Recipes Appreciated!
Each week we include a recipe in the Church Chimes and we hope that you are enjoying reading and trying them. You can add your favorite recipes to the Chimes by sending them to Cheryl Beck at cabeck@ncsu.edu. This is an ongoing WMU project.
Thanks for participating!
Treat Street Candy Needed for Children
First Baptist Church of Sylva has a unique place on Main Street to Shine The Light of Love and Generosity. Halloween is Monday, October 31. From 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., we will be on our front lawn sharing candy with the children of our community and the Joy of Giving.
To make this a success, we are asking for you to donate candy!!! Please bring your candy to the Church on Sunday, 30, or during office hours Monday - Thursday 9:00am - 2:00pm. Those donations can be left at the church office or in The Loving Kindness Room.
If you would like to volunteer to help hand out candy, contact Diane White at degenaro@bellsouth.net. We are expecting LOTS of children...so we will need LOTS of candy!!!
Online Directory for Our Active Attendees
Not a full-time resident of Jackson County but still want to stay in touch? We invite you to join our First Baptist Church of Sylva’s online directory! You may have heard about our recent implementation of an on-line directory for church members. We have created a group to include those who may not live here year round but who attend our services and/or events when they are here. We invite you to be a part of the directory so that you can you access to contact information for members and active-attendees, alike.
Click here to join!
Lighthouse Mobile
Lighthouse will be on the move this fall. Our first off-site Lighthouse will be at the Mathis’ home on October 30. We will meet there that evening. (If you need directions, we can provide them). You should plan to arrive by 5:00 p.m. We hope everyone can attend! Our goal is to have at least two Sunday nights per month at someone’s home. If you would like to host the group one Sunday night, click here and let us know!
Halloween Candy and Volunteers Needed !!!
First Baptist Church of Sylva has a unique place on Main Street to Shine The Light of Love and Generosity. Halloween is Monday, October 31. From 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., we will be on our front lawn sharing candy with the children of our community and the Joy of Giving.
To make this a success, we are asking for you to donate candy. We're also asking if you can help a couple of hours during this event. Please bring your candy to the church on Sunday, October 23 or 30 or during office hours (Monday through Thursday, 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.). Those donations can be left at the church office or in The Loving Kindness Room.
If you would like to volunteer to help hand out candy, contact Diane White at degenaro@bellsouth.net. We are expecting LOTS of children...so we will need LOTS of candy!!!
WMU World Day of Prayer
The WMU World Day of Prayer is Monday, November 7, in the church sanctuary beginning at 10:30 a.m. Everyone is invited to come and pray for our world and God is listening to all prayers. You may pray alone if you choose, or our Mission Circle will be there praying. You may pray with a partner or group. We pray that you will go away stronger and closer to God!
Five-Day Forecast
by Dr. Jeff Mathis
If I had known about the game of Ultimate Frisbee when I was a teenager, I might have been named an All-Star.
Maybe.
Ultimate Frisbee is relatively new on the scene of team athletics. A Frankenstein-like mix of soccer, football, and the throwing of a plastic disc, ultimate frisbee is perfect for pick-up games in sun-bleached parks for college students and young adults.
For reasons I cannot fully comprehend, the game of Ultimate Frisbee is a better fit for my athletic abilities than basketball, football, baseball, or chess. So, when I learned that the seminary community at Princeton had an Ultimate Frisbee game every Friday afternoon, I was there. I may have even scheduled my entire seminary career around this casual Ultimate Frisbee game. #priorities
When I took my first position in full-time ministry at a church in Tucson, Arizona, after I graduated from seminary, I grieved the loss of these games of Ultimate Frisbee. Yes, I enjoyed the game itself. But more than that, I missed the friendships the game provided me.
I did not know anyone in my new hometown. Remembering how Ultimate Frisbee had been a place of connection and community for me, I showed up one hot September afternoon to join a local rec league. I remember being nervous when I took the field to begin warming up with several dozen others. Although the event constituted a kind of ‘open call’ for participants, the teams had already been formed.
It became evident that I was a stranger. Everyone had a place on a team except for me. The other young adults were not unkind; they just didn’t care. Their teams were set, and they didn’t feel the need to include one more teammate. I threw the disc around with several folk. I shook hands and tried to learn other people’s names. I tried to break in. But the other player’s indifference shattered my expectations that the local league could be a place of community and friendship.
Perhaps I gave up too quickly. Likely, I wasn’t resilient enough to keep showing up and making a place for myself. I certainly wasn’t my best self at the moment—I was lonely and new to town, which is why I was eager to make new friends in the first place. However, I was unprepared for a cold response and never returned after that one attempt to join a team.
I can’t help but think that this is some people’s experience with the church. Perhaps, it is yours. Newcomers to our church frequently tell me this is their experience when visiting churches in general. If this is true, then here are some observations that may inform our response to those looking to break in:
1.) If people take the risk to show up and worship alongside us, it demonstrates that they really want to be with us. In a world with infinite things to do, attending a church service reflects a deep desire to be there. No one casually attends church anymore.
2.) People desire connection, community, and friendship. Churches are frequently distracted by secondary details and considerations that overlook the central fact that people simply want to belong and to be loved.
3.) Our hospitality, offers of friendship, and follow-up to guests and newcomers when they come to our church are the most powerful expressions of ministry we can do.
I am grateful to belong to a church that seeks out guests and makes room for newcomers to find a place in our church family. This is a gift that we have been given that has certainly not been given to all. Each week, I see you seeking out the stranger and making them feel like they can belong. You’re learning our guests’ names, listening to their stories, and making plans to follow up with them. In doing so, you are Christ to them.
Whether on the frisbee field or between the pews, showing love to the outsider is the most Christ-like thing we can do.
Giving the Jesus Way
United Christian Ministries is in need of pasta sauce, ramen, pancake syrup, applesauce (6-pack individual cups), and laundry detergent. To donate items, please drop them off at UCM’s building at 191 Skyland Drive. Thank you!
First Explorers Update
“Harvest” was the theme for 1st Explorers last week. The children heard the story of Ruth and her courage in going to Boaz’s fields to harvest barley to kick off the week. They enjoyed a nature walk to Bicentennial Park, collecting items along the way to fill their egg cartons (thanks again for the cartons!).
The children are enjoying watching their herb gardens grow and keeping them in sunlight and watered well. Thanks to Emily and Mike Taylor for help with this project.
On Thursday, Curtis Collins from the Jackson County Department of Public Health, met with the boys to talk about strategies for dealing with anger and “bad” days. He returned on Friday to lead all the 1st Explorers in yoga—a great stress reliever.
Thank you to church volunteers Gaye Buchanan and Charlie White for help with check-in and check-out at the end of the week!
Check with Cheryl Beck (cabeck@ncsu.edu) for other ways to connect with this ministry.