday School 11:00 a.m. Worship Monday, June 22 10:00 a.m. 42 Monday Room 1205-G 10:00 a.m. Hymns and hymn singing Room :30 p.m. Deacons meal and meeting Comm. Hall 7:00 p.m. Wilshire Winds Tuesday, June 23 12:00 p.m. Yoga Room 3208 Wednesday, June 24 9:00 a.m. A Matter of Balance class Room :00 a.m. Koinonia Café Comm. Hall 12:00 p.m. This is My Story Comm. Hall Thursday, June 25 1:30 p.m. Knit Unto Others Parlor Friday, June 26 Saturday, June 27 Continued on page 2

2 Ordinary There is nothing extraordinary about the ordinary. The everydayness of life is not Twitter worthy or any Facebook status sensation. No one is worth following on social media if they only post photos watering the lawn, washing the dishes or walking through the grocery store. We would rather see soulful sunsets, gorgeous grandbabies and powerful protests. Is this not where we find God in the extraordinary moments of life? Ordinary time is the longest season in the church calendar. From May to November we see the color green decorating the Sanctuary for 34 weeks. The season can drag on, numbing our taste buds that desperately crave the savory flavors of Advent and Easter. Our spiritual palates prefer the rich, robust holiday seasons over the mundane, routine of ordinary time. Is God even around before and after the holidays? The Church, not God, turned Advent and Easter into extraordinary seasons. Jesus was born on an ordinary day like everyone else. If anything, Jesus birth was less than ordinary, taking his first breath in a stable, smelling the everyday animal odors. Jesus also died on an ordinary day like everyone else. Well, not really like everyone else unless you were a Roman criminal flogged and tortured prior to experiencing Another Voice a humiliating public death. So when and where does God meet us? What is extraordinary about our God is that God is all about the ordinary. God meets us in the commonplace, the average moments. God put on skin, touching humanity in ordinary ways. Jesus rubbed shoulders with the poor, the wealthy, the honest, the crooks, the holy, the unclean, the powerful and the helpless. The Son of God slept, walked, laughed, ate, sat and even wept on this earth. In his book Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life, Thîch Nhât Hanh wrote, People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child our own two eyes. All is a miracle. The true miracle is that God meets us in the mundane moments. Perhaps we are so busy rushing through the normal routine of our lives that we miss the everyday miracles proclaiming God s love and grace. Today, will you listen for the voice of the extraordinary God speaking in your ordinary life? Erica Whitaker This Week at Wilshire Continued from page 1 This Wednesday at Wilshire Come join the group at Koinonia Cafe, from 11 a.m. to noon, this Wednesday in Communith Hall, followed by This is My Story, Wilshire s summer testimony series. This week s This is My Story program is by Larry Miller. The Wednesday evening meal and studies are on hiatus for the summer. Koinonia Café June 24: Carved roast beef, spinach-stuffed tilapia, penne pasta with herbs, steamed cauliflower, sautéed squash medley, vegetable salad, baked wheat rolls, carrot cake. Condolences to: x Carrie and Dave Donaldson on the death of Carrie s nephew, Greg Boots, June 15. x Katie and Jim Wolff on the death of Katie s brother, Gary, June 9. Briefly x Adventurers to Steel Magnolias. Wilshire Adventurers will travel downtown to First United Methodist Church on Wednesday, July 15, to see the dress rehearsal of that congregation s summer play, Steel Magnolias. A bus will depart Wilshire at 6:30 p.m. and return immediately after the play. There is no charge for the bus or the play, but an RSVP is required to ensure enough seats on the bus and at the play. Sign up at the Adventurers table on Sundays or Wednesdays. x Adventurers ice cream social. Mark your calendar for Tuesday, Aug. 25, for the Wilshire Adventurers ice cream social in Community Hall. All adults 65 and above are invited to make your own ice cream sundae for $3 and to hear a musical program by the group Celtic or Not. No reservation is required; just show up. x Church Builders. Next week, June 21-26, a group from Wilshire will join hundreds of others in Missoula, Mont., to participate in the annual Church Builders event. The volunteers will build a new worship center for Cross Point Community Church. Please be in prayer for the group; for safety as they build, for fellowship as they meet new people from around the States, and for the leadership at Cross Point Community Church. x Mustain baby shower. An all-church baby shower for Heather and Chad Mustain will be held Saturday, July 11, from 10 a.m. to noon in the Parlor. Everyone is invited to this come-and-go event. Participants are invited to bring both a gift for the shower and a donation of diapers or formula to help some of Wilshire s missions partners. Registration is at Target and Babies R Us. Tapestry (USPS ) is published weekly except Christmas week by Wilshire Baptist Church, 4316 Abrams Rd., Dallas TX Periodicals postage paid at Dallas, TX. Telephone: (214) Website: Editor: Mark Wingfield. Contributing writer: Sue Coffman. Postmaster: Send change of address to 4316 Abrams Rd., Dallas TX

