The Pinnacle
November 13, 2020
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The second installment of the Northside Drive Home Companion celebrating the 23-year ministry of Senior Pastor James Lamkin is set for Sunday, November 15, at 3:00 pm in the Sanctuary.
In addition to more storytelling, music and memories, the artful quilts of Myrtie Cope and Marshall Dewell will welcome event goers in the Narthex and contribute to the already rich colors of the Sanctuary.
Church members are encouraged (not required) to bring their own family quilts, whether the quilt has a story/memory attached or someone special made them. Those “brought” quilts will be draped over the ribbon-indicated safely distanced spaces where family groups take their seats and should inspire some personal memory-sharing at the close of the program.
Myrtie and Marshall will bring extra quilts from their personal collections should you wish to borrow a quilt.
With the church's best Covid safety measures in place, please come prepared with a mask and expectation for more good times together as the Northside Drive Baptist "church family."
Please contribute your favorite stories about James and his ministry among us (short paragraphs only, please) to Syd Janney at sydjanney@bellsouth.net or to her mailing address 705 E Morningside Drive NE, Atlanta, GA 30324. Examples of these memories will be sprinkled throughout each Northside Drive Home Companion event and/or assembled for his further reflection and enjoyment.
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The Personnel Committee is working hard to make plans for NDBC’s life without James Lamkin beginning January 1, 2021. 2020 has been quite a year and we are trying to listen to where God is calling us during these very unusual times. We would like to share a few plans with the congregation.
Associate Pastor Daniel Headrick has agreed to take on some of James’ responsibilities. Daniel will remain our associate and continue preaching twice a month, with guest preachers on the other Sundays. He will also supervise staff and conduct weekly staff meetings. Daniel will handle the pastoral care concerns, working closely with the diaconate and its chair Tim Getsay. Daniel cannot handle these additional responsibilities alongside his current role. The Personnel Committee is asking lay leaders/committee chairs to step up to assist Daniel in certain areas. The current NDBC staff is flexible in many ways to cover the necessary work of the church. As previously announced, Andrea Johnson will be starting McAfee Seminary in January. We are thrilled that she will remain on staff and continue her enthusiastic work as director of children’s ministries. We trust that this new structure will work well for NDBC, while our Senior Pastor Search Committee also begins its work in January.
The Personnel Committee is proposing the hiring of a transition advisor/consultant through the Center for Healthy Churches in Raleigh, NC to begin in January ’21. This group comes very highly recommended. Our own Larry McSwain was on staff there. We encourage you to go to their website at www.chchurches.org and read about their services. It has been strongly suggested that NDBC take this transition time to discern our future, especially after having James as our senior pastor for over 23 years. Working with church leaders and the entire congregation, the transition advisor will study our church – its staff, facilities, finances, missions, etc. They will help us establish an appropriate balance between five dimensions of a healthy church: spiritual, mental/emotional, physical, financial and structural. They will provide fresh eyes looking into our church to give us ideas for our future. We encourage full congregation participation in this process! More details will be available on this later, but the Personnel Committee wants you to know what is being planned. This proposal will be presented to the Church Council on November 16 for its approval.
If you have any thoughts or concerns, please contact any member of your Personnel Committee. We pray that NDBC will be guided to explore wonderful possibilities for our future through these processes.
We look forward to celebrating James’ retirement with you on Nov. 15 and Dec. 6!
The Personnel Committee
Chair Susan Dew, Theresa Goriczynski, Vice Chair Jack Guynn
Andrew Hardin, Karen Massey, Hal Meeks
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The NDBC Finance Committee reports that our pledge campaign is off to a good start. To date, we have received pledges of $336,360 supporting our Church in Conference approved budget of $776,877. We will continue to share how your donations are making an impact over the next few weeks. We encourage you to give as your situation allows, and we ask that you make your pledge soon if you have not already done so. We welcome your increased pledge from last year's amount, if you are able to do so.
This week, we offer videos of NDBC member Theresai Manley and our mission partners Laura and Carson Foushee, CBF field personnel in Japan, as each of them illustrates your NDBC donations at work.
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It has been a long-standing and rich tradition here at Northside Drive Baptist Church to place poinsettias in our beautiful sanctuary during the Advent season. This year is a bit different due to Covid, and we cannot be sure we will be able to worship in the sanctuary. This year, instead of decorating with poinsettias, we are offering the chance for you to donate a virtual poinsettia. The proceeds from the sale will be donated to the Atlanta Food Bank for those in need during the holiday season. Simply call the church office at 404-237-8621 or email Will at will@northsidedrive.org to place your order. Be sure to let him know the name of the person(s) (in honor or memory of) for whom you are donating. As is our custom, the list of those virtual poinsettias will be placed in the December 13 order of worship.
The deadline for orders is Wednesday, December 9, 2020.
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The Art & Soul church school class will meet this Sunday, November 15 at 9:30 am via Zoom (note that the meeting passcode below is required to join the meeting) . You can prepare by reading the short Feasting on the Word preparatory sheet. Mary Lester will lead our discussion on the topic "venture discipleship," a focus on Matthew 25:14-30.
Meeting ID: 824 8851 2109
Passcode: 936319
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Blessings be. B & W Roofing has finished installing the roof on the Sanctuary and the Chapel. And the boiler is now GONE!!! |
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NOTICE OF CALLED CHURCH IN CONFERENCE
A called meeting of the Church in Conference will be held Sunday, November 22, immediately following an in-person worship service at 11 am. The purpose of the meeting is to consider and vote on the ballot of nominees to serve on the Senior Pastor Search Committee.
