Acts of Faith
Wednesday nights are back! Join us every Wednesday this fall for a family dinner in the RA at 5:30 and classes at 6:15. Our format this year is returning to pre COVID style with multiple class offerings for adults, plus our regular activities for youth and children. Wednesday nights are one of the main spaces to engage in Christian Education and Shared Life, two of our core practices. This mid week time is normally life giving and delicious so definitely make plans to attend. For adults in September, Pastor William will lead a class on the book of Exodus and Joanna Hawthorne will lead a book study on The Rock, The Road, and The Rabbi by Kathy Lee Gifford and Jason Sobel. The youth will be starting a new series called “Can We Ask That?” and the children will engage in Wondering Wednesdays. In October, Pastor William will lead a class on taking care of aging parents and Terry Lester will lead a class on Christianity and Ecology. Sharing life together as a family of faith is so rewarding! Our Fall Kickoff Party was a blast and now we’re ready to get back into the swing of regular Wednesday nights. Congrats to our trivia winners! Happy 60th birthday to us! 2022 marks the 60th year of Faith Baptist Church in Georgetown, KY! In 1962, a group of people mostly affiliated with Georgetown College started meeting downtown and formed a new church called Faith because that was all they had. The rest...is history. We'll be celebrating that history along with the present and future it has led to on the evening of September 18. For the last several months our friend Molly Fulton has been making a documentary celebrating our church. On the 18th from 5 to 6:30 p.m., we're going to have a Hollywood style movie premier at the Theatres of Georgetown to watch it together! We’ve even got a red carpet so get all dressed up (maybe even break out those old tuxes and bridesmaid dresses hanging in your closet) and see our history on the big screen! We'll have cupcakes to celebrate our birthday, and concessions will be available through the theatre. Come laugh, cry, remember, and most of all celebrate Faith as we turn 60!
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF FAITH BAPTIST CHURCH
We are a family of faith, sharing God’s love in a spirit of hope.
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First and foremost I would like to say a great BIG thank you to our Faith family for allowing me the opportunity to take time away to rest and travel. Bryan, the girls, and I had a beyond amazing and magical time as we traveled through Italy and to Paris, France. It was made even better by getting to share it with you all in real time as I posted pictures on Facebook and was able to see your responses in the comments. We were able to experience a lot of quality family time over the summer and were even able to accomplish potty training with Emiline! It does feel wonderful to be back at it though, and I have felt your love and prayers all through the summer and your joy and celebration as I return. I could not be more honored to serve alongside a church as beautiful and authentic in their love for the world and as embracing of others as Faith. Thank you for the gift of this past summer! It was a joy to share with you my travels and what I have been doing while on sabbatical on the last Wednesday night of WednesdaysAugust.are a time when we use our imagination, play, and the stories of the Bible to discover God’s presence and God’s purpose for our lives. Using our senses, art play, and exploring nature, we learn what it means to have a relationship with God and how that relationship affects our relationship to others and the world. This fall we are going to have fun with letter writing. We will explore how our words, written and spoken, can help or hurt others. Using encouraging and kind words can build others up and help them know God’s love. We will be looking at Paul’s letters he wrote to encourage different communities to follow and love God with their whole hearts.
Once a month on Wednesday nights, Ms. Kathy Fraley will be teaching the children hymns and fun songs using a variety of musical instruments! Children will also have the opportunity to share their own musical gifts.
Once a month, right after the worship service, children in kindergarten through 5th grade are invited to bring their lunch and stay for a time to learn about kids and others all over the world who are learning to follow Jesus just like them! It is important for children to use their imagination to understand how people around the world are different but also the same. They can see other children in different environments and cultures growing their faith and helping others.
Remember that we have nursery care on Wednesday nights for infants through pre K.
This fall we will be following the Summersalt CBF missions curriculum. We will learn about our neighbors in Cuba. We will have fun discovering how we can work together by listening, helping, and sharing so that everyone has enough. Our first Kids On Mission is Sunday, September 11.
Our college ministry has kicked off with welcoming new students to campus and seeing returning friends as well! We had our first Sunday night gathering with a cookout
I’m excited about our fall and spending time with our youth! They make me proud to know them every day!
