Oct 18, 2025
On November 2, before the next Messenger is published, we will celebrate All Saints’ Sunday. The Saints of the church, historically speaking, are, most simply put, those people whom we assume are already in the nearer
presence of God. Over the years the process by which one is named a Saint has become more formalized and ritualized. And now, there are people whom are known as Saints. St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Patrick, St. Nicholas, among many, many others.
Many of these Saints have specific days on which they are remembered and celebrated: St. Patrick – March 17, St. Andrew – November 30, St. Nicholas – December 6, St. Peter and St. Paul share a date – June 29. The practice of honoring Saints goes all the way back to at least the year 100 A.D. Remember, there were no Christians until around 30-33 A.D. So within one lifetime, the gathered communities of faith had begun to remember, honor, and celebrate Christians who had died.
This unregulated honoring of Saints continued for nearly 300 years, when, following the Great Persecution of the first decade of the fourth century, there were too many martyrs to assign a day to each of them. So the church sought to find a way to honor all of the saints, and so birthed All Saints’ Day more than 1,600 years ago.
At First Baptist, we celebrate All Saints’ Sunday as a part of our worship on the first Sunday in November. During the service, we will call the names of those who have been a significant part of this family of faith who have, since the last All Saints’ Day, passed into the nearer presence of God. As we call their names and remember them, and their impact on our lives and the life of this community of faith, we will light a candle when each name is called, and we will join our hearts and voices in saying, “Thanks be to God!”
All of this, a beautiful and sobering reminder that one day, it will be some other saints of the church, who will call each of our names, and remember, honor, and celebrate our lives. And so, on Sunday, November 2, we will
celebrate those who have gone before us, those who are already gathered in the nearer presence of God. For them we give thanks. We remember the lives they lived. We celebrate the ways that they have shaped and
influenced us as individuals and as a community of faith. We honor these saints and all the saints. Thanks be to God.
Sep 13, 2025
In the wake of what feels like an endless barrage of national and international tragedies, I have been thinking about what it means for a Christian, and for a congregation, to respond. While we may be tempted toward feelings of helplessness because the event, conflict, or tragedy is so far away, our primary calling as Christians remains local and direct.
What is within our reach and in our control is how we interact with and respond to humans and institutions in our personal spheres. (These, of course, are different for each of us.) We choose how we speak to or about other people. We choose where to spend our time and money. Often, we choose whether to interact with people in person or in less personal digital spaces.
We certainly ought to respond to these tragedies, expressing sympathy for victims and their families, considering what led to them, offering financial support as we are compelled and able, engaging civically by voting, speaking up, or demonstrating. Perhaps, even more important, as Christians committed to the way of Jesus – a way marked by mercy and grace, love and truth – we ought to look at the people and systems around us and question how we might better engage in the way of Jesus.
In what ways or places are people made to feel as though they are somehow less than others, as though we all bear the image of God, but some bear more or less of it? Who are the people who have been trampled by others – physical violence, emotional abuse, economic oppression, societal neglect? What does loving these people look like – our neighbors who are close enough to tragedy on a daily basis, that they need not tune into national or international news to hear about more?
Mother Teresa is known to have said, “Calcuttas are everywhere if only we have eyes to see. Find your Calcutta.” Perhaps, when we encounter tragedy that is great and far away, a significant part of our response, should be to pause, look around, and respond locally, trusting that responding to the tragedies in our own “Calcutta,” we will find Jesus.
Jan 15, 2025
Who is God calling us to be now?
What is God calling us to do now?
Over the coming months, you will hear me ask these questions with regularity. I hope that you will ask them, too. They are not meant to be rhetorical. When I ask them, and when you ask them, I hope that you and others take the time to sit with them and to answer them. I hope that you will take the time to share your answers with me and with one another.
These questions guide a process of spiritual discernment designed by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship called Dawnings. The process is a story based approach which holds these questions throughout. Over the course of the next few months, we will have times to gather and to share with one another how we hear, feel, see, think, sense, discern the answers to these questions. But please don’t feel like you can only consider these questions at appointed times.
Any time you walk through the doors of the church, whenever you drive by, when you see a post on social media, as you receive emails from the church, or talk with fellow congregation members, pause for just a moment and think on these questions. Often, it is only when we take the time to ask questions, that we find answers.
As this new year dawns, and as we look to the future of our congregation, let’s hold these questions together, anticipating that God is calling us and that we have the capacity to respond.
Dec 29, 2024
The period of time in which we presently find ourselves might be the most feelingest time of the year. Thanksgiving is the most traveled weekend in our nation. The days around Christmas are marked by feelings of joy and wonder (and maybe exhaustion for the parents of little humans with big expectations). But this season of holidays also has a way of accentuating grief and loss – particularly when it is the first season or holiday following a significant change to our traditions.
Part of our responsibility as a community of faith is to be community to and with one another. This, of course, means that we have a twofold awareness as we remember and journey through these seasons. On the one hand, we are sensitive to the feelings of people in our community, remembering Paul’s admonition in I Corinthians 12, “if one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.” So we come together to celebrate, we sit together in silent vigil, we make space for the exhausted, we pull up an extra chair for a meal, we call someone whom we haven’t seen in a while.
But there is another side of our awareness too. If we are to be a community (in the words of Stanley Hauerwas) capable of absorbing one another’s grief, then just as we might extend an extra effort to help, we must open ourselves and our pain to be absorbed by our community. We must allow ourselves to be embraced, trusting that when we do so, in some almost illogical way, our pain strengthens our community.
As we continue our Advent journey, and as that journey gives way to Christmastide, let’s open our hearts and our feelings to our community, trusting that in our joy, in our grief, and in all the feelings in between, we more authentically embody the Kingdom of God.
Nov 9, 2024
Breathe. Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.
This time of year has the capacity to make us feel as though we are being pulled along as though decisions concerning our time and activities have been made for us, leaving us only to show up and move on to the next event. This year, the hurricane and response combined with the election have increased the pressure on our time and consciousness.
In times like these, it can be important to remember that we need to breathe – not that we can survive if we do not. However, there is something about just taking a moment to concentrate on our breathing that helps to refocus our ability to be intentional with our breathing. And if we can be intentional with our breathing, we can be intentional with decisions around our time. And if we can be intentional with decisions about our time, then we can be intentional with our daily comings and goings.
“Be still, and know that I am God!” writes the Psalmist. Be still. Be. Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.
When the world around you begins (or continues) to push for more of your time, to pressure you to act, to consume your consciousness, take a moment to breathe. Focus on your breathing. Think on these words from Psalm 46. Be still before God.
Breathe and choose to be intentional with your time, with your energy, with your life.
Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.
Oct 6, 2024
This is always a fun and festive time for our church and community. We hope you'll bring friends, family, and neighbors to celebrate!
Want to help? Here's what we need…
TRUNKS: It's our goal to have 20 trunks this year. Decorate your trunk and hand out candy!
Game runners: Volunteer to run a game and hand out prizes!
Candy: Drop off your candy donations in the bins by the covered
entrance or in the foyer.
Volunteers: It's always helpful to have extra hands during the event.
Volunteer to greet guests, refill trunks with candy, take pictures, etc!
Contact Bethany or anyone on the Children and Youth Team with your
questions!
