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D ECE M BE R
F I R S T B A P T I S T C H U R C H /J E F F E R S O N C I T Y, M O
Dear Church, In the next several months I want to use my writing space for The Beacon to update our congregation on progress that’s being made on multiple fronts of concern during this interim season. It’s not difficult to imagine that each member has a unique vantage point when they think about the church. Some are particularly focused on worship. Some are more focused on the mission of the church and how we go about serving our community in Christ’s name. Others share a commitment to others in a small group. It’s also not difficult to see how we are in a season that’s transitory as there are things in motion from what we were to what we will become. Staff Updates First Baptist Church has had steady, gifted leadership for nearly a quarter century. Most churches would say if
UPCOMING they had this for just a decade they would be blessed. While it has not been seamless, it has been amazingly steady. With Doyle’s death and now Rod’s retirement, we are seeing a level of change in pastoral leadership that we haven’t known since the last millennium. I was called here to serve as Intentional Interim Minister in late-August and will serve until the church calls their next Senior Minister. I’m working with a team of 14 members to organize three Sunday morning listening events. For these events, we will invite the entire church to come together in what I call “halftime,” that 90-minute time between our two worship services. In small groups we will focus on important topics that will help our Pastor Search Committee shape their search for a new pastor.
December 5 Christmas Musical; Youth Dessert Theatre December 7 Parents’ Night Out December 12 Celebration of Ministry for Rod Maples, 10a December 19 Special Called Business Meeting, 12p December 24 Candelight Lord’s Supper Service, 6p Dec 26 & Jan 2 One service only, 10a No Bible Teaching or Nursery