3 2015 Mission Choir Tour Sunday, June 21 First Baptist Church, Amarillo 8:30 and 11:00 a.m. Monday, June 22 Mission work and concert Joy Junction, Albuquerque Tuesday, June 23 Serve lunch and concert The Rock at Noonday, Albuquerque Concert at Old Town Plaza, Albuquerque, 3:00 p.m. Wednesday, June 24 Serve at Roadrunner Food Bank, Albuquerque Concert at Ashley Pond, Los Alamos, 7:00 p.m. Thursday, June 25 Mission service points in Albuquerque Outdoor concert at Sanctuario de Chimayo, 3:00 p.m. Friday, June 26 Concert on Santa Fe Plaza, 11:00 a.m. Event at Saint Francis Cathedral, Santa Fe Saturday, June 27 Travel day New Song, Wilshire s senior adult community choir, presented its annual summer program June 10, recreating the feel of an old-time radio show. Sunday, June 28 Spring Creek Baptist Church, Oklahoma City, 10:45 a.m. Home concert, Wilshire Baptist Church, 6:30 p.m. June 24 Larry Miller July 1 Sam Tinsley Wilshire s popular summer Wednesday series, This is My Story, is back. Join us each Wednesday at noon in Community Hall to hear the life story or faith journey of one of our members. Make new friends or learn about your old friends. Be inspired. Lunch is served each Wednesday from 11 a.m. to noon. 3

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5 Scenes from Hunger Awareness Adventure 5

