This Week at Wilshire Tapestry Today Senior trip 8:30 a.m. Worship 9:40 a.m. Sunday School 11:00 a.m. Worship 12:00 p.m. Youth lunches 12:00 p.m. Pathways luncheon Comm. Hall 12:00 p.m. One Starry Night team Room 1205-G Weekly newsletter of Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas Building a community of faith shaped by the Spirit of Jesus Christ Volume 63 No. 31 u August 2, 2015 Promotion Sunday Blessing of the backpacks AUGUST 23 Wednesday evening meals resume AUGUST 26 New Song senior choir resumes Youth Choir & Shekinah resume AUGUST 23 Children s Music & Missions resumes SEPTEMBER 2 SEPTEMBER 9 It s just a few short weeks until Promotion Sunday and the start of a new year of learning at Wilshire. Programs and classes for preschoolers, children, youth and adults all begin again, and this is a great time to find your place on Sundays, Wednesdays and other days in between. See page 6 for a list of new adult learning options on Wednesday nights beginning the last week of August and first week of September. Hear Cynthia Clawson next Sunday morning Wilshire favorite Cynthia Clawson will sing in worship next Sunday morning. She has received a Grammy and five Dove awards for her work as a songwriter, vocal artist and musician. Her career has spanned over four decades with more than 20 recordings to her credit. She will sing several selections at both the 8:30 and 11:00 services next Sunday. All are welcome to attend. Monday, Aug. 3 Senior trip 9:45 a.m. Youth sing at C.C. Young 10:00 a.m. 42 Monday Room 1205-G 7:00 p.m. Youth Monday Bible study Tuesday, Aug. 4 Senior trip Preteen camp 8:00 p.m. Bright Fellow. Bible study Parlor 11:00 a.m. Youth Tuesday missions 6:30 p.m. Stephen Min. contin. educ. 6:30 p.m. Stephen Min. supervision Wednesday, Aug. 5 Senior trip Preteen camp 9:00 a.m. A Matter of Balance class Room 3301 11:00 a.m. Koinonia Café Comm. Hall 12:00 p.m. This is My Story program Comm. Hall 1:00 p.m. New Song officers Room 1205-G 1:15 p.m. Zentangle Room 1205-L 6:15 p.m. Cord of Three prayer group Room 1205-H 6:30 p.m. Youth Studyn-Swim Thursday, Aug. 6 Preteen camp 11:15 p.m. Stew Pot 1:30 p.m. Knit Unto Others Parlor Friday, Aug. 7 Preteen camp 9:00 a.m. Youth breakfast Continued on page 2
15 minutes Last week I landed at Love Field. After retrieving my luggage at baggage claim, I pulled my phone out of my pocket, opened the Uber app and requested a ride to take me home. My phone dings. My request has been accepted by a man named Mohammed. I found his car and got in the front seat with him. He immediately began the conversation by asking where I was coming from and if I was from Dallas or just visiting. After getting through those initial questions, he asked the question that many people hate, but I love: What do you do? I m a pastor. Really? Good for you! I m a Muslim. He then asked what denomination I was associated with, so I told him Baptist. His tone changed a little, and he began asking me questions to see just what kind of Baptist I was. I returned the favor and began asking him about being a Muslim and if he attended a mosque in Dallas. I m not religious, he said. Many good teachings and philosophies have come from Islam, but I m not religious. He continued talking about the importance of being a good human and treating people with compassion. In that moment I took the opportunity to tell him about Jesus two greatest commands: that we love God and love people. He seemed to be a little surprised at that, but said, Yes, that s great. We continued the religious conversation briefly, but I ended up asking him about Another Voice his family and he told me all about them. It was a really meaningful moment as I had the opportunity to visit with Mohammed about his family and religious and cultural background. As we turned from Mockingbird onto Abrams he saw Wilshire and jokingly asked, Is that your church? Yes it is. Really?! I drive by this church all the time and love it. It s so beautiful. Yes it is. You should come by and check out the inside sometime. It s just as beautiful. As he I was getting out of the car he said, You know, I ve got a lot of thinking to do. I m going to have to reevaluate my thoughts on Baptists now that I ve talked to you. I was completely shocked by his statement but it was a great reminder for me. There are people all around me who need to hear the message of love and compassion of Christ and I/we know that message. My trip was only 15 minutes but it was quite memorable. Showing someone Christ s love doesn t take long. It can be done in an Uber ride. We never know how the Spirit may work through us to change the lives of others. Keep your eyes open this week for opportunities to share the love of Christ with those with whom you come in contact. Matthew Broyles This Week at Wilshire Continued from page 1 This Wednesday at Wilshire Come join the fellowship at Koinonia Café, from 11 a.m. to noon, this Wednesday in Community Hall, followed by This is My Story, Wilshire s summer testimony series. This week s This is My Story program is by Karen Kimball. The Wednesday evening meal and studies are on hiatus for the summer until Aug. 26. Upcoming noontime speakers are: Aug. 12: Mary Keller; Aug. 19: Jon-Erik Schoellhorn Koinonia Café August 5: Carved smoked brisket, BBQ smoked sausage, Texas ranch beans, corn casserole, sautéed vegetables, yellow squash, carrots, potato