Special Wednesday Night Session With Eddie Hammett

Vol. XXXVIII • No. 15 • August 1, 2008

“Among Friends” Note to self: Next year during VBS week, take extra vitamins! This year’s Power Lab was an enormous success by any standards. Approximately 300 children attended, including a great number of kids from the Decatur community. More than 140 youth and adults were on hand each day to love them and lead them in every conceivable kind of fun activity—singing, crafts, drama, creative snack-eating and of course, hearing stories from Scripture about Jesus’ miraculous power. Over the five-day period children discovered that: • Jesus gives us the power to be thankful. • Jesus gives us the power to be brave. • Jesus gives us the power to help others. • Jesus gives us the power to live forever! • Jesus gives us the power to tell others about God. There are entirely too many people to thank adequately in this column. Our church is blessed beyond measure with gifted, sacrificial people, and many of them were on-site this week. I do, however, want to mention three particular saints—Paige Stanfield, Debbie Britt and Ric Rodriguez. I have fond images of “General Paige” moving purposefully from place to place each morning, clipboard in hand, like George Patton in capri pants. Paige is a wonder and deserves mountains of kudos. Debbie Britt gave her typically fine pastoral leadership, putting out a few fires and helping everyone to remember why we do VBS in the first place. And FBC new member Ric Rodriguez created from scratch the amazing set in the sanctuary that set the tone for the whole week! Walter Brueggemann has said that in the process of claiming faith for themselves, “young people need adults who are quite literally ‘crazy’ for them.” This week scores of youth and adults let themselves get a little crazy with children and demonstrated unmistakably that we are crazy about children at First Baptist Decatur. What a gift! And what a week. Can’t wait till next year… But I’m serious about the vitamins. Blessings,

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Walter Brueggemann, Biblical Perspectives on Evangelism. Abingdon Press, 1993.

Deacons Hosting “Tap Potential” Meeting On August 19, during our monthly meeting, the FBC Deacons will host a “Tap Potential” gathering. This is new for us and here’s how it works: Every deacon is responsible for inviting one guest who’s been at First Baptist Decatur one year or less. During the gathering each deacon will introduce his or her guest and the newcomers will have the chance to share how they first came to FBC, as well as something they think we’re doing really well and something they think we might want to work on. Each guest also will have a chance to say what kind of ministry makes his or her heart “sing.” This is a great way for us to let newcomers know they matter. Best of all, it’s a way of calling out people’s gifts for ministry and helping FBC to be a church in which every individual is “out of the stands and in the game.” Pray for this gathering!

Eddie Hammett @ FBC Decatur Wed., Sept. 10 Many church leaders are asking how to keep people over 60 years of age while at the same time reach people under 40. Does meeting the spiritual needs of one group necessarily create a barrier to working with the other? Join us in Carreker Hall for a special Wednesday night session with Eddie Hammett and Randy Pierce as they share insights from their book, Reaching People Under 40 while Keeping People over 60. Lay leaders from around Atlanta have been invited to join us for our Wednesday night meal followed by the session with Eddie & Randy. Please note—on this night only, the Bible study hour will run from 6:30-8:00 pm.

Congregational Life Welcome, Sharyn! Sharyn Dowd officially begins her ministry at FBC this Sunday, though there already have been “Sharyn sightings” in the office and around the church for several weeks now. Her office is set up and she is raring to go. Please take a moment to express your welcome to Sharyn and to help her get to know you as she comes alongside our congregation as pastor for spiritual formation and mission engagement. Young At Heart Off to Alaska! Young at Heart’s mission is to provide multiple opportunities throughout the year for senior adults to experience friendship, adventure and the love of Christ. Their next adventure is a cruise to Alaska. There will be 39 people leaving at 5:30 am on Sunday, August 10 and they will return at approximately 10 pm on Sunday, August 17. Please pray for the safety of this group while they travel and that they would have a great time while they are away. Bon Voyage! Clairmont Oaks Offers Seminar on Centering Prayer “Caught Up In The Spirit,” a seminar on centering prayer and meditation will be held at Clairmont Oaks on Tuesday, August 12 at 3:30 pm. Joe LaGuardia, Clairmont Oaks Chaplain, will facilitate the seminar. Everyone is invited to attend and light refreshments will be provided. Please RSVP by calling 404-378-8887. There is no cost for the seminar. Pilgrims Sunday School Class Begins New Study on Science and Religion Interested in a Science and Religion Study? The Pilgrims class begins a peer-led ten week study of The Language of God by Francis Collins on Sunday, August 31. If you, or someone you know, would like to participate, please contact Jackie Durham (678-714-2158) or Don Hammonds (404284-3398). Pilgrims meet in E-206. You May Have a Library Reading Prize Waiting! Summer Reading Program kids (and parents)—if you haven’t gotten your reading logs back in to the Library, you haven’t gotten your stickers and small prizes yet. The annual reading program ended on July 20 but we still have some names not checked off. This year 70 (yes, seventy!) children participated from Church and Children’s Development Center families, and read a whopping number of books. The top readers will be announced soon, but we need all of your reading logs back in. Questions? Call us at 404.373.1653, extension 2229. Wednesday Nights This Summer 5-6 Supper (fellowship hall) 6-6:15 Prayer Time (Chapel) 6:15-6:45 Our Baptist Heritage Series (Chapel) - July 30, Aug. 6 & 13 Freedom: The Key to the Baptist Genius; Led by Bill Neal Thank you to the Young At Heart Committee for their help in planning our Summer Wednesday Night Series. They contributed their ideas for time, speakers, topics etc. Also a big thank you to Peter Rhea Jones, Charles Whaley and Bill Neal for leading our Baptist Heritage series. Thanks to Clairmont Oaks Luncheon Volunteers Thank you to all who helped make the annual Clairmont Oaks luncheon on Thursday, July 17 a success. We couldn’t have done it without you! Van Reservations Our church maintains four vans and one mini bus. We keep these vehicles pretty busy but they are available for church groups to use for church sponsored outings. If you would like to schedule the use of one of these vehicles please call Amy Russell in the church office, 404-373-1653. Safety and Security Information During the week many of the exterior doors to the church are locked for safety and security. The main office is unlocked from 9-5, Monday through Friday. The double doors by the church office are also open when there are meetings/events being held in the church building. All entrances will be open on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings.