6 Hunger Awareness Adventure kick-off carnival 6

7 The numbers Report for June 14 Sunday School Officers Preschool Children Youth Young adult Median adult Senior adult Total present Total previous week Total last year Generosity Unified Budget received $53,622 Unified Budget projected $101,530 Unified Budget YTD $2,157,791 Unified Budget projected $2,261,037 Pathways Endowment received YTD $191,213 Pathways Endowment current fund value $3,629,650 December 31 goal $5,076,475 December 1 goal $4,416,533 November 1 goal $4,010,415 October 1 goal $3,655,062 September 1 goal $3,299,708 August 1 goal $2,842,826 July 1 goal $2,462,090 June 1 goal $2,055,972 May 1 goal $1,649,854 April 1 goal $1,269,118 March 1 goal $812,235 February 1 goal $456,882 Unified Budget Sewing is a ministry as well as a hobby for Virginia Ross,. She put her sewing skills to use by helping make the knapsacks for Wilshire s One Starry Night last December and plans to help again this year. She participates in Knit Unto Others on Thursday afternoons and the cooking ministry and is also involved with a group that makes quilts for Lutheran World Relief. I started sewing when I was 8 or 9, and I first made doll clothes, Virginia said. In high school she won the home economics award as a senior, with sewing as her specialty. I made clothes for my daughters through their elementary school years and later made their formals, she said. She made clothes for her grandchildren when they were young. Virginia spent her early years in Oklahoma City, where she tried tap dance, piano, ballet and viola. I would ve stuck with tap, but I couldn t do the backbend, she laughed. My dad, a Texas cowboy, drove cattle from West Texas to Dodge City, Kan. Then he owned a construction company that specialized in building schools and Baptist churches, and my mother was his bookkeeper. My parents were my greatest mentors, she said. My dad taught me practical things such as using a hammer and staining and painting furniture. I quote my mother almost every day. Her favorite saying was, There s more to life than a clean house. Married at 18, Virginia attended the University of Houston for a year, then worked in offices there. In 1960 her family settled in Lake Highlands. When her daughters were older, she applied for a number of jobs, but I d been out of the I Am Wilshire Virginia Ross market for 21 years, so I didn t even get interviews, she said. She loves shoes and eventually sold them for several years on straight commission. I flourished there and discovered that I loved selling. That experience led me to get my real estate license in 1978, Virginia said. I worked actively in real estate until She then worked in a doctors office part time until 1999, then for nine years was an administrative assistant for a law firm. Now retired, she plays bridge and works on her family history, which has led to membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution. One of her daughters now lives in Denton and the other in California. To mark family memories, she has completed scrapbooks that mark family milestones: her husband Bill s 70th birthday, her children s 50th birthdays and her grandchildren s high school graduations. I m now working on my own life book, she said. Virginia grew up Baptist, and her father was a deacon. In high school she was active in the youth group of a Presbyterian church that many of her friends attended, and she played in the bell choir. After she married her first husband, they went to a Methodist church. When they moved to Dallas, they were Presbyterians for a number of years. I went to a Unitarian church for about seven years while my girls were teenagers, she noted. Virginia met Bill at a square dance, and they were married in We have a blended family of one son and three daughters; six grandchildren; and one greatgranddaughter in Garland, she explained. When we were first married, we made separate lists of places we d love to visit, and for both our top choice was Australia, she said. On our trip there we rode camels, took a hot-air balloon ride over the outback and snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef. We ve also been to Tahiti, Samoa, Hawaii, Alaska and several European countries. Together the Rosses visited a number of churches, eventually joining a Baptist church in Garland where Bill previously had been a member. They joined Wilshire in 2013 and are members of Koinonia Class. I d wanted to go to Wilshire for a number of years, and when I walked in the first time, I felt like I was coming home after a long time of being lost, she said. The music was what I d grown up with, and I loved the organ and the traditional music. When I met George, he called us by name the second time he saw us. I ve been impressed with the women in ministry and the resident program, she added. It s wonderful to watch them grow. I also love the I Am Wilshire features. Virginia was profoundly moved by Victoria Powers ordination. It was the most touching, soul-searching experience I have had, she said. The laying on of hands can t be described until you re experienced it. 7

8 Wilshire contacts To any member of the Wilshire staff, use the first initial with the full last name and then To phone staff, dial (214) 452- and the four-digit extension: Pastoral offices George Mason (3132) Debby Burton (3132) Mark Wingfield (3128) Kathi Lyle (3130) Pathways to Ministry Geri McKenzie (3159) Brent Newberry (3152) Britt Carlson (3153) Erica Whitaker (3156) Matthew Broyles (3154) Business offices David Nabors (3157) Teresa M. Newtown (3131) Susan Kimball (3108) Dale Pride (3101) Sandy Allen (3150; sgallen) Beverly Faubion (3111) Wilshire Baptist Church 4316 Abrams Rd Dallas TX PERIODICALS RATE 8 Age-graded ministries Jessica Capps (3129) Darren DeMent (3102) Julie Girards (3103) Joan Hammons (3141) Holly Irvin (3106) Care ministries Tiffany Wright (3107) Debby Burton (3132) Missions/advocacy offices Heather Mustain (3110) Katie Murray (3126) Sandy Allen (3150) Music offices Doug Haney (3123) Sarah Stafford (3121) Barbara Clayton (3125) Jeff Brummel (3122) Food services Chris Terry (3117) Weekday Education Mary Browder (3115) Parish nurse Linda Garner (3151) Library Jeri Baker (3114) Reception desk (214) Next Sunday, June 28 Fifth Sunday after Pentecost Acts 8:26-40 The story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch shows the church transcending another barrier of holiness. An African man who would have been excluded from worship in the temple is included by faith in the risen Christ. His baptism shows that spirit trumps flesh in the new community of Christ. Efforts to create boundaries that define the church must not undo the welcoming effect of the gospel or they betray the way of Christ. Preaching: George Mason, senior pastor Music: Voci d Amici vocal ensemble... a bold witness to the way of Christ in our time.