Acts of Faith
JUNE
2021
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF FAITH BAPTIST CHURCH We are a family of faith, sharing God’s love in a spirit of hope.
We are still in the High Vaccination phase of our Regathering Plan. Registration is not required to attend in-person worship and congregational singing is allowed, but masks and physical distancing are still required. Youth and children’s Sunday School classes have resumed and most of our adult classes are also meeting in person now. The church office has reopened to regular office hours (10 a.m.-2 p.m., Monday-Friday). All of our activities are now in person or a virtual/ in-person hybrid, with the majority taking place outside to minimize risk and ease us back into gathering faceto-face. We will continue to stream our worship services on Facebook each week. Last month the CDC issued new guidance and Governor Beshear announced the removal of the mask mandate for vaccinated people in most settings. The governor is also lifting capacity and distancing restrictions on June 11. These announcements are an exciting sign that the vaccination rate is growing and vaccines are working. The final phase of our Regathering Plan is related to state mandates and CDC guidance so, beginning Friday, June 11, we will no longer require vaccinated people to wear masks and we will remove the distancing restrictions in the sanctuary.
We all had a great time at our Summer Kickoff Party! Youth and children, be sure to pick up your cup with our summer schedule on it from Sharon or Amanda! After the long year we have all endured, our focus this summer and beyond is reconnecting. Reconnecting with our faith, our fellowship, and our calling to serve. Our youth and their families are going to have multiple opportunities to grow, play, and serve together. Our core practices at Faith call us to communal worship, study, shared life, stewardship, personal devotion, and service. Everything we do this year will help us engage in these core practices. Read about our June family fun events on page 2!
Please remember to wash your hands regularly and stay home if you are ill to keep our church family and community safe. Thank you for your continued patience as we glimpse the hope of an end to the pandemic. You can read the Regathering Plan on our website at familyoffaith.net/covid-19-response.
JOY Lunch Celebrating Dale Stowe
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Hiring Process for New Minister for Senior Adults
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Book Clubs
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Church-wide Summer Activities
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June Calendar of Events & Birthdays
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Childhood is a time of wonder. There is nothing more beautiful or enjoyable than watching my girls discover something new. This past Friday we went to Wild Lights at the Louisville Zoo as a family. Seeing their eyes grow wide and hearing their squeals of joy brought an indescribable joy to my heart. Wondering together is a big part of what we do in our children’s program at Faith. Teaching children to always wonder about how God is speaking and working in their lives will help them grow into lifelong Christ followers. This summer in our children’s Sunday School we will be exploring together a curriculum called Celebrate Wonder. We will discover how God worked in the Bible and how God continues to work in beautiful ways. They will be encouraged to look for God in all aspects of their life and to find God in all things good and beautiful. This month we wonder together about peace—what that looks like and what it means to offer peace to others. Over the past several months it has been a joy to celebrate the baptisms of many of our children. To watch them grow, ask questions, and desire to join their light with the light of Christ has been beautiful and fulfilling. Our Faith family takes seriously its dedication to growing our children in faith and relationship with God. Thank you to all who have impacted them through volunteering for VBS, Sunday School, Art Camp, Parents’ Night Out, Wednesday nights, and all the many other events we have had. It truly takes a village. Our Godly Play circle is on a break for the month of June. We will meet again sometime later in the summer. Keep a lookout for more details.
Pictured left to right: Brendan Marinelli, Annaliese Hadaway, Cooper Wilcox
June has several opportunities for us to connect and grow! BIG GAMES on June 5 is for all of our youth and children and their families! Join us at 6 p.m. for fun, friendly competition in the church backyard!
JOY VISITS on June 20 at 6 p.m. is a time to go visit and catch up with our senior adults, followed by ice cream back at the church. CAMPING AT THE HORSE PARK on June 25-26 will be a great time for our families to get out and take a deep breath! The cost is $35 per family for one night or $60 for two nights.
When people are baptized, they become members of Faith Baptist Church. We are excited to welcome Brendan, Annaliese, and Cooper as our newest Faith members!
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JOY potlucks are back! We are excited to announce the first postquarantine JOY potluck for Monday, June 21, at 11 a.m. in the RA. We will focus on getting together, sharing conversation, and enJOYing each other’s company. Our program will be (and Joni) for the incredible job they did as Minister to Senior Adults. We matured as a group and as a community under Dale’s leadership. Dale loved us and treated us like his mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters. Any time anyone needed a smile, hug, flower, visit, prayer, ride, food…you name it, Dale provided it. And he still does these things because that is who Dale is. Anyone who would like to join us for this phase of our celebration of Dale is invited to come to the JOY Lunch on June 21. We will provide fried chicken, potato salad, green beans, and cake. You may bring another dish of your choice if you are able.
