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A publication of The First Baptist Church of Westfield 2011
7:00 p.m. CHRISTMAS MUSIC FOR PRAYER & REFLECTION
7:30 p.m.
TRADITIONAL CANDLELIGHT SERVICE
OF READINGS AND CAROLS
Childcare available
se themes are Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. In the coming weeks, make time for yourself to deliberately wait for Christ while really thinking about what you're waiting for: é How has God shown you
(Hope, Peace, Joy, Love) in the past?
é Where in your life are you waiting for the (Hope, Peace, Joy, Love) that only a Savior can bring?
é Pray to God, thanking Him for His blessings and asking Him for a Savior.
Let us be blessed this sea-son through waiting for a Sav-ior that we already know is coming, is here, and continues to be present as we get caught up in the holiday season!
-MjW
It may not feel like it much outside, but Christmas is rapidly approaching! We are in the wonderful season of Ad-vent, a season of waiting in anticipation... but how often do we really take time in the weeks before Christmas to wait? Sure, we wait in longer lines at stores, we wait in heavier traffic, we wait for all the special events that are coming up this month, and then somewhere along the way we celebrate the birth of Jesus and we never really had to wait for Him! But during advent we re-member a time before the New Testament, before the birth of Christ, before Santa Claus and gifts, before hustle and bustle and "home for the holidays",
before we had a Savior. We re-member the Jewish people who waited for hundreds of years for the Messiah that they were promised. Do we, with Jesus al-ready in our midst, forget to wait for Him? Let us together try our hands at the spiritual practice of waiting. Instead of going to that one last store, go home and wait. Instead of making that extra tray of cookies, turn off the oven and wait. Instead of showing your face at that last Christmas party, stay home, take a deep "God breath" and wait. Each week we reflect on a different theme of the Advent season, a different characteristic that Jesus brings to us, some-thing different for us to wait for, each represented by candles around the Advent wreath. The-
Change in Worship Time
As church leaders have been thinking about all the things that might be “strange” to a visitor, one has been our starting time for Worship on Sun-day. 10:15AM -???
Starting Christmas Day, Dec. 25th, we will move starting time to 10:30AM. Bible Study will still be at 9:00 a.m.
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MUSIC DURING ADVENT & CHRISTMAS
November 27 Chancel Choir
December 4 Chancel Choir
December 11 Chancel Choir
Chancel Ringers
December 18 Children’s Choir,
Youth Music and Chancel Choir
Christmas Eve 7 pm
Quiet Christmas Music for Prayer and Reflec�on
7:30 pm Candlelight Service—
Chancel Choir
SPECIAL MUSICAL EVENTS DURING DECEMBER
Saturday & Sunday,
December 3-4 at 4 PM
Carols in the Round THE WESTFIELD CHORALE
Child care provided. Call the church office for ticket availability.
Net proceeds benefit local charities.
Saturday, December 17
at 4 PM CHARLES DICKENS’
“A CHRISTMAS CAROL” PETER J. HORN, NARRATOR
WESTFIELD HS CONCERT CHOIR
Appropriate for all ages, the pro-gram lasts about an hour and 15 minutes. Mr. Horn will use the
church’s sound system and the FM radios will be available for those
who have difficulty hearing. Free-will offering to benefit Grace’s
Kitchen in Plainfield.
Choir Notes... THANK YOU to Marc Lau-ritsen for a wonderful after-church piano recital in honor of his mother, Ruth’s birthday. From Mozart to Chopin to the great American songbook, there was a treat for everyone! Thanks also to Ruth for sharing her birthday present with the congregation… to our Youth, who along with some intergenerational support,
lead the music dur-ing the Nov. 13 worship service: Song Leaders, Marlee Araujo, Melanie Della Peruti, Molly
Engel, Megan Winey, and Krystle Haliotis; and instrumen-talists, Joseph, Melanie, and Carl Della Peruti, trombone trio; Glen Brown and Georgi-na Owolabi, guitar; and Devin Araujo, drums… to Glen Brown for also playing guitar during worship throughout the month of November… and to our instrumental ensemble on Nov. 20: Katie Engel and Carleen Morris, flutes; Michael Weaver, horn; and Beth Hans-com, cello.
Fri 12/2 TGIF - Christmas Games
Bring a friend opportunity!
