First Baptist Church Worcester Newsletter March 2015 A welcoming and affirming church community EACH SUNDAY.. 8:30 am Breakfast in Gordon Hall 9:00 am Bible and Bagels in the Lee Room 9:30 - after the service: Nursery Care for infants & toddlers 9:00-9:45 am Grades 5-12 in Youth Lounge with Tom Ward 9:45 am Pre-K and K in Caboose with Courtney Stevens 10:00 am Worship Service ( Church School after Children s Time with Bill and Nancy ) 11:00 am Coffee and fellowship in Gordon Hall 11:20 am Adult Forum and other activities
Enough of winter Robustly, we turn the calendar page from February to March; perhaps in the hope that the breeze caused will bear a hint of spring The month of March is enveloped by the season of Lent. The season has a long history of being unpopular and not without cause. As most folks are aware, the term Lent is derivative of lengthening, as in the lengthening of days that occurs in the procession of the seasons. The term Lent has served as a synonym for Spring. How did it then acquire its unsavory aspect? The Christian tradition has a long-standing practice of preparing candidates for baptism at Easter. The final and most emphatic preparation was made during the forty days prior to Easter. (Sundays were excluded in the count of those forty days.) Part of the preparation of candidates included, in addition to instruction in the teachings of the faith, a turning away from former, unchristian, ways of life. In time, Lent was to acquire an ascetic emphasis that became imposed upon all Christians. Soon, an emphasis upon sin and guilt became normative. The season of Lent, as it developed, began with a focus upon the temptation of Jesus by the devil at the time of the beginning of his ministry. The illusion that this was a model for Christian living developed. If the response of Jesus to the temptation in the wilderness is a model for Christians generally, all are doomed to failure. This made preaching sin and guilt to be easy meat. There is, to my mind, a whiff of the heretical about this. After all, was not the purpose of the Incarnation, the life and ministry, the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus to break the sin and guilt cycle? This is not to suggest that cheap grace is the Divine order. Lent ought to be a time in which we embrace spiritual exercises, or, disciplines that will have the effect of deepening our faith and strengthening our living the life of faith. Amongst these are, personal devotion, including prayer, meditation and the reading of scripture and other soul-nourishing materials. The purpose of Lent is to bring us renewed in faith to the great celebration of life that is Easter. May Lent be a blessing for all of us. Brian Dixon.
SPRING it s just around the corner. The Outreach Team would like to thank all those who donated toiletries and gloves this past month to The Victory Center and the Worcester Ministry to the Homeless. Every gift that is given, though seemingly insignificant, is a way of showing care to others in the community. Grotonwood and Oceanwood Summer Camps A huge range of activities on offer. Find out more.. www.grotonwood-org 978-448-5763 office@grotonwood-org www.oceanwood.org 207-934-9655 office@oceanwood.org Bible and Bagels Each Sunday at 9 am. Exactly what it says Discuss the Word of God as it relates to our everyday life over coffee and bagels ( tea is also available) Women s Prayer Fellowship meets every Wed at 9:30 am. Come and join them, or let your prayer requests be known to them, by completing a prayer card from the pew racks, or putting a note in the prayer boxes located in the Narthex and the OfGice lobby. Women s Breakfast Please join the merry throng at the Nu Cafe on Chandler Street on March 1st at 8:30 am Men s Breakfast Please join the merry men at the 122 Diner in Holden on Saturday March 1st at 8:00 am TherapeuticTuesdays Our Pictured Story: Invitation to Imagination Session # 1 February 24th Text and Context: the Word Made Visible Session # 2 March 3rd Graphic Giotto: Storyteller Supreme Session # 3 March 