News n Views. December 2013/January 2014 Newsletter for Banwell Community Church. Mark Your Calendar

Transcription

1 News n Views December 2013/January 2014 Newsletter for Banwell Community Church 2400 Banwell Road, Windsor, ON N8P 1X9, Phone: , info@banwellchurch.org Website: Banwell is a member of the Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec Mark Your Calendar 12.3 Ladies Candlelight Tea 7 p.m Breakfast With Santa 9 a.m Bethlehem Bound Play 6:30 p.m Banwell Family Christmas Concert 7:30 p.m Christmas Eve Service 7 p.m. From the Staff of News n Views... We wish you a blessed Christmas! Income Tax Receipts To be credited for Offerings on your Income Tax Receipt, all monies need to be received by Sunday, December 29 th, Your 2013 Income Tax Receipt will be ready for pickup the last two weeks of January. Watch the Sunday Bulletin for exact dates. Zelma Horvath Envelope Steward Christmas Love Offering The one remaining yellow envelope in your Offering Box is dated December 25 th. This year your Finance Committee will direct 100% of the offering received in this envelope to First Baptist Church Windsor. Submitted by Zelma Horvath NEWS TEAM MEMBERS Editor/Journalist: Jim Wheeler; Journalists: Tracy Bevington, Zelma Horvath, & Donna Soper; Proof-reader: Zelma Horvath; Typist & Designer: Debbie Ebel; Spiritual Leader: Pastor Alex Moir; Production Staff: Deborah Bevington

2 Worship Notes We look forward to how we may grow through worship in the next few months as we gather together for worship here at Banwell. During the month of December the pastor will continue the Advent series, as well as a New Year s theme on December 29 th. And don t forget our opportunity to gather together on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, December 24 th at 7:00 p.m. During the month of January the pastor will begin a message series on Paul s letters to the Philippians. We will conclude the month by celebrating our church anniversary with our guest speaker, Rev. Dr. Brian Craig, who works as the Leadership Development Coordinator for our own Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec. May the Lord continue to bless us as we gather together in worship! December 1st A Promise Kept (Jeremiah 33:14-16) December 8 th The Way Prepared (Luke 3:1-6) December 15 th A People Blessed (Philippians 4:4-9) December 22 nd Let There Be Joy (Luke 1:39-47) December 29 th A Good Beginning (Isaiah 45:18-22) January 5th January 12 th January 19th January 26th Making a Life and Not Just a Living (Philippians 1:18b-26) How Disappointment Fits in the Picture (Philippians 1:27-30) Doing Good in a Bad World (Philippians 2:14-15) Anniversary with Guest Speaker, Rev. Dr. Brian Craig Opportunity for Employment PART-TIME ECE POSITION Sunflower Childcare Centre, located at 227 Wellesley, has an opening for a part-time ECE teacher. To apply, please contact Barb Wright, Director, at VOLUNTEERS NEEDED This winter, why not help the members of the community who need it most? The Snow Angels Program matches volunteers with residents who need help clearing the sidewalks bordering their property. The process is simple, whenever it snows the volunteer will go to their assigned address and remove the snow from city sidewalks within 12 hours of the snowfall. This is a popular program and helps countless elderly and disabled persons avoid unnecessary dangers. In order to continue this program we need more volunteers. Check out or call 311 to learn more about the program and sign up! Students - this is a great way to earn your community hours!

3 Age Unlimited Dec Henry Nurse, Coordinator, Submitted by Joan Fulmer She gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in clothes and placed him in a manger. Luke 2:7 A wonderful fellowship is being planned for our Christmas celebration. It will be held on Wednesday, December 11 th at 11:00 a.m. in the church foyer. The devotional thought expresses this event. The birth of our Lord Jesus takes place in a manger. The Lamb is our Christmas gift from God for the Lamb who would be slain for our salvation. Our special program will include singing our favourite Christmas hymns and a delightful presentation Have You Heard the Bells? Grant Fairley will be our special guest presenter. Grant is known to many in Banwell as an adult Sunday School teacher, and a member of the recent committee to hire the new Director of Christian Education. He is the son of Lois and Harry Fairley and has two brothers. He is a graduate of Wheaton College in Illinois. He is married to Cari. Grant is also the author of many books including Up to the Cottage where he outlined his youth summer holidays in the beautiful Muskoka area of Ontario. Grant is also a principal speaker with Strategic Seminars. The morning will conclude with a delicious lunch which is being catered by Rosemary O Neil and her staff. She is preparing a prime-rib roast beef meal with all the trimmings: salad, rolls, mashed potatoes with gravy, vegetables and unbelievable desserts. All this for $20.00! A Christmas delicacy. Please pay Madelon Kidd by December 1 st and indicate your presence by signing up. We wish you a Christmas that is truly heavenblessed and a New Year that will be among your very happiest and along with all these wishes comes a special loving prayer that God will bless you every day and keep you in His care! Merry Christmas to everyone!

