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The BeaconAugust 20, 2009

10:00A.M. SUMMER WORSHIP

info@firstbaptistgranville.orgwww.firstbaptistgranville.orgPhone: (740) 587-0336FAX: (740) 587-2412

REFLECTIONS

Thomas Merton once wrote, “There is always a temptation to diddle around in the contemplative life, making itsy-bitsy statues.” Recalling this observation of Merton, author Annie Dillard added, “There is always an enormoustemptation in all of life to diddle around making itsy-bitsy friends and meals and journeys for itsy-bitsy years onend.” Having turned the page of my calendar to August and beginning to pick up the pace of my activity inpreparation for resuming a full church schedule in September, and knowing that schools and colleges, with the returnto the classrooms in August or September, likewise call for picking up the pace of activity, I wonder whether thiswill again be a year when I succumb, as I so often do, to the temptation to “diddle around” in my spiritual life, orwhether I will finally get down to business, the real business of living from my depths. How about you: where inyour life have you been skittering around on the surface, preoccupied with “itsy-bitsy friends and meals andjourneys” that distract you from the questions that matter most, from attending to living and loving well? And howmuch longer will you allow those distractions to consume you?

In the month of August, most churches busily set about putting things in place for programs and classes and tasksand campaigns and committees that must be ready to jump into action once school resumes, or once Labor Day haspassed. And August represents one of the biggest temptations in church life to “make itsy-bitsy statues” in choicesmore concerned with church growth and finances and less concerned with faithfulness.

I hope you had a restful and restorative summer, however you spent the time. And I invite you, as you return toengagement in church life, in school life, in work life, to make this a year in which itsy-bitsy relationships andactivities lose some of their appeal, a year when seeking God’s presence moves up the list of priorities, a year thatis less busy and more spacious, a year when you live the Life that is longing to be lived through you.

Faithfully,Kathy

NOTICE OF CONGREGATIONAL MEETING

The Church Board has called a special congregational meeting to be held Sunday,September 13, immediately following the worship service. The purpose of themeeting is to vote on a name change for the church, selecting from the followingoptions that were identified in previous voting:

< Granville First Baptist UCC< First Baptist UCC< First United Church of Granville< Keep the current name of the church

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SUNDAY SCHOOL FOR ALL AGES RESUMES SEPTEMBER 13.WORSHIP SERVICES MOVE TO 11:00 A.M.

IN THE SANCTUARY SEPTEMBER 13.

COMING TO WORSHIP IN THE FALL:

1. A month-long focus on earth-centered spirituality and ritual2. An opportunity to “Stump the Preacher”3. An invitation to bring a laptop and “Twitter” during the sermon4. A new way of observing communion

And more. Don’t miss it!

MISSION MATTERS

The Lunches on the Square project continues to grow. InJuly, all 200 lunches were given out at the square, a firstin the history of the project. Sunday, August 23 will markrd

the end of the first year of providing lunches on the squareeach month. We’ll need everyone’s help that day to makesandwiches after church, so please plan to stay for thatevent if you can! We value our partnership with TrinityEpiscopal on East Main Street in Newark and lookforward to continuing it. We provide sandwiches andcookies, they provide sides and beverages, and everyonehas a good time. Thank you to everyone who has workedon this!

MSAC has now decided not to hold a Rummage Sale inSeptember for a variety of reasons: lack of storage,difficult logistics, and the dwindling income realized fromthe last several sales. Instead, we invite members andfriends of the church who want to divest themselves ofthings and help the church at the same time to sell them oneBay, Craig’s List, or at a garage sale and then make adonation to the church. We can make sure the proceeds goto the Nicaragua trip, which is where the rummage salefunds have been going, so if you do this, just tell Louisewhen you send in your money. If you’ve been savingthings for a rummage sale, remember that Goodwill (on21 Street and Union Street in Newark) can use it and getst

it into the hands of people who need it.

Food PantryItems and money are always needed for the Food Pantry.Here’s the plan for the fall:

< September: Personal Items (soap, shampoo,toothpaste, toothbrushes, toilet paper, tissues,feminine products, razors,paper towels, etc.)

