SEPTEMBER 2008 ISSUE
Hollywood Baptist Cathedral 3504 Great Neck Road Amityville, NY 11701
CATHEDRAL TIMES
A MONTHLY NEWS JOURNAL OF THE HOLLYWOOD BAPTIST CATHEDRAL, 3504 GREAT NECK ROAD, AMITYVILLE, NY 11701 (631) 842-7091
Celebrating Our Graduates Vacation Bible School
Convocation Cathedral News
10
Cathedral Times
September, 2008
September, 2008
Cathedral Times
3
New SUNY Partnership This summer, the Hollywood Full Gospel Baptist Cathedral entered into a partnership with the State University of New York at Farmingdale to offer a comprehensive Science and Technology Summer Program.
From the shepherd’s heart
Bishop Lewter Preaches New Bishops Consecration Sermon One of the great highlights of this past quarter was the travel of the church to Birmingham, AL to share in and witness the preaching of Bishop Lewter who delivered the Consecration Sermon for nine new bishops in the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship. The service took place at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Center on Tuesday morning at 10 AM on June 26th. and included bishops from around the country and the far east. Over 50 people accompanied Bishop Lewter to Birmingham from the Hollywood Full Gospel Baptist Cathedral, most of whom were attending the national conference of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship for the first time. Bishop Lewter, in addition to providing an overview of what the new bishops learned over the course of the last year, preached a sermon based upon the life of the Old DVDs of the sermon are available by contacting the Testament judge by the name of Shamgar. church office (631) 842-7091.
A
s we enter the third quarter of this 20072008 year, we are excited about bring to you the latest issue of the Cathedral Times, the official news magazine of the Hollywood Full Gospel Baptist Cathedral. To all of our readers we welcome you and we are anxious to share with you so many things that have been going on in the life of our ministry. Each week, our church sends out an electronic newsletter to approximately 10,000 readers from around the globe. Our newsletter is our weekly effort to remain in contact with so many of you. With this publication we are able to reach those who are unavailable to us via email and offer a slightly more in-depth coverage of news items here in our ministry. Perhaps one of the first things that you will notice is the change of our name to the Hollywood Full Gospel Baptist Cathedral. An explanation of this name change is available in an article on the following pages, I invite you to peruse and read the remaining articles as well so that you can see just where the Lord is taking us in this post modern age. Be blessed and stay encouraged, Bishop Andy C. Lewter, D. Min.
SUNY at Farmingdale is the largest Science and Technology college in the SUNY system. The program was open to high school students and was operated at no cost to the students whatsoever. The program treated the student to visits to several science and technology sites and operated from mid July to early August. Several students from the Hollywood Full Gospel Baptist Cathedral took advantage of the program and by doing so, increased their own eligibility to attend the university in the future.
Pictorial Church Directory Olan Mills in one of the most known names in the arena of family portraits. One of the services that Olan Mills now offers is a pictorial church directory for local congregations. During the months of July and August families of the kept appointments that allowed Olan Mills to take family portraits that will be used to publish a new pictorial church directory for the Hollywood Full Gospel Baptist Cathedral. Approximately 3 years ago, the church took the initiative to produce a pictorial directory so that new members would have a greater opportunity to learn the other members of the congregation. This new directory has the same purpose and will be done with the expertise and experience of a company that has done a number of directories in the past. Each family will receive a directory and a complimentary 8 x 10 family portrait. Of course the Olan Mills company encouraged those participating to order additional photos.
4
Cathedral Times
September, 2008
Holy Convocation 2008 For the second year now, the Hollywood Full Gospel Baptist Cathedral held its Annual Holy Convocation. The convocation began with a month long fasting period that the church membership participated in. The convocation itself featured the preaching and participation of Bishop Stephanie Riddle-Green and the Joshua Baptist Cathedral of Huntington, New York who preached on Thursday. On Friday, the convocation welcomed Bishop Lionel Harvey and the First Baptist Cathedral of Westbury, New York. In addition to the preaching and and worship services, the convocation also allowed each ministry in the church to present their annual stewardship report. All reports were delivered on either Thursday or Friday. convocation has become a major item on the church The convocation was closed on Sunday morning with calendar and one of the most highly anticipated events the annual address of Bishop Lewter. The annual of the year for the church.
