July 10-14, VBS
Posted on May 26th, 2011
Dates: Sunday through Thursday, July 10-14, 2011
Time: 6:00 p.m. to 8:15 p.m.
Who: children age 3 to completed 5th grade
Cost: FREE
Avast, me hearties! Vacation Bible School fast approacheth. Mark yer calendars fer a most excitin’ “High Seas Expedition”. AARRGH!!
REGISTER HERE
Click on this link to register for our VBS!
The adventure shall commence on Sunday, July 10, 6:00 to 8:15 p.m., and will conclude on Thursday, July 14th. It’s open to kids age 3 through 5th grade, and it is free!
Tags: High Seas Adventure, VBS
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Summer Conversations
Posted on May 26th, 2011
Pastor’s Column, published in The Informer (FBC Newsletter for June 2011)
Summer is finally here and when I think of summer, I often have in mind a slower pace of life punctuated by opportunities for family and friends to get together for food and conversations. It is in this spirit that I would like to host a series of “conversations” held one Sunday each month during the summer. These conversations will be on various topics and will target different segments of our population, (and will consequently be held at varying times), but everyone is invited to attend. My hope is that this will give me an opportunity to listen to the concerns of the congregation and to hear new ideas for ministry, service and worship.
One topic of conversation that has come to my attention is the question of unbaptized children receiving communion during worship. On Sunday, June 5, I would like to invite all the parents of our children to talk about this in the Fellowship Hall at 9:45 a.m. I will briefly present our church’s current policy regarding communion, and I would appreciate input from our parents and others regarding this issue. Muffins and juice will be served.
In the month of July, I would like to engage in a conversation about our senior adult ministry. This conversation is tentatively scheduled for Sunday, July 17, after the worship service in our Fellowship Hall. A light lunch will be served as we talk about how Farmville Baptist might better minister to and with our senior adults in the months ahead.
Finally, I hope to have another conversation on Sunday August 21, at 9:45 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall. In this conversation, I would like to hear from the congregation what needs they see in our community, and how we might be able to meet those needs. In the coming months, I hope you will keep your eyes and ears open to the needs of our community that are not being met so that you can contribute to this conversation.
In some ways, these conversations are a continuation of the Pastoral Evaluation Surveys that were taken in April. I want to thank those forty folks who took the time in filling out the survey and to Jay Lynn for administering it. Starting in June, the results of the survey will be made available through the church office for anyone who requests it. Copies of the results will also be available on Sunday mornings for members to pick up.
Finally, thank you for your prayers, cards, food and other expressions of your care following my uncle’s death. I really appreciate your ministry to me during this time. I am grateful and blessed to be your pastor!
Yours in Christ, Michael
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Faith Coaching
Posted on May 7th, 2011
Pastor’s Column, published in The Informer (FBC Newsletter for May 2011)
Several weeks ago, I attended a four-day training course on Christian coaching at the Hollifield Leadership Center in Conover, NC. When we hear the word “coach,” we often think of a person who trains athletes or directs athletic teams. But the coaching instruction that I received is designed to help people gain clarity and focus in moving forward in their Christian faith and life. A coach engages in conversations with people and listens carefully to their concerns, goals and dreams. Unlike counseling, which assumes dysfunction on the part of the client and focuses on the past, coaching assumes health on the part of the person being coached and focuses on his or her future action plans. Unlike a mentoring relationship, which relies on the knowledge and experience of the mentor, coaching relies on the knowledge, experience and resources of the person being coached.
Coaching provides great benefits. It orientates around a person’s strengths and not weaknesses. It provides clarity and focus regarding one’s personal goals and objectives. A coach does not give answers, but asks powerful questions to help people discover and achieve their God-given potential and purpose. And as they discover answers and solutions to their problems, it inspires confidence in their ability to make intentional progress in achieving God’s plan for their lives.
