The Pinnacle
November 6, 2020
|
|
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 ’21. 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
|
|
This has been a stress-filled week of anxious waiting, rising Covid numbers, and political fracturing. I wrote these words about the faithful role of the Church in days such as these. -Daniel Headrick, Associate Pastor
|
|
On Sunday, November 1 the 2021 Challenge Budget was unanimously approved by the Church in Conference. Over the next few weeks we will be sharing some videos from NDBC members and our missions partners, and calling upon members to make their 2021 pledge.
This week, watch NDBC members Will & Allison Bell, and an interview of Buckhead Christian Ministry CEO Keeva Kase by Daniel Headrick.
|
|
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, 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 [email protected] 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.
|
|
The Art & Soul church school class will meet this Sunday, November 8 at 9:30 am via Zoom. You can prepare by reading the short Feasting on the Word preparatory sheet. Mary Dean will lead our discussion. Note that a passcode is required.
Meeting ID: 824 8851 2109
Passcode: 936319
|
|
Thanks to our Facilities Ministry Team and other folk, B&W Roofing began re-shingling the Sanctuary on Wednesday, and will start on the Chapel roof next week.
Your intrepid Associate Pastor climbed to the top of the building using grappling hooks to get this shot.
|
|
|
NOTICE OF CALLED CHURCH IN CONFERENCE
A called meeting of the Church in Conference will be held Sunday, November 22, 2020, 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
|
|
Be part of a Northside Thanksgiving tradition*
*the 2020 remake
As we move into the holiday seasons of Thanksgiving and Advent, we have much to be grateful for - - even as we socially distanced, attended Zoom church meetings and gatherings, and missed the joy of being together for worship and celebration. Our wonderful staff and church leaders have transitioned almost overnight into video and Zoom "celebrities." We have found ways to celebrate our children, to worship and pray together - masked and honoring Covid guidelines. So many of you have used your time and resources to volunteer with our Missions partners and other community activities. Through your gifts to Northside Drive, we have been able to meet our financial commitments to our Missions partners in a year of uncertainty and unprecedented need.
However, many in our community are still in distress with limited resources and mounting obligations. Traditionally at Northside Drive, Thanksgiving has been a time of prayerful gratitude and sharing with others. This year we want to continue our tradition while also being aware of our limitations at this time of Covid. 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 and cash. Of course, you can also send them directly to the church office. We will give these donations to Buckhead Christian Ministries and Urban Recipe.
Thank you for your continued support of our Missions programs. We are making plans for our Christmas giving and will share those soon as we prepare for Advent.
Nancy G. Hall
2178 Radcliffe Dr. NW
Atlanta, Georgia 30318
cell: 404.791.7104
|
|
Renewal of the Covenant
by Daniel Headrick
As we await the election news that has riveted the country’s attention, the thundering voice of Joshua comes through Scripture. The people claim they can serve the Lord, but Joshua says “You cannot serve the Lord.” This back and forth sets the stage for a renewal of the covenant: a set of promises between a holy God and a wayward people. What promises are we called to renew as the division in our country is revealed to be as deep, or deeper than we ever imagined?
|
|
Though Northside Drive Baptist Church has not regularly gathered for worship since the Covid pandemic hit, we did meet yesterday in our beautiful sanctuary for an All Saints Day Celebration 2020. Brilliant sunlight radiated the windows’ faceted glass jeweled colors. The pipe organ sang its bright and big songs of hope and joy. And the (socially distanced and masked) congregation prayed and praised with the enclosed booklet in their hands: THE COMPANY OF HEAVEN: A Compilation of All Saints Sundays 1997-2020. In it are the names of all those in the congregation who have died during the past twenty-three years while I have served as NDBC’s pastor.
The names and number are both overwhelming and humbling. It has been my honor to stand with most of our families, as we stood at gravesides and rolled our toes over eternity’s edge. These are well-worn footsteps of grief and gratitude; and All Saints Day is like a family reunion of the faithful.
This past Sunday, as is our tradition, I called aloud the names of those who have died this year. For each, I tolled a bell, and then spoke a sentence or two about them. However, due to this year’s uniqueness, as I approach my retirement at the end of the year, I also called aloud a few more names on the list. It was An All Saints Sunday Sampler. Seemingly, the gravitas of “all the company of heaven,” gathered with us. The past and present and future became one.
Though we did not observe communion with cup and bread on Sunday, we did observe once again how hope is nourished through memory, and faith is sustained by love. And even during difficult days, God bundles us together in eternal grace.
Take care,
James Lamkin, Pastor
|
|
Each Sunday from now until Advent, our Time with the Children videos will be highlighting the Beatitudes, from Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. We’ll focus on one Beatitude every Sunday and hear a story about how Jesus lived out that Beatitude, blessing others with God’s promises lived through Him. Time with the Children videos will premier every Sunday morning at 10:30 am on the Northside Drive Baptist Church Facebook page as well the NDBC YouTube channel.
In addition to the Time with the Children videos, electronic devotional materials will be available for you and your family to enjoy at home together:
-
A video story recording about one “Blessed Child of God," a video about a person who is or who has lived out the Beatitude of the week, from the book Holy Troublemakers and Unconventional Saints, by Daneen Akers.
- An animated family devotional, with wondering questions, reflections, and a prayer to give you and your family an easy, light-hearted way to discuss, dream, and grow in faith together.
Look for these two resources to be posted on Sunday mornings on the Northside Drive Kids Facebook page after 10:30 am.
I hope you’ll look out for and enjoy using all of these video devotional materials with your family.
May God’s blessings flow abundantly upon you and your family in all the days to come!
Andrea C. Johnson
Director of Children’s Ministries
|
|
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.
|
|
Sylvia Dick - November 7
Elizabeth Cassata - November 7
Robert Schwartz - November 7
Mary Frances Headrick -November 8
Larry McSwain - November 10
Joel Stouffer - November 10
Cecil Pacetti - November 10
Emma Martin - November 11
Herb Avery - November 14
Kurt Thomas - November 15
Tom Vander Ven - November 18
Beverly Allen - November 20
Ted Clyatt - November 22
|
|
We pray for NDBC former associate pastor Mike Gregg and his family, as they tend to their newborn son, Ford. Ford has been in the NICU of a Dallas hospital for an extended, medically fragile time. Mike and Amanda try to be with him as much as possible, while trying to make ends meet.
Months ago, NDBC member Carolyn Herndon started a GoFundMe Page for this family. She is glad to answer questions about the situation. You, also can email Mike directly, [email protected], can contact him and Amanda via Facebook or write to them at Rev. Mike Gregg, Royal Lane Baptist Church, 6707 Royal Lane, Dallas, Texas, 75230.
As the Good Book says in Galatians 6:2, we seek to bear one another’s burdens…and we do so as we love the Greggs through these tough days.
|
|
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
|
|
Church Office Hours
Monday through Friday
9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
(404) 237-8621
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