Sun 12/11 5:00 - Christmas Bible Study
By Michael 6:00 - Arcade Night
7:00 - Supper by McGuire
Sat-Sun 12/17-18 Girls’ Sleepover
7pm - 9am
Sun 12/18 Christmas Party/Yankee Swap @
Araujo’s 5:30-8:30
Sat-Sun 12/31-1/1
*New Year’s Eve Lock-In 7:00pm - 10:00am
ANNUAL ALL YOUTH
GIRLS SLEEP OVER Saturday December 17th
7pm– 9am at FBC Yes, that means NO boys. We
always have a blast making ginger bread houses, watching movies,
drinking hot chocolate, and much more. And it's a chance for the
girl alumni to come back and visit with us! And don't forget to
bring a friend! $10 pay to Marlee Araujo or
Taylor Kline! RSVP by Sunday Dec 11th
*New Year’s Eve Lock-In at the Church
Open to any Youth! Come on out and bring your friends Dec 31 at 7pm for games, movies and food! We’ll even drop our own New Year’s ball from the roof of the church! In the morning we’ll sleep in and have some breakfast, then get picked up again at 10am! Arrives December 22!
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What is Bible Study? A time set aside to delve into the Word of God to find instruction, guidance, inspiration, teaching and eternal truths to apply to our daily walk as disciples of Je-sus Christ. It is a spiritual discipline that nurtures the spirit and strength-ens our faith and further connects us in community. There are many teaching methods that can be used to teach the Bible; regardless which one is used the ultimate goal is real life wisdom, transformation and growth so that ultimately we can bless others. Open Door Policy - I have an open door policy, not only of the church office but especially of the heart and of the ears to listen to each and everyone of you, the flock of FBC. So, should you have an opinion to share, a criticism, an affirmation, an idea or advice, please do share with me. I am open to caring conversations that will lead us to wonderful ministry! Prayers for me and for my family are deeply appreciated and needed. Gracias!
International Thanksgiving Dinner
For all those that helped big time and for all those that came out to enjoy our first attempt at an International Thanksgiving Dinner, we give thanks! This was a combined effort between Deacons and Mission Com-mittees. After a somewhat uncertain beginning of not knowing how many would attend, it turned into a Four-Turkey Affair! If you struggle cook-ing one Thanksgiving Turkey, imag-ine Pam and Alan cooking four at one time! We learned several things (beyond having faith that God would bless our efforts with great attend-ance—80+): We need to have sever-al high-chairs for little ones when we have such an affair. If any of you have safe/good condition high-chairs sitting unused in your storage area, consider donating them to FBC.
Holiday Homecoming Party for Youth
In past years, Deacons has asked people to select
names of our college students and then send them a gift box of goodies during the holiday season. This year we are taking a new direction to show them our love and to encourage their fellowship and continued connection to the church. We want to have a Holiday Homecoming Party, to be held at a local restaurant, for all our college-age students and our former Youth Group members. We praise God for the 40 names we have, plus our youth leaders. In order to give them a special party, we are asking our church family to sign up as a host/hostess and contribute $20 (or two people can combine for $10 each) per guest. You may also sign up for more than one guest. Hopefully, by Dec. 11th, there will be invitations prepared for you to individually sign. The par-ty will not include the host/hostess—it is strictly a time for our young peo-ple to connect with one another.
Agape Potluck Dinners The word “agape” can best be described as a “love feast” or the way the first Chris-tians, as we read about in Acts, met together and shared all that they had. What better way to start 2012 than to plan such suppers with our church family. They will strictly be pot-luck—if we get all salads, we will eat all sal-ad, etc. We plan to have one every second and fourth Wednesdays of the month; the second Wednesday will include a Q&A type Bible study where everyone can feel free to ask whatever questions they might have, and the fourth Wednesday will feature story-telling, a wonderful way to get to know each other better. Stories can be personal testimony, excit-ing adventures in your life, growing-up stories, whatever you want to share. Dates for first Quarter: January 25th (story-telling night), Feb. 8th (Bible Study), February 22nd, March 14th, March 28th. Please put those dates on your calendar NOW.
W elcome to our newest member, Nova Spinner.
Nova comes to us from Scion Baptist Church in Newark. Her daughter Kaleigh attended this year’s Vacation Bible School. Nova says “From the moment I walked in the door, I felt welcomed. While attending service I started to feel embraced and accepted by members. I enjoy the service so much and it’s im-portant to me that my daughter enjoyed coming here. It feels like family, it feels like home”.
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Jesus was born in a stable with no permanent roof over his head. There are many families that have no permanent home either. The Christmas offering will be given to Home First and the Interfaith Hospitality Network. Both organizations are dedicated to helping home-less families.
