A progressive and welcoming Christian community!
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Join Us On Sunday at First Baptist Church in Beverly
Sunday September 23, 2018
10:00 a.m.: Worship
and Multi-age Children's Class
(Childcare provided for children through Grade 1;
children's books, art supplies, and flexible seating and play area available in worship for ALL children)
Good Trouble
Rev. Julie Flowers, preaching
Scripture: 1 Kings 18:17-39
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Sunday, September 23
9:00 a.m. Spiritual Seekers Class
10:00 a.m. - Worship (
Rev. Julie Flowers
, preaching)
and Multi-Age Children's Class
11:20 Adult Classes and Children's Choir
2:30 p.m. - Middle School and Senior High Fellowships
Monday, September 24
6:00 p.m. - Monday Night Supper
7:30 p.m. - Missions
Tuesday, September 25
9:30 a.m - Staff Meeting
12:30 p.m. - Lunch Program
7:00 p.m. - Deacons Meeting
Wednesday, September 26
7:30 a.m. - Lectio Divina
7:15 p.m. - Harborlight Ringers
Thursday, September 27
6:00 p.m. - Celebration Ringers
7:30 p.m - Sanctuary Choir
Saturday, September 29
12:30 p.m. - Lunch Program
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Rummage Sale This Weekend!
Friday, 9-5, Saturday 9-noon. Come and shop or volunteer by calling Marty Lincoln.
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Birth Announcement
We are so pleased to welcome Heidi and Steve Bissel’s newest granddaughter, Aria Rose Mondello. Aria was born at 1:49 a.m. on September 5 to Nikki and Chris Mondello. Aria was 6 lbs. 13 oz. at and 18 inches at birth. Everyone is settling in at home and doing extremely well. Congratulations to Bissel and Mondello families on this wonderful new addition!
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Opportunity for the Holiday Fair
The official first day of autumn is quickly approaching, and the Holiday Fair and its silent auction will soon be upon us. Loyce Thomson, the coordinator of the silent auction, is looking for help in soliciting donations from local businesses, local cultural organizations, or museums. Are you a person who’s done this sort of volunteering for a PTO or charitable group, or perhaps you have marketing connections? The task would involve approaching businesses, restaurants and cultural groups and soliciting a donation for the silent auction. The auction generates a significant amount of money toward the church fair’s profit, and of course the goal is to make it bigger and better every year. If you are interested or would like to learn more, please email Loyce at
Loyce@comcast.net
.
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New Sunday Schedule,
Starting Sept. 23rd
In response to the needs of the congregation, we are modifying the Sunday schedule. Child care provided for the entire morning schedule. The new schedule is below:
9:00 a.m
. - Seekers Class: "Unpacking Jesus'," hosted by Kent Harrop. A great class for adults newer to FBC or new to faith.
9:45 a.m. -
Morning Café (great coffee and yummy breakfast pastry).
10:00 a.m. -
Worship and Multi-age Children's Class
11:00 a.m - 11:20 a.m
. Morning Cafe'
11:20 a.m. 12:10 p.m. -
Adult Education (Bible Study with Beth Loughhead; Faith Journey Class with Kent Harrop and Gloria Stoneham; Mae Patten Class)
11:20 a.m. -
Children’s Choir (2nd, 3rd, & 4th Sunday of the month)
*2:30 p.m. - This week the Middle School and Senior High Fellowship groups will meet at this earlier time to go to Connors' Farm.
*3:00 p.m. - Joyringers, the youth bell choir will begin rehearsal at this new time on September 30!
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An Update on the Prayground
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Wow! What a wonderful Rally Day Sunday, in all ways – and what a wonderful Rally Day Sunday in the Prayground!
11 children, from Grades 1 – 6, made use of our Prayground space on Sunday morning during worship, and felt welcome, happy, and engaged during the whole service. They listened to the sermon, they were intrigued by the slides and the scripture, they shared in the prayers and the songs. As worship was drawing to a close, one child said, “It’s OVER?! I had SO MUCH FUN during church, I can’t even believe it’s already over! I can’t wait to come back!”
Nothing makes a minister’s heart sing more than children who can’t wait to come back to worship! Nothing is more hopeful for a congregation – indeed, for the Church Universal – than that sentiment.