4 Money Matters 2014 Offering Envelopes If you requested Offering Envelopes this year, or if you have requested Offering Envelopes in the past, they will be ready to be picked up during the month of December. If you don t have your own Envelopes or use the Pew Envelopes, why not request a box? Everyone who gives a gift of money to Banwell is assigned a number in order to receive an Income Tax Receipt at the end of the year. Requesting envelopes just simplifies the exercise. You do not have to be a member of Banwell or follow any rules and regulations just ask, and you will receive them If you have had envelopes in the past but would prefer using a pew envelope, please let me know that as well. Available also is the convenient Pre-Authorized Debit way of giving. Simply by filling out a form and giving me a void cheque, your offerings can come directly out of your bank account the first Wednesday of every month and go into the Banwell account. There are no bank charges to you. Eighteen Banwell members now use this service. If you have any questions about the Pre-Authorized Debit, tithes or offerings, or if you wish to request envelopes, just do one of the following: -Fill out the yellow connecting card in the pew marking the appropriate box & put it in the offering plate, -Leave me a note in my mailbox #62, or - me at gzhorvath@cogeco.ca Zelma Horvath Envelope Steward Pay-It-Forward It s a great idea and something special happened to Ken and Heather Heuston on the day - on Friday, November 1st. You may have read about it in the Windsor Star Letters to the Editor about how Ken and Heather were the recipients of the Pay-It-Forward idea. While celebrating Heather s birthday at the Red Lobster, two gentlemen became aware of Heather s birthday and paid for their dinner. But, that wasn t the end of the story as later when going to the theatre the Heuston s paid for the tickets of a young man. What a great idea! Congrats to the Heustons! J.W.

5 MEN S MINISTRY REPORT NEW FOR YOU Our usual Breakfast meeting will be changed to a Dinner meeting in January for those of our men who are unable to attend our Saturday events. BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND Pastor Alex Moir will be our guest speaker Monday, January 20, :00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. SUPPER AT BANWELL *You are guaranteed to be home before the kids go to bed* ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ COMING ATTRACTIONS ANNOUNCED BY BOB MIDDAUGH *Saturday, February 22, 8:30 a.m. - Frank Ball *Saturday, March 22, 8:30 a.m. - Bill Graham *Saturday, April 26, 8:30 a.m. - Dave Innes *Saturday, May 24, 8:30 a.m. - Dennis Dick Is Bob organized or what? Indeed he is - with this great line-up of interesting speakers. Details forthcoming. All meetings conclude by 10:00 a.m. leaving time for you to complete your Saturday to-do-list. WHITE GIFT SERVICE Our annual White Gift Service will be held on Sunday, December 15th. ALL MEN are encouraged to bring a bag of canned goods that will be forwarded to those in need. OUR FINANCES As of November we have $1, in our bank account. Thanks to you, the majority of our funds come from the Annual Car Wash and go to support the SNACK program at Begley Public School to help fill empty stomachs, as well as other community projects. DID YOU KNOW?? This fall marks the third year the Men s Ministry of Banwell have been visiting local suppliers where we purchase and also receive donations of food for the Snack Program. THANKS MEN for making this community project possible. MENTORING SKIT The Banwell Players may not qualify for an Academy Award however, their message was clear at our service on October 27th promoting the new mentoring initiative of our Director of Youth Ministries, Christian Wiley. Let Christian know and support this great idea. Nominations for Acting Awards go to Lino Braccio, Carson Doyle, Dave Ferrato and Richard Marshall. PLANS UNDERWAY for scheduling next year s GREAT ESCAPE V. Please pass on your suggestions regarding possible speakers and locations to Lino Braccio as soon as possible. The Holy Family Retreat House is not available in NEW EXECUTIVE APPOINTED With the retirement of Claude Daniels and Wayne Parsons, we are very pleased and fortunate to have two new men join the team - Randy VanWagner and Bruce Rand. Jim Wheeler

