First Baptist Church P.O. Box 779

Graham, NC 27253

(336) 226-7395 - Church Office (336) 226-0261 - Fax

Return Service Requested

2019 Newsletter and Calendar

Making Connections That Make A Difference

Saturday, September 7, 6:00 PM Summer’sCool Days End of Summer Party, Ministry Center. Everyone is invited to join our children and youth to enjoy food and games together. We will have pizza, chips, and ice cream sundae bar, and there will be games and crafts. Saturday, September 14, Baptist Children’s Homes of NC, Friends of Children Workday, Johnson Cottage at Mills Home, Thomasville (see inside for more details)

Sunday, September 15, 5:00 PM Churchwide Annual Picnic, Bill Cooke Park, Shelter #1 1010 Townbranch Rd., Graham. Our Baptist Men will provide hot dogs and beverages. You are asked to bring side dishes and desserts for everyone to enjoy. Make plans to come join the fun and fellowship with your church family. We’ll celebrate the end of summer together.

SUNDAY SCHOOL PROMOTION AND NEW CLASS STRUCTURE Every Sunday morning at 9:30, we are blessed to have wonderful Sunday School classes for all ages! Our children and youth are promoted to different classes as they get older, and this year, we will celebrate Promotion Sunday on September 8th in morning worship. Children who are going in the 4th grade and youth who are going into 7th grade will be recognized and presented with a certificate and special gift. They will then move to new Sunday School classes the following Sunday, September 15th. Along with this change, several of our children’s and youth classes literally will be moving up-stairs! Eventually, all of our children and youth classes will meet in the revitalized area on the second floor, but in September, teachers whose classrooms are ready for students will start meeting upstairs while others may remain in their current classroom spaces. This is such an ex-citing time for everyone involved in our children and youth ministry here at FBCG. Pray for us as we work and grow!

SUNDAY SCHOOL FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH Nursery available each Sunday from 9:30 to 10:45

followed by Extended Session (childcare during worship). Preschool through 3rd grade: Patsy Godwin and Brenda Stuckey

4th through 6th grade: Amy Woolard 7th through 12th grade: Ronda Howe

UPCOMING FELLOWSHIP AND MINISTRY OPPORTUNITIES

Saturday Morning Breakfast

Saturday, September 21, at 8:00 AM

in the Ministry Center.

Celebration Choir will resume Sunday, September 22 5:00 PM Spark (mission education for children) will resume Sunday, September 22, 5:45 PM If you would like more information about these opportunities, contact Shannon Hall at the church office, 336-226-7395.

Church Conference Wednesday, September 11,

6:00 PM in the Dixie Mann Room

In May of 2011, the Baptist Men of First Baptist Graham planted their first Ministry Garden in order to fulfill a calling to feed hungry people in our neighborhood. Throughout that summer and many more since, our church family has been able to plant, tend, and harvest all kinds of delicious, fresh vegetables to share with our community, especially through Starfish and Allied Churches of Alamance County. One very important person who has been there from the beginning is Mr. Brewer Roberts. On Sunday, August 11th, our church dedicated the Ministry Garden in honor of Brewer. We are so thankful for this Master Gardener and Devoted Servant!

We served 31 homebound and 311 guests in July.

Starfish Ministry

Thanks so much to all of our Starfish Teams for your continued commitment to this wonderful ministry. You all are awesome!

Sunday, September 8th “Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.” Proverbs 17:6

The church office will be closed on

Monday, September 2, in observance of

Labor Day.

SAVE THE DATE! Trunk ‘N’ Treat

Sunday, October 27 at 4:00 PM

Project: Wrapped in God’s Love The Mission Team would like to invite you to participate in our Christmas Mission Project: Wrapped in God’s Love. The residents of Peak Resources and our Homebound Mem-bers will be given a lap blanket labeled, “Wrapped in God’s Love...First Baptist Church of Graham.” We have 144 blankets to distribute. If you would like to participate, the cost per blanket is $5. Please write a sep-arate check to FBCG and note “Mission Blan-kets.” Together we can help make a differ-ence in the lives of others.