As many of our church family saw and had the chance to experience during the summer months, beginning in mid-June, we started to experiment with the creation of a warm and flexible space in our sanctuary in which children and families – as well as any other older youth or adults who wanted to help welcome and experience worship with some of the youngest members of our church family – could be in worship. We created this space by removing a few of the front pews on the non-pulpit side of the sanctuary and adding a donated rug and some toys, as well as borrowing an art table from our friends at Harborlight Nursery School and moving our bookshelf of children’s books and Bibles forward into the space. The idea behind this Prayground space grows from the knowledge that children are uniquely and wonderfully created (as are we all!) as children. They need to move, at times. They need space to wiggle out the wiggles that God puts in children by nature. Increasingly, we see in early childhood and elementary education that when children are given space to move and use their bodies as they listen and as they learn, they are actually
more
engaged and more fully able to enter into the learning experience.
Our Prayground space helps to honor and welcome children – and families – in this same spirit. We have always had – and we continue to have – many spaces in our sanctuary where adults can find welcome and comfort. Now we
also
have a warm and welcoming spot that invites children to experience worship in ways that work best for them, as well!
At the same time, the Prayground has been a learning process for all of us, and we have and will continue to make adjustments and tweaks as we learn. We would like to purchase a larger rug to more fully cover the space (and cover that hard floor), as well as purchase our own, larger art table, to allow for more young people to be able to sit and quietly work on art as they listen. Additionally, we have
just
ordered 3 sets of foam blocks, to allow for building and movement with blocks that fall over silently! This change was made on Sunday afternoon, following feedback from some of our church family members who shared that for those who wear hearing aids, background noises (like blocks) are all amplified equally – so by Sunday afternoon the blocks were ordered, and they will be in the Prayground this coming Sunday!
We are so excited and so pleased to be moving forward with this creative and flexible space, to be learning and adjusting as we go, to make improvements to ensure a wonderful worship experience for all in our church family. When the whole family of God can be together – when we hear the sounds of children’s voices in worship intermingled with the sounds of our adult tones and tenors – it tells a story. It tells a story of hope. It tells a story of joy. It tells a story of the good news that God’s loving kingdom is for all people. It tells the story of a church that earnestly seeks to live out Jesus’ call to let the little children come. It tells a story of what it is to be a church family.
Thank you for being a church family that makes space for creativity, for warmth, and for welcome – that is a special thing, and it is worth celebrating!
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Sunday Learning Opportunities for Adults
9:00 a.m.
Spiritual Seekers Class -
Each Sunday 9 a.m.
Join Kent Harrop for great coffee and conversation on provocative and timely themes. We explore the Bible and dialogue with a 10 – 12 minute video by pastor and theologian Rob Bell (film maker and bestselling author of Velvet Jesus and Love Wins). Bring your questions, doubts and wisdom. Child care provided. Meet in staff conference room (main floor). Upcoming classes:
September 23rd: When Rain Comes
Things don't always work out the way we want them to, or the way we think they will. Sometimes we don't even see it coming. We get hit with some form of pain out of nowhere leaving us feeling desperate and helpless. That's the way life is. Still, it makes us wonder how God can let these things happen to us. How God can just stand by and watch us suffer. Where is God when it really hurts? Maybe God is actually closer to us than we think. Maybe it's when we're in these situations, where everything seems to be falling apart that God gets an opportunity to remind us of how much we are truly loved.
September 30th: Experiencing Love
Hebrew Love Poems (erotic poetry in the Bible…who knew?). I love those shoes. Really? The same way I love my spouse? What's up with the word "love"? It doesn't have much meaning when we use it so loosely. Maybe we don't really get it. Maybe we don't understand what real love is. What it means to give yourself to someone else. We mistake things like friendship, commitment, or lust for love, but God wired us certain way to experience all that love was really meant to be. Not to hold us back or to make us miss out on way it's meant to be felt.
Mindful Movements - Yoga and Meditation
- Join us for 45 minutes of gentle Yoga and themes that speak to the connectedness of spirit in each of us. Please bring water and a mat. Offered once a month in the chapel, led by Lisa LaPlante. Date to be announced.
11:20 a.m.
Sunday Morning Bible Study:
This class, taught by Beth Loughhead, meets in the Mary Kuell Room on the lower level and enjoys lively discussions while studying a variety of texts, both biblical and academic. We begin the year traveling with Paul through Turkey, Greece and Italy with the series “Eclipsing Empire.” If you are looking for interesting study and discussion that can lead to new insight, then this is the class for you.
Faith Journey:
From Sept. - Nov. this class will explore what it means to be Baptist, what Baptists believe and why. In December, the class will explore the meaning of Advent. Meets in the staff conference room on the main level and is facilitated by Kent Harrop and Gloria Stoneham.
Mae Patten Class
: This class meets in the Lounge behind the sanctuary to study Scripture and ways in which it can be applied to life.
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First Baptist Church in Beverly | 978-922-3295 |
Email|
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