Emily Holladay Senior Pastor emily@ibcfrankfort.com
CONNECTIONS
To Experience & Express God’s Unconditional Love
Volume 4, No. 10 - October 2025
Where is Pastor Emily in October?
face missing from the pastor’s office.
of-office dates on the calendar right in the middle of the school year and
Ground has been hosting pilgrimages all over Europe and North America, treating different texts as sacred. Each trip is focused on a particular book center conversations. The faculty and
chaplains on the trip lead pilgrims to explore these texts in a way that help make meaning of life in order to encounter the sacred even in the midst of the “ordinary” reading life. Though I had been paying attention to these pilgrimages for many years and hoping to participate in one at least by the time I went on sabbatical, Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth Silvers, Kentucky women who host the podcast Pantsuit Politics: A Different Approach to the News, had never led one before. I have been a faithful follower of their podcast for ten years and really appreciate the nuanced perspective that they bring to a world and culture so mired in disrespect and polarization.
As soon as the email came that Sarah and Beth would be leading the pilgrimage, Scott said, “you have to go!” So, we made plans to make it work financially and without too great of an inconvenience to our home or church life.
Continued on Page 7
Zambia
Amidst this time of great sorrow, we continue to find joy in the generosity of our donors, whose support has brought us this far.
With deep gratitude in our hearts, we are pleased to share the latest progress on Mama Turner’s library in Zambia. The building has been painted, the doors and windows are in place, and the interior furnished with tables, chairs, and shelves. The shelves are already filling with resources for children and students of all ages, and we look forward to adding even more books, media, and learning tools in the months to come.
Lonnie and Fran Turner shared a profound love of reading and a steadfast belief in the power of education to transform lives. Their vision for the library was rooted in this belief: helping uplift those living in poverty is possible through the gift of education.
to finish the installation of the toilet outside the library, building the water tank stand, and purchasing a 1,000-liter water tank to provide a reliable water supply. We are also seeking donations of books, technology, and media resources to enrich the space even more.
These final steps will ensure that the library becomes not only a center of learning, but also a safe, sustainable, and fully equipped community hub.
“A good library is an important part of any community. It is the place where knowledge can be acquired and shared, and where the love of books and reading can be ignited and nurtured.”
Although the library building is now complete, our work is not finished. We need your help to make the space fully functional for the community. We are seeking support
MISSIONS
- Nelson Mandela
Partners in Development
Emergency Community Food Pantry Food Drive
All of us are feeling the challenges of rising prices at the grocery. Even more challenges are coming for our food insecure neighbors as new regulations concerning the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) begin to take effect. (And the changes to SNAP and Medicaid will also affect the number of children who can receive free and reduced school lunches.)
As of August 2025, 5,345 individuals in Franklin County receive SNAP benefits - a little over 10% of our population. 2,361 (44%) of those receiving benefits are children under the age of 18. 725 (13.5%) of the
recipients are 60 or older.
As these families deal with increased costs and possibly reduced or eliminated food assistance, they will be turning to all of us for more help putting food on their tables or in their backpacks.
Please participate in the Interfaith Food Drive in October!
Help us stock the shelves!
Food Drive | Sunday, October 26 12:30 - 2:00 p.m.
Lydia Greear Baptist Mission Women Hot Dog Roast
On Monday, October 6, the Lydia Greear Baptist Mission Women will gather at Jan Peterson’s for a fun time of fellowship, roasting hot dogs and making s’mores! All ages of women are invited to join!
Bring a drink, a lawn chair, and a dish to share. We will begin at 5:00 p.m., so that we can have more time before it gets dark. If you would like to carpool, meet at the church at 4:45 p.m.
This will certainly be a wonderful time of fun and friendship. Please let the church office know if you plan to come, so that Jan can have a general headcount of how many people will be there and so that you can get Jan’s address.
Be sure to invite a friend to come too!
Infant Resource Center Update
IBC Friends,
Thanks to your generosity, we have had the privilege of providing supplies more than 108 times this year! The parents are so appreciative.
I will be including an Angel tree invitation to Infant Resource Center recipients beginning in October. This will be for all children in their families (not just infants). Sam and the children and youth will be helping to prepare these gifts and we will distribute them in early December. We are going to include a gas card for the parents.