salad, Parker House rolls, warm apple cobbler. August 12: Carved rotisserie chicken, meatloaf, mushroom sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, green bean casserole, steamed carrots, Caesar salad, ciabatta bread, pecan pie. New members: x Alex White x Katy White Condolences to: x Joe Park on the death of his sister, Helen Morgan, and Sharon Worthy on the death of her aunt, July 28. Building the courts of the Lord These photos show progress on construction of a basketball court in Ghana, one of the recipients of Missions Plus Fund grants from Wilshire s 2014 Unified Budget. The organizer of this outreach wants to name the courts Wilshire Arena, in gratitude.this will be the first basketball court at a public school in the entire country. More than 1,200 children attend this school, but the hope is that the courts also will become a place for safe play in the community and a place for Christian witness. Your gifts to the Unified Budget make missions grants like this possible. Tapestry (USPS 022025) is published weekly except Christmas week by Wilshire Baptist Church, 4316 Abrams Rd., Dallas TX 75214. Periodicals postage paid at Dallas, TX. Telephone: (214) 452-3100. Website: www.wilshirebc.org. Editor: Mark Wingfield. Contributing writer: Sue Coffman. Postmaster: Send change of address to 4316 Abrams Rd., Dallas TX 75214. 2
Remember those who are truly persecuted By Heather Mustain Minister of Missions I remember it like it was yesterday. My first week at Wilshire was spent cutting out more than 100 silhouette children each one representing a child sponsored by you to attend our Eritrean friends school in the Sudan. That is a school which, by the way, two years later has outgrown its facilities. Current enrollment has grown from 400 children to more than 1,000. The need for quality education continues to be great in our backyard and all over the world. I hate to admit it, but as I sat and cut out those silhouettes, I had no knowledge about the country of Eritrea or even where it was located on the map. So in between cutting out silhouettes, I quickly began to inform myself. However, my biggest question lingered: Why Sudan? At least to me, Sudan seemed to be a country ravaged by religious persecution, war and famine itself. Two weeks ago the U.N. Human Rights Council released a report outlining the extreme abuses committed by President Isaias Afwerki s government against the people of Eritrea. This report contains documented stories of the atrocities citizens of Eritrea face, including intense religious persecution. The report calls Eritrea the North Korea of Africa because it is not law that rules Eritreans but fear. Eritreans are allowed to belong to the following four religious denominations only: Eritrean Orthodox, the Lutheran church, Catholicism, and Sunni Islam. If one is found to practice a minor religion outside of these four groups, they are subject to harassment and arrest. While imprisoned they often face frequent beatings and torture and are denied the ability to pray, sing or have access to Scripture. The United Nations Commission of Inquiry estimates more than 5,000 Eritreans flee the country every month a large number considering how small the country actually is. Sudan is now beginning to make a bit more sense. Although it is not without risk, our Eritrean brothers and sisters have shown extreme dedication to the well-being of caring for these vulnerable children in helping provide at least an education. Sarah Stafford asked me recently if I would be willing to teach the Bible story for this year s children s musical Daniel, Darius and De Lion. My first thought was, Surely I have something else going on. Well, I didn t. My second thought was, How does one say no to Sarah? I reluctantly said yes but let Sarah know not to expect big things from me, as I have never felt adequate to teach children. Each day as I prepared, God brought me back to the central message of this story found in Daniel 6. Daniel was a committed follower of God who never abandoned his faith, no matter the cost. As I ended the first day, I asked the children if they could be as brave as Daniel and ashamedly admitted that I did not believe I could. The second day we talked about modern day Daniels, like our friends in Eritrea. I shared with them a few stories of men and women who were currently in prison because of their faith and who were being sentenced to death. To which they all gasped and wanted to know how they were going to die. After regaining their composure and my own, we prayed for them by name. Although some Evangelical Christians would like to claim religious persecution is alive and well in America today, it remains an intangible reality for us. And to claim such is to strip the lived experiences of many of our Christian sisters and brothers all over the world who suffer daily yet never abandon their faith. Reading these reports and teaching our children about the faith exemplified by Daniel, a different question lingers than the one from two years ago as I sat cutting out paper silhouettes: Do I love my God that much? Do you? Briefly x Study on the atonement offered. Discovery Class, the open-enrollment Sunday School class taught by Associate Pastor Mark Wingfield, has just begun a new study, and all interested adults are welcome. Discovery Class is designed for both long-term and short-term participation. The