The Messenger. this sunday. May 8, two really Big deals. SerMon - travis collins Generation Next. Judges 2:6-15

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1 volume 67 / week number 18 / May 5, 2016 he Messenger firs bapis hunsville wo really Big deals n he May 11 Business Meeing we will consider several imporan maers which were shared in las week s Messenger. wo minisry posiion recommendaions from our Personnel Commiee as well as a sandard Finance Manual updae from our Finance Commiee will also be presened for approval. We will also be voing on he Mosaic and he Same-Sex Sudy process. his sunday May 8, 2016 Please see he inser in his newsleer for my words abou our church s poenial saemen on homosexualiy. n he May 11 Business Meeing you will be asked o approve a recommendaion from he Leadership Council on a process ha will ake place his summer and fall. Anoher big issue we will discuss in he May 11 Business Meeing is he Mosaic. m so glad for all hose who have sudied his issue over he years. m also glad for our presen rusees who have led us o he decision o renew he mosaic. As odd Wesbrook suggesed, his mosaic has been sudied by Firs Bapis more han anyhing excep he Bible! A he same ime ha we are alking abou spending a lo of money for he mosaic i is encouraging o remember ha 12% of all undesignaed gifs (weekly ihes and offerings) will go o missions in n he pas 12 monhs, some of he designaed missions offerings were... Annie Armsrong over $19,000 Global Missions (CBF) over $18,000 Loie Moon over $88,500 World Hunger over $6,500 Oher Mission Projecs almos $78,000 SerMon - ravis collins Generaion Nex. Judges 2:6-15 firs fellowship worship - 8:15 am Music from he Firs Fellowship Band Morning BiBle Sudy - 9:15 am Bible Sudy for all ages Besides our financial conribuions, we are preparing o send sudens ou on mission his summer o Jacksonville, FL, sending families on mission o Perry Couny, and parnering wih ommy and Penny Johnson in Vienam. Furhermore, jus before finalizing his aricle had a wonderful conversaion wih Dr. and Mrs. Jerry Graham. hey glowed as hey spoke of how our church has helped resource heir medical mission rips for he pas weny years, and of he church s ongoing financial suppor for Wilfrid Brunache, a local missionary/church planer in Haii and he Dominican Republic. Of course, beyond hese examples are a muliude of local mission endeavors righ here in our backyard. Sancuary worship - 10:30 am hese missions effors remind me of our need, even when having hard discussions such as he upcoming conversaion abou homosexualiy, o keep he main hing he main hing. And hey make me, as a former missionary (and a permanen missionary-ahear), graeful for a church ha srikes a balance beween such hings as faciliies which honor God and people who faihfully join Him in His mission. m so honored o be no evening aciviies Your pasor, ravis knowing, loving, serv ing Chris...ogeher Sancuary Choir Anhem Come, My Soul, is ime for Waking - Mendelssohn Due by Jane Rice Holloway and Laura Rice Chrisy

2 minisry calendar Sunday, May 8 firs fellowship worship Morning Bible Sudy Sancuary worship aviva al hispanic church no evening aciviies Monday, May 9 MopS Meeing leer wriing uesday, May 10 SilK Boy Scous forum Mosaic ringers wednesday, May 11 precep Bible Sudy Suden Minisry gym wednesday nigh dinner children s Music & Missions Quarerly Business Meeing aviva hispanic Bible Sudy Suden lifoff orchesra rehearsal Sancuary choir rehearsal firs fellowship Band pracice hursday, May 12 esl Minisry friday, May 13 fellowship club 8:15 am 9:15 am 10:30 am 10:30 am 9:00 am 10:00 am 5:00 pm 6:30 pm 6:30 pm 9:00 am 4:00 pm 4:45 pm 5:30 pm 5:45 pm 7:00 pm 7:00 pm 9:00 am 10:00 am library hours Sunday 9-9:15 am 10:10-10:45 am 11:40-12:00 pm uesday 10:00 am-12:00 pm wednesday 4:00-5:00 pm New Library Books he One Less Commiee has purchased abou eigh new books for our church library. hese books are focused on how o help as you paren your children. Wheher hey are your biological, foser, or