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IN THIS ISSUE: From the Moderator The Spires Basket Auction and Retreat A Mission Story
VOLUME 64
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH 554 Main Street Corner of Main and Fourth Niagara Falls, New York 14301
NUMBER 7
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JULY 2012
July 2012 Sunday
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5TH SUN. AFTER PENTECOST
Monday
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Tuesday
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Wednesday
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NO INASMUCH
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Saturday
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11:00 Divine Worship with Communion 5:00 L. I. F. E.
Independence Day
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6TH SUN. AFTER PENTECOST
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11:00 Divine Worship 12:15 Second Sunday Ice Cream Social
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7TH SUN. AFTER PENTECOST
11 NO TRUSTEES/ DIACONATE MTG
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☺ Stop by the Church during the week to see the workers high up in a man lift working on the bricks on the Tower and the Main Street side. ☺ Did you know that the bricks used to build the original Church building are the same as the ones Frank Lloyd Wright used to build the Darwin Martin house? They are called “Roman brick”.
11:00 Divine Worship Third Sunday Food Collection 2:00 Wedding
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8TH SUN. AFTER PENTECOST
10:00 Breakfast for Everyone 11:00 Divine Worship
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SUN. AFTER PENTECOST
11:00 Divine Worship
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JULY 2012 SCHEDULES FOR THE MONTH Sunday
7/01
Sunday
7/08
Sunday Sunday
7/15 7/22
Sunday
7/29
11:00 5:00 11:00 12:15 11:00 10:00 11:00 11:00
Worship Service L.I.F.E. Worship Service Second Sunday Lunch Worship Service Breakfast for All Worship Service Worship Service
July Birthdays 6 19 22 25 28 29
David Martin Jr. Robert Culbreth Ronald Blakely Florence Bowser Kimberly Hutchinson Mark Boeskin Jr.
Please continue to pray for: Marge and Ron Blakely; Mark Clark; Paul Einstein; Paul Ordiway; Margaret Payne; Hal Faba; Dawn Schutz; Mike Gunther; Tara Clifton; Judy Einstein; Jack Mercer; Gladys Lewis; Bertha and Harold Bissell; our Church Family; our Country and all those who serve our Country. L.I.F.E. “STAR-SPANGLED CELEBRATION” July 1, 2012 5:00 p.m. Pot Luck Bring a dish to pass Sign up in the Friendship Room
From the Moderator... If you have Prayer List additions or deletions or a request for communion for the homebound, call Peggy at the church office from 9:00 a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday. •
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Our Mission theme is One Great Hour of Sharing is “Sharing Brings Joy to us, to others, to God.” We will be collecting offerings for the OGHS through July as OGHS offers emergency relief for human needs of our world. If there is a disaster, natural or human, we are there. If there is a chronic need to establish or maintain a more adequate quality of life, we are there. If refugees and migrants are in detention camps in the United States and in local communities, we are there. In 2011, fifteen countries benefited from your gifts and here at home, twelve states, including New York benefited from your gifts. For hurricane Irene and tropical storm Lee relief and fire damage at the First Baptist Church in Walton, New York, you were there. You were in the Middle East and North Africa aiding refugees of the prodemocracy uprisings. If a manmade or natural disaster has occurred and been on the news, chances are, you were there.
Looking ahead to September, we will be having Rally Day on September 9th and dedicating those workers on the trustees and Diaconate. Check the board for the list of committees that do the work of
Church Office Hours: 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon, Monday — Friday 716-282-4666 —
[email protected] — www.niagarafallsbaptist.org
the church. On the docket for September will be a Women’s Retreat, in October, the Fall Rummage Sale and Basket Auction, and in November, Kathleen’s Tea. st
In As Much will gather August 1 at the home of Donna Flood for a patio luncheon. All ladies are invited to enjoy the breeze, garden, and the birds. Sign up with Donna or call at 759-6442. We will continue to purchase flowers for the service through the end of the calendar year. If you wish to purchase flowers for the Communion Table, contact Peggy or fill out a form on the piano in the Friendship Room to dedicate your purchase and put it in the offering plate with your check.