< October: Tuna< November: Peanut Butter< December: Personal items

Just bring in your items and/or checks made out to FBC(write ‘Food Pantry’ on the memo line) and put them inthe basket at the back of the church!

Thanks, everyone!

July Sundays in Whatever Works

Above and below, FBC members spent Sundayworship in July in the Whatever Works Art Spaceexploring the many connections of art and spirituality.

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THE MIRACLE OF THE

LUNCHES ON THE SQUARE

Matthew 14:13-21

August 9, 2009

Virginia Lohmann Bauman

When Kathy asked me to share about myexperience with the Lunches on the Square program, Ihesitated. You see, my experience with the Lunches onthe Square program has left me with an overwhelmingsense of inadequacy in the face of the need I’ve seen. Dr.King long ago challenged me to think first about thewelfare of our community, rather than the size of ourcongregation, the next time someone asked me how ourchurch is doing. And our church is definitely challengedwhen it comes to tending to the welfare of our community.

Anyway, Gery, Katie, and I first participated in thelunch giveaway last November, on a very cold day. Manypeople had their fliers in hand when they arrived, somewith the impression that the flier was a “ticket” for theirmeal. We gave away 138 meals that day – all 88 of thelunches we had brought plus 20 lunches from Wendy’sand 30 Wendy’s gift cards (but more on that in a moment).We gave some people more than one lunch. For example,one very small boy – in a jacket that wasn’t zipped on thatvery cold day – asked for two lunches so his mom couldhave one. She was parked far away from us on the Square– we wondered, was she disabled, embarrassed perhaps? We didn’t know; we just gave the little boy two lunches.

That day we ran out of lunches about 2:15 pm, andwe had a number of people – including elderly anddisabled folks, as well as families with children – waitingfor food. Many of you know my story about experiencinghunger and poverty in my childhood, so you wouldunderstand how I could not leave folks hungry. So ratherthan leave that day, we used the Wendy’s restaurant acrossthe street from the Square as our food back up. Wepurchased 20 more lunches for those who needed a hotlunch, and then we purchased 30 five dollar gift cards tohand out. Several of the families, and a number of thekids, took their gift cards and went straight across thestreet to eat. In retrospect, this wasn’t the most efficientuse of our food dollars, but an indication that it was betterin the future to have too many lunches – rather than toofew – to distribute.

While giving out the last of the Wendy’s hotlunches that day, a patient young couple with a cherubcheeked baby girl told me that they usually eat at theSalvation Army, but the Salvation Army told them to cometo the Square that day instead. The gracious young mansaid, “Thank you for this meal, ma’am. If you hadn’tgiven us these lunches, we wouldn’t have eaten today.”

That night, I prayed the Lord’s Prayer especiallyhard - asking God to give those in need their “daily bread,”their daily sustenance.

In preparing to speak to you today, I reflected onthe miracle story Katie just read to you from the Book ofMatthew, and I realized that that’s what Jesus did for thecrowd of five thousand – he gave them their daily bread.Many of you have heard this particular miracle storybefore. All four Gospel writers (Matthew, Mark, Luke, andJohn) included in their Gospel this morning’s story aboutJesus’ miraculous feeding of the five thousand. In fact,this particular story was so important to the writers weknow as Mark and Matthew that both writers follow theirstories of the feeding of the five thousand with almostidentical miracle stories two chapters later – the samestory, in both Gospels, two chapters later, but with

different numbers of people, loaves, and fish. In this story, Jesus feeds five thousand men,

Matthew tells us, not counting the women and children.Five thousand was the size of an entire town back then,and Matthew presents the image of an entire city in Jesus’entourage, whom Jesus nourishes out of compassion.

So the whole town is fed with five loaves and twofish, which miraculously multiply until everyone is fulland the leftovers fill twelve baskets. As the Lord said:They shall eat and have some left.

But we wonder, just how did Jesus do it? Did theloaves actually multiply? Or did the loaf just grow backafter someone tore off a chunk? Or was something else atwork? Matthew doesn’t tell us. The writer is silent on theactual workings of the miracle itself.

What Matthew does tell us is that the miraclehappened at “a deserted place,” kind of like the Newarktown Square on a Sunday afternoon.