adoped children, someimes we jus need more resources. Mos of hese books have been recenly published. hese are grea books for helping your children navigae he various sages of developmen. For some children, i comes naurally, and for ohers we need o nurure and guide hem along he way. Please use hese resources in our church library! he new books are lised below: Forgive and Le Go: A Book abou Forgiveness A Calmer Me: Helping Children Cope when Emoions Ge Ou of Conrol Bounce Back: A Book abou Resilience Personal Space Camp: Helping Children Keep heir Hands and Fee in heir own Space We Belong ogeher: A Book abou Helping Foser/ Adopion Children Feel Conneced ease Monser: A Book abou easing vs. Bullying (Building Relaionships) Making Friends is an Ar Bu 's No My Faul: Helping Kids Claim Responsibiliy family Maers NEW MEMBERS Erin Sein 106 Visawood Cour Madison, AL Paricia Kennedy 404 Couny Road 245 Scosboro, AL CHRSAN SYMPAHY Family and friends of our member Bob Warren, especially o his wife, Joan Warren Hallelujah Choir Minisry Our Hallelujah Choir concludes a wonderful year hese firs couple of weeks in May. Sill basking in he glow of heir feaured appearance a he naional choir fesival for senior aduls, NSPRE!, held in Jacksonville, FL, he group is presening mini-concers a area Assised Living faciliies on May 2 and 9. hank you, Experienced Aduls who help o exend our church s minisry hrough singing in he Hallelujah Choir! Don and Lydia Phelps in he loss of her faher, Daniel Phelps and Becky Phelps in he loss of heir grandfaher, Rober S. Glover knowing, lov ing, serv ing Chris...ogeher

3 wednesday, May 11 Quarerly Business Meeing dinner Menu Menu subjec o change due o availabiliy from suppliers Chicken Cordon Bleu Scalloped Poaoes Green Beans Croissan Shou Sever ha h furhe ake u Salad Grilled Chicken Salad (Reservaions for salad mus be urned in by 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday.) So wh children s Menu opion Churc saem sance Pizza, Frui, Cookie, Drink June belie numb SewardShip repor We are collecing supplies now for he week of VBS! 9oz Clear Plasic Cups (1,000) hank You! Pure Maple Syrup (500oz) 2oz plasic condimen cups (500) hese iems have been colleced! 3oz plasic cups (10) Large Paper Plaes (40) Paper owels (8 rolls) Disposable Bowls (10) Napkins (1,000) Honey Musard (175oz) Small Paper Plaes (1,250) Ranch Dressing (175oz) Resealable plasic sandwich bags (300) Canned Peach Halves (250 halves) Quar size resealable plasic bags (14) Small Prezel Sicks (1,500 sicks) 100-coun bags of coon balls (8) Plasic Forks (252) Red Glow Sicks (50) One Pound Box of Cornsarch (22) Pool Noodles (40) Coon Socks (34 pairs) wizzlers Pull-n-Peel Cherry Licorice (250 srings) Basic Hula Hoops (10) *Caving Gear (any assormen and quaniy for decoraing and some aciviies) *cicle Lighs (24) *Squir Boles (16) *Flashlighs (30) *Baery Operaed flameless pillar candle (10) *ndicaes somehing we wan o borrow. Please label your iems and you can pick hem up beginning he afernoon of June 16! hank you o all who have already signed up o serve! Barbara Sizemore, Peer Sizemore, Sarah Sizemore, Leah Boyd, Beh Adams, Krisy Dunn, Lea Hoppe, Emily Cook, Sarah Jeffress, Hope Mackey, anya Broadway, Amy akacs, Nicholas Rorex, Lucy Glover, Julie Broadway, Missy Grayson, Brenda Bounds, Marha Nelson, Charloe Davis, Andrew Sisco, Amy Harbarger, and David Harbarger, Kyle Reasons, Robyn Helms, Anne Sone, Ellie Woodrow, Lindsay Woodrow, Samanha Woodrow, Evelyn DuBose-Schmi, ara DuBose-Schmi, Carol Belk, Jamie Richardson, Laura Cook, Kwai Weng, eri Eses, Rachel Eses, Emily Eses, Emily DePlache, Kaie Hoppe-McQueen, Erin DePlache, Debbie McDaniel, Frances Heaherly, Jonahan Broadway, Susan Keene, Beverly Brown, ina Darby, Kara Whie, Pam Jones, Michael Mahews, Laurel Mahews, Hannah Alderson, Krisen Daughery, Jusin Daughery, Robyn Helms, Parker hompson, Sue McElyea, Hannah Ramsey, Audrey Black, Anne Reasons, Mary Ellen Pollard...YOU! week #31 05/01/16 year-o-dae goal $ 2,654, offering his week $ 105, yd $ 2,625, deb reiremen his week $ 2, yd M A c m $ 94, C r aendance i Sunday School preschool 72 children 63 Sudens 103 aduls 598 guess 49 Brookdale oal 885 worship Service 5. firs fellowship worship Sancuary worship Minisry ladies rerea oal aviva alabama hispanic church hank you A hank you noe has been received from Edna Zimmerman. has been placed on he bullein board across from he Music Suie. C W w l A a F l d

