New Outlook. Second Baptist Church. April From our pastor... Open and progressive since Hey everybody,

Transcription

1 New Outlook April 2019 Second Baptist Church Open and progressive since 1833 From our pastor... Hey everybody, April is a great month. There are so many wonderful things that happen in April. The biggest event, for many of us, is Easter. This year Easter is celebrated on April 21. We will have a grand and glorious day of worship with incredible music, thought provoking conversation, and a sweet fellowship of friends and family. Following the worship service, there will be an Easter egg hunt on the grounds for our children. It will be an amazing day as we celebrate the risen Lord!! On Friday, April 19, at 8:00 p.m., we will commemorate Good Friday with a service based around the seven last statements of Jesus while he was crucified. A service of music, song, and inspirational thought, it will serve as a meaningful beginning to Easter weekend. On Sunday, April 14, we will usher in Holy Week with a festive Palm Sunday worship service. The service will begin with a parade of palms as we celebrate the coronation parade of Jesus as he entered Jerusalem for the final week of his life. Leading up to these events, on Wednesdays during Lent we are participating with the churches of Richmond Heights as we join together for Lenten worship services and lunches. It is a positive way for our churches to create a sense of unity in the Lenten season. And to help us prepare ourselves during Lent, we have set up a "Stations of the Cross" in the Sanctuary of the Beatitudes. You are free to experience the stations anytime during the Lenten season. There are purple bulletins on the table in the back of the sanctuary which will serve as a guide as you walk from image to image. continued on p. 2

2 The images, based on the traditional Stations of the Cross, are painted by a remarkable artist from Arizona, Ettore Ted DeGrazia (June 14, September 17, 1982). DeGrazia Is known for his paintings of Native American children and Southwestern themes. You can learn much more about DeGrazia and his work at degrazia.org. The images in our sanctuary are prints of original oil paintings which hang in the St. Thomas More Chapel at the University of Arizona. Happy April! Steve From Marilyn and Brad Short Good Friday service The choir is planning a lovely service for this Good Friday, April 19, at 8 p.m. in our sanctuary. Entitled "Seven Words; Seven Responses," the evening will present the seven last words of Christ, each to be followed by a musical response. The choir has been working overtime to prepare music for this special event. Their selections will include the moving "Father, Forgive Them" by Pepper Choplin, and a thoughtful setting of "What Wondrous Love Is This" by Mark Patterson. The choir will also sing the beautiful "Agnus Dei" from Mark Hayes' setting of the Requiem. Lori Watrous will present a majestic flute solo of "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross." The congregation will sing two hymns: "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded" and "Ah, Holy Jesus." The choir will close the evening with an achingly evocative arrangement of "Were You There?" by Gwyneth Walker. This will be a very important event in the life of our church, as we meditate together on the meaning of the Good Friday experience in preparation for Easter morning. Please plan to attend and bring friends. Easter morning The choir is planning a powerful contemporary anthem for Easter morning entitled "Love Brought Me Back!" by our new favorite composer, Mark A. Miller. Set to a driving beat, it will be a rousing addition to a joyful morning of celebration. We will conclude the service with Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" at which time we will invite all comers to join the choir in the organ loft, as is our church's long-time tradition. We are looking forward to it!