When the crowds heard Jesus had withdrawn tothe deserted place, they left their towns and went to him onfoot. When Jesus saw the great crowd – sick and hungry,he had compassion for them, and cured the sick amongthem.

Then evening came, and the disciples urged Jesusto send the crowds away so they could go into the villagesand buy food for themselves. But Jesus said: “They neednot go away; you give them something to eat.” You givethem something to eat.

But the disciples protested. They had to bethinking, what do you mean, we should give themsomething to eat? They said to Jesus: But “we havenothing here but five loaves and two fish,” – hardlyenough for twelve grown men, let alone five thousandmen, plus women and children.

In thinking and reading about this story, I realizedthat the disciples had a vision of the world that somepossess today, a vision of scarcity, in which there is notenough for everyone. In the scarcity model of life,resources are like a big, but finite, pie. If I give you apiece of my pie, well, that leaves less pie for me, and Lordknows I barely have enough for my own needs. That’swhere the disciples were, asking themselves how theycould possibly share what little they had, given that theybarely had enough for themselves.

Jesus, though, saw the world differently. He hada vision of plenty – the multiplication model of life, if youwill. In the multiplication model of life, resources areplenty, they’re multiplied – there are plenty of pies foreveryone. If I give you a piece of my pie, well, that’sokay, because I’ll just get another pie to meet my needs(and yours too). Plenty of pies, plenty of food, plenty oftime, plenty of possibilities - with the resources at hand.

So Jesus asked the disciples to bring him the fiveloaves and two fish, and he ordered the crowds to sit downon the grass. Taking up the five loaves and two fish, helooked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, -confident that God would turn not enough into plenty - andgave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them tothe crowd. The bread, blessed and broken, symbolized theWord of God in Matthew’s text. Matthew had alluded tothe Old Testament proscription: “You shall not live bybread alone, but by every word that proceeds from themouth of God.”

Some in the crowd, hungry and waiting for amorsel to eat, must have done the math: five loaves andfive thousand people equals one loaf per thousand people.And some must have thought, how can that possibly be?Surely it will all be gone before it ever gets to me (just like

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the birthday cake at an office party). But others might have been touched – touched by

the way that the disciples handed over all that they had;touched by Jesus’ unshakeable faith that it would beenough, enough for everyone. Maybe some only took atiny portion of the loaf being passed around so there wouldbe enough for all. Maybe others remembered the snackthey put in their pocket before they headed out that day –maybe some raisins or bread left over from breakfast.Maybe they ate that instead of the basket of scraps thatwas being passed around. Maybe some of the fivethousand actually did have some food with them, andshared with the others. So there was enough for all of thefive thousand, even though there were only five loaves andtwo fish.

But wait a minute – is that really a miracle – thatpeople were moved to share? Does mere human generositycount as a real miracle? Surely that’s not enough toqualify as a real miracle, especially in the face ofoverwhelming need, like the overwhelming need of thepeople on the Square who don’t have enough food to makeit through the week.

Many of us become mesmerized by miracles,focusing on God’s divine intervention - forgetting ourown responsibility in the face of need. As Barbara BrownTaylor has helped me understand, “miracles let us off thei

hook.” We’re all too happy to let God do the heavy liftingand feed the crowd, save the world. What we have to offerwon’t make a big difference anyway, so why bother?Sitting in the crowd, waiting for God to act, we can hangonto our own little loaves of bread and the snacks broughtfor the children. There isn’t enough for everyone, andbesides, if Jesus is in charge of the bread, why should wehave to share our meager portions? So we hold back, lookafter our own needs and ignore the needs of our neighbor,and wait for God to perform a miracle to save the day.

That’s what the disciples wanted to do - let Godprovide. So they told Jesus to “send the crowds away sothat they may go into the villages and buy food forthemselves.”

But Jesus wouldn’t have it. He would not let thedisciples off the hook. He would not let them hold back,look after their own needs and ignore the needs of thecrowd, and wait for God to perform a miracle. No, whatJesus said was: “They need not go away; you give themsomething to eat.” That’s right – YOU give themsomething to eat. Not me, but you; not my bread, butyours. Stop waiting for me to solve your problem andsolve it yourselves. Stop waiting for a miracle andparticipate in one instead.

