St. John's Family News

May 10, 2026 | Vol. 85, Issue 19

www.stjohnsbaptistchurch.org | @sjbccharlotte

In this week's Family News (Scroll to Learn More):

From Dr. Don Gordon: Bracing for Change vs. Embracing Change
Finding Home - 25th Anniversary Luncheon of Lost Boys Coming to the USA: May 17! RSVP Now!
A Message from the Church Council
Children’s Paint Party at Noah’s Art: June 6 (Register)
Save the Date: Senior Adult Picnic: June 28
Message from MRT
Youth Summer Activities: Save the Dates
Softball Season Announcement
Prayer List, Sympathy, Thanks, and Celebrations
Financial Update
Minister On Call Schedule
Staff Contact Info

Bracing for Change vs. Embracing Change

by Dr. Don Gordon, Interim Minister

Change is no longer something on the horizon at SJBC—it is all around us, meeting us at every turn. In the span of a single year, we are calling new pastoral leadership, reshaping how we govern ourselves, and reimagining the very space we inhabit together. That’s not just change—it’s a convergence of change. And the question before us is not whether we will face it, but how.

Heraclitus, the 6th century BCE Greek philosopher, famously said, “No one steps into the same river twice.” He was alluding to the fact that rivers are always in flux; they are constantly changing. The waters flowing through are new every moment, carrying new species and carving out new spaces. We may think we are going to the same river, but it is different from the one we visited yesterday.

When faced with multiple changes in our lives, we can have a posture of bracing for change or embracing change. Bracing for change puts us in a defensive position. We stiffen up, we grit our teeth, and dig in our heels to minimize the effect of change in our lives. We may close our eyes to avoid noticing the change, even though it’s happening whether or not we acknowledge its existence. We may resist it, trying to find ways to avoid it or undermine it as best we can. Bracing for change puts us in a negative posture in the face of new possibilities.

Embracing change is manifested with an open spirit, a receptive posture, a curiosity that makes room for something new and unexpected. We don’t look at change through a lens of fear, but through a lens of anticipation. We are more relaxed and nimble, ready to move left or right, back or forward, instead of digging our heels into the ground trying to maintain the status quo. Max De Pree, Christian business leader and author of Leadership Is an Art, put it this way: “We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are.” We can’t be the same church in 2026 we were in 2006 and be effective. Change is driving us to become something new.

How can we embrace the changes that are flowing through our ecclesial rivers, our fast-moving waters of church life? First, we become learners. We pay attention to what’s going on. We participate in meetings, Zoom calls, and other means of learning about impending changes. Eric Hoffer, the renowned social philosopher of the 20th century, said, “In times of great change, it is the learners who inherit the future, while the learned find themselves equipped for a world that no longer exists.” Learning actually is a great antidote to anxiety. Instead of fretting about change, we can learn about what changes are occurring and how we might prepare to adapt.

Second, we find connections to our identity. Change isn’t so overwhelming when we can connect it to what has been. We are a people of God—the God of Abraham and Sarah, the God of Paul and Barnabas, the God revealed through Jesus of Nazareth. The prophet Isaiah said to the Hebrew people going through a tumultuous period, “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing” (Isaiah 43:18–19). Our God is constantly doing new things, and very often creating fields of flowers from barren deserts. As a people of God, we have the capacity to encounter new human leaders, unknown to us in the past. We can align our governance structures with the realities of a smaller congregation. We can create space for worship, discipleship, fellowship, and mission in a way that maximizes our reach into the world, while shedding encumbrances that weigh us down. Embracing change rather than bracing for change drives us to a deeper openness and dependence on God for our life together as God’s people.

So let’s not brace ourselves against what God is doing among us, but embrace it with open hands and faithful hearts—trusting that the same God who has led us this far is already waiting for us on the other side of what comes next.

Finding Home - 25th Anniversary Luncheon of Lost Boys Coming to the USA: May 17!

It’s the 25th year since 40 “Lost Boys of Sudan” arrived in Metro Charlotte through a State Department initiative that recognized the resilience of children who fled war and survived a thousand-mile walk to refugee camps.

Learning of the epic journey, St. John's Baptist Church members invited Lost Boys into their community. Relationships grew into enduring friendships, including support for the goal of UNC Charlotte graduate James Lubo Mijak (“Lubo”) to bring education back home.

Inspired by Lubo's dream, 700+ individuals, churches, schools, and foundations have helped open and sustain three primary schools in the Raising South Sudan initiative.

Join Us to Remember, Reflect, Celebrate

Special Lunch Event – Broach Hall

Sunday, May 17, 2026 | 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM

Worship Service: 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM

RSVP by May 12

tinyurl.com/25-years-together or email: nancyefuller@aol.com

Everyone is Welcome!

Finding Home, Part 4

This is the fourth episode describing the perilous journey of the Lost Boys to our city. See previous Family News for parts 1-3.

The Boys finally made their way to a United Nations refugee camp in Kenya. Camp Kakuma became home to 20,000 Lost Boys, who were among the other 86,000 refugees. They had walked 1,200 miles or more. At this camp they lived on one meal a day. Every 2 weeks they were given a ration of 1 pound of millet, ½ cup of beans and 1 cup of oil. This meal they called their “Ration of Hope”. The days without food, they called the “dark days”.