Our middle school youth had a day long retreat to learn how to be good friends in this new year and how making a relationship with Christ a priority impacts all the other relationships we encounter. We also played games and
Our mission practice will continue as we serve at the Amen House once a month and as we find tangible ways to show God’s love to friends in Eastern Kentucky. Currently, we are collecting elementary age books for school libraries in Letcher County that were completely destroyed in the floods. The books along with notes will be delivered to the school librarian this month!
During Bible study on Sundays we are studying basic Christian practices of prayer, discipleship, and missions, as well as stories from the Gospel and more. On Wednesdays we will explore current issues and difficult questions as we ask “Can We Ask That?”
The high schoolers had a day of fun last month to close out the summer! These teenagers are fun and kind and are making the world a better place!
It’s hard to believe that it is September already. September is a very transitional month, filled with hurried schedules and high emotion. It at the Fraleys’ house! It was a great time of getting to know people and building relationships! We are planning a gathering once a month at someone’s home near campus this semester along with missions nights! Pray for our students here and around the country as they get adjusted to a new semester. If you would like to adopt one of our away students, please find me so I can get you their info!
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What a summer it has been for youth at Faith! We have traveled to New Mexico and all around Kentucky being the hands and feet of Christ while growing together as a group! Our fellowship is stronger and our leadership and discipleship has grown. We will continue these things as
That is exciting news all on its own, but, making it even more exciting, the poem being published is one she wrote at the haiku workshop she led for us in August at Yuko En Japanese Garden as one of our Summer Fun Days! We are thrilled for Jessica and all the people who will get to read her beautiful poetry, and for our small part in it!
Words from William I want to offer a preview for worship in September, but first I have to say thank you. August was a hard month for me with the death of my mom, travels to Texas, beginning to sort out estate logistics, and just feeling tired from grief and travel. Yet, I have felt so loved and cared for by you throughout it all! You’ve been so supportive in so many ways like taking care of our dogs while we were gone, delivering food, sending supportive messages and cards, and offering condolence gifts to show your support. In hindsight I’m also so thankful y’all allowed me to go to Texas at the end of July. I had no idea now how important that trip would be as a chance for our family to be together for a final time. Even on a normal day I feel blessed to be a part of Faith, but y’all really know how to show up in a tragedy! Truly, thank you. Cecelia and I appreciate your love so much. Now to worship. In the Hebrew Bible God told King Solomon that God would provide him with anything he asked for. Knowing he would have to make a lot of decisions as king, Solomon asked for wisdom. On average we make 35,000 decisions a day. Most of those are almost automatic, but some weigh heavily on us. How can we possibly know what we are supposed to do all the time? How does one go about making wise decisions? That’s what we’ll be looking at in a four week series called “This or That” beginning September 11. We’ll consider how our faith affects our decision making and practical strategies for making wise decisions in every area of our lives. If you’re like King Solomon and want to be wise in our choices, be in worship in September.
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Prayers & Squares resumes this month! They will meet on Tuesday, September 13, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the quilting room in the basement. Anyone is welcome to join this group on the second Tuesday of each month. No quilting or sewing experience is necessary; there are jobs for everyone! Contact Kathy Fraley at 502 316 4335 with questions. In addition to the 55 backpacks, shoes, and socks you donated to Southern Elementary students for the Back to School Bash, several Faith members and friends volunteered at the event! The News Graphic got this picture of Rob Fox helping a student try on new shoes!
At our business meeting last month, three members were nominated and approved to serve as deacons. All three have are new to this role and, therefore, need to be ordained into deacon ministry by the church. We will ordain Mattie Katz, Jackie Powell, and Kathy Wood on Sunday, September 4, during worship. We hope you will join us as we pray for them and bless their ministry.
Jessica Swafford has written a poem that will be published in an anthology called “Poetry By Chance” that will be released in early 2023! The anthology will contain poems created using American poet and teacher Taylor Mali’s Metaphor Dice as inspiration. The dice are a writing tool that function like a game where you “write poetry by chance.”
Somewhere in the midst of all this flood relief, seven members of Faith (Pat and John Blackburn, Glen Taul, Connie Hastings, Becky Collins, Pastor William, and myself) traveled three hours west to Bremen, Kentucky, to help with ongoing tornado recovery for two days. Met by the Mayor of Bremen, one work group organized and packed relief supplies in a central warehouse while the other work group helped reconstruct a storage barn on a nearby farm. THANK YOU!