3 What are the Stations of the Cross? As you enter the Sanctuary of the Beatitudes during this Lenten season, you will notice that there are images displayed on the north and south walls between the windows. Created by the artist Ettore DeGrazia, they are a temporary exhibit through Good Friday. They are intended to create a "Stations of the Cross" experience. While a temporary array of images in our sanctuary, the Stations of the Cross are permanent displays in almost every Catholic sanctuary in the world. Sometimes the stations are painted; sometimes they are sculptured. Sometimes they are traditional; sometimes they have a contemporary flair. They are found on the walls of each sanctuary and are open to public perusal. The stations are intended to help worshippers reflect on the death of Jesus. Historically, the Stations of the Cross date back to Francis of Assisi, who wanted to replicate the pilgrimage destination of the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem. The Via Dolorosa is a stone pathway that meanders through the Old City of Jerusalem from the place of Jesus' condemnation to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. According to tradition, it is the path that Jesus traveled from his trial to his crucifixion. There are 14 stations along the way. Each is marked by a chapel or permanent display commemorating the event that happened there. The Via Dolorosa is always crowded with pilgrims, elbow to elbow, retracing the steps of Jesus. Stations of the Cross displays were introduced to churches so that Christians could experience the spirit of the Via Dolorosa without actually traveling to Jerusalem. We have chosen to present the this experience for our members and friends because we believe that there is something powerful in remembrance and reflection. You are encouraged to take a few moments over the next few weeks and journey through our Stations of the Cross. Steve Sermons in April April 7 A Guy with a Name Mark 10:46-52 April 14 Palm Sunday: Coronation II Samuel 5:1-5 April 21 EASTER: Surprise Luke 9:18-22 April 28 Sing it! Psalm 118:14-17

4 A Series on Healing To go along with Pastor Steve s series on the stories of Jesus healings recounted in the Gospel of Mark, in February we began a series of personal stories by members of our congregation who have experienced an unexpected recovery from an illness or who have a family member or patient who has. If you have a healing story to tell, please contact Mary Shepardson. From Jim Shepardson At a routine checkup in December 2001, my doctor noticed that all the lymph nodes in my neck were swollen. A follow-up visit a month later showed that they were even bigger. I was referred to three doctors before one found that I had mantle cell lymphoma. A PET scan showed that the cancer was all over, from my chin to my legs. The doctor told me that without treatment I would be dead within three months. During the time I was being sent from one doctor to another to find the problem, I went to a Vineyard Church where I knew a few people and requested prayer for healing. After my diagnosis, I went back again. Before my first treatment there was a prayer meeting for me at Second. Four family members and two close friends committed to pray for me every day during my treatment, and many others told me they were praying too. My treatment consisted of four types of chemotherapy and Rituxan, a monoclonal antibody that had just been released for use a few months before. Mary also gave me a shot of Neupogen on all nonchemo days, for a total of 100 shots in the stomach. After 6 weeks of treatments I had another PET scan which showed the cancer gone. I thought, Great no more treatments! Wrong! I finished my 12 weeks of treatments and then had a stem cell transplant with my own radiated cells in early September I had frequent CT scans for the next five years, which all showed no cancer. (I was labeled unremarkable. ) At that point my cancer doctor said I didn t need to come back unless I felt a swollen lymph node again. I believe that God used the medical doctors regimen with drugs to heal me. After the first treatment I could feel that one of the swollen lymph nodes had shrunk, so I knew something was working. Melissa Bancks told me she had a dream or message that I would be okay. That meant a lot to me. I was given many pills to reduce the side effects of the chemotherapy drugs, so my primary reaction to the treatment was tiredness and weight loss. (During treatment I had a picture taken when I had no hair and had lost about 25 pounds, so I know how I will look when I am 110.) During the 17 years since my cancer diagnosis and treatment, I saw my son married, and I was there for the arrival for all four of our grandchildren. I am very thankful.