Thank you for the magazines, clothing, books, bags, blankets, coats, wipes, etc. Please continue to pray for these families. They are parents God has sent our way to bless in a very unique but tangible way.
Gena Woestman
Week of October 5
Joni Crowe
502-229-0624
jbelly12345@yahoo. com
Week of October 12
Karen Dungan
502-320-1940
kddungan@gmail.com
Week of October 19
Cathy Thomas 502-436-6010
bworm777@hotmail. com
Week of October 26
Mike Hatcher
502-875-0321
mhatc43583@aol. com
The Deacon of the Week is here to support you with any ministry needs or to respond to any prayer concerns.
Please feel free to reach out to them any time during the week of their service!
WORSHIP AND MUSIC
Christmas Cantata
Christmas Cantata Rehearsals have begun!
If you or someone you know would like to sing with us for this year’s cantata, please let Mac know! He would love to offer you or them the “opportunity” to sing with us.
We have already had a few new faces join and would love to see a few more!
We will be singing, “Candles and Carols” by Mark Hayes and Pamela Martin. It is nicely matched with the themes
World Communion Sunday
Sunday, October 5 is World Communion Sunday. During the morning worship service, we will celebrate Lord’s Supper and remember our fellow Christians throughout the world who observe this meal alongside us.
of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love well represented in the cantata, as well as a piece on Christ’s light, which lends itself to the lighting of the Christ Candle.
We will sing one section of the cantata each Sunday during Advent.
Come and join us!
Special Services
CBFKY Celebration Sunday
On Sunday, October 26, we will take time to affirm and commemorate our involvement with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Kentucky. Bob Fox, Coordinator of CBFKY, will be our preacher for the morning, and it will be a special time to recognize one of the deepest relationships we have with a partner in mission and ministry.
REMINDERS
All Saints Sunday
Sunday, November 2 is All Saints Sunday. We will light candles in memory of members of our church who have died over the last year, along with those whose lives have touched people within the congregation. As a special treat, Tiger Pennington, who grew up at IBC (and is Pat Pennington’s son), will preach for us that day!
Note: Children’s events, including Sunday School, now require KidCheck registration. All current families should have received a registration link. If you have not, please let Sam know at sam@ibcfrankfort.com.
Wednesday Night Dinners Resume on October 15
Beginning on October 15, we will begin having Wednesday Night Dinners and programming as Part II of our Thriving Congregations experiment. We will be learning more about the unhoused community in Frankfort and hearing from people throughout the city and county who work with those who are living without homes in our community.
Our schedule will once again be:
5:00 p.m. - Dinner
6:00 p.m. - Program
7:00 p.m. - Choir Rehearsal
This time around, we will offer programming and/or nursery for the children during the presentation portion of the dinners.
Dinners will conclude on November 19, with a service
project during the week of Thanksgiving. One goal of our learning will be to determine how we can best be of service to the unhoused community as the holidays begin - and we will put one of our ideas into action before Thanksgiving.
Please join us for these important gatherings!
Cameroon Africa WITH GRATITUDE
Greetings Brethren in the Lord, We are always very appreciative to Immanuel Baptist Church.
In the month of August, two children who are siblings were assisted. As orphans, they live with their grandmother in the village. They both suffer from osteomyelitis, the boy on both legs and the girl on one leg.
Theatre procedures was done for both in the city hospital. The wounds have become very
offensive and draining. Consequently, daily cleaning and dressing is still in process.
All the money for this month has been exclusively allocated to them for hospital bills, city expenses, and the dressing that is still ongoing.
Many underprivileged persons like these two are alive today because of the empathy of IBC Frankfort.
Warmest Regards.
Eny Bunyui
Noland Williams
I want to thank everyone for their support, encouragement, and prayers in my struggle to overcome the challenges presented to me in various medical settings. Your cards, calls, and expressions of love, support, and concern have been invaluable in helping me continue in my recovery. What you have done keeps me positive and forward looking with the knowledge that with your prayers the Lord will be there for me. IBC is truly a blessing for all those it touches. I thank you.