Baptist Children’s Home Friends of Children Saturday Workday

Saturday, September 14, Johnson Cottage at Mills Home, Thomasville

You are invited to join us as we travel to the cam-pus of Mills Home in Thomasville for a Friends of Children Saturday Workday on September 14th. We will work both inside and outside Johnson Cottage which we visited in June. We need your help ti make this one-day mission trip successful! If you are able to clean inside the house (basic mopping, bathrooms, windows, etc.) OR outside in the yard (basic yard work, not mowing), plan to meet here at FBCG to leave on the church bus at 7:30 a.m. on the 14th. If you can bring your weedeater, rake, pressure washer, etc., we can use these items to get the yard around Johnson Cottage looking beautiful! Lunch will be provid-ed for us. And tours of the Mills Home campus are available as well. A sign up sheet is available in the education hallway.

MINISTRY GARDEN

Backpack Ministry FBC Graham is once again kicking off a new school year at Pleasant Grove Elementary School and Graham Middle School with our Backpack Ministry. Because economic challeng-es may not always allow families to provide meals for their children over the weekend, the FBCG Backpack Ministry allows us to send home backpacks each Friday, filled with enough food for the family over the weekend. We can make a difference in the lives of children and their families who experience food insecurity. We are currently serving 24 students at Pleasant Grove and 12 students at Graham Middle, and we are sustained in this ministry by the Backpack Ministry Fund (designated). If you would like to give to this fund, please write a separate check and specify “Backpack Ministry” when you give. If you would like to get involved in our Backpack Ministry, please contact the church office of call Robin Self at 336-226-0629. Thanks for making a difference.

Church Staff Rev. Chris Howe, Pastor

Rev. Shannon Hall, Associate Pastor of Music & Family Ministries Ann Holt, Organist

Diann Clapp, Administrative Assistant

Tune in to Station 920-AM or 104.5-FM

at 11:00 am, for a live broadcast

of our service.

Visit our website – www.fbcgraham.org

Lori Newton was a 37-year old mother of two boys. Lori and her husband lived in a small town, west of Nashville, Tennessee. She was very active and involved in the lives of her young children. She served as secretary of the PTO, Sunday School teacher and loved to take trips with her husband and children to a local lake, north of Nash-ville.

In the fall of 1990, Lori was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. Treatments failed to improve her condition and in early 1991 she was admitted into the local Hospice Program. It was through that local Hospice Program that I came to know Lori and her family. I was a young, student pastor at the time, working to balance school with sermon prep-aration and climbing the ecclesial ladder. I was focused on the Vanderbilt degree, the position, the initials before and after my name. I wanted my ministry to have meaning and significance and the way to do that was to reach a level of prestige and honor. At least that was my way of thinking at the time.

I visited with Lori and her family many times over the next several weeks. They were one of the first families I had visited as a Hospice chaplain so I was nervous about what I should say and how I should act during my visits. But my time with this family provided some of the most formative hours of my life and set the stage for how I would ap-proach ministry for years to come. I realized that there were no theological words I could share that would relieve their pain. They were already grieving and there was nothing I could do or say to change that. But this family taught me that ministry is not about having all the answers to life’s questions. It’s about recognizing the value of simply be-ing present. Galatians 6:2 tells us, “carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

As the years have passed by and I have attempted to do what God has called me to do, I have never forgotten those lessons and the value of being present. I would love to think that, fifty years from now, people would remem-ber at least some of my sermons. But realistically, they have probably already forgotten most of them. And I know that fifty years from now, the letters in front or behind my name will be rather insignificant. The position, power or titles I will hold will not matter very much either. The rung on the ecclesial ladder that I have reached will be mean-ingless. But what people will remember is those difficult days when I was present with them. Those days I showed up, loved them, cared for them and, more importantly, showed them a presence which was an extension of Jesus ’ greater love and care.

Look at what the theologian Henri Nouwen once wrote:

“More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their door-steps, play ball, throw water, and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence.”

There is a power to simply being present with each other. To live with each other in our common joys and sorrows.

Unfortunately, I have found that my need to also be useful and do something significant with my life can still interfere with my ministry of presence. There are always meetings to attend, plans to layout or details to organize. But I have learned that the priority each day must always be to sit beside somebody and know them by name or to share a meal with someone or to listen to someone’s story and tell them mine. Maybe ahead of all the meetings and plans and activities, we need to let each other know with words and handshakes and hugs that, through Christ, we don ’t simply like each other, but we love each other.

Lori passed away in the spring of 1991 and, although the family had only known me for a few months, I was asked to perform the funeral service. Years later, I still received calls and cards from Lori’s husband and children. We even had lunch a few times. My time with Lori and her family was an experience that I always go back to whenever I find myself caught up in the web of church busy work.

