New Member 2

October Birthdays 2

God’s New Thing 3

WMO 4-5

Secretary’s Vacation 6

Game Night 6

October Calendar 7

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

THE GOOD NEWS OCTOBER 2015

First Baptist Church

218 E. South Ave.

Greenville, IL 62246 -1820

Special Points of Interest:

World Mission

Offering

Quarterly Congrega-

tional Meeting

Stained Glass Windows

Refurbished

GRR Annual Assembly

Receiving Gifts

Dear church family,

John is a retired British missionary to Brazil. While a member of the Royal Air Force, John was stationed in Peru. He became involved in the ministry of some Salvation Army missionaries to an extremely poor village up in the mountains around Lima. He used to go there during his free time and help however he could. There was a particular little boy that John became attached to. The little boy used to show John around the village and basically serve as John's shadow every time he came.

On one visit, John brought the little boy a toy car, with doors that really opened and shut. This was the only toy in the entire village; basic necessities were not supplied, and nobody had money for toys. Lather that night, back in Lima, John began to worry that he had done something wrong. Surely the little boy would be envied for his toy, and perhaps the other kids would beat him up and steal it. Surely he would be ostracized for having something that nobody else had.

The next free day, John hurried to the village, concerned that he had caused a problem. He found that the little boy had taken his new car and shared it with every child in the village. Each child had an opportunity to open and close the doors, and to drive the car along in the dirt. The little boy had even shared his toy with the adults in the village, allowing them to look inside as well. Rather than being ostracized for having more than others, the little boy had become celebrated as a person who shared his bountiful gift with others.

Each of us has received a bountiful gift from God. Some might have the gift of music, others the gift of teaching, still others the gift of organizational ability. No matter what gifts we have received, we are faced with a choice. We can keep those gifts to ourselves, using them to enrich our own lives, or we can share them, using them to enrich the kingdom of God. As stewards of these gifts, we must be conscious of using them as God intended. God asks an accounting of how we have spent our time, our financial resources, and our unique abilities.

True stewardship is allowing others to open the doors of our lives and look around inside, seeing the image of Christ in us.

Thank you for using your God-given gifts to serve and further the Kingdom of God through First Baptist Church of Greenville.

Blessings,

Pastor David

0ctober 2015

The Good News The Good News Page 7 Page 2

www.fbcofgreenvilleillinois.com

First Baptist Church

Pastor: Rev. David S. Bilyeu

“Like us” on Facebook @

www.facebook.com/

FirstBaptistChurchGreenvilleIllinois

Email: fbcgreenville@yahoo.com

October Birthdays

1. Helen Admire

2. Roger “R.J.” Frey

6. Marilyn Klasing

16. Jane Reeves

Castelein

18. Don McCray

24. Bonnie Christin

27. David Barbey

29. Nicole Crouch

31. Allison Bohannon

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

World Mission

Offering

Pastor

Appreciation

Month

1

Ladies’ Bible Study

10 am

ABC/GRR Minis-

ters Conference,

Bloomington

2

GRR Ministry

Board 9 am,

Bloomington

ABC/GRR

Annual Assembly,

Bloomington

3

Apple Day @

Courthouse

Square

ABC/GRR

Annual Assembly,

Bloomington

4 World

Communion Sunday

Sunday School

9:30 am

Worship 10:30 am

(Communion)

5 6

Ministerial Alliance

8:30 am

Diaconate Board

7 pm

7

Small Group 10 am

Small Group

6:30 pm

8

Ladies’ Bible Study

10 am

9

10

11 Clergy

Appreciation

Day

Sunday School

9:30 am

Worship 10:30 am

(Baptism)