September, 2008
Cathedral Times
Vacation Bible School From July 7th until July 11th the Hollywood Full Gospel Baptist Cathedral sponsored its annual Vacation Bible School. The program this year hosted over 100 students and was under the direction of Sister Carolyn Brown. Sister Brown was joined by several members of the congregation who served as faculty and staff.
The vacation Bible School program consisted of a Bible curriculum and an assortment of field trips that included roller skating and a visit to the Native American Museum in Shinnecock, New York. The school offered three classes including Primary, Juniors and Seniors. On Friday evening, July 7th, the Vacation Bible School held its Closing Exercises which included class presentations from each of the grade level and choral singing by each of the classes. Parents and friends alike assembled to applaud their children and congratulate them on their accomplishments.
Move Over Youtube.com
Ministerial Alliance of North Amityville Awards Prayer Breakfast The Ministerial Alliance of North Amityville and Vicinity is the oldest ecumenical ministerial group in our area. The Hollywood Full Gospel Baptist Cathedral is a member of the alliance and supports its efforts to create a regional witness for Christ here on Long Island. The alliance is under the leadership of Pastor Roy Kirton of the Fellowship of Joy Ministry in Copiague. On June 10th, MANA sponsored a special Prayer and Awards Breadkfast that honored both Bishop William Walker of the Amityville Full Gospel Tabernacle and Pastor Robert Burgess of the Grace Community Church, for their longevity and service to the community and local body of Christ. both of Amityville. In addition to awards being presented by Supervisor In addition, those in attendance were treated to an Steve Bellone from the Town of Babylon and the assortment of presentations from local businesses and Suffolk County Legislature. Both men were honored service organizations.
9
Going Green For a Healthy Heart In the month of June, the congregation of Hollywood Full Gospel Baptist Cathedral was blanketed in green to show support for the annual “Go Green Heart Association Sunday”. In addition to the congregation wearing green, educational material was distributed to those in attendance and a special repass was presented to the congregation consisting of vegetables and low fat foods. Hollywood Full Gospel Baptist Cathedral was also named as one of the leading churches supporting the work of the association and received an award toward that end. The special Sunday effort was under the direction of Dr. Veronica Henry who heads the “Health and Wellness Ministry” of the church.
One of the most popular internet applications available online is “youtube.com” that allows users to upload video clips for all the world to see. Capitalizing on youtube’s success and popularity, the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship Department of Christian Education has launched a new website entitled “fullgospeltv.com” The Department of Christian Education is an arm of the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship that is under the direction Bishop Andy C. Lewter. The intent of the website is to create an online community that will share video and gospel music clips with the audience that is generated by the website. As director of the Department of Christian Education, Bishop Lewter is constantly looking for creative and innovative ways to bring the art of teaching and theological material to the body of Christ. The website is available at all times and there is currently an aggressive marketing program designed to increase usage of the site by the Christian online community.
8
Cathedral Times
September, 2008
September, 2008
Cathedral Times
5
Congregation Celebrates Bishop’s Birthday
New Deacons and Deaconesses Identified
On Saturday May 10, 2008, Bishop Lewter was invited to preside over the renewal of wedding vows for one of the congregation’s couple who were supposedly celebrating their 25 wedding anniversary.
On the first night of the Annual Holy Convocation both the Deacon and Deaconess Board presented to the church several members to consider raising to the office of the Diakonate.
Upon the arrival of Bishop Lewter to the banquet facility, it was revealed to him that the real purpose of the evening was to surprise him with a birthday party. The party was organized and sponsored by the church’s “Shepherd’s Club” and drew hundreds of people from the congregation in attendance. Because the committee is aware of Bishop Lewter’s affection for “Ole School Soul Music” the evening featured a full course dinner and several impersonators of soul singing entertainers from the 60’s and 70’s. Renditions by persons impersonating Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight and the Pips, the Four Tops, The Supremes and Bishop’s favorite, Sam Cooke made for much fun and entertainment. Bishop was joined by church members and several local pastors who attended. Bishop Lewter turned 54 years old on the following day, May 11th.