O Those Spires! By now I’m sure you’ve noticed the white spires in the entryway as you enter the Church. They were custom made for us by a company in Georgia and arrived about 10 days ago. Seven generous couples stepped forward to pay for the six spires and the freight charges. As you pass the Church you have undoubtedly noticed the machinery in front of the Tower and perhaps seen the workers high up in the bucket working on the masonry. After the brick work is completed the spires will be painted red to match the woodwork of the Tower and placed on the corners of the Tower and the corners of the south elevation (Main Street side) of the main Church structure. The spires will replace the ornamentation that originally adorned those locations (which it’s doubtful that anyone remembers as they were removed, probably in the 1940’s). In addition to the brickwork, the Main Street side woodwork will be painted, including the ornament high up on the top of the steeple atop the Tower. The outside work is only a (large) part of the renovations going on this summer. You have probably seen the transformation of the Ladies’ Lounge and Rest Room and now the Men’s Room and back hallway are in the process of restoration and a facelift. This work will continue through the
summer and early fall. New paper towel dispensers and toilet tissue holders are already installed and add to all the rest rooms in the Church. There is a lot going on at First Baptist! Activities are already being planned for the fall: such as a retreat, a tea, a basket auction, and more. Plan to be a part of it all!
Jim Flood
Basket Auction! Our Annual Basket Auction will be held on Friday, November 2nd at the Elks Lodge, behind the Outlet Mall. Now is the time to start making your baskets to be included in the auction. Looking for ideas? Think about the things you might like to win. Here are some ideas: -
Children’s Toy Basket Thanksgiving Decorations Basket Christmas Wrap Basket - Linen Basket Full Dinner in a Basket Movie Night Basket Tool Basket Car Wash Basket Candle Basket Sweets Basket Jewelry Basket Game Night Basket
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The list can go on and on. Be creative. Make something that everyone will want. Make something that the men will love. Make something for the kids. Complete baskets will be much appreciated. You can start bringing them in whenever you are ready. We will be having a committee meeting in July, the date is yet to be set. Let Kathleen Ordiway know if you are able to help out in any way!
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Save the Date The next Ladies’ Retreat will be held on September 22, 2012. The Theme… “God Is Not Asleep” Inspired by a sermon given by Rev Wes Bourdette. More information will be available in the August Tower. Kathleen Ordiway
A MISSION STORY Sharing Brings Joy – to us, to others, to God. Sixtysix year old Hidenori Ashikaga of the Kesennuma Baptist Church in Northeast Japan has always been connected with the Aiko Kindergarten in the church. Before he became a Christian he helped the children understand their environment and the ecosystem. Through the influence he received during his visits to the kindergarten, he became a Christian in 2006. For a number of years, Mr. Ashikaga’s private company has been involved in the development of usages of Effective Micro-Organism (EM), a natural product which stops the process of decomposition. His primary work was with environmentalists and farmers all over Japan. However, all this changed on March 11, 2011. Mr. Ashikaga’s home and business were totally wiped out, and his wife went missing. At 2:46 pm, Mr. Ashikaga was returning to Kesennuma from inland in his pickup truck. He felt the earthquake and turned on the radio to learn more about what was happening. Alarmed at the warning of a tsunami, he raced back the last 15 miles only to find out that it was too late. After making several attempts to approach the area where his house and business was, he turned back toward higher ground. There he spent a cold nights in his truck, praying that he would find his wife alive, saying to himself, “I’m sorry I cannot swim to rescue you.” For the next two days, he went from shelter to shelter checking the lists and searching through the rows of survivors. On the third day, suddenly he heard a knock on the window of his truck. It was his wife, Kazuko!
Together they went to Kazuko’s mother’s home on higher ground. With no food and gas available, the Ashikaga’s often visited the church where there was food and warmth. But the depressing outlook began to overwhelm him. One day, Kazuko told him to cheer up, you at least have EM. Actually he had EM only in name – he had no equipment or customers. However, help was on its way through your gifts to One Great Hour of Sharing. Funds given for Japan relief were distributed to survivors at the church. When Mr. and Mrs. Ashikaga were given some money to begin to rebuild their lives. They were speechless. They had no idea that gifts from brothers and sisters in Christ in America would reach them and help them to begin to rebuild their life and livelihood. They left the church feeling the huge impact of God’s grace and were filled with joy at the thought that they were no longer alone. The Ashikaga used some of the gift to meet immediate personal needs but all along the way, he share his gift with others in need. “I felt God’s call to share my joy in service to others.” And by Mr. Ashikaga responding to that call, your gifts brought joy to not just one man and his wife, but also to many other survivors in Japan.