12/3 Greg Mathews 12/4 Atossa Cicchino 12/6 Hilary Araujo 12/6 Warren Hanscom 12/7 Dudley Painter 12/11 Trevor Morris 12/13 Charles McCloud 12/14 Jennifer Gawronski 12/17 Alicia Lambros 12/18 Muriel Jones 12/20 Gillian Clark 12/22 Latifat Owolabi 12/31 Nerissa Morong *Anniversaries 12/18 Jay & Lalitha Kakileti 12/25 Tyrone & Vivian Perry 12/31 Donald & Shirle Finley
News and Upcoming Events
Women’s Book Club Saturday, December 17 , 10am
Church Lounge Join us for a general discussion of various Christmas books, followed
by a luncheon hosted by Be� e and Jean . Contact Be� e Savage at [email protected] with any
ques�ons.
Christmas Gift Tree
December 4—PICK A TAG...You can play Santa to the children whose families are facing hard times this Christmas. The gifts will be distributed by the Salvation Army and the Chaplain at the Somerset County Jail. The Tree in the narthex will be decorated with Angels and Nutcrackers. The Angel tags have the name and age of a child with their “wish list”. The Nutcracker tags are gifts for boys age 10-14 who like anything sports related – sweatshirts or T-shirts (Boys XL or Men's M), caps, or hats. If you are unable to be at church, call Janet Winey 973-872-2211 to request a tag. December 11—BRING YOUR GIFT TO CHURCH. It should be unwrapped, with gift tag attached. December 13—If you can help deliver toys to Plainfield during the day, call Janet.
Thursday, Dec 7, 7pm
A highlight of the season for sure! Participants should bring
4-5 dozen cookies, or other small desserts to be shared. We will set up the plates of
desserts on a festive table and all will fill their own containers or tins with samples of their
favorites. When we are finished filling our containers we will
have delicious desserts to take home for our family and friends
to enjoy! Invite a friend or neighbor—the more the merrier!
(Couple pics from last year on Calendar page)
Georgina Cancel 49 Catherine St.
Apt. 103 Redbank, NJ 07701 Tele. 732-747-2092
Georgina thanks the youth and their parents for all their help in
moving her into her new apt.
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...the following volunteers who all helped so greatly in making our International Thanksgiving Dinner as success: Alan & Pam Greenlaw, Jean Kellogg, Cherie Parker, Janet Winey, Paul Clark, Ike Alvarado, Mary Chin, Carl Del-laPeruti, Michael Weaver, Pastor Mayra, Chris Mancinelli, Katie McGuire, Lil Wheeler, Nancy Lam-bros, Caroline Siess, and Ken Wooster. ...Atossa Cicchino, Katie Virzi & Maryann Friscia for their help with our Square Dance event. ….Paul Clark for changing ceiling light bulbs in sanctuary. ...Dot Waugh, Caroline Siess, Lil Wheeler, and Doris Titsworth with help mailing the Nov Messenger. ...Maryann Friscia for delivering food pantry items to Cranford-Elizabeth Presbyterian Church. ...Donna Lind, with help from Syd-ney Wu, for cleaning candlesticks. ...Steve and Donna Lind for trans-forming our sanctuary for Christ-mas, along with lot of help from Pastor Mayra, Morris Family, Gawronski Family, Caroline Siess, Erin Klein, Atossa Cicchino, Nata-sha Klochkova, Johnny & Michael, Nova Spinner, Paul Clark, Nadege Francois, Melanie DellaPeruti, and Chick & Marge Miller. Also, thanks to Pam & Alan Greenlaw for the delicious homemade soup all the workers enjoyed so much, ...Chris Mancinelli for his contin-ued help in the office and with af-ter church reception. ...Beth Frantz for her continued help with set up and clean up on various Sundays.
Stewardship Campaign 2012 December 4th is Pledge/Commitment Sunday. Facing a deficit in the 2012 budget and as a congregation deciding that we are not willing to cut deep into programs at this juncture, I am asking all members, regular attendees and friends of First Baptist to step up their giving this year. After adjusting for known departures, we are targeting a 20% increase in pledge commit-ments for 2012, which will not eliminate the deficit entirely, but at least will meaningfully reduce it. While I know this is not a small “ask” in a difficult economic environment, it is crucial that we make this happen. And I know that we can do it. In fact, last year, in the face of the departure of our senior pastor and the unsettling feeling that naturally accompanies such a traumatic event for a church, we had a successful campaign with impressive increases in giving. This year, blessed with Pastor Mayra’s passion and enthusiastic new leadership, we can be comforted in our de-cision to give by the stability her arrival has brought and, more importantly, the opportunity it represents. I firmly believe that now is not the time to retrench, but rather the time to accelerate our ministry and disciple-making activities, ultimately attracting more people to FBC and further advancing our mission as a church. Accordingly, the theme for the stewardship cam-paign this year is renewal. The scripture that seemed to best capture the spirit of renewal, vitality and opportunity in the next phase of our journey as a church family and is serving as the theme for the stewardship cam-paign is as follows:
Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not per-ceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. …those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Financially we will need both broad participation of our members/regular attendees and increased commitments to fund our mission, so I am asking you to pray on the decision of the amount you will pledge for 2012 as we need help in translating our renewed energy and passion into action, spreading the Word of God and continuing the long tradition of FBC in making a difference in His world.
