Acts of Faith
JULY
2021
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF FAITH BAPTIST CHURCH We are a family of faith, sharing God’s love in a spirit of hope.
Masks are now optional for vaccinated people and distancing measures in the sanctuary have been removed. Children will still be asked to wear masks in certain situations, such as Sunday School. Even with a vaccination, some people still remain at higher risk from COVID. To help accommodate those safety needs, the front pews by the organ will be reserved for people who still need to wear masks and practice physical distancing. Please be kind and respect the concerns of all those gathering for worship or any church activity.
Thank you, Dale & Joni! We celebrated Dale (and Joni!) at the June JOY Lunch! Dale served as our Minister to Seniors for five years and we are grateful for his work. See more on page 3.
You can read the Regathering Plan on our website at familyoffaith.net/covid-19-response.
We continue to offer ways to share life together and grow in community this summer. Get a front-row seat for the Independence Day parade and hang out with your church family! We'll gather in the McEuens' front yard (409 E. Main Street) starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 3. The parade begins at 11 a.m. We'll share stories on Friday, July 16, 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 love. On Thursday, July 29, we'll gather for worship at 7 p.m. at a location yet to be determined. Bring a chair and enjoy a relaxed time to connect with God.
It is time to update our church directory! Our directory is organized by family groups and lists addresses, emails, and phone numbers. Please contact the office to update and verify your information by Monday, July 12, so we can distribute the list in August. Your privacy concerns are important to us so please let us know if you do not want some or all of your information to be published in this directory. Thank you!
July 4—John & Pat Blackburn July 11—Melissa Ward, Lynn Mayo July 18—Chris Cutter, Joni Stowe July 26—Molly Sigmon, Sue Wilson
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This month the children are wondering together about belonging. In Sunday School we are exploring what it means to belong and how we can help others feel welcomed and like they belong. Belonging is such a powerful feeling at any age, but especially when our children are young and discovering their identity, who they are, and how that fits into the spaces that they find themselves in, specifically the church. The children are being encouraged to think about the spiritual gifts that God has given them. Through our Bible stories we are learning there is a place for everyone in God’s family. We are wondering together about how we can help others feel like that belong. It is important, at this young age, to give the children tools so they know how to include others. Some people may be different from them, but have just as important gifts to share. Our Celebrate Wonder introduction sums it up best by saying, “Each person has different gifts given by God, and we all belong to God. To belong means all humans are worthy and deserve to be seen, heard, and cared for. True belonging is the spiritual practice of believing in and belonging to yourself so deeply that you can share your most authentic self with the world and find sacredness in both being part of something and offering your individual gifts to God.” What a beautiful gift our children are discovering! COLORFULL Art Camp 2021 is a month away! Art Camp will take place Monday, August 2, through Thursday, August 5. The children will also help lead in the worship service on Sunday, August 8. All children ages 4 through (completed) 5th grade are invited to join in the fun. We will be celebrating all the colors God has given us through Bible stories, art, play, and fun. For more information and to register, check out familyoffaith.net/artcamp. We will continue our break from our circle this month. However, we have worship bags available to children during the worship service. They can be found on the coat rack in the foyer. There are also books from our children’s library that can be explored during the worship service. Please return all items to this location when the service is over. We had the great joy of celebrating two more baptisms this month! Max Ward and Hazel Langlands both made their profession of faith! We are so excited for them and look forward to continuing their spiritual journey with them. In a world that offers so many choices for our children, it is beautiful to see God’s spirit still pursuing them and moving them to become followers of Jesus. Way to go, Max and Hazel!
We had a blast at Big Games and Family Camping in June! Be sure to sign up with Sharon or Amanda for our July events: a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo on Saturday, July 10, and a trip to Canoe Kentucky on Saturday, July 31! We have to make reservations for canoeing so please sign up ASAP!
When people are baptized, they become members of Faith Baptist Church. We are excited to welcome Max Ward and Hazel Langlands as our newest Faith members!