We can finally
Celebrate Dale! Passport is just around the corner! Please begin praying for the Passport staff and all of those attending camp this summer. Please specifically pray for our group: Bryan Langlands, Philip Hatch, Aiden Stone, Tate McConnaughhay, Ava Langlands, Vivienne Langlands, Maya Felton, Lucy McConnaughhay, and Sharon Felton. We will leave early on June 13 and return late June 18.
During the May business meeting, the Personnel Committee recommended a process to hire a new Minister for Senior Adults. The following plan was approved. Advertisements for the position will be placed on the church website, communicated during church functions, and posted to the Baptist Seminary of Kentucky and CBFKY job boards in June. If viable candidates are not located, paid advertisement will be considered. Interviews will be conducted in July and the minister could begin as early as August 1. Applications will be accepted at the church office beginning June 1. The search committee will include two members of the Personnel Committee and three members of the Senior Committee. Pastor William will serve as an ex officio member of the committee.
Our supply of prayer quilts is running low. Join us on Tuesday, June 8, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the church basement to make more quilts so we can continue this special ministry. Many jobs are available; you do not need to know how to quilt. Dinner will be provided! Contact Kathy Fraley with questions. Thank you!
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Words from William Why? It’s one of the most powerful questions we have at our disposal. The staff has been doing a lot of planning lately, for summer and the fall, which means asking “Why?” a lot. We ask why to make sure what we are planning is meaningful and relevant. We ask why so that our church can continue to grow and thrive and not become complacent. We ask why because sometimes we forget how important why is. Why isn’t just good for planning, it’s also good for our everyday lives. In life coaching, Cecelia regularly talks about living with a mission. She helps people create mission statements for their lives, define values that are important to themselves, then in light of what matters to them ask why they are doing the things they are doing. The underlying question is something like, “Does my life actually reflect what I think is important?” Asking why helps people live purposeful lives instead of just drifting from obligations. As we emerge from COVID, now is the perfect time to ask ourselves lots of why questions. We’re doing it at the church. We are looking at our mission statement to be “a family of faith, sharing God’s love in a spirit of hope” and our six core spiritual practices of “communal worship, study, shared life, stewardship, personal devotion, and service” to help us understand why we do what we do. We’re asking what the purpose of the programs and activities we are planning is, and if they match our stated goals and values. We are asking why we do what we do. Use this opportunity of restart to ask yourself the same questions. What is your family’s mission statement? What values do you hold? What major, overarching themes do you want present in your life? Then ask yourself why you do what you do. Why are you involved in the activities you are? Why does your schedule look the way it does? Why do you prioritize one thing over the other? Why is your budget the way it is? As you answer why questions about your life, you might realize that some of the answers don’t line up with what you want. Don’t be too hard on yourself; a lot of us forget to ask why. However, let those answers guide you as you establish your new rhythms and patterns. Live a life where you know your why. Why? Because a life full of meaning and intention is always better than a life full of just going through the motions.
“My land tells its story if you listen. The story of our family.” -The Four Winds
The 2021-2022 Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Book Club kicks off in June with White Too Long by Dr. Robert P. Jones (who happens to be a longtime friend of our very own Sharon Felton). Join other CBF church members and read this powerful personal narrative intertwined with the history of white Baptists in the South and the findings of current social science research. Dr. Jones will be the special guest speaker at CBFKY’s Fall Gathering in Owensboro in October. More details about that event are coming soon!
We enjoyed our discussion of May’s book, The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, a heartbreaking story of a family’s struggle during the Dust Bowl. This summer we are going to travel together and explore stories from all different places and people. This month we will be traveling to Cuba! We are reading The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by Chanel Cleeton. We’ll discuss the book on Thursday, June 24, at 7p.m. on Zoom. Join us!