Lubo recalls, "Despite all of this, we went to school in the camps and tried to manage our lives as much as we could. When I was about 17 or 18 years old I was promoted to leader of a group of 500 Lost Boys. My duties were to take care of them, represent their issues to United Nations representatives in the camp, and to teach them how to prevent HIV/AIDS and other diseases through stories and poems."

Eventually people came with cameras and notebooks to document the situation and make it known to the world. In 2001, according to the State Department, approximately 3,800 Sudanese children and young adults were resettled in North America under the Catholic Social Services Resettlement Office. The resettlement office through the State Department gave the Sudanese money to cover 3 months of rent, food, and medical expenses. The refugees left the Camp after filling out multiple forms, experiencing many interviews, health checks and with a pair of shoes, (their first!) they flew to the US and then to Charlotte.

Once in Charlotte, they began a new journey of adapting to a totally new and strange, to them, culture. It was in a Harris Teeter grocery store where some of the young men met Martha Kearse and found a “lifeline” which would assist them in adjusting to the ways of a modern world, such as how to operate a stove, shop for food, prepare healthy meals, adjust heat and air-conditioning, use a washing machine, bank their salaries, use the bus, be on time for work at TJMAX Distribution Center, enroll in CPCC, and then for some in UNCC etc.

It was the church family of St.John's through mentors, who volunteered to coach them through the new and unfamiliar experiences they faced. There were church suppers to raise funds for extras that were needed, even a fun filled Christmas party with the Youth. At the party they enjoyed stringing popcorn garlands, cutting out paper snowflakes and even with much laughter sitting on Santa’s lap!!

They learned so much new, and so did we. We saw resilience, determination, a deep desire for education, and a generosity of spirit as they cared for each other when times were hard and sharing what they had if one of them had needs. They cooked for the ones who worked late hours and sometimes slipped into each other’s rooms just to be sure that they were living, a habit learned from their days in the camps.

Our experiences with the young men brought all of us closer to the God we shared, and we learned gladly and with gratitude from each other.

A Message from the Church Council

The Church Council would like to thank the congregation for your continued engagement in the leadership restructuring process. Your careful listening, thoughtful questions, and willingness to wrestle with both structure and calling are signs of a healthy and faithful church.

We are especially grateful to everyone who attended the in‑person congregational session on Sunday morning, May 3, as well as those who joined the Zoom session on Monday evening, May 4. Both gatherings were marked by generosity of spirit and a shared desire to discern what will best support St. John’s ministry in this season of our life together.

At these sessions, we focused on one central question: Is our current lay leadership structure still the best way to support shared ministry right now? The conversations were not about rushing to a decision, but about making the proposed changes concrete and understandable—showing how leadership work actually flows today, where it becomes strained or repetitive, and how a revised structure might better support the church’s mission while honoring the time and gifts of our volunteers.

Using a real‑life example from the church’s recent experience, we walked through how a single, widely supported decision currently moves through multiple panels, teams, and meetings before it can be carried out. We then contrasted that with how the same decision would move under the proposed structure—emphasizing coordination, shared discernment, and clearer accountability rather than speed for its own sake.

We also spent time discussing how the proposed structure would function across an entire year. This included naming churchwide and leadership priorities, forming panels around those priorities, and distinguishing between two complementary lanes of leadership: Relational Action (care, worship, formation, and mission) and Governance Action (finance, facilities, administration, and systems). The goal is not hierarchy or division, but clarity—so that different kinds of leadership work can be done well, without overloading the same people or meetings.

Finally, we returned to the deeper question of calling. We reflected on our Baptist heritage and the diaconal calling as a lifelong vocation of service—not an on‑off switch or a collection of committee assignments. The proposed changes are intended to support that calling rather than constrain it.

For those who were unable to attend the Zoom session—or who would like to revisit the conversation—a recording is available at the link below. Please note that you will need the passcode to access it:

Recording link:

https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/play/pXuhwTqYkTndkgdrB6XxG7n7lT_OaM56kslP1_Q7NLGhPUqx2B3boENkxCNEigt1XEwmnED6hky3JZy9.Mowd4QZ3HoTpUZqD

Passcode: XL0K7gD*

As promised, we will be setting this discussion aside next Sunday, May 10, to give our full attention to the mothers in our lives. After careful discernment, we concluded that leadership restructuring can wait—but Mother’s Day cannot—and wisely chose the path of gratitude, celebration, and domestic harmony.

Looking ahead, the Church Council will meet on Sunday, May 16, and the Deacons will meet on Monday, May 17. The proposal will be taken up for further discussion at those meetings, and we will continue to keep the congregation informed as the discernment process continues.

Thank you again for your care for St. John’s and for your faithful participation in this shared work.

—The Church Council

Children's Paint Party at Noah's Art: June 6

Children, let's dive into summer with a paint party at Noah's Art on Saturday, June 6, 11am. The cost is $10 per artist. Registration is required. Register today.

Senior Adult (75+) Picnic: Sunday, June 28

Save the date of Sunday, June 28th for the annual Senior Adult Picnic (75+) held in Broach Hall immediately following the worship service.

Details coming soon!