Prayer Concerns as of July 30, 2008 In The Hospital: ▪ Mary Lee Wilson, Emory, E-919. ▪ Tyler Cagle, Acute Neuro Rehab, Phoenix, AZ. Condition improving. ▪ Sandy Sears, sister-in-law of Susan Sears, St. Joseph’s. ▪ Peggy Gladding-Smith, Emory. ▪ Dorothy Tribble, sister of George Hooten, DeKalb Medical, #3248. Congratulations To: ▪ Courtney and Meshack Mwangura on the birth of their second child, Zion. Sympathy To: ▪ Louise Jones on the death of her brother-in-law, Lawrence Nichols. ▪ The family of Maxine Manus. ▪ The family of Winston McArthur. ▪ Diane Headen on the death of her mother, Gwendolyn Hardy.

Tithes & Offerings

A Generous People 2008 Ministry Action Plan Weekly Need: .....................$ 27,361 Received on July 20............$ 14,813 Received on July 27............$ 20,929 Y-T-D Need:.....................$ 820,839 Y-T-D Received: ..............$ 682,960 Surplus/(shortfall):............ (137,879) “Years of Opportunity 2007-09” Campaign Given to Date:...................$ 314,957 Bank Loan Balance:..........$ 260,278 Owed to FBC Fdn.:...........$ 180,000 Missions Offering YTD ....$ 12,390

Wednesday Dinner Menus August 6 Vegetable Lasagna, Salad Bar, Garlic French Toast, Ice Cream and Cookies August 13 Fried Chicken Tenders w/ Honey Mustard, Potato Salad, Italian Cut Green Beans, Salad Bar, Yeast Rolls, Coconut Cake

Youth Sp•t The youth ministry will be capping off another great summer with our annual beach retreat. This year’s retreat theme will be taken from the 116th Psalm. A multitude of youth and adults will head down to Florida for a week in the sun and sand. We will play and laugh and take a look at the scriptures as strive to become more intentional followers of Christ. This week is open to all youth in grades sixth through twelve and there are still a few spots available. If you are interested in going or would like more information please contact the youth ministry. [email protected] Here are a few pictures from a recent rafting trip…

The Outlook, a publication of the First Baptist Church of Decatur, Georgia, is mailed to members and friends of the First Baptist family. Main Office......................................404-373-1653 Finance.............................................404-370-7694 First School ......................................404-370-7688 Activities ..........................................404-373-2442 FAX ..................................................404-370-7692 Debbie Britt .....................................404-373-1653 Sharyn Dowd....................................404-373-1653 Ryan Forbes.....................................404-370-7690 Julie Pennington-Russell.................404-370-7684 Kurt Varney......................................404-373-1653 Bob Williamson ...............................404-370-7687 Computer Connections: Website—www.fbcdecatur.com E-Mail—[email protected]

The Outlook, USPS 600-320, is published bi-weekly, except Christmas week, by First Baptist Church Decatur, GA Postmaster: Please send address changes to First Baptist Church, 308 Clairemont Avenue, Decatur, GA 30030

Kid’s Zone We would like to continue to thank all of our Extended Session Volunteers! Upcoming Extended Session Volunteers: Aug. 3 Hinkle Carter Salcedo Hamrick

Aug. 10 Castleberry Clay Warshauer Jones

Aug. 17 Stanford Hayes Fewell Duke

Aug. 24 Eargle Perry R. Leeth Henderson