First Baptist Church!Worcester!

A welcoming and affirming!

church community!!

Newsletter for January 2015!

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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 & Patty Hubbard 9:45am Pre-K and K in Caboose

with Courtney 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

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Happy New Year! I hope we will all enjoy good health in it. !I do trust you did have a joyous Christmas with your family and that the glow of it all lingers. On that score, I do want to celebrate the many delightful activities that were experienced in our church family, and to say “Thank You” to all who worked to make them the successes they were. Music is such an essential part of the joy of Christmas, and our choirs, under William’s inspiring leadership, surely did contribute so abundantly to our celebrations. Just thinking of the ‘person-hours’ given to our music program, particularly at a time of year when there are so many demands upon our energies, is humbling. So, mega thanks to all who enriched our celebration of our Savior’s birth with the gift of music. Then there was the

Christmas brunch that was made possible by another large cast of workers; thinking of a word to sum up the endeavors of that cast, “beavering” comes to mind. Busy beavers they surely were. Of course it is all enriched by all who participated in the ministries on offer. Without putting an over-emphasis on the word, I think we can all feel proud of what our church offered to our community. !

Now, we move forward into a New Year and do so in hope. Perhaps someone may think hope an unrealistic proposition, given what the poet Rabbie Burns referred to as ‘prospects drear,’ for the state of our world. Were our hope to rest solely upon human insight and endeavor, then ‘prospects drear’ probably would be justified. But those whose hope is in God are encouraged to take a different view. Here, again, I recall Jurgen Moltmann’s pregnant term “God’s unfinished future.” We are blessed to be part of the unfolding of that future. To be hope-full for that does not mean being passive. Being hope-full for God’s unfinished future means giving our best, most faithful endeavors to make it a reality. Will challenge come? Of course it will and in a myriad forms. But we should neither be intimidated nor fearful. The long run of Christian history indicates we have done less well when life is easy. It is in response to challenge that the Christian Church has risen up and made its mark upon history. Let us not be afraid. !

I close citing words borrowed from a Christian statesman of a previous generation, Dag Hammarskjold:

“For all that has been,Thanks. For all that will be, Yes.” Brian Dixon

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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  OfKice  lobby. 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  Salisbury  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.

!Don’t forget that each Sunday you can purchase gift cards for Stop and Shop, Shaws, BigY, CVS

and Panera Bread. The cost of the cards is exactly the value of the card.

The GREAT thing is that the stores give 5% of the value to the Central Mass Housing Alliance, whose goal is to end homelessness in Worcester

County. This is important work, it costs you nothing, so

please support us in this ministry! !! Women’s Breakfast Please join the merry throng at the

Nu Cafe on Chandler Street on Jan 3 at 8:30 am

Men’s Breakfast Please join the merry men at the

122 Diner in Holden on Saturday Jan 3 at 8:00 am

William Ness will be playing an opening recital for the !

First Congregational Church of Holden! on Saturday, January 31, 2015 !

at 3pm !on their refurbished Skinner organ.  !

The new organ stops will be highlighted in a varied recital which will seek to show off the organ as it

now sounds.  !Reception to follow this free program. 

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!!!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!

Sun Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri SatDec 28 10 am

Service

Dec 29 Dec 30 Dec 31 Jan 1 Jan 2 Jan 3!Men’s and Women’s breakfasts at 8 am

4 10 am

Communion Service

5!Staff meeting

6 7!9:30 Women’s Prayer F’ship

8!6pm 1st Handbells!7:30 pm Chancel Choir

9 10

11 10 am

Service 2nd Sunday Service at Knollwood

12!Staff meeting

13!1 pm Salisbury Belles!4 pm Choristers

14!9:30 Women’s Prayer F’ship

15!6pm 1st Handbells!7:30 pm Chancel Choir

16 17

18 10 am

Service

19!Staff meeting!Deadline for newsletter items

20!1 pm Salisbury Belles!4 pm Choristers

21!9:30 Women’s Prayer F’ship

22!6pm 1st Handbells!7:30 pm Chancel Choir

23 24

25 10 am

Service

26!Staff meeting

27!1 pm Salisbury Belles!4 pm Choristers

28!9:30 Women’s Prayer F’ship

29!6pm 1st Handbells!7:30 pm Chancel Choir

30 31

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We call this season “the turning of the year”, we ask for new behaviors by “turning over a new leaf”, we say in a crisis “the corner has been turned” and in the Bible we are told to “turn the other cheek”. As I write this I am in New Zealand and we have been traveling many mountain roads and turning hundreds of corners, some rather precipitous! Today round each new turn there was a new vista to see and explore. We