Stop waiting for a miracle and participate in oneinstead.

That’s what I think of now when I think of theenormity of the need of the people I met on the Square –stop waiting for a miracle and participate in one instead.As Jesus said, “they need not go away; you give themsomething to eat.”

Because there is no such thing as “your” bread or“my” bread; there is only “our” bread – as in “give us ourdaily bread.” And that’s the miracle of the Lunches on theSquare. Amen.

“The Problem with Miracles,” by Barbara Brown Taylor, Thei

Seeds of Heaven: Sermons of the Gospel of Matthew (2004).

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SMILING FACES

Reflection on the Lunches on the Square Program

By Katie Bauman, age 10

August 8, 2009

The reason I like helping out at the Square is the smilingfaces. The smiles come from the old and the young, thebig and the little. The smiling faces make my day.

We know they need food, so we give it to them. Wedon’t ask for money in return. The only thing I want inreturn is at least one smiling face.

Isn’t it what Jesus wanted? Didn’t he want us to give tothe poor, to give them what they need?

I think a smile is the best gift to give and to get.

I think we shouldn’t focus on how poor they are, or whatthey smell like, or look like. We should focus on what’sreally important: the smiling faces.

Theologians Marcus Borg and John DominicCrossan suggest that in a biblically inspired“God’s economy,” no one will be hungry—notbecause everyone has lots to eat, but because has enough to eat.

Board Meeting Highlights

From the August 16 Board meeting...th

• The finance committee is recommending thecreation of a new separate committee to managethe church endowment and develop policies forthe endowment.

• A Ministry Task Force is being formed to studyour current methods of governance and torecommend changes that would enable us tofunction more efficiently and effectively.

• Two Board members have been reviewing thecurrent status of the revitalization project anddetermining what permits are needed to completeoutstanding parts of the project.

• Information regarding the process and cost of apotential church name change will be gatheredand presented as part of the special congregationalmeeting.

• Updates were given regarding the creation of aspecial fundraising task force and the ongoingrepairs being made after electrical issues thatdamaged some church equipment last spring.

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DENOMINATIONAL NEWS

From the Alliance of Baptists:

Mission Partner Highlights

Andrew P. Stewart Center

Karol Vellines, Executive Director, Andrew P. Stuart Center

At Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Dr. C. AnneDavis, dean of the Carver School of Church Social Work,taught with her own type of parable: “When you see peoplefloating down the river unable to get out, do you give thema hand out of the river or do you run around the bend andfind out who is throwing them in? Well, of course, you doboth!”

Traditionally, Baptist mission efforts have overwhelminglyfocused on micro-missions, providing a hand out of theriver. At the Andrew P. Stewart Center, an Alliance ofBaptist mission partner, we took a different approach thissummer: partnering with the Children’s Defense FundFreedom Schools® to work on a macro level to createpermanent changes. The center—located in Atlanta, two miles east of thecapitol has addressed the needs of children from working-poor families for 93 years. For more than 25 years we haveprovided free summer enrichment for the children in theReynoldstown community. This year, we were proud topartner with the CDF to become a Freedom Schools Siteand, across generational boundaries, help change people’slives forever. The Stewart Center’s site employed five students fromSpelman and Morehouse colleges as Student Leader Internsand hosted five youth volunteer groups and one “seniors”group. “This is about the children,” became our mantra aswe worked together to provide the best possible summer for50 children ages 5-12. CDF Freedom Schools’ award-winning curriculum’s themewas "I can make a difference: in my self, in my community,in my country, in my world with hope, education andaction.

From the Baptist Peace Fellowship of NorthAmerica:

This year, 2009, as we approach fall, we would like towelcome every one of our Partner Congregations to anotherseason of peacemaking. We call peacebuilders,peacemakers, and those with peace in their heart to renewtheir commitment to actionable peace across the globe. Aspeacemaking Baptists and Christians we know that Godcalls us to be the movers and shakers of our society, just asJesus dared to craft ripples of change in his owncommunity. But he was not alone in his action; hundreds,then thousands of believers took up the call and began to tryto shape a new world. And the call has not ended, there isalways work to be done, and as Christian peacemakers wemust be a voice for the new generation. "Christian" and"progressive" are not and never have been antonyms.BPFNA Partner Congregations are urged to take part inthese actions in unity and fellowship with other groupsacross the world in order to show solidarity on issues ofpeace and environmental justice.