study is based on the new book Did God Kill Jesus, by Tony Jones. It will explore diverse views of the atonement, seeking to help learners understand what actually happened through Jesus death on the cross. The class meets at 9:40 every Sunday morning in the Parlor. x Nova seeks singers. Nova, Wilshire s adult choral ensemble, is seeking additional singers, especially tenors and basses. An open rehearsal for anyone interested in joining the group will be held on Sunday, Aug. 23, from 2:30 to 3:45 p.m. in Choral Hall. Plan to stay after rehearsal to check vocal range. Nova is a select adult ensemble that sings in worship about once a month, performing sacred music ancient and modern. For more information, call Doug Haney at (214) 452-3123 or email him at dhaney@wilshirebc.org. GIVE BLOOD x New art on view. Two new art installations are on temporary exhibit at Wilshire. The first is on loan to Wilshire after being displayed at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly. It is four large panels of manipulated photographs of stained glass from a church in Alexandria, La., created by artist James Guess. These panels are displayed outside the front office. The second is a collection of 18 photographs from America s national parks, showcasing the beauty of God s creation. These photographs were taken and prepared for display by Wilshire member Robert Campbell. They may be viewed in the South Lobby. 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. NEXT SUNDAY JAMES GALLERY 7:30 A.M. TO 1:00 P.M. 3
Cooking Camp 2 4
Preschool Friends 2 5
Fall Wednesdays for adult studies Traditional Bible study Led by Pastoral residents and George Mason Aug. 26 Meet the new residents Sept. 2-Oct. 21 Genesis: Characters Welcome A study of key characters found in the book of Genesis Oct. 28 All-church conference and dialogue with George Mason Nov. 4-Dec. 2 Theologian study on the Reformers: Learn about Luther, Calvin, Zwingli Dec. 9 Preschool Christmas program Making Sense of the Bible Led by Mark Wingfield and Erica Whitaker Sept. 9-Dec. 2 If you missed this study last spring, here s your chance to catch it again. Learn about the history of the Bible and gain tools for reading and interpretation. Living Your God-given Strengths Led by Marilyn Spaulding Sept. 30-Nov. 18 Learn what God has gifted you to be and do and how to apply that knowledge in service and meaningful living. Spanish as a Second Language Led by Faye Lynn Dodge Ongoing Brush up on your Spanish-speaking skills or learn some basic conversational Spanish in this low-stress environment. Beginner and intermediate classes to be offered. Toxic Charity Led by Heather Mustain Oct. 4-Nov. 17 Sometimes our desire to help others has a dark side that actually does more harm than good. Explore some case studies and concepts about what helps and hurts. Religious Liberty 101 Led by Katie Murray Sept. 2-30 Learn about the important role Baptists continue to play in guaranteeing our nation s religious liberty and what this really means even in changing times. Seeing the Spiritual in Contemporary Art Led by Mike Hill Sept. 2-23 Join Wilshire member Mike Hill, who works at the Dallas Museum of Art, for a fresh look at several periods in contemporary art, with an eye toward seeing the spiritual. Gallery Café James Gallery If you just need a place to sit and collect yourself on Wednesday evenings, come to Gallery Café for quiet conversation, reading, coffee and dessert. Minimalism and Simplicity Led by Tiffany Wright Oct. 7-28 Join in the contemporary movement to escape the clutter that traps us and the unrealistic expectations that harm us. There is another way. A new season of Wednesday evening community is about to begin at Wilshire. You ll find music and missions and Bible skills classes for preschoolers and children, Watershed for youth, and an array of short-term and long-term classes for adults of all ages. Dinner is served in Community Hall from 5 to 6 p.m. each Wednesday, beginning Aug. 26, and then adults may choose from the list of classes above. If you haven t been to Wednesday night at Wilshire in a while, you re missing something great. Come give it a try. 6
The numbers Report for July 26 Sunday School Officers... 19 Preschool... 77 Children... 59 Youth... 50 Young adult... 76 Median adult... 191 Senior adult... 184 Total present... 656 Total previous week... 692 Total last year... 755 Generosity Unified Budget received $52,112 Unified Budget projected $95,184 Unified Budget YTD $2,575,062 Unified Budget projected $2,844,833 Pathways Endowment received YTD $1978,668 Pathways Endowment current fund value $3,581,905 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 Music ministry has been a way of life for Bob Smith. He began singing in his church s adult choir as a high school sophomore. During high school he felt a call to music ministry at Palacios Baptist Encampment. Since then he has led or sung in choirs continuously until last year. Now for the first time I thoroughly enjoy listening to Wilshire s choir and worshiping as a member of the congregation, he said. Bob was born and grew up in Bryan, Texas, where his father was an agricultural engineer for Texas A&M University. His mother died when Bob was 2 years old, and his father later married her sister. Mama Lil never felt like a stepmother to me, he said. In junior high school Bob played alto saxophone for a