10th Seeing into Substance: Studies in Sculpture Session # 4 March 17th Rembrandt: A Reformed Review Session # 5 March 24th he Crux of the Story: The Passion & Beyond VOLLEYBALL Come join us on Monday nights from 7-9 p.m. in the basement of Trinity Lutheran Church (opposite the Worcester Art Museum at the corner of and Lancaster Streets). Great fun, fellowship and exercise, and we'd love to have you See Anne Goff or Landy Johnson if you wish more information. The Church Life Team has arranged this series of discussions, led by Brian Dixon. They will focus on aspects of Art and Sculpture as they reflect our faith story and what they mean to us. Please mark these dates and come and get therapy for your soul
Tom Ward and co-ordinator Carol plan on having an Open Mic every third Friday. Please mark your datebooks for 3/20, 4/17, 5/15 & 6/19. The time is 7:00pm to 9:30pm. We will have a feature act that performs a longer set each time and also offer opportunity for other acts to sign-up on the night of the event. In our last Open-Mic, our singers did a 3 song set. The feeling we wanted people to leave with when we depart at 9:30pm is happiness Finally, don't be surprised if we contact you about reciting a favorite poem or baking some gluten free brownies for the event. That makes us happy. Sun Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat March 1 10 am Communion Service Scrogin Forum March 2 3 Belles 4 Prayer F ship 5 Handbells 6 7 Men s and Women s breakfasts at 8 am 8 10 am service 2nd Sunday Service at Knollwood 9 Staff meeting 10 Belles 11 Prayer F ship 12 Handbells 13 14 15 10 am Service 16 Staff meeting 17 Belles 18 Prayer F ship Deadline for newsletter items 19 Handbells 2 0 7-9:30 Open Mic Night 21 22 10 am Service Concert at Mechanics Hall with FBC choir and Mastersingers 23 Staff meeting 24 Belles 25 Prayer F ship 26 Handbells 27 28 Spring Ring in Tewkesbury First handbells are playing 29 10 am Communion Service Concert with Manna and Reggie 30 Staff meeting 31 Belles 1 APRIL Prayer F ship 2 APRIL Handbells 3 APRIL 4 APRIL THIS CALENDAR IS CORRECT AT THE TIME OF PRINTING, BUT PLEASE CHECK WITH THE FBC OFFICE IF YOU THINK THINGS MIGHT HAVE CHANGED. IF YOU WANT MORE DETAIL IN THIS CALENDAR ( MEETINGS OF TEAMS ETC) PLEASE LET ME KNOW AND I WILL TRY TO INCLUDE THEM. IF YOU HAVE A SPECIAL EVENT COMING UP, MAKE SURE I KNOW ABOUT IT, ALSO
FBC Scholarships and Loans for continuing Education There are several Funds, each with their own criteria. 3 year membership of FBC is necessary. Application deadline is 1st MAY 15. Details and forms available from FBC office from 1st APRIL Please email Andrea at andreal@fbc-worc.org for any more details THE SCROGIN BOOK FORUM MEETS ON THE FIRST SUNDAY OF EVERY MONTH IN THE ROY ROOM AFTER THE SERVICE. March 1, 2015. DAVID AND GOLIATH by Malcolm Gladwell. Leader to be announced. April 5, 2015. QUIET by Susan Cain. Led by Joyce Brown. May 3, 2015. COOKED by Michael Pollan. Led by Nancy Oaks. June 7, 2015. LOBBY DAY. Come with one great book for the group for the following year s meetings and lobby for the inclusion of your book. If Music be the food of love or if it soothes the savage breast, there are plenty of opportunities for both at FBC and beyond Rescheduled Voice Recital of Manna KnJoi, soprano and Reginald Houze, tenor will occur on Palm Sunday, March 29, 11:30am in Gordon Hall. This program will include composers Hall Johnson, John Carter, George Gershwin and Luigi Zaninelli. Interesting harmonies will abound along with catchy rhythms you won't want to miss. More importantly you won't want to miss the glorious singing Manna and Reggie so beautifully do MARCH 22nd A Choral Feast at Mechanics Hall with the Mastersingers and FBC Choir MARCH 28th The First Handbells will be in Tewksbury at the SPRING RING - a massed Handbell event. Over 200 ringers Concert in the evening at 7 pm Tewksbury High School, 320 Pleasant Street. In the Gym All are welcome. APRIL 10th Free Concert at FBC with the Choir, a program of music by Handel. You won t want to miss this.
