Thanks to the hard work and generosity of many of you we have a new multipurpose room (that was the chapel) that we can use for meetings, showers, etc. But the new room needs a new name and we need your help in choosing one. Please call the church, write it on a piece of paper and give it to a deacon or staff member, or place the piece of paper in the offering plate. If the name you submit is chosen you will be rewarded with something special.
Summer Starts Now
I remember it as the time when I no longer wore shoes. From the end of school in early June until the last week of August, I went barefoot or wore sandals. At first, my feet were tender and I avoided the sidewalks, pavement and concrete. But in time, the bottoms of my feet became tough and I could walk on a pine cone and not even wince.
I remember summer as the time the ice cream truck began to make its circuit. Summer meant that my father would invite the neighbors over for his annual attempt at making homemade ice cream (which strangely resembled a milkshake).
Summer was the time for the attic fan, chirping crickets, snapping beans and watching the Braves. Summer inaugurated a new reality for me and my family—bedtimes were revoked, naps commenced after being in the neighborhood pool each day, and books were devoured in makeshift forts and in caddywhompassed tree houses.
Brothers and sisters, friends and neighbors, it is with a great deal of satisfaction that I proclaim that summer begins now.
Summer means changes for the life of our church family. The next couple of months provide us with a unique opportunity to do things a bit differently than we do the rest of the year. Summer alters our rhythms and changes our perspective. With robust spring rains, our mountains are ripe for new discoveries and new ways of seeing the world.
Above all, summer provides us the chance to practice Sabbath. The ancient Jewish tradition and commandment that roots our own Christian heritage is more than a once a week event. Sabbath is a time of rest, of play, of intimacy with God and with one another. Shalom, often translated as peace or wholeness, becomes our goal as we put into action the assertion that we can stop trying to manufacture our own prosperity long enough to simply enjoy our Creator.
To practice Sabbath, therefore, we must stop participating in our normally scheduled routines so that we can allow for new things to emerge. Resting, contemplating and praying represent the fruit of our rest, of our Sabbath. It is in this spirit of rest and renewal that we present these plans for our church life this summer.
On Wednesday, June 7th, we will celebrate our final Sylva First Wednesday of the year. Our church has worked hard to prepare food, brew coffee, serve and clean-up these many Wednesdays of the last nine months. Adults and staff members alike have worked overtime to provide for our children and youth. Until Wednesday, August 23, our kitchen will be dark and our facility will be slumbering. Sundays mornings will continue as they always have, providing opportunities for Bible Study and Worship. But in the void left by the departure of our midweek Bible Study and mission activities, we can now find new ways to learn, new ways to engage, new ways to grow.
I hope you will make room in your head, and on your calendar, to grow spiritually this summer. We are offering four seminar-fashioned times to learn about ourselves and one another with the help of the Enneagram—an ancient Christian tool for understanding personalities and our motivations in life. More than any other instrument in our tool box of Christian enrichment, the Enneagram provides the most thoughtful, Christ-centered approach to discovering what abundant life truly looks like. Summer is the perfect time to sample this kind of experience as it provides us with hammocks to be reflective in and thunderstorms to call us away from our gardens to contemplate the Almighty’s creation in you and me. This experience begins this Sunday afternoon at 4:30 PM. Join us.
Additionally, we are placing a premium on play, and on laughter, and on connecting with one another. We have scheduled family picnics, one in each of the coming three months to provide us the chance to get outside and to enjoy God’s creation in our beautiful mountains. These events, in familiar locations (East LaPorte Pavilion on June 11 at 4 PM, Waterrock Knob on July 16th at 4 PM and Deep Creek on Sunday, August 27 at 4 PM), will give us the chance to gather as the one big intergenerational family that we are. As a church family, we’re experiencing an extended season of growth, making it the perfect time to meet our newest members, become better acquainted with those who have been visiting with us, and to roll around on blankets with our slate of newborn babies.
As you’ve probably figured out, that still leaves some space in our summer calendar. Good! Use it wisely, choosing to host a Sunday School party or plan an adventure with people who sit on your pew. Drop by our Summer Explorers Camp and lend a hand while they play, romp and learn on our church campus. Volunteer in our week of Vacation Bible School we sponsor alongside our other Main Street Churches.