5 ...that Sacajawea s son attended a school run by Second Baptist founders John Mason Peck and James Ely Welch as part of the church s mission? The backstory: Meriwether Lewis and William Clark left St. Charles, Missouri on their famous expedition to explore the Louisiana Purchase in May Along the way they met Toussaint Charbonneau, a French-Canadian trader, and his teenaged wife Sacajawea, who was pregnant. Knowing that they were going to face potentially hostile Native American tribes, Lewis and Clark invited both Toussaint and Sacajawea to come along on the expedition as guides and translators. A $1 U.S. coin, first minted in The baby on Sacajawea s back attended SBC s founders school It paid off. After her baby was born, Sacajawea walked with Lewis and Clark in the front of the expedition with baby Jean Baptiste on her back any time they encountered Native Americans, in the hope that the sight of her with a baby would signal their peaceful intentions. In August 1805, the group came upon a Shoshone encampment in present-day Montana, where Sacajawea, a Shoshone who had been captured and later sold to Charbonneau, was reunited with members of her tribe. When the chief, who some sources say was her brother, became distrustful of Lewis and Clark, she could translate and help make peace. Along the way, William Clark become very attached to Jean Baptiste, whom he nicknamed Pomp, after Pompey, a great Roman statesman. At the end of the expedition, he wrote to Jean Baptiste s father, As to your little Son (my boy Pomp) you well know my fondness for him and my anxiety to take him and raise him as my own child. Pomp was left with Clark in St. Louis when his parents returned to the Dakotas, although they continued to have contact. In 1812 Sacajawea died at age 25 in what is now South Dakota. In December 1817 the Missouri Gazette reported, Revds. John M. Peck and James E. Welch, Baptist missionaries, will open an Academy near the Post Office. Records show that on January 20, 1820, William Clark paid $ /2 cents to J.E. Welch for Jean Baptiste to attend for two quarters. In May he paid for another quarter. Then it appears that Clark transferred Jean Baptiste to a new school run by Catholic priests. That school was the forerunner of St. Louis University. And Jean Baptiste s life after school? In June 1823 he met a German duke who was traveling in North America on a natural history mission with Jean- Baptiste s father as his guide. The duke invited Jean Baptiste to his home, where Jean Baptiste lived in the duke s palace for 6 years, learning German and Spanish and improving his English and French. When he got back to the U.S., he headed for the West, where he spent four decades, acting as a military scout during the Mexican-American War, an interpreter, a magistrate, a hunter and trapper, a hotel manager, and a gold prospector. Jean Baptiste Charbonneau

6 Pompey s Pillar, now a national monument, was named for Pomp by William Clark on the Corps of Discovery s journey back to St. Louis. Charbonneau, Oregon was also named for him, and he is the only child besides Virginia Dare to appear on a U.S. coin. Editor s note: Many thanks to Charles Muse, who did the research for this story documenting our church s link to this historically important man. His sources will be on the table in the back of the sanctuary for several weeks for those who would like to know more. Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace. Frederick Buechner If you are graduating or know someone from Second who is, please let Mary Shepardson know. Next month will be our graduation issue. WEEKLY ACTIVITIES Sun 8:45 a.m. Choir practice 9:15 a.m. Church school 9:15 a.m. Karen worship 10:30 a.m. Worship service 11:30 a.m. Coffee Fellowship 11:40 a.m. 2nd Sunday Choir rehearsal Wed 9 - noon Friendship International Thurs 6:30 p.m. Choir practice COMING UP IN APRIL April 3 Noon Community Lenten service at First Church of God April 3 6:30 p.m. Koinonia April 9 1:00 p.m. Book Group April 10 Noon Community Lenten service at Little Flower April 13 10:00 a.m. Youth Second Saturday Gathering April 14 Palm Sunday April 15 6:30 p.m. April 17 Noon Council Community Lenten service at Church of the Living God April 17 6:30 p.m. Koinonia April 19 8:00 p.m. Good Friday service April 20 7:30 a.m. NO Men s Breakfast this month April 21 EASTER NO church school April 3: April 10: April 17: Richmond Heights Churches Unity in the Community 2019 First Church of God 7770 Dale Avenue Little Flower Catholic Church 1264 Arch Terrace Church of the Living God 8016 Dale Avenue Discussing Books with Friends On Tuesday, April 9, at 1:00 in the Community Room, Sandy Dixon will lead a discussion of An American Family: A Memoir of Hope and Sacrifice, by Khizr Khan. Everyone is invited to join us. The New Outlook is a monthly publication of Second Baptist Church of Greater St. Louis. Please send articles and photos by April 21 for the next issue.

7 Second Baptist Church of Greater St. Louis An American Baptist Church 9030 Clayton Road at McKnight St. Louis, Missouri SUNDAY SCHEDULE Church school for all ages 9:15 p.m. Worship service 10:30 a.m. A nursery is provided. Coffee Fellowship follows the service. Telephone & fax (314) office@2ndbc.org Website: Rev. Stephen Mechem, Pastor Randy Sumner, Moderator Ash Wednesday Unity in the Community Second Baptist Immacolata Catholic Church