March/April 2007 – Vol. 3, No. 2

Pastor’s Paragraphs 

Writer Max Lucado, in his book “When God Whispers Your Name,” says the following:

Real change is an inside job. You might alter things a day or two with money and systems, but the heart of the matter is and always will be, the matter of the heart. Allow me to get specific. Our problem is sin. Not finances. Not budgets... Our problem is sin. We are in rebellion against our Creator. We are separated from our Father. We are cut off from the source of life. A new president or policy won’t fix this. It can only be solved by God. That’s why the Bible uses drastic terms like conversion, repentance, lost, and found. Society may renovate, but only GOD re-creates.

My friends, the season of Lent is a time for just such re-creation. Not one of us is too young to need re-birth, and not one of us is too old to be beyond God’s life-giving grace. This Lenten season, I invite you (and myself) to be re-created. To look honestly at those parts of our lives and our relationships which need repair, and humbly offer them to God for true healing.

I promise, in the name of our Lord Jesus, that those parts which God heals will be new forever.

Come joins us at FBC for all this season’s activities.
And come to Christ, and let yourself be re-created.

With Hope for Healing, 

Pastor Steph

Hear Our Stories, Know Our Names

On Sunday, March 11th after our morning services, we are co-hosting a program on homelessness. The program is called “Hear Our Stories, Know Our Names”. It will be a program put on by formerly homeless people about their experiences.

This program, created by the Maine Council of Churches, has been performed to rave reviews around the state. Most people who have seen it have had their attitudes towards the homeless changed dramatically. Our production will be the first time the program has been performed in the Bangor area.

The program is co-sponsored by First Baptist Church, The Orono United Methodist Church and Redeemer Lutheran Church. A light lunch will be provided for members of the three churches at noon. It will be followed by a program for the entire Bangor community at 1:00 pm. All activities will take place here at FBC.

Please watch for a sign up sheet so we can plan for the number of people at the lunch.

Soup and “Sermon”

All Soup and Sermon (or Skits) start at 5 pm. All are welcome and no reservations are necessary. This is an adult and kid friendly activity.

February 25th — Soup provided by the Mission Board & Cathy Larkin will present “Pilate’s Wife”

March 4th — Soup provided by Friends in Fellowship & Sue Staples & Pam Levesque will present “If Only”

March 11th — No Soup & Sermon Stay after church to see “Hear Our Stories” at 1 pm.

March 18th — Soup provided by the Neighbors & Steven & Kim Douglas will present “Clark Gets A Bonus”

March 25th — Soup provided by the Music Committee & Stephan Salinas will present “A Soldier’s Report”

April 1st — Soup provided by Board of Christian Education & The High School Class will present “No One Understands”

“Love Thy Neighbor is a command, not a piece of advice.”—U2 singer Bono

Neighbors Spring Fling

The Neighbors Club will hold their annual Spring Fling on Saturday, March 24th at Jeff’s Catering in Brewer. Winter will be truly gone and it will be time for all of us to crawl out from under the covers and celebrate Spring. The festivities will start at 6 pm.

Clyde Folsom will once again tell how he or some of his “special” friends survived the winter and bring laughter into our life. There will be musical entertainment as well.

The cost of the dinner will be $12.50 a ticket but the Neighbors have announced an Early Bird Special. If you buy your tickets before March 17th, you can buy two for only $25.00:-). If you wait until the 18th, then you will have to pay $12.50 each. By having it at Jeff’s, we can accommodate more people this year, but we do need to give him a count of the number of attendees, so don’t wait to buy your tickets. So tell your friends and we hope to see a large crowd there.

Lenten and Easter Schedule

Soup and “Sermon” each Sunday @ 5pm

April 1st — Palm Sunday, Worship @10:15

April 5th — Maunday Thursday service of communion and foot washing at Redeemer Lutheran Church.

April 6th — Good Friday Service at FBC featuring the Glory Tellers telling the Easter Story followed by the Silver Tea. It will start at 7 pm.