God Bless You
Joe Gawronski
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CHURCH COUNCIL
The objective of the Church Council is governance and to lead our Faith in Action Ministry towards a Disciple-Making Church. The elements of a Disciple-Making Church include prayer, inspiring and vital worship of God, relevant education/discipleship and impact mission. The pathway we must take with the guidance of Pastor Mayra is through:
*COMMITTED LEADERSHIP AND MEMBERSHIP *LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT *GIFT-BASED MINISTRY *EFFICIENT ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE
Members of Church Council are the Senior Minister/Pastor, Moderator, who acts as chairperson, the chair/co-chairs of each of the church’s committees, two at-large members and as of June 2010, the investment manager. Current committee members are listed below:
The committee regularly meets on the third Monday of each month at 7:30 p.m. from September through June. Proverbs 11:14 “Where there is no wise guidance, the nation falls, but in the multitude of counse-lors there is victory.” Wendell O. Scott, M.D. Moderator and chairperson Church Council
CHURCH COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE & COUNCIL MEMBER COMMITTEE & COUNCIL MEMBER
Senior Minister/Pastor – Rev. Mayra Castaneda Moderator & Chairperson – Wendell Scott Facilities & Finance – Paul Clark & Barron Cashdollar Christian Education –Katie McGuire Investment Manager – Trish Scott Deacons – Jean Kellogg Missions – Janet Winey Evangelism – Dean Pratt At Large Members – Allen Chin & Carleen Morris
170 Elm Street Westfield, NJ 07090
“We’re Here For You!”
Ph: 908-233-2278/Fax: 908-233-0555 e-mail Pastor Mayra Castañeda [email protected]
Bill Mathews [email protected]
Michael J. Weaver [email protected]
Rev. Suleima Rosario-Diaz [email protected]
Nancy Lambros [email protected]
ONGOING SONGOING S CHEDULCHEDUL EE (Weekly, unless otherwise noted.) Sundays: 9:00 a.m. Bible Study, led by Pastor Mayra Singles Group Childcare available until 9-11:30 *10:15 Worship Service (Lord’s Supper Dec 4) 10:30 a.m. Children’s Sunday School (pre-school-5th grade) 11:30 a.m. Children’s Choir rehearsal (pre-school - 5th grade) 4:00pm Youth CORE 5:00 p.m. Youth Ministry/Supper (6th-12th grades) Tuesdays: 6:45 a.m. GRUB w/ the Guys (1st Tues. of ea. Month, Dec 6) 10:30am Women’s Writing Group (monthly) Wednesdays: 12Noon Conversations w/God Prayer Time (sanctuary) 1-3pm Knitting/Craft Group (2nd Wed, Dec 14) Thursdays: 10:30 a.m. The Hearing Society: Speech Reading Class 7:15/8 p.m. Chancel Choir & Ringers *begins 10:30am starting Dec 25
www.fbcwestfield.org
OO URUR PP URPOS EURPOS E Coming together in joyful worship, we’re here… • To share the reality of God’s love, • To connect our lifestyles to
Christian truth, • And to put our faith into action
through responding to needs in our community, nation, and world.
CC HURCHHURCH SS TAFFTAFF
Rev. Mayra Castañeda, Senior Pastor
William R. Mathews, Minister of Music
Michael J. Weaver, Youth Leader/Assistant Music Director
Rev. Suleima Rosario-Diaz, Associate Pastor/ Director of Children’s Ministries
Nancy Lambros, Church Administrator
Adriana Rodriguez, Custodian
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Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4pm-Carols in the round (sold out)
4 Lighting of Peace candle 4pm—Carols in the Round
5 6
7 7pm—Cookie Exchange
8 9 10
11 Lighting of Joy Candle
12 13 14 15 16 17 4pm-Charles Dick-ens A Christmas Carol
18 Lighting of Love Candle 10:15 Wor-ship/Children’s Christmas Play
19 20 21 22 23 24 7:30pm—Christmas Eve Ser-vice (w/music for meditation at 7)
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
December 2011 Ongoing calendar on back page