12 Columbus Day

Observed

Trustee Board

7 pm

13

14

Small Group 10 am

Quarterly

Business Meeting

Potluck 6 pm

Meeting 7 pm

15 National Boss’

Day

Ladies’ Bible Study

10 am

GRR/EMSC,

Springfield 10 am

16

17 Sweetest Day

Game Night

6:30 pm

18

Sunday School

9:30 am

Worship 10:30 am

19

GRR Pastors

10:30 am

20 21

Small Group 10 am

Small Group

6:30 pm

22

Ladies’ Bible Study

10 am

23 24 United Nations

Day

ABWM Area 4

Fall Gathering

FBC Benton

25

Sunday School

9:30 am

Worship 10:30 am

5 pm Hayride/

Wiener Roast @

Daniken Farm

26

27

S.A.L.T. at

The Glenwood

12-1:45 pm

28

Small Group 10 am

Christian

Education Board

4 pm

Small Group

6:30 pm

29

Ladies’ Bible Study

10 am

30

2nd Street

Trunk or Treat

31 Halloween

Trunk or Treat

5:30-7 pm

WELCOME NEW MEMBER

Rita LaFaye was born and raised in Hudson,

Wisconsin to a family of twelve children. She is

the ninth in birth order. Rita attended First Bap-

tist Church and was baptized by Don Sandin

who is the son of Ernest Sandin, a former pastor

of Greenville First Baptist in the 1950's. Rita has

two children, Troy who is a media arts instructor

in Minnesota and Alexandria who teaches at

Greenville College. She has two adopted grand-

daughters and three step-grandchildren. Rita

moved to Greenville after her husband, Pat

LaFaye, died of cancer in 2012. Rita states, "I

feel like I have come home to a loving family in

Christ."

Thank You Elizabeth……

The Trustees are happy to report that during the 3rd week of Au-

gust, Willet Hauser Architectural Glass of Winona, Minnesota

completed the refurbishment of our stained glass windows. Two

craftsmen spent 3 days repairing and replacing broken pieces of

glass, removing old caulking and paint, and re-cementing the

panes. They finished up the project by re-caulking all the win-

dows and applying fresh paint to the windows. They did an out-

standing job and we appreciate their hard work.

This project was made possible by a memorial gift from the Eliz-

abeth Shutt estate. Elizabeth loved this church and was a loving

and faithful member for many years. She was also a talented

artist and appreciated beauty in all forms. The refurbishment

will be dedicated in memory of Elizabeth in appreciation of her

many contributions to our church.

And a Good Time Was Had By All

On August 24th, the hospitality committee and friends met to complete a kitchen reorganization project which has been un-

derway for a few months. Evelyn Herrin, Bev Stewart, Roya Bourgeois, Patti Isringhausen, Loreen Neer, Doris Sugg, and

Marsha Middleton reorganized and cleaned the kitchen cabinets. Finishing touches were also made to the new kitchen stor-

age supply and equipment area off the kitchen. This area had been set up by Jan and Marsha Middleton earlier with the

guidance of the committee and others who feed us so very well throughout the year. We found all kinds of space! Items no

longer needed were donated to the Hospital Thrift Shop or recycled. It was great fun to work together on this project and

hopefully will make using the kitchen easier for everyone.

Page 3 The Good News Page 6 The Good News

GREENVILLE BICENTENNIAL

"As our city celebrates our 200th, I have chosen to play "O God, Our Help in Ages Past" for the prelude. HE has indeed been Greenville's help in ages past and we see Him as "our hope for years to come." -

Jo Ann Noble, Organist

GAME NIGHT

First Baptist will host a

Game Night on Saturday,

October 17 at 6:30 pm in

fellowship hall. Please

bring your favorite game

(s), an appetizer, finger

food, or snack to share.

Drinks will be provided.

Invite some friends and

come enjoy an evening of

fun!

PASTOR & PATTY TO ATTEND

REGIONAL EVENTS

Pastor David and Patty will attend the American Baptist Churches of the Great Rivers Region (ABC/GRR) Ministers Conference and 48th An-nual Assembly in Bloomington, IL Thursday, October 1 - Saturday, Oc-tober 3. The theme of this year's as-sembly is "God's New Thing," based on Isaiah 43:19.

The Ministers Conference is a contin-uing education event for ministerial church leaders. The theme is "New Hope for Faithful Churches." The pre-senter will be the Rev. Dr. Jeffrey D. Jones, recently retired Associate Pro-fessor of Ministerial Leadership at Andover Newton Theological School.

The ABC/GRR Assembly will feature the Rev. Glynis LaBarre, certified coach and the Transformation Strat-egist for the American Baptist Home Mission Societies.

