As another Christmas comes around the corner, my heart is filled with love for Farmville Baptist Church. What a blessing it is to minister with you as your pastor! Thank you for the generous Christmas love offering that you presented to me at the Christmas dinner. But most of all, thank you for the love you’ve shown me and my family over these past six years. Thank you for your gift of love!

I came across the following from an email and thought I’d share it with you:

It’s sharing your gifts, not purchasing gifts;
It’s not wrapping presents, it’s being present
and wrapping your arms around the ones you love;
It’s not getting Christmas cards out on time,
It’s sending any card, anytime, at the right time;
It’s not having the biggest and best Christmas light display,
It’s displaying the Christ light that comes from your heart;
It’s not Santa coming down the chimney,
It’s Jesus coming down from heaven,
and giving us the gift of love.

May the love of Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be yours during this Christmas season!

Yours in Christ, Michael

As Thanksgiving recedes into the past, once again we are coming upon the season of Advent. No sooner as the dishes are washed and the leftovers packed into the refrigerator, we are getting out the Christmas decorations for our annual house makeover. In fact, as I’m writing this column, Beth and the kids are setting up the Christmas tree, putting up the nativity scene onto our mantel, unpacking the ornaments and carefully putting them onto the tree. (And while I did help a little with the Christmas tree, writing a newsletter column is one way to get out of doing all that work!)

During this season of Advent, Christians are admonished to prepare for the coming of Jesus by slowing and quieting down our hectic and boisterous lives, by releasing our worries and concerns, and by counting the blessings in our lives instead of obsessing over the things that we lack. But I must confess, it is hard for me to slow down when our social and even church calendars fill up with events. It is easy to worry about whether end-of-the year contributions will cover our expenses at the church. I grieve for those who have lost loved ones this year, and for whom Christmas will forever be different. In the midst of all these distractions and burdens, how are we to prepare for the coming of Jesus?

Thankfully, I ran across this prayer for Henri Nouwen. This will be my prayer for myself and for you during this Advent season. May it give voice to our desire for this season, and may God hear and honor this prayer and make it a reality in our lives, not only for this Advent season, but for the year to come.

Advent Prayer

by Henri Nouwen

Lord Jesus,

Master of both the light and the darkness,

send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas.

We who have so much to do seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day.

We who are anxious over many things look forward to your coming among us.

We who are blessed in so many ways long for the complete joy of your kingdom.

We whose hearts are heavy seek the joy of your presence.

We are your people, walking in darkness,

yet seeking the light. To you we say,

“Come Lord Jesus!”

Amen.

Yours in Christ, Michael

What a wonderful anniversary celebration we had on Sunday, October 16! It was so good to have former pastor Les Giles and his wife Joanna, former associate pastor Charles Miller and former music director Pam McDermott in our midst. We also appreciated Dennis Myers of the Southside Baptist Association, Don Campbell of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board and Jennifer Clore of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship for coming and issuing words of greeting and congratulations from their respective organizations. Many friends and former members of the church were also present for the celebration. And finally, we were honored to have several local pastors who came during our luncheon to offer well-wishes from their respective congregations.

The anniversary celebration could not have taken place without the investment of time, talents and work of many church volunteers. While I won’t be able to name every single person who helped out, I want to thank these folks: Peggy Cave, Nancy Vick, Becky Kelly and Ceile Dunlap for our history booklet. Jay Lynn & Thea Cheuk for assisting in the video, and for all who agreed to be interviewed. Jim Davis, Kevin Dunn and others who helped clean our building. Sandy Yeatts, Mary Jo Chassey, Peggy Cave, Anita Lynn and Mc Amoss and all our choirs for their wonderful music during our worship service. Gene Watson and the Stewardship Committee for sending out invitation letters to our members, former members and out-of-town friends of Farmville Baptist. Cindy Cave and the publicity taskforce for designing our banner and T-shirts, and for publicizing our celebration in local media outlets. Penny Huskey, Joyce Davis, George Carter and others from the Social Committee for planning and organizing the breakfast and the wonderful luncheon, for decorating the fellowship hall, getting the pumpkins and putting up the tents. For everyone who brought food to the pot-luck luncheon and cleaned up after the celebration. And finally, for Lucille Holman, for taking care of our children in the nursery these last twenty-eight years! For a recap and pictures of our anniversary celebration, please visit this page.

While we had a wonderful day on October 16, I would like for us to continue to celebrate our 175th anniversary throughout this year! To that end, we will invite former pastors and staff members to return sometime this year to visit the church. Rev. Chet Smith, who pastored FBC from 1976-1980, will be our guest preacher Sunday November 10. Chet is currently serving as Interim Pastor of Tar Wallet Baptist Church in Cumberland, and I’m looking forward to his preaching ministry with us that day.

Let us also use our anniversary year to look toward our future. Jay Lynn will continue to interview the congregation to help us discern our vision and mission. You will hear more about this in the coming months. Let us continue to thank God for Farmville Baptist as we celebrate this anniversary year to worship God, grow together and serve others into the future!

Michael

As our 175th anniversary rapidly approaches, there’s an excitement in the air. Like a family that is preparing to host a big party, many members of Farmville Baptist have worked and are working hard to ensure that October 16 will be a special and meaningful day.