4 Should FBC really make a saemen on he same-sex issue? Several monhs ago FBC decided o pospone consideraion of a saemen on same-sex pracice and marriage. here seems o have been a sense, a ha ime, ha he wise hing o do would be o awai he arrival of a new pasor. Well here we are. Of course we could le his slide. We could pospone he decision furher. Or we could simply decide, as leaders, ha we are no going o ackle he opic. hose courses, in my opinion, would no be wise. believe we do need o ake up he process of making some sor of saemen, bu should ake measured, well-planned and pruden seps oward such a saemen. So why ake on he process of issuing a saemen? Churches across he counry are deciding wheher or no o issue a posiion saemen on he opic of homosexual pracice. he idea of issuing a posiion saemen has elicied deeply emoional responses among congregaions. Churches have been divided, wih some waning o ake a conservaive/radiional sance, wih ohers waning o issue a saemen affirming same-sex marriage, and sill ohers hoping heir church will no say anyhing a all abou i. believe avoidance of a decision, and posiion, on his maer is no longer an opion for churches. ha is paricularly rue, believe, for FBC. believe ha for a number of reasons. 1. My sense is ha mos in our congregaion are expecing us o address his, and no o address i would be o break faih wih hem. 2. A church will eiher ake a proacive posiion now, or a reacive posiion laer. here used o be an ad campaign for Fram oil filers. An auo mechanic would say, You can pay me now or pay me laer. he message was ha he consumer could spend a lile money now or a whole lo of money afer a caasrophe. he same is rue for churches and posiions on his issue. We can make a decision/saemen now or make i laer. he issue is exploding in divisive ways among congregaions all over he counry. Wihou having given he opic prayerful hough, churches are responding on he fly o he reques for he dedicaion of children adoped by same-sex couples requess for same-sex weddings in he faciliies requess of minisers o perform same-sex weddings (inside or away from he church faciliies) he quesion of wheher same-sex couples can be in heir church direcories requess from poenial minisers o know he posiion of he congregaion, and vice versa he call for ordinaion of openly gay minisers and deacons Congregaions are now being forced ino big decisions, ofen forced o make he decisions amid he hea of conroversy insead of hrough a prayerful, reasoned, calm process. am fully convinced ha we will address he maer now - proacively, or down he road - reacively. A reacive response will have a name or names aached o i. will be personal. will be in response o a siuaion involving a beloved member of our church family. And ha will be a far more difficul environmen in which o make a healhy decision han our presen environmen. 3. his has become a defining issue in our sociey. Neuraliy on his issue is no longer possible. his is arguably he bigges culural discussion of our generaion. For he church o remain silen on his would violae our call o be sal and ligh in he world. Churches who choose o isolae hemselves and no even engage in dialogue abou his opic will become increasingly irrelevan. 4. Wihou a guiding principle, fuure decisions abou such issues as who he church will consider for minisers, who can be married and by whom, who is eligible for leadership, and so on, will be made wihou direcion from he congregaion. n Bapis poliy, he healhies processes involve he congregaion speaking o major issues, giving direcion for heir leaders and minisers o follow when ough quesions arise. Wheher i is fuure search eams, fuure business meeings, or fuure leadership discussions, for he church o clarify is direcion, a leas in a general sense, will be criical. 