year. Then he sang tenor in the school choir. Just after his graduation, his high school choir traveled by train to sing at a Lions Club convention in San Francisco. As a Boy Scout, he collected paper and scrap metal as part of the war effort in World War II. Upon high school graduation in 1947, Bob enrolled at Sam Houston State Teachers College for a year. When one of our professors, Dr. Euell Porter, went to Hardin- Simmons University, about 20 of us music majors went with him, he explained. At Hardin-Simmons he was a voice major, a member of a male quartet for three years, and a member of a choir that traveled every year. He was student director of another choir and led it on a tour. Between Bob s junior and senior years, his father s work took him to Turkey as an agricultural advisor. I joined him there for the summer and traveled extensively in Turkey. On the way home I visited Greece, Italy, Switzerland and France and returned to the U.S. by ship. After graduating in 1951, he attended the prestigious Westminster Choir College in I Am Wilshire Bob Smith Princeton, N.J. While working on his master s degree in choral conducting, he served as part-time minister of music for an American Baptist church in Palmyra, N.J. The minister wore a tuxedo when he preached, Bob recalled. Bob had received draft deferments during his student years, and after finishing his master s degree, he volunteered for the U.S. Navy and shipped off to officer candidate school in the fall of 1953. He served for two years on a landing ship for tanks, then a year on a military seatransportation ship, leaving the service in December 1956 as a lieutenant junior grade. The next month he began teaching voice at Baylor University. When the accompanist for my voice students broke her arm, Kathy Johnson took over. If students didn t show up, we talked and sang, he recalled. That relationship evolved into a romance, and Bob and Kathy were married in February 1958. The next fall Bob enrolled at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for a program in sacred music. From there he and Kathy went to Lebanon, Tenn., where he served as minister of music for First Baptist Church. Two of the Smiths children, Mark and Amy, were born there. While there we both sang in a choir that did recordings for the Baptist Sunday School Board in Nashville, he said. In the fall of 1963 the Smiths moved to Bluefield, Va., where he taught at a Baptist junior college. We lived in Virginia, but to qualify for in-state tuition and begin working on my doctorate at West Virginia University, we moved to Bluefield, W.Va. Our other two children, Robin and Laura, were born there. In 1968 I took a year off and moved to Morgantown to fulfill the residency requirement for my doctorate, Bob said. In 1972 he became chairman of the music department at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in the year that the school became coed. I taught voice and music theory and directed a choir while there, he said. To complete my Ph.D. in music education long distance from West Virginia, Kathy had to type my dissertation on an electric typewriter. In 1977 Bob took a position with the Texas Department of Health, commuting from his home in Round Rock. I was chosen for a new program that needed someone who could do research, he said. I wrote sections of the state health plan every other year to direct the legislature in making decisions about medical issues. I was there for 18 years until retirement in 1995. The Smiths then moved to Irving and later to Plano. We moved to the Metroplex because all of our children live in the area, he explained. The Smiths joined Wilshire in 2010 and are directors of Koinonia Sunday School class. The fellowship in our class is very supportive, and the class is like going to the seminary but not getting credit, he said. Bob is an emeritus deacon at Wilshire, and he and Kathy sang in the Sanctuary Choir until recently. George Mason s preaching and Doug Haney s directing are why we came to Wilshire, he said. The church has a wonderful outreach to the community, and it s amazing how many members come from surrounding areas. 7
Wilshire contacts To e-mail any member of the Wilshire staff, use the first initial with the full last name and then add @wilshirebc.org. 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) Adam Scheuermann (3136) Wilshire Baptist Church 4316 Abrams Rd Dallas TX 75214 PERIODICALS RATE 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) 452-3165 Preaching: Anne Scalfaro Pastor, Calvary Baptist Church, Denver Pastoral Residency Alumna Next Sunday, August 9 11th Sunday after Pentecost Acts 17:16-34 Paul s address at the Aeropagus of Athens demonstrates how to find points of contact in the culture in order to interpret the character of the true God and good news of Jesus. Paul was disturbed by their worship of idols, but engaging the culture with the gospel takes more approaches than only conflict. We can contend with the culture about what is wrong, commend it where it is right, and clarify for it what it is that fulfills its deepest instinct for meaning. Following the way of Christ includes many modes of engagement, and employing all of them at the right time is a bold witness. Using only one way of engagement and criticizing those who use other ways undermines the way of Christ.... a bold witness to the way of Christ in our time. 8