marveled at each new scene as the landscape unfolded in a different way round each turn, often opening up a sight that was unexpected. Janus, the Roman god of the New Year had two heads, one facing the old year and one looking into the future. What a symbol that shows for the turn of this year, we remember the past and look round the next corner to see what is ahead for us all, personally and in our church community. The past can never be re-visited, but we can draw on our experience as we face the new year and all the challenges and changes it may bring. Over the centuries the church has had to turn many corners, always looking ahead to the “race set before us”. When the FBC church burned down around 80 years ago, it must have seemed that all was lost, but the church we have now rose in its place. As we start this new year, we turn yet another corner in the life of FBC, as we seek to determine what sort of ministries we wish to pursue and how best we can serve the community of our congregation and the wider world, and who will help to lead us. May

!THE SCROGIN BOOK FORUM MEETS ON THE FIRST SUNDAY OF EVERY

MONTH IN THE ROY ROOM AFTER THE SERVICE. !January 4, 2015. BUNKER HILL by Nathaniel Philbrick and/or THE FIRST AMERICAN REVOLUTION by Ray Raphael ( The Raphael book may be purchased at The Worcester Historical Museum for $10.00 ) February 7, 2015. THE BOYS IN THE BOAT. By Daniel James Brown. Led by Sue Ellen Scrogin 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.

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This is your January 2015 Newsletter from First Baptist Church, Worcester

!Phone  508-­‐755-­‐6143  !Extensions:    Brian  Dixon  222,  William  227,  John  C  224,  Joan  247  !Andrea:              Andreal@Kbc-­‐worc.org  !  website:                www.Kbc-­‐worc.org            email:    info@Kbc-­‐worc.org  !follow  us  on  facebook:                                The  First  Baptist  Church  Worcester                                                                                                                                            The  FBC  Worcester  Youth  Twitter:                      @FBCWorcester  

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12-30-14 In December, FBC received a $100,000 grant from the Stoddard Charitable

Trust. The grant application arose because of our new relationship with Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s Music Department as a tenant and partner, which brings large numbers of students to the building on a daily basis. Our aging restroom facilities are in need of complete renovation as we expand our uses of the building and develop new relationships with neighbors like WPI. The grant was awarded specifically for that purpose. We are very grateful to the Stoddard Charitable Trust for this assistance, and to Karl Bjork and

Landy Johnson for their leadership in the grant application process. Tom Grisso !

LOGAN AIRPORT TABCOM MISSION TO HAITI, ARIEL AND COURTNEY

REPRESENTING FBC. WE ARE PROUD TO HONOR THEIR SERVICE

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FBC PAST

PRESENT AND

FUTURE YOU can be part of the present and influence the

future please come on 25th Jan and join the discussion………………..

On January 25, 2015, !

after the church service, !

The Deacons are heating up the bleak midwinter with a forum on spirituality and declining attendance at mainline churches,

along with a “South of the Border” lunch. We aren’t specifying just which border, so, in addition to vegetarian and non-

vegetarian chili, expect the hot sauce and salt to be offered on the side. The meal is free! So is the free will offering! !

The forum presentation is on work done by Diane Butler Bass. This author is a noted church historian who writes from a progressive

Christian perspective. This brief Powerpoint introduction will be followed by an in depth study

series during Lent of one of her recent books, Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New

Spiritual Awakening. The Lenten study series will be held after church services, dates to be

announced. !Please help us out with a head count (for groceries)

by Friday noon, January 16, 2015. Call the church office, 508-755-6143, email at info@fbc-worc.org to sign

up. Or call Elaine Holt at 508-460-1012, leave message, or email at ejvh144@gmail.com.