5. Avoidance is no a healhy opion a his juncure. he desire no o make a decision is ofen a maer of unhealhy wavering. While ofen rooed in an admirable moive, such as he desire o avoid conflic, avoidance is no ulimaely a helpful decision. 6. FBC Hunsville can model compassion and ruh. Wih so many embracing an unqualified affirmaion of homosexual pracice, and so many ohers aking he roue of hosile condemnaion of homosexual individuals, we can do our bes o find, and model, he balance. 7. f indeed same-sex inimacy is less han God s inenion for His people, hen we have a responsibiliy o offer a compelling perspecive boh o hose inside and ouside he church who are sruggling o find an answer, wheher ha answer is heoreical or personal. his includes, of course, he nex generaion. 8. his gives us an opporuniy o explore anew, and o declare anew, our commimen o he auhoriy of Scripure, as we undersand i, under he leadership of he Holy Spiri. his is no only a defining issue in sociey; in many ways i is a defining issue wihin churches. 9. f he church has issued a posiion saemen on he issue, i is likely ha he posiion saemen will help poenial church members make heir decisions.

5 My opinion, hen, is ha his is such a defining issue in our day ha a posiion canno be avoided. should no be he kind of posiion ha says, Unless you agree wih his you canno be par of our church, and i should no reflec poorly on congregaions who ake differen posiions. should, however, reflec he majoriy view of his congregaion. cerainly believe a saemen by a church should address he broad Chrisian view of sexualiy; no jus homosexualiy. he process is as imporan as he decision, and he process is paricularly imporan for Big en churches like ours churches who reflec a broad diversiy of opinions on his opic in paricular. he process should be prayerfully deliberae; offer muliple opporuniies for inpu and reflecion; insure ha hose who do no approve of he final decision are no made o feel excluded; and be led by skilled leaders. A process such as his should be enered will he full knowledge ha i will be difficul, emoional, and poenially divisive. he bes mos churches probably can hope for in decisions like his is subsanial agreemen. is indeed dauning o consider his issue. Candidly, he resul could be some level of division wihin our church and/or derision from ouside he church, no maer he saemen we make. Bu hese are days ha require holy courage (no o be confused wih self-righeous ourage) from us. believe my role as pasor is o give general direcion o he process, bu no o drive he process and, cerainly, no o decide on he deails of he process. Furhermore, as said in he Friday nigh Q&A during my call weekend, canno be neural, bu can be fair. would be unhinkable for a pasor no o weigh in on a opic and process as subsanive as his; however, his is a church decision and bigger han my personal perspecive. he Leadership Council has se forh he following process and imeable for your consideraion: DSCOVERY PHASE Biblical ruhs regarding sexualiy are explored. A Sudy eam is presened o he church in he May 11 business meeing My bookle on he opic is made available a he conclusion of worship services on July 10 Season of Prayer and Fasing begins Sunday, Augus 7 Sermon Series on Sunday mornings wih Q & A on Wednesday and Sunday evenings: Augus 21 Sepember 4 DSCUSSON PHASE An opporuniy for he congregaion o dialogue wih each oher o offer perspecives in Chrisian love. Church-wide Conversaions: Sepember 4 Sepember 18 (including a secure, faciliaed on-line opporuniy for he posing of opinions) DOCUMEN / DRECON PHASE Sudy eam formulaes a saemen a resoluion or an amendmen o policy guidelines and/or governing documens o presen for he church s adopion. Sudy eam mees and works on a saemen: Sepember 4 Ocober 9 Sudy eam presens preliminary repor o