May 2006 – Vol. 2, No. 5

Musings from Pastor Steph

Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. –Matthew 29: 19-20a

The verse above is what we often call “the great commission.” Matthew’s gospel ends with the risen Christ telling his followers to go change the world. As post-resurrection people, we too are to follow this commission. We are to go, near and far, and make disciples. We are to be mission people.

The month of May holds several interesting mission opportunities for us:

• May 4^th, we will host another dinner at the Wilson Center at the University of Maine. This is an opportunity to support, eat with, and witness with Christian students and spiritual seekers on that campus. See any member of the mission board to join us.

• May 11^th is our monthly feeding at the soup kitchen—see Ray Homchuck if you want to help out this month.

• May 28^th, at 5pm in the evening, the mission board will hold a potluck/cookout, in which we can meet and donate towards the missionary work of a young woman named Rebecca Rexrode, a member of Columbia Street who will be leaving soon for work in Mexico as a Wycliffe Bible translator.

May is mission month at First Baptist. Come, let us be co-missioned together.

In Christ’s Holy Service,

Pastor Steph

BCE Wants You.... to Teach!!

The Board of Christian Education invites any interested individuals to join our 2006-2007 Sunday School teaching staff. No prior teaching experience necessary, just an enthusiasm to share God's word. Curriculum materials provided for all grades. Co-teacher option available for all grades which allows teachers to switch monthly teaching duties as individuals' schedules allow. We would also like to form a list of individuals who may be interested in the role of substitute teachers.

The 2006-2007 Sunday School year will begin a new configuration of grade breakdowns as follows:

Pre-K, K-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8, 9-12, Adult

Also for the 2006-2007 year, Youth Choir will be open to all interested youths in grade 6 and above. Junior BYF will include all youths in grades 6-8 only. Senior BYF remains the same and is open to all teens in grades 9-12.

Contact any member of the Board of Christian Education to say you're interested.

**********

Earn While You Surf (The Internet)

Now you can raise money for First Baptist Church of Bangor just by searching the Internet at GoodSearch.com.

You use GoodSearch.com like any other search engine - the site is powered by Yahoo! - but each time you do, money is generated for us. Here’s how it works:

1. Go to www.goodsearch.com

2. Type First Baptist Church of Bangor into the “I support” box and click on “verify”

3. Search the Internet just like you would with any search engine

4. Since GoodSearch shares its advertising revenue with charities and schools, every time you search the Internet at GoodSearch, you’ll be earning money for us.

GoodSearch also has a toolbar you can download from the homepage so that you can search right from the top of your browser.

You can keep track of our estimated earnings by clicking on “amount raised” once you designate us as your organization of choice. The more people who use the site, the more money we’ll earn, so please spread the word!!

What Are Those Folks At First Baptist Doing?

The Pastor will soon be processing scholarship aid for those attending China Lake or other Christian camps.  If you are not covered by Camp Bangor aid, please see Stephanie ASAP with the camp(s) you will be attending.  This includes all Music Campers!

**********

The Board of Christian Education will be recognizing graduating seniors for the 2005-2006 school year on Sunday, June 11th. If you know of anyone graduating from high school, college, or another school, please tell someone on the BCE by mid-May.

**********

Sunday, June 11th, will be a big day for Christian Education. That morning will include an all-Sunday School Potluck Breakfast, Children's Sunday and Senior Recognition. This will be the last day of Sunday School for this year. The last day of regular classes will be June 4th.

**********

The church secretary is taking a vacation. Fred and Karen will be gone to Alaska for two weeks, to Anchorage, Fairbanks and other places. The church office will need coverage, just taking in mail and answering the phones. Dates: May 22-26 and May 27-June 2. A signup sheet will be on the office door, as always. All help appreciated!

**********

Have you noticed the new banners hanging outside the front and back of the church? The Growth Committee thought that we needed some color on the front and that a colorful banner inviting people to Join Us would be helpful. We also put one on the back of the Education Wing because throughout the week, many people who don't come to FBC use the parking lot. We wanted to invite them to Join Us as well. Dave Berry at Commercial Screenprint & Embroidery did the great work for us and he gave us a generous discount as well. Signs are very expensive and these banners are a frugal way to contribute to the marketing of FBC.

**********

The Growth Committee is working on a new brochure for the church. If you have any photos of Church activities you would like to share with us. please email them to newsletter@fbcbangor.org. If you can't email them, you can lend us a print for scanning. We hope to have photos of all age groups and as many different types of activities as possible to choose from. Don't be bashful. Lets share our beauty with other folks.

**********

Need to know what's coming up?  Check out the Upcoming Events page.

Do you have an announcement? Contact the newsletter staff at newsletter@fbcbangor.org.

It's Yard Sale Season (So Spring Must Really Be Here!!)

On Saturday, June 17th we will be having our 2nd Annual First Baptist Yard Sale, and this one promises to be better than the first. Last year, we raised just a couple of dollars under $700 and we didn't even know what we were doing. This year, we hope to raise more money, get rid of some valuable junk . . . er . . . merchandise and market the Church in the process. What we will need is invaluable volunteers to help as well as valuable merchandise to sell. If you have stuff you want to get out of your life, let John Cheney or Dan Livingstone know. The FBC Youth Choir will be selling refreshments, there will be tours of the Sanctuary available and we plan to give away some Bibles to people who ask us because they don't have one at home.

"We know that God's arithmetic is somewhat odd. When you sbutract by giving away, you get more." 

- Desmond TuTu

RELAY FOR LIFE

Relay For Life is 24 hours of fun for a great cause -- joining the American Cancer Society's fight against cancer. This will be the 2nd year First Baptist will be participating in this event which is being held at Old Town High School, May 19 & 20. We are forming both Adult and Youth teams this year. Cheryl Dearing and Pam Levesque will be Co-Captains for the adults, and Laura Dearing and Stephen Salinas for the youth team. We take turns walking around the track, keeping at least one member on the track at all times, for a full day and night, and we want all of you to join us!! You don't have to be there the full 24 hrs. -- come for just one hour (or more) if you wish. There will be a special Cancer Survivors/Caregivers lap as well as the moving Luminaria Ceremony. There are many ways you can participate other than walking . . . you can make a donation, buy a luminare in memory of or to honor loved ones, help us set-up camp, assist with Saturday's Bar-B-Q or provide snacks for our walkers. The Relay For Life represents the hope that those lost to cancer will never be forgotten, that those who face cancer will be supported, and that one day cancer will be eliminated. For more information, speak with either Cheryl or Pam.

New Hymnals

The music committee has received a memorial donation towards the purchase of new hymnals. Our hymnals were last updated 20 years ago. We will form a committee of varied ages and interest, to begin work on hymnal selection in the Fall.

If you would like to be considered for this committee, please see May Hamilton or Jackie Ranco.

Randy, Juliet, and Jackie Cobb make their way down the Kenduskeag Stream.
The Cobbs finished the 2006 Kenduskeag Stream Race in 3:11:41.

Newsletter Contacts: Any submissions for the newsletter may be delivered to the church office or any member of the Publicity Committee: John Cheney, Pam Levesque or Ned Salinas or emailed to newsletter@fbcbangor.org. The deadline for the June Messenger is Sun., May 21.