April 8 — Easter Sunday
7 am Informal Easter Praise at Gerry and Gloria Pickard’s home in Hermon.
10:15 Easter Worship Service

Adult Bible Study Classes are held each Tuesday at 10 am and 6 pm. After they finish the book of Romans, they will look at some special Lenten studies. After Easter, they will start the book of Acts. Everyone is invited to attend.

Can you fill in the blanks in this Bible verse?
Acts 22: 6-7

About noon as I came near ____________, suddenly a ___________ ___________ from ______________ flashed around me. I fell to the _____________ and heard a _______________ say to me, ______________, ____________ ! Why do you __________________ me?”

Thank you Cathy Larkin for supplying this inspirational quiz. Let us know if you like it.

Youth News

It goes without saying that we are always proud of the teens in our church. They do so many things very well and are great people besides. Recently, several of them have participated in State High School Championship Events and have been very successful.

State Champions for the First Time!!

Bangor High won it’s first ever Indoor State Track & Field Team Championship on Feb. 19 at Bates College. Joel Parent, Stephen Salinas, Riley Masters & Casey Quaglia earned a State title by winning the 4x800m relay in 8:23.31, contributing to the BHS win. The relay team of Branden Mountain, Parent, Salinas & Masters also finished first in the relay at the PVC Indoor Championships a week earlier. Bangor High also went on to win that team title. Stephen Salinas, Ryan Bailey and Matt Taylor were on the State Champion Boy’s track team for this year. Rob Seccareccia, great-grandson of Louise Rabbitt, was a thrower for the team.

State Champions Again!!

The Bangor High Girls Swim team won it’s second consecutive State Title at Bowdoin College on Feb. 19. Juliet Cobb finished 7th in the diving competition to contribute to the BHS win. Jenny Smith also qualified for the diving competition. Juliet finished in 4th place at the PVC Championships a week earlier to help BHS win that title also. Jenny also competed at the PVC Championships. Sarah Livingstone also swam on the team.

State Champions Again and Again!!!

The Bangor High Boys Swim team captured the State Championship on February 20th. Seth Livingstone is on the Boys Swim. Brian Wardwell, grandson of Hilda Wardwell,is a Bangor diver. Toni Lent is the manager for the boys swim team.

Stephen Salinas (left) and the Bangor High boys celebrate their State Track Title

Who Does What At FBC?

Have you ever had a question, suggestion or concern about something at FBC and wondered which board or committee you should approach? Here is a list of the committees with the areas they cover and a contact person.

Trustees — Physical property, revenues, housekeeping, sexton and secretarial staff. Dave Berry.

Pastoral Committee — anything involving the Pastor’s duties. Sue Staples, Dave Berry, Noreen Kent, Kim Livingstone, Bill Stockson.

Diaconate — Membership, fellowship fund, publicity, ushering, decorations & flowers. Sherrie Barrows.

Christian Education — Sunday School, the curriculum, Nursery Care, Cradle Roll and other Christian Education activities. Cheryl Dubois.

Mission Board — Issues involving local, national & international mission work. Diana Keyser.

Music Committee — anything to do with the music program either during the worship service or at any other church sponsored event. Dottie Frank, Mary Hamilton, Cheryl Dearing.

Housekeeping — anything to do with the cleanliness of our building. Donna Holyoke, Dave Berry.

Sexton — light building repairs, setting up furniture for events, grounds work. Donna Holyoke.

Social Committee — provides food for various church events. Harriet Arbo.

Please
Save Your Empty Printer and Copier Ink Cartridges

Bring them to the box near the Educational Wing door and they will be sold to a recycler. The money will go towards the Youth Choir tour and the cartridges won’t sit for centuries in a landfill.

Who Is It?

We had a two time winner this last month. Shirley Boberg correctly guessed that Sue Staples was on the left and that Mabelle Miller was on the right. Thank you to all of you who made guesses but weren’t right. It was fun for me to subtly try to steer you in the right direction without spoiling your fun. Anyway, we are back to one photo so there will be one winner this month. You can either email me at chenauct@aol.com or leave your guess in an envelope in the office with the your name & date on the it.

Roy, Gene & Hoppy were his heroes

Errors? Omissions? Let us know!!

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 chenauct@aol.com. The deadline for the next Messenger is Sun., March 24th.