Miniserial Saff for feedback on Ocober 10 Sudy eam presens is repor o Leadership Council on Ocober 17 (A his poin, he Leadership Council assumes responsibiliy for he documen and prepares i for presenaion o he deacons and, ulimaely, o he congregaion) Leadership Council presens he documen o deacons for affirmaion on Ocober 24 DSCERNMEN PHASE he saemen proposed by he Sudy eam is shared widely so ha everyone in he church has an opporuniy o prayerfully consider i. Proposed saemen disribued o church: Ocober 30 DECSON PHASE Voe on Sunday, November 13 in an evening gahering undersand ha issuing a church saemen is fraugh wih danger. would no issue a call for such a saemen wihou he deep convicion ha i is necessary. Ye, wih he same deph of convicion wih which call for a saemen also plead for uniy despie our ineviably diverse perspecives on his imporan maer. Wihin our congregaion urge people o be willing o move as far in he direcion of he opposing posiion as you can wihou violaing your consciences. Of course, would no ask anyone o disregard your sincere sense of he biblical message. would, however, urge people o remember ha here are equally sincere Chrisians who hold opposing views. Do no violae your convicions, bu if you can affirm he cenral, majoriy posiion, ha would be good for our congregaion. urge us all o be as accommodaing and collaboraive as we can be for he sake of he precious fellowship and compelling mission of our grea church. ravis Collins May 1, 2016

6 u agree joriy iversiy Firs Bapis Church 600 Governors Drive Hunsville, AL can o. eigh in ns) n. r he ssary. aer. Of sincere aion. office: weekend miniser on call: hour prayer line: fbchsv.org he MESSENGER (USPS ) is published weekly excep he week of Chrismas by Firs Bapis Church, 600 Governors Drive, Hunsville, AL Periodical posage paid a Hunsville, Alabama POSMASER send change of address o HE MESSENGER, 600 Governors Drive, Hunsville, AL May 11 Quarerly Business Meeing Agenda ems A he May 11 Quarerly Business Meeing, we will voe on he proposal by he rusees o replace he mosaic. (Please see he March 31 Messenger for more informaion.) he Personnel Commiee will bring a proposal for wo minisry posiions for our church. hese posiions will help us in our goals o reach ou ino he communiy and gain more focus on young aduls. We will be proposing a Miniser o Young Aduls whose focus will be wih single and married aduls ages his will be a full ime posiion. We will also be proposing a Median Adul Minisry Coordinaor whose focus will be on single and married aduls ages his will be a par ime posiion, approximaely hours a week. Also, he Finance Commiee has updaed he Financial Manual. here are very few procedural changes bu a copy is available for review in he Finance Office. Finally, he Leadership will recommend he five phase process described in his issue of he Messenger for approval. Fellowship Club Friday, May 13 a 10:00 a.m. in he Fellowship Hall. Program: Gregory Davis, Hunsville Police Deparmen, Gang ask Force Menu: counry fried seak wih whie gravy, fried poaoes, lima beans, biscui, apple pie Non-members may call Sue Mauldin for reservaions a For Your nformaion Some of you have asked abou he fuure plans for he building ha currenly houses he Hunsville Assisance Program and he Hunsville Achievemen School, locaed a he far eas end of our parking lo. he rusees had planned o ear down ha building his year as he fuure cos of mainaining and upgrading he faciliy is no cos effecive. However, since Hunsville Achievemen School has been unable o locae suiable propery for is school, we are elecing o exend heir lease unil May 31, he same will be done wih he lease for he Hunsville Assisance Program. Music Camp Join us for a HO Chrismas in July a Music Camp his summer! July 11-15, 9:00 a.m. unil 2:00 p.m. wih he final presenaion on Friday, July 15. Cos is $50 ($40 for each addiional child) for children who have compleed K5-6h Grade. Regiser online by logging ino your Mosaic accoun a or regiser by conacing he Music Minisries Office a