SECRETARY ON VACATION

Church Secretary, Ruth Blackburn, will be on vacation October 12-16. The church office will be open Monday-Wednesday, October 12-14, as Pastor David will observe his regular office hours. However, the office will be closed Thursday & Friday, October 15 & 16, as Pastor David has an out-of-town meeting on Thursday and will observe his regular day off on Friday. Ruth will return to the church office on Monday, October 19. Regular office hours are Monday through Fri-day, 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

QUARTERLY CONGREGATIONAL MEETING

Our church family will gather on Wednesday, October 14 for a Quarterly Congregational Meeting. An all-church potluck will be served in the fellowship hall at 6 pm. Please bring your favorite dish to share. The Hospitality Committee will provide drinks.

The Congregational Meeting will be held in the sanctuary beginning at 7 pm. Quarterly financial and board reports, as well as remarks from Pas-tor Bilyeu, will be presented.

All members are encouraged to attend and re-minded that the quorum for the meeting is 15.

DIRECTORY UPDATES

Doris Kuhn

c/o Don & Donna Kuhn

402 P Street

Port Townsend, WA 98368-

3820

Marge Miles

The Glenwood

605 S. Dewey St., Apt. 44

Greenville, IL 62246

(618) 322-6411

American Baptist Women

We will meet on Tues-

day, October 27 at 9:30 am at

the church to measure and cut

the material for roller bandages

for White Cross

(50 @ 3 x 5 yds.) to help fill

our quota as given by the Great

Rivers Region ABW.

In November our activ-

ities will be to fill and deliver

our “Thankful for You” baskets

for shut-ins and later place a

small angel tree at the back of

the sanctuary. The tree will be

hung with paper angels, each

describing a small item needed

to fill a quota for a Children’s

Home in the region.

The women of the

church are invited to join us in

any ABW activities to help

further the mission here at

home and in countries of the

world that have sometimes

primitive facilities and supplies

for serving there ill populace.

Page 4 Page 5 The Good News The Good News

STRETCH FORWARD

with International Ministries

through the World Mission Offering!

The amazing transformation that we see in Baptist-run schools in Hungary is just a

snapshot of what is happening through IM’s partners and nearly 1,800 missionaries and

global workers in more than 70 countries around the world.

Now more than ever, there is an urgency to stretch forward all around the world. And

you are encouraged to be part of the new and surprising things God is doing through

International Ministries with your support of the World Mission Offering.

Gifts directed to IM’s current global servants are crucial. But there is also a great and

continuing need for IM to coordinate with partners worldwide to prepare, place and

support new global staff and volunteers who can bring God’s love, hope and healing to

new areas of the world-and this important work is only possible thanks to support for

the whole of IM.

Two-thirds of the world still does not know the fullness of God’s love through Jesus Christ. That’s

why, this October, we will focus on the wide-ranging impact of the World Mission

Offering, using the theme Stretch Forward found in Philippians 3:13–14.

This special offering will be received

during worship in October.

I believe that, as we Stretch Forward together, God will lead us to provide increased

support for worldwide missions. Our 2015 WMO goal is $1,200.00.

Whether God is calling you to GO as a global volunteer or worker or to GIVE of your

financial resources, let us join together in touching as many lives as possible in more

than 70 countries around the globe.

Give generously and expectantly to the World Mission Offering as, together, we help

people everywhere come to Christ, grow in their relationships to God and change

their worlds through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Thank you!

World Mission Offering — October!

…forgetting the things which are behind,

and stretching forward to the things which are be-

fore, I press on toward the goal…

Philippians 3:13–14 (ASV)

God is doing new and surprising things in once-Communist Hungary!

Forgetting what is behind: Hungary is still recovering from four decades of re-

pressive Communist rule, during which schools were controlled by the govern-

ment.

And stretching forward to what is ahead: Churches now have the opportunity to run

schools, where they can teach the Bible, nurture students in their faith and open new

doors by providing courses in conversational English.

As part of this new approach to education, International Ministries partner Hungarian

Baptist Aid has been given the opportunity to manage 49 schools throughout this east-

ern European country—serving 17,000 students in grades K–12. And the impact has

been staggering!

Students and teachers alike are blossoming in grace-filled environments as they study

the Bible and see firsthand what a difference Jesus can make in their lives.

After-school clubs are reaching students with the gospel message, practical Bible teach-

ing and the joy of the Lord.

Students are stretching their conversational English skills, thanks to American Baptists

who are responding to the immediate and ongoing need for English-speaking teachers.

(continued on the next page)