Hollywood Baptist Cathedral Gets New Name Recently, the Hollywood Baptist Cathedral decided to slightly alter its name to the Hollywood Full Gospel Baptist Cathedral. The name change comes in response to the church deciding to increase its role and visibility in the Full Gospel Baptist Church Fellowship.
recognizes its role as a flagship church in the fellowship and now seeks to present itself as one of the model ministries in the Long Island District, Metro New York State Fellowship Bishop Lewter is a founding member of the fellowship, and the Northeast Central and as such, will be working over the course of the next Region. year to increase the number of fellowship churches on Long Island. Plans to change signs, stationary and other items of identification have already been implemented. The The Hollywood congregation joined the fellowship name change will not disturb the church’s relationship several years ago, but did not remain active. With with its existing affiliations such as the local district the arrival of Bishop Lewter, the church now association or ministerial groups.
While the office of Deacon and Deaconesses are separate office they function as a joint ministry that reflects the Biblical office but with different assignments. All persons named at the convocation will be trained together and will be examined together next year during the convocation. The training members of the Diakonate include: Johnathan Dent, Thomas Goddard, James Chambers, Nathan King, Alfred Bedford, Johnathan Gittens, Stacy Miley, Dawn Hamilton, Margaret William. Over the next year the training Deacons and Deaconesses will undergo an intense theological training that will prepare them for public examination in about a year. Their examination will consist of a battery of questions that will be administered by a special panel of existing Deacons and Deaconesses. To prepare the trainees for public examination they will be taking courses online with a self paced curriculum designed by Bishop Lewter. The newly designed “theschoolofministry.com” is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and provides written study notes, video lectures and practice exams.
New Ministers Deliver First Sermons On Sunday, June 29, 2008, officially titled as the Post Convocation Service, the Hollywood Full Gospel Baptist Cathedral held a special service to hear the first sermons of four new ministers on the horizons. As a result, those four persons received their “License to Preach” and were formally admitted to the “Presbyterate” of the church. All four persons were enthusiastically received and elevated to the office of minister in the church. The four candidates included: Paula Varner, a member of the Cathedral Choir and CDM Ministry, Joshua Bass, head choreographer of the Hollywood Full Gospel Step Team, Anthony Davis, director of the Drama Ministry and Derrick congregation the following Sunday and presented their Williams, a member of the Music Ministry as a bass player. “Monravian Collars”. All candidates will now undergo a two year study curriculum that will prepare them for The new ministers were officially resented to the catechism in about 24 months.
6
Cathedral Times
September, 2008
Roofing Project Yields a Bonus Last Spring, the women of the church celebrated their Annual Women’s Day and as a result, met their goal to raise sufficient funds to replace the roof of the church. After a dilligent search for a company that would provide the best value for our dollars, work began. We are happy to report in this issue of the Cathedral Times that church roof project has been completed. However so successful were the efforts of the women that the church realized a bonus. The bonus included the re-roofing of the church’s administrative annex, located on Monroe Street and the re-roofing of the Episcopal Residence located at 796 Clocks Blvd. in Massapequa.
September, 2008
Cathedral Times
7
Cathedral Celebrates Graduates In this issue of The Cathedral Times we are happy to recognize and salute the members of our congregation who have graduated from high school this year. To our delight, all of our students have plans to go on and continue their education in institutions of higher learning.
High School graduates this year include: Quentine Wilson, Travis Elder, Ebony Harding, Demetrius Allen. Again, we salute and congratulate our graduates on their academic accomplishment and we encourage them as they pursue their future goals.
to the wood, replacing worn and damaged pieces and While initially it was thought that the roofing project finishing the job with new tiles. The project also would simply cover the existing roof, the project included the installation of new gutters and downspouts proceeded to do a complete job by stripping the roof where the new roofing was installed.
Ruth F. Lewter All Stars Win National AAU Tournament
One of the great loves of Mother Ruth Fuller Lewter win a total of nine games and claim the national title. was young people. This is one of the reasons that each Several of the players were named to the tournament year she supported a local amateur basketball team in all –star team. Brooklyn, NY to travel to summer games each year. The following Sunday, the entire team travelled to With the death of Mother Lewter, the team that she Amityville, NY and the Hollywood Full Gospel Baptist supported honored her by taking on her name and Cathedral to thank and award the congregation with calling themselves the “Ruth F. Lewter All Stars”. In trophies, medals and T-shirts all acquired at the recent the month of July the team travelled to West Port, PA tournament. The Hollywood Full Gospel Baptist to compete in a national AAU tournament. Inspired Cathedral has adopted the team and have financially beyond belief, the team overcame several obstacles to supported them in several of their last outings.