Jesus showed us that, if we are not willing to be present with someone, we can’t make a difference in their life. This is how we fulfill Christ’s call to love one another as he loves us. Don’t let the busyness of life rob you of the joy of simply being present. Present with your spouse, present with your kids, present with those in worship, present with those you don’t know. It may not always be comfortable or convenient. But you will find that it is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence.

FROM OUR PASTOR Rev. Chris Howe

Thank you for the wonderful school supplies. You’ve made an impression because of all that you do. Thanks for giving so much. We are grate-ful for you. Staff of North Graham Elementary School

Dear FBC Church Family, Thank you so much for once again presenting me with the FBCG scholarship toward my college education. I am start-ing my senior year at Wofford and plan to graduate with a degree in English. And thanks also for your prayer and support as I had the opportunity to work again with Passport Camps, this time as a Bible Study Leader at Passport Kids. It was another wonderful summer! You all are always so supportive and loving toward me, and I a m blessed to be a part of this church family. Jonathan Hall

Thank You! Dear First Baptist Church Family, Thanks so much for the generous scholarship you gave me as I start my freshman year at Queens University. I am really excited to begin this new part of my life, and I appreciate all the ways you have taken care of me over the years. Thanks again for supporting me in so many ways! Love, Chloe Hall

Those Serving This Month

Deacon of the Week 1 - Debbie Farrell 8 - Mike Harden 15 - Lionell Johnson 22 - Linda Moore 29 - Jerome Naylor

Nursery 1 - Robin Self & Lionell Johnson 8 - Patsy Godwin & Gwen Sharpe 15 - Donna Harden & Linda Moore 22 - Carolyn Roberts & Robin Self 29 - Betty Euliss & Patsy Godwin

Deacon Greeter Lionell Johnson

Usher Captains Jerome Naylor & Jerry Peterman

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 9:00 am Ministry 714 9:30 am Sunday School , Open Assembly, Dixie Mann Room 11:00 am Worship Service

NO EVENING ACTIVITIES

2

Office Closed

3 10:00 am FOM, Ministry Center 6:00 pm Properties Team Library

4 12:00 noon Mid-Week Bible Study Dixie Mann Room 6:00 pm Mid-Week Bible Study Dixie Mann Room 7:00 pm Chancel Choir

5

6

7 11:30 am Starfish Ministry Team 1 6:00 pm Churchwide End of Summer Party Ministry Center

8 Grandparents Day

SUNDAY SCHOOL PROMOTION

9:00 am Ministry 714 9:30 am Sunday School , Open Assembly, Dixie Mann Room 11:00 am Worship Service

NO EVENING ACTIVITIES

9 2:00 pm Stewardship Team Library

10

11 No Mid-Week Bible Study 6:00 pm Church Conference Dixie Mann Room 7:00 pm Chancel Choir

12

13

14 Baptist Home, Johnson Cottage at Mills Home Workday 11:30 am Starfish Ministry Hanmaum

15 9:00 am Ministry 714 9:30 am Sunday School , Open Assembly, Dixie Mann Room 11:00 am Worship Service 5:00 pm Annual Picnic Bill Cooke Park Shelter #1

16 17 2:30 pm Volunteer Enlistment Meeting, Library

18 12:00 noon Mid-Week Bible Study Dixie Mann Room 6:00 pm Mid-Week Bible Study Dixie Mann Room 7:00 pm Chancel Choir

19

20

21 8:00 am Saturday Morning Breakfast, Ministry Center 11:30 am Starfish Ministry Team 3

22 9:00 am Ministry 714 9:30 am Sunday School , Open Assembly, Dixie Mann Room 11:00 am Worship Service 5:00 pm Celebration Choir 5:45 pm Spark

23

24

25 12:00 noon Mid-Week Bible Study Dixie Mann Room 6:00 pm Mid-Week Bible Study Dixie Mann Room 7:00 pm Chancel Choir

26

27 28 11:30 am Starfish Ministry Team 4

29 9:00 am Ministry 714 9:30 am Sunday School , Open Assembly, Dixie Mann Room 11:00 am Worship Service 5:00 pm Celebration Choir 5:45 pm Spark

30 2:00 pm Deacons’ Meeting

September 9 Caitlyn Graham

Anne King

September 15 Dorothy Boyd

Kay Jones

September 19 Janet Butler

September 23 Patsy Godwin

September 26 Carolyn Roberts

Billy Sharpe

September 27 Cameron Foster

September 28 Fred Roberts

September 30 Lance Harden