Peggy Cave, Nancy Vick, Becky Kelly and Ceile Dunlap have completed our history booklet.

By the time you read this, all of our Pictorial Directory portraits will have been taken by Daniel and Melissa McLemore of High Bridge Photography.

Jay Lynn, Executive Director of Creative Change Consulting, is completing the first round of video interviews to identify our strengths and gifts.

Jim Davis, Kevin Dunn and others have volunteered their time to clean our building.

Sandy Yeatts, Mary Jo Chassey, Peggy Cave, Anita Lynn and Mc Amoss are preparing wonderful music for our worship service.

Gene Watson and the Stewardship Committee have sent out invitation letters to our members, former members and out-of-town friends of Farmville Baptist.

Cindy Cave and the publicity taskforce designed our banner and T-shirts, and will publicize our celebration in local media outlets.

Penny Huskey and the Social Committee are organizing a luncheon that would make a die-hard Baptist proud!

To all of these people and many more unnamed, I want to say a hearty “Thank You!” for their contributions to our anniversary celebration.

In addition to the “Thank You’s,” let us also say, “You’re welcome!”

We welcome Jane Schirmer, who joined the church on September 18.

We welcome Matt Fuller, who is coming on board as our youth ministry intern.

We welcome the comments of those who participated in the interviews.

We welcome former pastors and staff members like Dr. Jason Thrower and his family; Rev. Leslie H. Giles and his wife Joanne; Pam McDermott and her family, and Rev. Charles K. Miller and Evelyn McCluney.

We welcome former members and out-of-town friends.

We welcome pastors of local churches who will come to our luncheon to express their congratulations and well-wishes.

We welcome the opportunity to embrace our history and reconnect with those who played a very important part in the life of Farmville Baptist.

But most of all, we welcome the Spirit of God, whose presence will be felt in a mighty way, and whose power will lead us forward in the months and years to come!

Let the celebration begin! Michael

Our 175th Anniversary Celebration is a month and a half away, and preparations for this momentous occasion in the life of our church are well underway! I am so grateful for the many members who are working diligently to ensure that October 16 is a special day. As we approach this important milestone, it is a wonderful opportunity for us as a church to remember the past, to celebrate the present, and to dream about the future.

One way that we are remembering the past is the publication of a history booklet that will serve as an addendum to the history book that was published for our sesquicentennial in 1986. Many thanks to Peggy Cave, Becky Kelly, Nancy Vick, and Ceile Dunlap for their work on this booklet!

Another way that we will be remembering the past and celebrating the present is through a series of interviews that Jay Lynn will facilitate among various groups within the church. In these videotaped interviews, participants will be asked these questions pertaining to our past:

1) What brought you to FBC?
2) What were your initial impressions? What made you decide to stay?
3) Share a personal story about FBC that is especially meaningful to you.

Also, the following questions will be asked pertaining to our present:

4) What three words would you use to describe FBC to an outsider?
5) What three words would describe the things that are important to us?
6) What are some things/ministries we do well at FBC? What resources are we blessed with as a church?

I hope you’ll begin to consider these questions as a way to identify the ways that God has worked and is working in the life of Farmville Baptist. I encourage you to participate in these interviews so that your thoughts, responses and stories will be recorded for posterity. Portions of these interviews will be shown at our reunion luncheon after worship on October 16.

Finally, our anniversary shouldn’t just be about our past or the present. Ideally, it will also launch us into the future. Therefore, we will celebrate 2012 as our “175th Anniversary Year” in which special events will be planned for us to dream, discern and discover the future that God has for us. It will be a great year, and I hope that you’ll be a part of this exciting journey!

Blessings, Michael

“Happy 175th Anniversary, Farmville Baptist Church!” November 23, 2011, is the 175th Anniversary of the founding of Farmville Baptist Church. To celebrate this occasion, the church will be having an Anniversary Reunion Celebration on Sunday, October 16. On that day, we will have a special worship service followed by a reunion luncheon — and everyone is invited! We will ask former pastors and staff to participate in worship, and we hope that former members will also come back for this joyous event!

An anniversary steering committee has been assembled consisting of Sandy Yeatts, Penny Huskey, Peggy Cave, Cindy Cave, Gene Watson, and Jim Davis, and they have already met to begin organizing and planning. Each member of the steering committee is in charge of one aspect of the celebration, and your participation and help in any of the following areas is greatly appreciated!

• Sunday morning worship—Sandy Yeatts
• Luncheon afterwards—Penny Huskey
• History and historical artifacts—Peggy Cave
• Publicity and communications—Cindy Cave
• Contacting former members and alumni—Gene Watson
• Cleaning and preparing the building—Jim Davis

Furthermore, we will have a new 175th Anniversary Celebration Pictorial Directory made. See below for more details.

Finally, as several church members have mentioned to me, while celebrating a 175th anniversary is wonderful, we should not use this occasion to just focus on the past. We should use this event to launch us into our future. Therefore,

throughout our anniversary year, we will have periodic gatherings not only to celebrate and remember God’s faithfulness to us in our past, but also to dream and discern God’s future for us in the next twenty-five years! What a wonderful way to approach this milestone, and I look forward to what God will do during our 175th anniversary year!

Yours in Christ, Michael

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

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

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

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