I am attracted to faith coaching as one (but not the only) important tool for pastoral ministry, because it frees me from having to tell people what to do! Coaching honors the image of God in people and it trusts that the Spirit of God continues to dwell and speak to each person regarding his or her life. If you ever feel a need to have a coach to take you from one stage to another in your life, I would love to have an opportunity to enter into a coaching relationship with you! In the meantime, let me ask two coaching questions for you to consider: Where are you now, and where does God want you to be? How can you plan the steps to get to where God wants you to be?
In other matters, I want to thank the Rev. Cheri Wise for filling the pulpit on Sunday, May 1. I will still be in Dallas, TX with my family as we attend the memorial service of my uncle, the Rev. Johann Yang. Cheri is the director of the Baptist Campus Ministries at Longwood and Hampden-Sydney, and I’m excited that you will have a chance to hear her preach. At the end of the service, we will also recognize Sara Thompson for her service here as our ministry intern. I hope you will plan to be in worship that day!
Yours in Christ, Michael
Tags: faith coaching
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Passport Kids Camp Info
Posted on April 6th, 2011
Here’s updated information about our Passport Kids! Camp this summer.
Passport Kids! Camp
Eagle Eyrie Conference Center, Lynchburg, VA
June 16-19, 2011 (Thurs – Sun)
Theme: “Treasure”
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be open to you.” Matthew 7:7 (TNIV)
Total Cost: $240 (minus $60 deposit and fundraising amount credited to camper’s account)
Payment Deadline: Tuesday, April 26, 2011.
For more information and medical release forms . . . Read the rest of this entry »
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Evaluating the Pastor
Posted on March 31st, 2011
Pastor’s Column, published in The Informer (FBC Newsletter for April 2011)
As you might know, according to our church constitution, the deacons are responsible for evaluating the pastor. However, I feel that it is important that the whole congregation has an opportunity to provide honest feedback to the pastor. Therefore, last fall during a deacon’s meeting, I proposed that a survey be designed for all members of the congregation to fill out as a way to assist the deacons in evaluating my ministry. From April 1 to April 24, this survey will be available for you to fill out. It will ask for your input in these areas:
- Pastoral Ministry: communication, listening, counseling and teaching skills, visitation and grief ministry, conduct of weddings and funerals, etc.
- Pulpit/Worship Ministry: planning worship services, sermon content and delivery, involvement of staff and church members, etc.
- Church Administration: leadership of staff/volunteers, assistance to committees and councils, organizational skills, etc.
- Personal Qualities: people skills, spiritual health, commitment to personal/professional growth, punctuality, etc.
- Community/Denominational Participation: BGAV, SBA, FAMA, etc.
- Evangelism Leadership: training and commitment to evangelism.
There will also be space for you to write down your perception of the strengths, the growth areas, and overall effectiveness of my ministry. Additionally, there is space for you to give me constructive suggestions.
You can access the evaluation survey by clicking on this link. (A new browser window or tab will open.)
You will be asked to sign your name on your survey, but you are not required to do so. In any case, only our deacon co-chairs, Jay Lynn and George Carter, will see the names. Jay and George will tabulate and present the results of the surveys (without names) to the rest of the deacons and to me during a future deacon’s meeting.
Many thanks to Jay Lynn for designing the survey! I encourage all members and regular attenders to fill it out. Thank you for your input that will help me be a better pastor!
Yours in Christ, Michael
Tags: Pastor evaluation
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3/20 – Children’s Mission Workshop
Posted on March 17th, 2011
Your family is invited to a Children’s Missions Workshop for hands-on helping activities.
Sunday, March 20 at 4:30 (pizza served at 5:30) at Farmville Baptist Church Fellowship Hall
Families will rotate through four stations during an hour, during which time they will…
- prepare an entrée for our own church members who have had an illness
- make warm hats for people in our community (distributed during the winter at FACES)
- create greeting cards for Centra Hospice
- fill shoeboxes with school supplies for children in Liberia (distributed by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship)
There is no charge, but donations for pizza and the postage for the school-supply kits are gladly accepted. If you’d like to bring school supplies for the shoeboxes or if you have other questions, please email or call Beth Cheuk (b_cheuk [at] yahoo.com or 391-3616).