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As you can see from the pictures, we had a great celebration for Dale at our JOY Potluck in June. Everyone was excited to be together and show appreciation to Dale for all he means to us. We hope you will join us on Monday, July 19, for our next lunch. We have an outing planned for Friday, July 23, to Spark Restaurant in Versailles for lunch. This restaurant was started by high school students in Woodford County and has grown to a wonderful example of caring and service to others. The staff (except for the cooks) are volunteers and anyone can eat there, even without the ability to pay. We hope you will plan to go with us. We will meet at the church at 10:30 a.m. and carpooling and the church bus will be available. Watch for more about this outing in the upcoming bulletins.
Our teenagers are exceptional human beings! We had an incredible week at Passport learning how we are co-authors with God in our story, and how we are all part of the larger story of God. We met great new friends and grew so much closer as a group. Our youth were Honor Campers, which means they worked to build community and encourage others. They participated in worship through written word, song, and art, and they had a blast playing and laughing together! I can’t thank Bryan Langlands enough for going as our male chaperone and bus driver! He made the trip great! Thank you so much for a church that supports teenagers and makes it possible for them to have life-changing experiences! We are already looking forward to next year!
This summer we are building community, and focusing on friendships and how to reconnect after a year of being socially distant. Our Sunday morning Bible study is helping us look at stories of friendships in the Bible and how we can be a good friend. We are also working on being good friends to our community and what that looks like through missions. Our youth went through an asset mapping exercise with Pastor William to see what we have to offer and how we can put those gifts together to serve our community. I’m excited to see where we will serve this year.
Wesley United Methodist Church has invited us to play volleyball this summer. We got together for the first time in June and we had so much fun! There are two opportunities to play this month: Mondays, July 5 and 19, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the sand volleyball pits in Marshall Park. In case of rain, we’ll play in the gym at Faith. Join us for some inter-church fun! All skill levels are welcome!
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Words from William Five! That’s how many baptisms we’ve had since Easter. Five people have decided to commit their lives to Christ, admitting that they are not God and asking God to forgive them for trying to be. Five people that want to share the light of Christ with the world around them. As Brendan said, five people that believe in God just like God believes in them. How fitting that this wave of baptisms started with Easter. What better time to ritually enact dying and being reborn in Christ than the day we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection after death. Baptism, like Easter, is our reminder that death is never the end. After a year of limited in-person interaction and reimagined community, it has been so good to see this tangible reminder that, even when the church was closed, it was never really closed. When everything stopped, God still was. Seeing so much new life happening in our church has not only reminded me of God’s constant presence, it’s also shown me our church’s resilience. Our staff found a way to continue sharing God’s love with people, even as they reimagined what that looked like. Our volunteers remained committed, even as they had chaos in their own lives. You continued giving to the church, even during a time of economic uncertainty. You might not have been directly involved in the ministry activities that led to these baptisms, but you contributed to this new life as well by supporting the church. Through your tithes, you paid the salaries and provided the resources that encouraged these five people to start their journey with Christ. Five people have committed their lives to God since Easter. They’ve shown us how the spirit of God is alive in them, but also reminded us how it is alive in all of us as well! As we witness this new life, we celebrate that God allows us to be part of it. I cannot wait to see how the spirit continues to move and work in our midst. To God be the glory for these five baptisms and whatever is to come!
Last month we read Chanel Cleeton’s The Most Beautiful Girl In Cuba, which was inspired by the true story of a Cuban hero, Evangelina Cisneros. Be on the lookout for next month’s pick! All are welcome to join our book discussions at the end of each month. Contact Pastor Amanda for more details!
Thank you to everyone who came last month to be part of Prayers and Squares! We have decided to meet on the second Tuesday of every month to continue working on this special ministry. All are welcome to join us on Tuesday, July 13, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the church basement for dinner and quilting! Many jobs are available; you do not need to know how to quilt. Contact Kathy Fraley with questions.
Hello, singers! The Sanctuary Choir will be off through August 1. We’ll meet together again at 9:30 a.m. in the sanctuary on August 8. During weeks the choir is away, we welcome singers to join Garvel in leading the hymns. If you are willing to help, please sign up for one or more Sundays at this link. Each Sunday we will meet in the sanctuary at 10:30 a.m. to go over hymns for the service that day. This really helps our worship together! Thank you!