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As we continue to grow community among our family of faith, there are several all-church opportunities for us to worship, serve, and share life this month. • There are two outdoor worship opportunities in June. On Wednesday, June 2,we'll gather for worship by the playground at the church at 7 p.m. Then on Tuesday, June 29, we'll meet at 7 p.m. in Scott County Park by the lake. Bring a chair and enjoy a relaxed time to connect with God. • We'll share stories on Friday, June 11, during our next Faith Story Hour. Meet at 7 p.m. in the RA to hear and share fiveminute stories. This month’s theme is loss. • On Monday, June 14, we'll love our neighbor as we travel to McCreary County to help CBF Kentucky build a house for a family in need of stable housing. Contact the office if you plan to go. No construction experience is necessary. More information can be found here: http://cbfky.org/extreme-build • On June 19 we'll enjoy each other and nature as we go kayaking/canoeing. Bring your own boat and meet at the Great Crossing Park boat ramp at 10 a.m. As Psalm 133 says, "How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity." We look forward to these and other opportunities to do life together!
We are still celebrating our very successful “Love Your Church Day” at the beginning of May! Not only did we have a great crowd of willing workers, but the fellowship was amazing. More work was accomplished in one morning than we have been able to do for more than a year. We also learned some things about ourselves. Many of you have skills that helped us complete our tasks, and many of you were teaching and mentoring others while we worked. It worked just the way it was supposed to and the church looks wonderful. While some of the work was just for a Saturday morning, there are other jobs that are ongoing during the summer outdoors and occasionally indoors as well. We are always in need of workers to mow and manage the yards that we have. If you have the skills to use a zeroturn mower, weed eater, push mower, and blower, we have a job for you. We occasionally have small painting jobs, electrical repair, plumbing repair, or general maintenance where we look first to church members for help. If any of this sounds interesting to you, please contact Eric Shaffer or Mike Niedwick (or any trustee), and let them know of your interest. We try to have a good time and enjoy the camaraderie to get the job done. We are thankful for all of our volunteers and we look forward to increasing our ranks.
At the business meeting on May 16, 2021, amendments to the By-Laws of Faith Baptist Church related to church membership were unanimously approved by those members present. Previous By-Law language provided a prescriptive process where, after a request for membership was made, the requestor must wait until the next scheduled or called business meeting for the church to officially vote on their membership. Between the request and www.familyoffaith.net/newsletter
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The best way to get the most current information is by joining our email list. Sign up for the Faith File on our website. Maya Felton Ron Hastings Jessica Kindrick
Asa Overall
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Aalyah Custard
Melisa Custard Dawne McConnuaghhay
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Amara Dean
Parks Gullett
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Rick Kopp
Jared Cain
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Betty Covington Morgan Hambrick Marilee Pollock
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Kirsten Kindrick
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Sharon Felton
Betty Cruse Emiline Langlands
Clarence Craycraft
Bill Oster
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JUNE 2021
7 the official vote, the requestor was to meet with a Membership Committee of Deacons. The revised language allows more flexibility and a shortened timeframe to become a member. “Upon request for membership during a public invitation or after private consultation with the pastor, the candidate will be presented to the members as a potential church member. The pastor or associate pastor may immediately call for an affirmation on membership. This is the only church business that may take place outside of a regular or special business meeting and without the Moderator, Associate Moderator or Clerk presiding. Affirmation of membership is by majority of active members present and participating. A quorum shall be fifteen active members present, the same as regular or special business meetings.” Language in was added to the duties of the Deacons as it relates to a request for membership. “It shall be the responsibility of the Membership Committee of the Deacons to work with the pastoral staff to facilitate the entrance of any new members into Faith Baptist Church.” Again, this language provides the deacons greater flexibility on what it means to “facilitate the entrance of any new members.”
The now-approved By-Law language was presented by a Special Committee named by Moderator Flash Williams in December 2019 upon request of the Deacon body. The Special Committee’s initial recommendations were reviewed and unofficially accepted by the Deacons and Administrative Committee in late-January/early-February and were officially presented at the February 21, 2021, business meeting. Per the By-laws, a vote was then delayed until the next regular business meeting. A complete copy of the Constitution and By-Laws of Faith Baptist Church or only the specific by-law language for Article I (Membership) and Article II, section J (Officers, Deacons) can be obtained by contacting the church office.
FAITH BAPTIST CHURCH STAFF William Reilly william@familyoffaith.net
Sharon Felton sharon@familyoffaith.net
Amanda Langlands amanda@familyoffaith.net
Natalie Tilford-Kopp natalie@familyoffaith.net
Angela Earwood angela@familyoffaith.net
Linda Johnston
Charlotte McFarland
Suada Derakovic Melisa Custard
Church Office M-F, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (502) 863-1537
116 Pocahontas Trail Georgetown, KY 40324 502.863.1537 www.familyoffaith.net
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