The observance of the International Day of Prayer forPeace, an interfaith response to the UN establishedInternational Day of Peace on September 21 and thecelebration of the International Day of Climate Action onOctober 24 will both serve as reminders of ourcommitment to peace and justice and provide anopportunity to take direct action. The International Day ofPrayer for Peace offers an opportunity for BPFNA PartnerCongregations to engage in 24 hour peace vigils, Sundayservice prayers, and personal offerings of peace, amongothers. It will also serve as a day for our PartnerCongregations to encourage personal mindfulness of peaceaction in our every day lives. The International Day ofClimate Action is intended to be an occasion aimed atincreasing awareness of our Partner Congregations' impacton the environment and the importance of reducing carbondioxide emissions so as to slow or prevent climate change.Partner Congregations are encouraged to gather on thisday to screen relevant videos, discuss options fordecreasing our carbon footprints, and make new church-wide energy commitments.

From the United Church of Christ:

The well known United Church of Christ theologian andauthor, Dr. Walter Brueggemann will be SONKA's specialguest lecturer at their 2009 Clergy Day, Tuesday, October6, in Mason, OH. Folks from outside of SONKA arewelcome to attend. Registration is now open on line. Youmay go to the special registration website,www.eventbrite.com/event/327609890. Dr. Brueggemann will speak on our "relentlesslycontemporary" Bible in three sessions beginning at8:30 AM and continuing until 2:30PM. The registrationfee is $25.00 and will include a buffet lunch and morningsnack.

Annual GatheringABC/RGR

Building on the Promises(Building God’s Kingdom

one Disciple at a time)I Corinthians 3:7-15

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Host Church:

First Baptist Church of Penfield

1862 Penfield Rd., Penfield, NY 14526

Program: Making Disciples in the 21 Centuryst

Dr. C. Jeff Woods,

Associate General Secretary, ABC/USA

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Our youth have been selling soda pop most Saturdaymornings at the Makers' Market on our church lawn.Since early June, we've earned over $170 for ourlocal Habitat for Humanity chapter! Habitat is theproject they chose for their PeaceJam curriculum"Global Call to Action". People have been veryappreciative of having the cold drinks available,especially vendors who have to stay close to theirbooths all morning.

You can help increase the profits for Habitat bydonating a case of pop (Pepsi, Coke, Dr. Pepper orMt. Dew) or bottled water, or cash, of course! Wesell icy cold cans and water bottles for $1, so we canearn $12/case. If you find pop on sale for $3/case anddonate it, that multiplies your contribution by four!

Feel free to leave pop donations in the church office.Julie Reiswig

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Sun., Aug. 23 Lunches on the Square, after worshipSun., Sept. 13 Sunday School resumes, 9:45am;

worship service moves to 11:00am inthe sanctuary Congregational meeting, afterworship

Sun., Sept. 27 Lunches on the SquareSat., Sept. 26 ABC/RGR Annual Meeting

Join in the PEACE VIGILS at Opera House Park

each Saturday, from 9:00AM to 10:00am

and each Tuesday from 5:00to 6:00pm

NOTE FROM THE TREASURER

Finances for First Baptist Church are as follows forthe end July 2009:Income = $9,660.10, Expenses = $11,094.99,therefore for the end of July 2009, expensesexceeded income by $1,434.89. As a reminder, bythe end 2009 we could possibly have a $20,000deficit.

SPECIAL NOTE: Louise prepares checks everyother Friday, to be signed by the treasurer onSunday, so plan ahead for any reimbursements.

Beginning Sunday, September 13, 9:45am

First Baptist Church of Granville115 W. BroadwayGranville, Ohio 43023 Non-Profit Organization

U.S. Postage Paid

Permit No. 35

Return Service Requested

Please Deliver Promptly