RSVPs (to Beth Cheuk) are wonderful but not required.
Tags: children, missions, workshop
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Covenant and Kingdom
Posted on February 28th, 2011
Pastor’s Column published in The Informer (FBC’s Newsletter for March, 2011)
Beginning in March, I will be starting a new sermon series called “Covenant and Kingdom.” The series is based on a book by the same name written by Mike Breen, formerly the pastor of St Thomas Sheffield in the United Kingdom. When he was at St. Thomas Sheffield, Mike created and pioneered Missional Communities, mid-sized groups of 20-50 people on mission together. The result, less than 6 years later, was the largest church in England, and ultimately, one of the largest and now fastest growing churches in the whole of Europe. In 2006, Mike was approached by Leadership Network to lead an initiative into church planting. Through this partnership, more than 725 churches were planted in Europe in just three years. Today, Mike lives in South Carolina, leading 3dM, a movement/organization that is helping hundreds of established churches and church planters move into this discipling and missional way of being the church. (See http://mikebreen.wordpress.com/about/)
For the past several months, I and other pastors around the state have been learning from Mike Breen through his partnership with the Virginia Baptist Mission Board. In a sense, we have been discipled by Mike so that we might be better followers of Jesus and better leaders of the churches we serve. The discipleship groups that I’m leading now are a direct result of putting into practice what I’ve learned over the past few months.
The “Covenant and Kingdom” sermon series gives a biblical and theological basis to what I’m trying to do now as pastor. It is also an attempt to give the Bible back to the “people in the pews,” so that they don’t solely have to rely on seminary-trained professionals to tell them how to read the Bible and what it means. One way to understand the Bible is to recognize two threads that run throughout holy scripture: the theme of Covenant or relationship, and the theme of Kingdom or responsibility. Throughout the Bible, God invites people to a covenant—to share deeply in a relationship of love with their Heavenly Father. At the same time, God challenges people to take on the responsibility in representing God’s Kingdom in ever-widening spheres of influence. So, throughout the Sundays in Lent, we will examine how those two themes of Covenant and Kingdom runs through all of Scripture. My prayer is that it will lead us to love God and serve God and others in a deeper and a more joyful way.
Yours in Christ, Michael
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FAMA Lenten Services
Posted on February 28th, 2011
The Farmville Area Ministerial Association invites you to attend their Wednesday Lenten Services at 12 noon followed by a free soup lunch at 12:30 p.m.
The following is a schedule of churches hosting these services:
Wed., March 16 – First Baptist, 100 South Main St., Farmville.
Wed., March 23 – St. Theresa Catholic
Wed., March 30 – Farmville Presbyterian
Wed., April 6 – Farmville United Methodist
Wed., April 13 – Johns Memorial Episcopal
On Friday, April 22, Farmville Baptist will host a community-wide Good Friday Service at noon. A soup lunch will be served after the service.
Tags: Lenten Services
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PassportChoices Youth Camp 2011
Posted on February 18th, 2011
What is Passport? When are we going?
Passportchoices, a missions-based youth camp experience for youth who have completed grades 7-12, will be held at beautiful Wingate University in Wingate, North Carolina. We will be attending Session 6: July 17-22 (Sunday-Friday) this year.
Keep reading to find links to important information for this year’s camp, including required forms, packing lists, and payment deadlines!
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3/9 – Ash Wednesday Service
Posted on February 14th, 2011
Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent and occurs forty days before Easter (excluding Sundays). Ash Wednesday gets its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of the faithful as a sign of repentance and as a reminder of our mortality.
This year, we will have our Ash Wednesday service on Wednesday, March 9 at 6:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary. All are invited to this service.
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