There are countless ways to serve, and to be connected this summer, but it will require you to take some initiative. In order to grow, you’ve first got to be planted. So, plant yourself in soil that will enable new seeds to germinate. Position yourself in a place where you can get good, direct sunlight so that you can reach for the source of all life. Space yourself out carefully so that the weeds of the world don’t choke the life out of you.
It’s summer in our mountains! And it begins now.
Mission Moment
Re-learning the world, re-learning God
"Archie came to us directly from prison, not having been out in civilian life since 1993. I began to think about current events and what life was like here in Halifax County 24 years ago. Overwhelmed was my reaction as I thought about the advent of cell phone technology and even our money system.
We have much work to do with Archie. His adjustment has been difficult as he learns about life in this new 21st century world. Hopefully, through our work with homeless men like Archie at Union Mission in Roanoke Rapids, N.C., we can help them see how God can support and sustain both in the present and future."
- Anna and LaCount Anderson, CBF field personnel in Eastern North Carolina
Growing Spiritually Through the Enneagram
Join us on Sunday, June 4th at 4:30 PM in our newly renovated chapel as we begin our summer of spiritual growth with the Enneagram. The Enneagram (which means nine-sided figure) is an ancient Christian tool that can help us to better know ourselves and to be gracious with others.
Our first meeting will serve as an introduction to the Enneagram and the resources that we will be using. There is no need to register to be a part of this experience. Simple choose to be present with us at our first meeting. The book that we will be using, while helpful, is optional. We will be offering childcare for our 90 minute experience (please let us know by Wednesday, May 31st at fbcsylva@gmail.com if you need childcare).
We will also be meeting three additional times this summer to continue our journey of spiritual growth. Those other dates are Sunday, June 25; Sunday, July 9; Sunday, August 6. All meetings will begin at 4:30 PM. Do not feel as though you cannot participate in our experience if you are unable to attend one of our meetings! There are a number of ways you can journey alongside us without attending each of our gatherings.
As the authors of our book (The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery) Ian Cron and Suzanne Stabile will articulate: "The purpose of the Enneagram is to develop self-knowledge and learn how to recognize and dis-identify with the parts of our personalities that limit us so we can be reunited with our truest and best selves, that “pure diamond, blazing with the invisible light of heaven,” as Thomas Merton said. The point of it is self-understanding and growing beyond the self-defeating dimensions of our personality, as well as improving relationships and growing in compassion for others."
Usher Team Letter
Dear Church Members,
First off, let me thank you for volunteering to be ushers for a new year. I am happy to report we have quite a few people that have come back from last year to help and have some new ones as well. I think we will have a great year and can assist our church in a great way like I know we can. We will be having a meeting this Sunday, June 4th, immediately following the worship service in the sanctuary, front row, to better talk about what will be happening, what we need from you and to take any questions or thoughts you may have. I hope you will make plans to join us. The meeting should take no more than 10-15 minutes so as to not keep you long. Again, thank you for volunteering and helping to serve our church. I look forward to meeting and working with you in this coming year. If you have any questions between now and then or can’t make it please let me know and I will fill you in on what you have missed.
Thank you,
Chris Gallagher
Contact Info:
828-507-8854
gallagher.christopher1@gmail.com
Free Rafting Trip
“So Far As It Depends On You”
Paul is choosing his words carefully here. He knows that what he’s about to say is going to be a hard-sell.
“If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” (Romans 12:18)
It’s a strange statement when compared to the broader passage of scripture from Romans 12. Paul sounds like a preacher who is firing on all cylinders with powerful precision. Listen: “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.”
There is a cadence to his message for the church in Rome. “Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.” And, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”
And then he hits a speed bump.
“If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” (Romans 12:18)
Something has thrown Paul off his game. His typically terse, powerful prose has been tripped up by two strangely placed qualifiers. The content of his statement about living harmoniously with others is consistent with his broader message of encouraging a community that is grounded in Christ-like love and deference for one another. In truth, Paul should have simply stated, “Live peaceably with all.”
But he didn’t. Instead, Paul inserts two awkwardly placed statements. Did you catch them? They are: “If it is possible,” and, “So far as it depends on you.”
Why does Paul begin to tiptoe here? Why does he pause and squint before stating his admonition?
Paul wants the church to live in peace. But he knows that will be harder than it sounds.
