May/June 2007 – Vol. 3, No. 3

Pastor’s Paragraphs

Congregational life is often an “impure” experience of mixed generations and life styles in a culture that is finding more sophisticated ways to invite us into pure market camps. Each of these camps is told to follow Burger King’s clever motto, and to expect to “have it your way.” Because congregations call people together to seek a shared faith, they do not easily fit the cultural mold in which everyone can expect to “have it your way.” —Gil Rendle, in The Multigenerational Congregation

My friends, we live in a wonderful and yet truly challenging time for the Christian Church. While generations have always worshipped together, there are greater differences in some ways than there ever have been before, and The Christian Church is feeling it.

Some cling to old traditions so firmly that they cannot allow new ideas, and new faces, in.

Others, meanwhile, drive so hard for witness to the young that they run over the old and leave them behind.

And many of us are left somewhere in the middle.

Gil Rendle has written a provocative book on this subject, which a group of FBC’ers will be reading together this Spring and Summer. We are gathering a multi-generational group to read and discuss this book, and then to present a program to the church on communication and understanding. If you have ever found yourself frustrated that your views are not heard, or that another group in the church does not work as you do, this may be the group for you! If you want to find ways to support other groups in the church, this may be the group for you! Please contact me or Rhonda Gopan ASAP to join our reading group, and allow your voice to be heard, for it is an important voice to the Christian Church of the 21st Century. Join us!

With Old-Time Faith and Modern Hope in Christ,

Pastor Steph

UPCOMING EVENTS

SUNDAY MAY 20TH

10:15 - Graduating Seniors’ Recognition Day

6pm - Baptism Service and Letter “B” Potluck Supper. Please bring a dish that begins with the letter “B”. It could be beef, brownies, beans etc.

SUNDAY JUNE 3RD

The last day of Sunday School until September. During Coffee Fellowship after the Worship Service, we will be honoring the past and present members of the Arad Thompson Class which is discontinuing their meetings after a century of fellowship and service.

SAT. JUNE 9TH

5pm - NEIGHBORS Progressive Munch starting at the Ogilvies” and then progressing to the Hamiltons”. There will be plenty of food and probably a true(?) fishing story or three. Reservations are required and can be obtained along with driving directions by calling either Jane Ogilvie at 848-9922 or Mary Hamilton at 848-3658.

SUNDAY JUNE 10TH

Children’s Sunday. There will be a Teacher and Student Recognition Breakfast at 9am.

WORSHIP SERVICES THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER will begin at 10:15.

Help Create Understanding

The Executive Committee is going to be sponsoring a program in Inter-generational Understanding. We are looking for volunteers from a variety of age groups to help us plan the program by reading and discussing a book from the Alban Institute called “The Intergenerational Congregation. Please see Pastor Steph or Rhonda Gopan to sign up for this group.

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.

FBC YOUTH CHOIR TOUR

The long awaited Youth Tour is almost set to kick off and the many teens and adults who have put in so much effort and time to make it happen are ready. They are going to send the proceeds of the tour to Kupenda, a children’s charity in Africa.

Kupenda (Swahili for “to love”) for the children” is a 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt Christian charity that meets the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of handicapped children in the developing world. This charity meets disabled children’s needs through one-on-one sponsorship, payment of school and boarding fees for special education, construction of special needs facilities, funding corrective surgery, provision of school supplies and medical equipment (wheelchairs, artificial limbs etc.), instruction for special needs teachers, strengthening of local churches to better assist special needs children, staffing qualified help (therapists, teachers, etc.) for the children in need. Their disabilities include cerebral palsy, deafness, deformed or missing limbs, spinal bifida, effects of polio, visual impairment, down syndrome, autism, epilepsy, and so on. Currently the focus of Kupenda is in the Malindi district on the coast of Kenya.

In most African countries disabled people are still considered to be “cursed” similar to the view held by people in Jesus’ time as indicated in John 9. Because of this perception some parents may keep their children hidden, abandon them, divorce because they believe their spouse caused the disability or even kill the child at birth. They don’t see that their child can be anything else but a beggar. Therefore, in Kenya only 10% of those with disabilities actually attend school.

Through the support of Kupenda, Kenyan disabled children are learning and adapting to society. People are witnessing their children actually learning and developing. As this happens, they realize that their children might be used “so that the work of God might be displayed in his/her life” (John 9:3).

The FBC Youth Choir will start their tour in Waterville on June 17th and leave for New Jersey and Pennsylvania on June 22nd. They will start performing on June 23rd and will do their last out of state performance on June 29th in New Jersey. They will be back in FBC on Sunday, July 1st. You can get the dates of the tour on the FBC web site.

BACK IN THE DAYS WHEN WINTERS WERE REALLY LONG

Some things don’t change all that much!

This was the Valentine Banquet in 1985

Clyde Folsom (Claude Frechette) has kept us laughing all these years.

This was the Valentine Banquet in 1986

From left to right: Gordon Duncan, Dana Hamilton, Gerry Pickard, 
George McLeod and Don Sawtelle.

If you were not at the NEIGHBORS Spring Fling (which replaced the Valentine Banquet for the above obvious reasons), then you missed the talented Bangor High School Fiddlers with Stephan Salinas and another wacky camping trip with Clyde and his cast of characters. The food at Jeff’s Catering was very good and not one of us had to do any cleanup. Unfortunately, our main stay emcee Sam Ogilvie was under the weather but we persevered anyway.

Who Is It?

The photo of the little cowboy in the last issue was...me, a 3 year old John Cheney. The person who guessed it first was Mabelle Miller who gets all the bragging rights. To guess who the person is in this issue, either leave your guess in an envelope with the date on it in the church office or email me chenauct@aol.com.

We are looking for the name of the little boy in this photo. I have some really corny clues, so if you need them please email me.

All I will say to start you off is that he is a good neighbor.

Note: If you have given me photos and I have not returned them to you, please let me know. I have some with no one’s name on the envelopes when they came in and I would like to return them to the owners.

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 Wed., July 11th.