6 View From the Pew Lately I ve been thinking of the God-given gifts we each have I ve also been thinking of the ones I don t have! Like a passion for cooking. Growing up in a home where simple food was the norm (and a blessing) meat loaf, mashed potatoes, peas and raisin or apple pie being my father s favourite meal, my mother never experimented much with food. For instance, if we wanted pasta, it came out of a can In my large family the small amount of money that did come was used only for necessities so I ve always known how to cook an egg One extravagance was purchasing the ingredients for the Christmas cake. The recipe has been passed down for decades in fact I still have my Mom s recipe book dated 1926 with the cake s ingredients written in her hand. Hours of preparation the night before shortened the actual mixing the next day, but the baking would take up to five hours in that old stove of ours. The following day, after the cakes cooled completely, Mom would ice all three layers with the standard white icing, mixing icing sugar with a few drops of milk, and then stacking the layers like a wedding cake finishing it by placing little silver, edible, balls all around the edges. Weeks later when the cake would start drying out she made a Carmel Sauce to pour over it that is when I and my siblings actually ate the cake! Marrying into a Hungarian family, I learned the art of making cabbage rolls, goulash and baconwrapped chicken livers from one of the best chefs around, my mother-in-law, and when my daughter married an Italian I created a pasta sauce that my grandsons say could rival Nona s! So I do cook, it just isn t my passion nor my gift. I have continued the ritual of making the cake yearly but do not ice it nor do I use it for gift giving. You know how the jokes fly around about fruit cake one Windsor Star comic, titled B.C., has a character sending a message across the water with the note saying Please accept this fruitcake as a token of our sincere best wishes. Three frames later the answer comes back If it s war you want, bring it on! I ll use my gift of counting money, continue to be your Envelope Steward for as long as needed, and eat the cake myself And that s my view Zelma Horvath Zelma s Mom s Recipe Book Christmas Cake Recipe

7 BOOK REVIEWS By Maureen Church, Librarian THE SILENT ORDER MELANIE DOBSON It s 1928 and dark secrets control this family of mobsters, the Cardanos together in fear of each other. Rollin Wells has vowed to end their fearsome control and they want him dead. He meets Amish woman, Katie and her son and he knows she is hiding something she knows about the Cardanos. HELD HOSTAGE KEN COOPER The story of one man s double life. He was the perfect citizen to his family and friends, had a great job at a Christian college, but to the police he was known as the gentleman bank robber. This is the true story of his remarkable redemption. SONS OF THUNDER SUSAN MAY WARREN Sofia is loved by two brothers, one offers the past she loves, the other a future from Chicago jazz clubs to WW2 battlefields. A story of betrayal, sacrifice and redemption. THE COOL WOMAN JOHN A. ANDERSON Vietnam combat pilot Lieutenant Bill Mann moves from one situation to another, ranging from death-defying and dangerous to downright hilarious. You have to keep turning pages to see what kind of a mess he will get himself into next and whether he will be reunited with his wife. FEAR HAS A NAME CRESTON MAPES Journalist Jack Crittendon s wife and daughter have been targeted by a stalker. As he investigates to find the culprit, he uncovers secrets that will put his own life in danger. He tries not to give in to fear as he also searches for a missing pastor. THE GUARDIAN R. CHEVRONT & E. REED Anna Riley stumbles across a family secret. Her ancestors have been keepers of an ancient scroll that is said to have been given to the disciple John by God and now it belongs to her. But will being keeper of the scroll put her life in danger? Faces in the Crowd A thank you to the following individuals who helped repair the fence that surrounds our garbage dumpster: Tom Holmes, Dave Wickham, Chris Wickham, George Morris, Daniel Blata and Richard Marshall. The sympathy of the congregation is extended to Renee Duffy upon the passing of her father, William Duffy, on November 3rd in Glasgow, Scotland; and to Fred and Deborah Falkner upon the passing of Deborah s brother Cliff Ford Jr. on November 9 th. Thanksgiving Offering This year s offering went to the Canadian Baptist s Annual Campaign entitled Good Health, Hopeful Living. The Banwell offering of over $3000 went to HIV/Aids Programs in Kenya, Rwanda and India; the treatment and prevention of a unique disease called Chagas in Bolivia; and the support of a mother and child care center in India. Thanks folks for your generosity!

8 Mission Trip Update (Cont d) Mission Trip Update by Claire Cameron To my Banwell Family, This past summer I spent an amazing six weeks across the world in Tanzania, Africa. I lived with long-time friends and missionaries, Dale and Chris Hamilton. Dale is a pastor, who helps and supports new pastors in the islands surrounding Lake Victoria and Chris is a nurse who specializes in tropical diseases. Chris has helped start three clinics on the same islands that Dale works in. I was able to see the work that they did there as well as visits with a local pastor on the island of Ikuza. Dale and Chris introduced me to their friends; Beth and Lisa who are both missionaries in Tanzania. Beth is the director at Tumaini (Hope) Children s Home, where we ran a VBS for the 50 children there. We taught on the life of Joseph, learned Bible verses and sang songs. I have never met kids who love to sing so much and it always comes from their heart. I also got to meet Paul, a local man and former street child and his American wife Laurie. Both Paul and Laurie run a home for boys who have been living on the street. We were able to walk the streets of downtown Mwanza, Tanzania one evening and meet some of the children that are sleeping there. We handed out bread to those in need and just visited, listening to many stories, all of which blew me away. We are SO blessed here in Canada. My entire experience while away was amazing. God taught me many lessons of gratitude, patience and thankfulness. I want to thank you all for your prayers and support over the summer, it means a lot to me.