Noland Williams
The Pastor’s Column Continued
During this particular pilgrimage, we will be traveling to Montelier, Switzerland to walk through the beautiful scenery that Mary Shelley once trod when she wrote her seminal classic, Frankenstein. Our sacred reading will be guided by the topic of creativity.
According to the welcome packet we received, “we will reflect and discuss questions such as: How does connection - or its absence - inform our creative instincts? How do we pursue possibility and ambition without letting ego unravel us? At what point do the dreams we cherish most become burdens for ourselves or our communities? ... And how do we recognize and embrace the moments when we might be wrong about ourselves?”
I have to admit that I had never read Frankenstein before signing up for this pilgrimage, nor am I a horror fan. But, after reading Frankenstein for the first time and reading a few books about Mary Shelley’s life and the writing of Frankenstein, I am so excited to dive into the questions listed and more as we consider what
insights this classic novel about the repercussions of ambition taken too far have to offer us. Shelley was wrestling with many of the same questions we are tackling today as we consider how far we should take such technologies as artificial intelligence and other media that change the way we relate to one another and understand what is possible and what is true.
I am eager to walk beautiful paths around the Alps, meet new friends and pilgrims who will help me think more broadly, and become rejuvenated by reconnecting with the sacred all around me. I truly believe that this experience will expand my mind and heart in ways I have yet to fully comprehend or imagine.
I am also hopeful that participating in this pilgrimage will give me tools for being a better preacher and pastor. Perhaps there will even be ways that I can bring the practice of sacred reading into our congregational life. Finding the sacred in the ordinary
and thinking deeply in community about the things that influence our lives are transformative experiences. Maybe we won’t go to Switzerland as a congregation, but we can learn and grow together through practices like sacred reading and walking.
Please keep me and my family in your prayers during this opportunity. I have tried to set Scott up with all the extra help I can while I am gone, but I know it won’t be easy for him to be alone with the kids while I am out of the country. Pray also that God will open my mind and my heart to whatever sacred inspiration God desires for me to absorb and learn.
The church will be in good hands while I am gone, and I will only miss one Sunday. As always, please reach out to the office or to the Deacon of the Week if you need anything during my absence. I look forward to seeing you on the other side!
1075 Collins Lane
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
(502)223-7601 www.ibcfrankfort.com
Stewardship Report
Opportunities at Immanuel Prayer List
Sandy Altom
Roger Crittenden
Glenn Ison
Janet Lewis
Scarlett Moore
Ernie Murphy
Noland Williams
Susan Wolfe
Joyce Wood
Wednesday, October 1
6:00 pm Choir Practice
Sunday, October 5
9:30 am Bible Study 10:30 am Worship - World Communion Sunday
Monday, October 6
5:00 pm Baptist Mission Women Hot Dog Roast at Jan Peterson’s House
6:00 pm Boy Scouts
Wednesday, October 8
6:00 pm Choir Practice
Thursday, October 9
1:00 pm Line Dancing in Fellowship Hall
Saturday, October 11 10:00 am Pride Festival
Sunday, October 12
9:30 am Bible Study 10:30 am Worship
Monday, October 13
6:00 pm Boy Scouts
6:00 pm Deacon’s Meeting
Wednesday, October 15
5:00 pm Weds Night Dinner
6:00 pm Program
7:00 pm Choir Practice
Thursday, October 16 1:00 pm Line Dancing in Fellowship Hall
Sunday, October 19 9:30 am Bible Study 10:30 am Worship
Monday, October 20 10:00 am CCRTA 6:00 pm Boy Scouts
Wednesday, October 22 5:00 pm Weds Night Dinner 6:00 pm Program 7:00 pm Choir Practice
Thursday, October 23 1:00 pm Line Dancing in Fellowship Hall
Sunday, October 26
Food Drive Sunday 9:30 am Bible Study 10:30 am Worship - CBFKY Celebration Sunday
Wednesday, October 29
5:00 pm Weds Night Dinner
6:00 pm Program
7:00 pm Choir Practice
Thursday, October 30 1:00 pm Line Dancing in Fellowship Hall
Friday, October 31 5:00 pm Trunks of Treats