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!
Mission Circle Meeting
Mission Circle will meet on Tuesday, January 9, at 10:30 a.m. in the Gathering Room.
Pinch Bread
Dissolve 2 packages dry yeast in 1 cup warm water,
set aside.In large bowl, pour 1 cup boiling water over 1 cup Crisco shortening and stir until Crisco has melted.
Add 3/4 cup sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, 2 well-beaten
eggs, and 6 cups plain flour.Add yeast andmix well. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Take dough out — this makes 2 batches — you can use half and save the rest for several days or use both batches.
Roll out half of dough to 1/4” thickness; do not knead.
Cut with small biscuit cutter.
Melt one stick butter — dip dough in butter and layer in bundt or tube pan. Will be less than half full.
Cover with towel and let rise for 3 hours. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees F. Turn out into bread basket and let everyone pinch off their roll.
–Provided by Othello Crawford
Pinch Bread
Click here to download a printable version.
--Provided by Othello Crawford
Join Us for Worship!
Join us for worship on Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. in the sanctuary! Also join us for Sunday School at 9:30 a.m. for all ages!
The CDC recommends that you wear a mask indoors.
Maximize protection from the Delta variant and prevent possibly spreading it to others.
Our worship service will be streamed online at firstbaptistsylva.com.
Dining for Jackson Working to Help Habitat for Humanity
Please join us on January 2, at 11:30 a.m. in the Mission and Fellowship Center of Sylva First Baptist Church as we work to help Habitat for Humanity. Bring a covered dish and enjoy the fellowship of folks with a heart for helping those in need in Jackson County.
Habitat’s vision is of a world where everyone has a decent place to live.
They partner with people in our community to help folks build or improve a place they can call home. Habitat homeowners help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage. With your support, Habitat homeowners are able to achieve the strength, stability and independence they need to build a better life for themselves and for their families.
This organization relies on gifts from folks like you to help families in need of decent and affordable homes and all donations of any amount are deeply appreciated.
Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit Christian housing organization. All who desire to be a part of this work are welcome, regardless of religious preference or background. They have a policy of building with people in need regardless of race or religion and they welcome volunteers and supporters from all backgrounds.
Their mission is to put God’s love into action and to bring people together to build homes, communities and hope.
The principals of Habitat are 1) to demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ, 2) to focus on shelter, 3) to advocate for affordable housing, 4) to promote dignity and hope, and 5) to support sustainable and transformative development.
So please come dine with us on January 2 and help this wonderful organization as they work to provide folks in need with a decent place to live. You will not only enjoy a wonderful meal but you will hear about the work Habitat is doing in Jackson County and you can become a part of making great things happen for those in need.
Christmas Week Office Hours
The church office will be open next week
on Wednesday and Thursday, December 27 & 28,
from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Merry Christmas!
Mission Moment 12.27.23
Deirdre Jonese Austin
Author, minister and member of CBF’s Pan African Koinonia,
North Carolina
Who is God?
What is God?
Where is God?
These are questions on which I reflect as I read my Bible alongside Alice Walker’s The Color Purple.
When I read my Bible alongside the literary works of Alice Walker, a writer, poet and activist, I am invited to encounter an expansive God. This is a God who is everywhere and in everything—the people around me, the trees, the color purple. Walker writes, “God is inside you and inside everybody else. You come into the world with God. But only them that search for it inside find it. And sometimes it just manifests itself even if you not looking, or don’t know what you looking for.”
As a minister whose work focuses on Black women, I think it is important that we can find God in ourselves and in each other. This is because it challenges an image of God that has been used to justify our oppression, the God of the slave owners and white supremacists, the God of those who perpetuate gender-based violence, the God of those who seek to rob women of their call and the other images of God that are harmful and death-dealing to our bodies, spirits and humanity. We can affirm that the violence we experience and that was experienced by our ancestors is not God; God is not the cause of our pain, violence and suffering. God does not have to look like our oppressors, but God also does not have to look like us.
Walker writes, “God is different to us now, after all these years in Africa. More spirit than ever before, and more internal. Most people think he has to look like something or someone—a roofleaf or Christ—but we don’t. And not being tied to what God looks like, frees us.” We can see God in ourselves and in those around us. Seeing the imago dei in others mandates that we love others, that we love our neighbors as ourselves. And yet, seeing God in everything mandates that we not only love other humans, but that we love and care for all of creation. When we see the image of God in our neighbors, we won’t harm them. When we see the image of God in nature, we will work to preserve and conserve it. Alice Walker calls us to continue the justice work of Jesus in calling out harm and promoting an ethic of radical love for all of creation.
Pastor Transition Letter to FBCS Members
from Linda Minor, Chair of Deacons
Dear Church Family,
As we continue in our transition to a new pastor, we are entering the time where we will worship through five weeks of “pulpit supply.” We have published the names and dates in previous Chimes and encourage you to support these guest pastors by attending Sunday morning services (see schedule below). There will be no Wednesday evening meals/programs during this time of pulpit supply. Choir practice will continue as regularly scheduled.
12/31/23
Dr. Rev. Wanda Kidd
1/7/24
Dr. Rev. Joe Yelton
1/14/24
Dr. Rev. Dr. Steve Harmon
1/21/24
Rev. Doug Murray
1/28/24
Dr. Rev. John Tagliarini
The process of discerning and calling a new pastor will be an exciting opportunity in the life of First Baptist Church. By following the best practices as shared by CBF-NC, the search process will create opportunities for reflection, creativity and growth. As we plan together, we will explore new ways of reaching others for Christ. Please be on the lookout for invitations to participate.
Immediately upcoming activities are listed below:
1. Calling an Interim Pastor (anticipated to be announced on January 21)
2. Deacon selection process for the upcoming Church year (anticipated to begin mid-January)
3. Church leadership selection team (anticipated to begin mid-February)
4. Pastor search committee formation (anticipated to begin late January)
As a congregation, we believe in prayer. Please join me in praying every day—
• To seek wisdom and guidance
• To have open hearts and open minds
• To listen for the direction of the Holy Spirit
• To practice patience with one another as we are all different
• To not hurry through the process for it will take time;
• To be strong so that we can persevere to the end and then beyond.
In His name,
Linda Minor
Chair, Board of Deacons
“For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
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!