9 Child Care Worker Schedules for December 2013 and January 2014 Date Nursery Little Lambs Children s Church Dec. 1st Christa Braccio Mary Ann Adlam Suzan Harper Carol Sipila Marjorie Rusling Saundra Plummer Dec. 8th Gord Wickham Camryn Stephens Carol Middaugh Taylor Cabana Terri Prevett Amy Lemmon Carson Doyle Dec. 15th Beth Gellner Marlene Wray Gayle Marsh Taylor Cabana Bonnie Hammond Kyrn Page Betty Ann Brown Dec. 22nd Ellen Doyle Heather Doyle Patty Moroz Cheryl Lovell Meryl Lynn Linda Trojand Carol Sipila Dec. 29th Deborah Martel Hailey Beemer Barb Stephens Camryn Stephens Marlee Page Kyrn Page Jan. 5th Christa Braccio Mary Ann Adlam Laurie Beemer Hailey Beemer Terri Prevett Amy Lemmon Carson Doyle Jan. 12th Gord Wickham Camryn Stephens Suzan Harper Carol Sipila Meryl Lynn Linda Trojand Jan. 19th Beth Gellner Marlene Wray Carol Middaugh Taylor Cabana Beth Adlam Claire Cameron Jan. 26th Ellen Doyle Heather Doyle Gayle Marsh Taylor Cabana Terri Prevett Danijela Kralik Max Rolle CHRISTMAS CHANGES IN PROGRAMMING Christian Education Hour will not meet on Sunday, Dec. 29th and Sunday, Jan. 5th, but will resume on Jan. 12th. Kids Zone will not meet on Dec. 12th, Dec. 19th, Dec. 26th, Jan. 2nd, and Jan. 9th, but will resume on Jan. 16th. There will be a Kids Zone Leaders Meeting on Jan. 9th at 6:30 p.m. The Sweet Ladies are at it again Believe it or not, this is the 33 rd year that the Laura-Secord-rival peanut-butter chocolates will be available for sale. That is the good news. The other good news is the price is still the same decades later - $6.00 for a half-pound. Chocolate Fruit and Nut Clusters will also be available for the same price. You may purchase them before and after the December 8 th and 15 th services. The Bad News is if you don t act fast, you won t get any because when they are gone they are gone

10 My Back Pages As the autumn season is about to end I find myself looking back over these past few weeks in an effort to sum up what this fall has been like. I think for me one of the highlights was the men s retreat back in the first weekend of October. The guys took a real risk this year by inviting their pastor to be their input person (aka guest speaker). Only they can answer whether they made the right choice but for me it was a real eye-opener. Our subject for the event had to do with living our faith in a world where it is often hard to do so. I gave a little bit of input in each of our sessions, but we spent two specific times in break-away groups, responding to some prepared questions. One of the questions had to do with when each of the guys began to consider faith in God and what led to that development. As I walked around listening in to the discussion, I was fascinated by the answers. First, I found the men to be remarkably candid. I had gone into the weekend just wondering how the discussion period would fly as we sometimes say, but after just a little bit I caught myself breathing a huge sigh of relief. It was as if they were just waiting for an opportunity to share their story. This got me thinking about the hurried world in which we live. The opportunity to share something on the personal side when we fly from one event to the other is just so rare. In spite of all the things I had to set aside to attend this event on a Saturday, I was instantly grateful that I had done so. If this investment of time allowed a group of guys to hear an honest word and maybe give one themselves, it was indeed worth it. But it was the depth of the sharing that impressed me as well. I ve read a lot of pretty deep stuff over the years about faith and discipleship and this level of writing has its place. But the things these guys were saying about how they had come to faith were so fresh and authentic and personal. Each story was different and I marvelled at the variety. It made me realize that the God we love and believe in draws people to Him in such different ways. We all were talking about the same God but He seems to use our unique personalities, experiences, gifts, network of contacts and so many other things to lead us to Him. The weekend was such an encouragement to me, and I hope it was to the guys as well. It got me thinking of how valuable a church family can be. If we do church right, we ought to afford people opportunities to tell their story in Christ. I know we re a busy congregation, buzzing around doing all kinds of good things. But events like a retreat or our small group gatherings allow folks to process life without the clock ticking! May God grant us the patience to listen and the presence of mind to ask questions of each other. If so, you may be surprised like I was and be encouraged in our faith in the process! Devotedly your pastor Alex