FBC Ninth Annual Anthem Competition. Our determination date for the winner has been pushed forward to March 20 due to all the storms and delays we all have experienced in Worcester. I believe we will have a beautiful choir, cello and organ anthem to premiere on Sunday, May 3. The choir will also repeat this anthem at the 4:00pm choral festival that afternoon. Our competition is still the only annual competition of its type in America. Stay tuned and keep listening. Embracing Spirituality: Dynamics of Experiential Faith by Diana Butler Bass. March 15, March 22, April 12, April 19 and April 26, after church in the Whitney Room. Grab some coffee or tea and join us at 11:20. The sessions last about an hour. Leaders are Michael Harvey, Barbara Sinclair Ward, John Minott, and Karen Brockney. This interactive, introspective series includes a DVD presentation by Diana Butler Bass, and a guidebook that can be pre-ordered for $10. The guidebook is optional, but very helpful. You can sign up for the series at the church office, or by emailing Elaine Holt at ejvh144@gmail.com. Please indicate whether or not you want a guidebook. We are asking for the money upfront, so that these can be ordered through the church. This will save shipping fees if we order in bulk and we may be able to order them tax free. SPIRITUAL RETREAT MARCH 6-7 American Baptist Women s Ministries of MA is holding its annual retreat at the Nantasket Beach Resort. Rev Glynis LaBarre, transformation strategist for AB Home Mission Societies is the featured speaker. Details available from TABCOM Stewardship Conference March 7th Does stewardship have a bad reputation in your Church? If the answer is yes, perhaps you would like to go to this conference and learn more. 8:30 am - 3 pm FBC Randolph. Sandra Dorsainvil has a podcast about the TABCOM trip to Haiti. You can hear the podcast by going online www.abwmofma.org
Interview with Ariel about the Mission Trip to Haiti will be in next month s edition Keep a watch for it Meet the Members of the Pastoral Search Team The Pastoral Search Team is in its first phase, set with the very important task of searching out the leadership for the future of First Baptist Church. This important first step involves discovery of FBC s pastoral needs before a description is drafted to begin the search. The answer, of course, requires getting a clear idea of who we are in light of our recent transitions, and what we believe FBC is becoming by way of mission, our personal needs, and the needs of the community. We are honored to be given this opportunity, having been given your trust, and look forward to seeking out your thoughts, attitudes, concerns, questions, and beliefs to gain a better understanding of what this great church is looking for in pastoral leadership. As a group, we attended a workshop offered through TABCOM on Pastoral Searches. We will be communicating with all of you on a regular and frequent basis to update you on the progress of our discussions and search. We have already begun to engage the congregation in discussions of these questions informally, and we are looking to host forums and possible surveys that are being scheduled for the near future. In the meantime, everyone is urged and invited to speak with any of the members of the PS Team about their views on those questions. Please feel free to approach, or call any of the members of the PSTeam, or email us as a group at PastoralSearch@fbc-worc.org we are looking forward to hearing from you In addition, anyone can send their ideas to Tom Grisso [ Thomas.Grisso@umassmed.edu ] and he will forward them to the Team. The members of the PS Team are Karl Bjork Stephanie Gaudette Sue Gelinas Jim Hecox Joe Oakley Courtney Stevens Barbara Ward Phyllis Whitten Michael Harvey (advisor to the Team) Suddenly after the post-christmas lull, everything at FBC is whirring into action, despite the snow, cold temperatures and general misery of cabin fever. The Therapeutic Tuesdays look inspirational, the Forums on the Awakening Church are guaranteed to be stimulating and the monthly open mic nights are a welcome social get together. Then there s the Pastoral Search Team very busy with discerning what we need and want as leadership and understanding the difference between the two Once the leaves turn color on the trees the sap has already fallen and the trees are in hibernation. Likewise in Spring, before we ever see a bud or green shoot the sap is rising and new life is beginning again. In my imagination I know that under the thick duvet of snow that covers my garden, those shoots and buds are already stirring in preparation for that first warm day of Spring. As the year circles again through Lent to glorious Easter, we can celebrate the life given to us through all the chances and changes of the world, knowing that Spring will always come to bring hope and wonder Lynne Carroll
Return service Requested This is your MARCH 2015 Newsletter from First Baptist Church, Worcester Phone 508-755- 6143 Extensions: Brian Dixon 222, William 227, John C 224, Joan 247 Andrea: Andreal@Gbc- worc.org website: www.gbc- worc.org email: info@gbc- worc.org follow us on facebook: Twitter: @FBCWorcester The First Baptist Church Worcester The FBC Worcester Youth NON PROFIT US POSTAGE First Baptist Church 111 Park