The procedure for preparing and voting on the list of nominees has been and will be in accordance with NDBC’s current Bylaws, Article V, Section B, Paragraphs 3, 4, and 5, as recently approved by the congregation. As required by the bylaws, the slate of eight nominees has been compiled by office holder/committee chairs Jo Meeks (Moderator), Tim Getsay (Chair of Diaconate), Steve Konenkamp (Chair of Finance Committee) and Susan Dew (Chair of Personnel Committee) in consultation with eight specified church committees/ ministry teams.
The nominees for the Senior Pastor Search Committee and associated committees/ministry teams are as follows:
Adult Education Cathy Wooten
Children & Youth Marie Cook
Diaconate Hal Meeks
Finance Beth Laxton
Missions Geneva Hall-Shelton
Personnel Karen Massey
Triple E Barbara Atchley
Worship & Music Tim Getsay
As provided in the bylaws, at the Church in Conference, additional nominations of church members for one or more of the eight positions will be accepted. If there are contested positions, then voting for those positions will be by secret ballot. If no nomination is made from the floor, then voting will be by a show of hands.
Please plan to attend the called Church in Conference for this important meeting. It is anticipated that the meeting likely will be held in the sanctuary where social distancing and other protocols will be implemented. And please wear a mask!
Jo Meeks, Moderator
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Help Fill Northside Drive's Thanksgiving Cornucopia
As we prepare for Thanksgiving this year, everything seems different. While there is much Northside Drive members can be grateful for, we also recognize that many families in our community are in distress, with limited resources and mounting financial obligations. Traditionally Thanksgiving at Northside Drive has been a time of prayerful gratitude and sharing with others. This year we want to continue that tradition while also being mindful of our Covid-related limitations. Since we will be meeting in the sanctuary Sunday, November 22, the Missions Committee will have a table in the Narthex with a basket to receive your Thanksgiving donations of Publix or Kroger gift cards, checks or cash. Of course, you can also send your gift directly to the church office, marked Thanksgiving Missions. We will divide these donations between Buckhead Christian Ministries and Urban Recipe. Thank you for your continued support of our missions programs.
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On Sunday, November 22 at 10:15 am, prior to the in-person worship service, we will have our Family Advent Wreath Workshop and Fellowship. We will gather outdoors on the paved patio beyond the chapel steps. We chose this location to have proximity to one another enough to gather, while allowing enough space to do so distantly and safely.
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Community Thanksgiving Service hosted by
Christ Covenant
November 22
5:00 pm.
Due to Covid concerns, the Community Thanksgiving Service will not be in-person this year. However, clergy from the neighborhood congregations have been invited to participate.
Christ Covenant is a fairly new congregation that has been meeting at Sutton Middle School and Covenant Presbyterian Church. It is a satellite congregation sponsored by Johnson Ferry Baptist Church and uses office space at The Collective just north of Peachtree Battle Shopping Center.
Though it will be difficult to “be community” at this year’s Community Thanksgiving Service, we will still attempt to stand on the common ground of gratitude, continue to work for the common good of all, and give thanks to God.
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“Of Times and Seasons”
James Lamkin
The illusion of control is awfully important to humans. Is there anything more terrifying than chaos? Human history is about rewriting stories about how we want past times to have been. “Control the narrative,” has become a political vocation.
Yet, in the long run, we control so little. In fact, I’ve never liked that line from the Serenity Prayer, “…accept the things I cannot change.” Turns out, there’s a lot I can’t change…including other people.
The Apostle Paul’s congregations had the same problem. The Thessalonica congregation wanted to pack a suitcase, live in a tent, and wait for the rapture. “Let’s just wait this out,” was the mantra, “We know that this won’t take long.”
They are still waiting. So are we. Many a Bible verse echoes I Thessalonians 5:1. The times and seasons of life…what the future holds…may be hoped for or feared, but for the most part, unknown. The closest we come is to plant crops in the spring, harvest crops in the fall, and store food for the winter. (Maybe, “pledge next year’s budget,” makes the good list, too.)
As I head toward retirement, I’m very conscious of this natural, but oddly surprising, rhythm of times and seasons.
But look at the scripture’s last verse. Paul says, “Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as you are doing.” Ah ha! Not a bad agenda for any time and every season.
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Weekly Church Events
Art and Soul Church School - Each Sunday at 9:30 am via Zoom
Meeting ID: 824 8851 2109
Passcode: 936319
Sunday Morning A Time with the Children - 11:00 a.m. via Facebook and at 11:15 via YouTube
Wednesday Pastor's Morning Bible Study - 10:30 am via Zoom
Meeting ID: 250 663 1572
Passcode: 6789
Saturday Prayer Meeting - 2:00 pm via Zoom
Meeting ID: 250 663 1572
Passcode: 6789
Sanctuary Open for Prayer - Daily - 2:00-3:30 pm
Whether we are able to worship in-person or not, a recorded worship service and children’s sermon video are available each Sunday at 11:00 a.m. on Facebook and YouTube.
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Kurt Thomas - November 15
Tom Vander Ven - November 18
Beverly Allen - November 20
Ted Clyatt - November 22
Jenney Headrick - November 25
George Smathers - November 26
Teri Rhodes -November 28
Aaron Johnson - November 28
Reidar Bjornard - November 29
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During this time of remote worship, know of our prayers for you and your family. Contact our clergy if you have prayer requests or other concerns.
Northside Drive Baptist Church
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Church Office Hours
Monday through Friday
9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
(404) 237-8621
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