“If it is possible…”
It is possible to live in peace together, but a community defined by shalom—peace, wholeness-- requires intentionality. Peace doesn’t just happen, and it’s certainly not simply the absence of conflict. Paul was wise to parse his words carefully.
In our context, and in my experience, the element within our churches that has the power to be the most contentious and divisive centers on the work of the church. It is our common work together, side-by-side and hand in hand, that provides the setting for disagreement and conflict. And why should we be surprised? Like any family system, we’re going to see things differently from one another. Furthermore, we’re going to have different solutions to the challenges that we face. Add to that our different personalities, our vastly different life experiences and circumstances, and it’s a surprise that we don’t fuss at one another more often! Much of the conflict that arises out of the work of the church centers on misunderstandings and miscommunications, oversights and mis-dealings. In the sports world, we call these, ‘unforced errors.’
And sometimes, we just flat-out mess up. We forget to show up when we said that we would. We make the wrong recommendation. We say the wrong thing. We fail to provide a quality offering of our time and energy. We miss the mark.
When these inevitable (yes, inevitable, as in, ‘they will happen’ to us all) moments arise, it is imperative that we own up to them, apologize with sincerity to the person most-impacted by our mistake(s), and then trust the mercy they extend to us.
Also, “If it is possible,” means practicing the spiritual discipline of giving one another the benefit of the doubt. This discipline works from the presumption that each of us is working for good. When we trust that, then much of our conflict can be nipped in the bud.
“So far as it depends on you…”
Living peaceably with one another does depend on us. We have a role to play in the health of our community. And the best way for us to contribute to the health and wholeness of our families, our workplaces and our church is to know ourselves. For when we don’t know our gifts, predilections, shadow-sides and ‘favorite’ sins, then we do great damage to the people we love most.
I have found that the Enneagram—an ancient Christian tool to understand both our personalities and our sins—to be an effective tool to help me better understand myself and others. As Richard Rohr has described it, “The Enneagram can help us to purify our self-perception, to become unsparingly honest toward ourselves, and to discern better and better when we are hearing only our inner voices and impressions and are prisoners of our prejudices—and when we are capable of being open to what is new.”
On Sunday afternoon, June 4 at 4:30 PM in our newly renovated chapel, we will be meeting to begin a summer-long journey of self-discovery. I hope you will choose to join us—you simply have to show up to our first meeting to get onboard. We will be offering childcare (please let our office know by Wednesday, May 31). Our initial meeting will be an introduction and orientation to the Enneagram. The following three meetings (on three Sunday afternoons at the same time: June 25, July 9 and August 6) will be a time of further exploration of the nine different types, or personalities, that exist. Ultimately, throughout the course of this summer, we will learn more about ourselves and about others. For when we better understand one another, we can ultimately become more gracious with ourselves and the people around us. Love, for ourselves and for others, is our goal.
“If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”
It is possible. And it does depend upon both you and me.
Shalom.
A Note from Linda Stewart
We're off to a great start for a new year in the life of our Church. We have added seven new Deacons to the diaconate and ordained two of them Sunday. We have a new group of team leaders who will be involving other Church members in the work of the Church. The renovations to the Chapel have been completed and the new room has already been put in use. We will be having a dedication of it at a later date. We have welcomed new members to our church family. As we go further in the work of our Church, it is my prayer that each of you will consider what you can do to help serve and ways you can minister to those around you.
Blessings,
Linda Stewart, Deacon Chairperson
Shining Stars
We all have people in our lives who have made a real difference. It's not too late to recognize them through our WMU Shining Stars project. Remember, for each person recognized, include $10, write down their name and put it in the Special Offerings envelope or turn in to the church office by May 31st. (Make checks payable to FBC.) Look for their "star" on the bulletin board outside the choir room. All contributions help fund WMU NC projects. This is a great way to honor someone and to help someone at the same time!
Officers and Veterans Memorial Day Recognition Breakfast and Worship
Officers and Veterans Memorial Day Recognition Breakfast and Worship
In appreciation of your service and dedication to the safety of our community and country, the congregation of First Baptist Church of Sylva invites you to this special event in your honor.
Date: Sunday, May 28, 2017
Time: Breakfast 8:30 AM
Worship 10:30 AM
Place: First Baptist Church of Sylva
Mission and Fellowship Center
669 W Main St. Sylva, NC
RSVP by Wednesday, May 17, 2017 to the church office. Attention, Tia Ashley.
828-586-2095