Mike Collins P.S. CBFKY has acquired more supplies to complete the buckets we started so we will have another packing party on September 4 to get them ready for distribution. This will be exactly the same as last time: we’ll work with other churches and food will be provided. We ask for your help one more time!
Still better! Our own Bob Fox, now of CBFKY, has utilized our facilities and help in providing over $12,000 of relief to EKY. Debbie Tudor was instrumental in negotiating and procuring cleaning supplies from Lowe’s at a substantial discount and Roy Tudor helped with logistics of collecting and delivering everything to Faith. We were the central location utilized on Sunday, August 21, to pack buckets for continued relief in EKY and to replenish stocks of buckets on hand for the next disaster. Close to 100 members from Central Baptist in Lexington, Georgetown Baptist, and Faith spent a couple of hours packing buckets then eating pizza and desserts furnished by Georgetown Baptist and Faith. When finished, we will have provided approximately 250 buckets of supplies to EKY. THANK YOU!
It gets better! Within the next week we were made aware of a specific situation in Hazard where we were in a unique position to help. Within three days, household supplies of all kinds and a new washing machine were on their way to a family who had lost everything, but had been providentially offered an unused house owned by a local church and located out of the flood zone. Your love and concern helped get this family back to normal quicker than they could have ever imagined. THANK YOU!
5 Saturday morning, July 30, my phone rang. When Angela calls on Saturday morning, I answer. She had just received a message from Cooperative Baptist Fellowship about providing cleaning supplies to the flood stricken areas of Eastern Kentucky. These supplies were specific to flood areas and they all fit inside a 5 gallon “drywall” bucket. This was within 48 hours of the worst of the flooding; areas in EKY were still unreachable and occasional rain was still falling. Within minutes, William had set up a conference call including Sharon, Angela, Bob Fox of CBFKY, and members of the Missions Committee. Plans were made, information sheets were printed, an example bucket was purchased, and Sharon announced our plans to the church the next morning during worship. Within 24 hours of hearing of the need, this giving Family of Faith had provided over $1,000 and three filled buckets. At last count, the amount given was over $4,200 and much of that money and those supplies have already been at work in EKY. THANK YOU!
Thank you for your dollars, your hours and hours of volunteer work, and most of all, your prayers as we seek to be a family of faith, sharing God’s love and buckets! in a spirit of hope.
P.P.S. We hope you can stay a few minutes after church on Sunday, September 11, to meet some of our Community Partners. These partners are organizations that we have identified as worthy of our support for the work they do. Come learn more about them, how they use our resources, and how you can get more involved in their missions.
6 1 Rebekah Hatch Wilson Insko Lori Taylor 2 Flash Williams 3 Eloise Lewis 4 5 Labor Day Glen Taul 6 Sam Pollock 7 David Baird 8 Lindsey Apple 9 Mary Daniel Abner Elaine Ward 10 Garvel Kindrick 11 James Cook 12 Ellie Mook 13 14 15 16 Leila Custard 17 Darrell Cruse Maya Custard Pat Webb 18 19 Brayden Cain Sharon Perkins 20 Betty Parrish 21 22 23 24 Linda Arehart Collin Baird Carrie Cook 25 Dean Meek 26 27 28 Braxton Hamon Kenlyn Knoblock 29 Kevin Hall 30 Ruth Snyder
7 William Reilly william@familyoffaith.net Sharon Felton sharon@familyoffaith.net Amanda Langlands amanda@familyoffaith.net Rick Hawthorne rick@familyoffaith.net Natalie Tilford Kopp natalie@familyoffaith.net Angela Earwood angela@familyoffaith.net Charlesetta Hilliard Charlotte McFarland Judith Williams SuadaMelisaDerakovicCustard Church Office: (502) 863 1537 M F, 10 a.m. 2 p.m. FAITH BAPTIST CHURCH STAFF Rick & Betty Covington Dawne McConnaughhay, Connie Hastings Clyde McConnaughhay, Mattie Katz Maya Felton, Lucy McConnaughhay
116 Pocahontas Trail Georgetown, KY 40324 www.familyoffaith.net502.863.1537 {sign up on our website} stay connected