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The Back to School Bash is back! This multi-church event is on Saturday, August 7, at First United Methodist Church. We are responsible for providing 50 backpacks, each containing a pair of shoes and socks, for students at Southern Elementary. Sign up with Sarah Marinelli and Dawne McConnaughhay in the sanctuary foyer on Sundays, July 4, 12, and 18. They will have a handout with instructions for you so you know exactly what to do! Completed backpacks are due by August 1. We are also in need of ten volunteers to work from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on August 7. We hope you will help us in this effort to provide much-needed supplies for kids in our community. If you have any questions, contact Dawne McConnaughhay (859-619-5689) or Sarah Marinelli (859-948-1813).
We are excited to welcome Paul Baxley, Executive Coordinator of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, as our guest preacher during worship on Sunday, July 18. He will also be leading a conversation about what’s new at CBF at 10 a.m. in the RA that morning. We encourage all Sunday School classes to come to this presentation, as well as those of you who are not connected Paul Baxley, Executive Coordinator to a class.
I think the members of Faith Baptist Church do more mission-oriented activities than any other church that I have been associated with in my 70+ years of church attendance. The latest example of our mission work was Extreme Build in McCreary County, Kentucky, where a group of adults and youth build a house in about two weeks for a family in need. This activity has been occurring for many years and is organized by Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Kentucky, which of course is led by our own Bob Fox. Many of our church members have worked on this project for years, but this was my first time participating. I was amazed when I went to the job site on Monday, June 14, and Tuesday, June 15, to discover fifteen (yes, fifteen!) other members from Faith, including Pastor William. It was very rewarding to help build the house, as well as work and interact with so many in our church family. Plans are already being made for next year, and I certainly hope that you will consider donating a day (or two or three) to help provide a family with not just a house, but a home. —David Baird
Save the date for these CBFKY fall events! August 26-27: CBF Regional General Assembly
October 8-9: CBFKY Autumnal Celebration
St. Matthews Baptist Church, Louisville
Third Baptist Church, Owensboro
An introduction to CBF on a national and local level
Guest Speaker: Robert Jones, author of White Too Long
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JULY
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5 4 Independence Office Closed Day
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Dewayne Johnston
Mattie Katz
Eric Lookadoo
Lisa Eddy
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Marolyn Hale Anne Rose Diana Roszkowski
Jo Rashleigh Mallory Thompson
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Kaitlyn Beckett Glenna Metcalfe Roger Ward
Mike Collins
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Peggy Blanton Bill Robinson
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Jacque Hukill
Glenn Williams
Karson Knoblock
David Bugg
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Hollis Dudgeon
Mary Hutton
Sophia Cook
Beth Thompson
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Max Ward
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FAITH BAPTIST CHURCH STAFF William Reilly william@familyoffaith.net For our Summer Fun Day in June, we went kayaking on the Elkhorn and Amara Dean caught a turtle!
Faith Baptist Church has always been a welcoming place! With actions taken by our membership in May to make a small change to our bylaws, we have now enabled us and our ministers to do an even better job of welcoming new members into our fellowship. This change allows us to officially welcome those coming forward in a worship service without the formality of waiting until our next scheduled business meeting for a membership vote. With this bylaw change, the deacons are restructuring and repurposing a deacon subcommittee whose purpose will now include a structured welcoming process into our membership that provides a brief look at our history, our current mission, and opportunities for service and fellowship. The deacons will have this new process ready for implementation after our next meeting in July. Thanks to you all for taking the time over a five-month period to study the proposed bylaw change, ask questions, and then vote unanimously for its implementation. As we all re-acquaint ourselves with in-person worship, there is no better time than now to welcome new members and ensure they have a great start to their membership at Faith. We are a family of faith, sharing God’s love in a spirit of hope. A visitor recently commented on our beautiful landscaping. Thank you to all who keep our grounds looking nice!
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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