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A publication of The First Baptist Church of Westfield 2012
us as a congregation, sharing and
giving is much more than that.
We also ask crucial and life
forming questions: Have people
experienced the love of God con-
cretely? Have people been trans-
formed by what they have re-
ceived? Have people grown in
their faith and in their devotion to
Jesus? Have people understood
what motivates our generosity?
Is quality of life better be-
cause of people’s encounter
with God through the actions
of God’s people? What differ-
ence have we made in daily liv-
ing, in our community and in the
world? How awesome it is to
partner with God and share
our resources to make an eter-
nal difference in some one’s
life! During this season when we are
once reminded that God so loved
the world that God GAVE, I in-
vite us to continue to give our
love of God and of God’s Son in
felt ways. In this world of super-
ficiality, it is easy to become just
a body and even a no-body, as if
we didn’t have a heart that feels,
a mind that thinks and a spirit
that lives within us. The ever pre-
sent invitation is to Share our
Hope, Share our Peace, Share our
Joy, Share our Love, and Share
our Jesus. Thanks be to God for
a generous and giving congrega-
tion, whether gathered or scat-
tered, we are God’s people—
through it all!
Pastor Mayra
Each of you must give as you
have made up your mind, not
reluctantly or under compulsion,
for God loves a cheerful giver.
And God is able to provide you
with every blessing in abun-
dance, so that by always having
enough of everything, you may
share abundantly in every good
work. --2 Corinthians 9:7-8
(NRSV)
We’ve come through the
season of thanksgiving after
Superstorm Sandy and now have
arrived at Advent and look for-
ward towards Christmas day.
While the church building was
without electrical power for 10
days, we were still very much
connected to each other through
our phone calls, our text mes-
sages, and the visits paid to
make sure all were okay. Many
of us were directly helping those
who experienced loss of proper-
ty and of health.
Much has happened through No-
vember and so we pause to re-
flect, to take stock and to thank
our God for one more day.We
pause to give thanks for all the
blessings that we have received
throughout the year. We hold
hands and sing together,
“Through it all, we’ve learned to
trust in Jesus and we’ve learned
to trust in God.”
We now look forward to the sea-
son of giving and receiving
when we celebrate our dear Sav-
ior’s birth. And what better way
to celebrate than sharing of what
we have and what we most treas-
ure. I’ve heard it said that the best
gift to give is the one we would
hope someone would give to us
because of its beauty, its meaning,
and its priceless value.
This past year we gave of our-
selves in meaningful activity and
programming so that we had
opportunities to grow in getting to
know one another, in serving our
community, in learning about the
Bible and in growing our faith, in
helping our children and our youth
learn lessons of service and of life
in faith, and in reconnecting
young adults to the church family.
We gave of ourselves in joyful
celebrations of baptisms, wed-
dings, and of recommitments unto
the Lord. We gave of our hearts
in comfort with those who mourn
even as we ourselves mourned for
our loved ones who passed in
2012. We gave of our time tend-
ing to the sick and sharing bread
with the homeless. We helped
with relief efforts after the storm.
We played, we prayed and we
sang and worshiped together in
unity of purpose. And yet, I am
certain that God is calling us to
more fruitful and faithful stew-
ardship in 2013.
We can quantify by way of num-
bers and by way of dollars and
cents our giving and sharing—
important reality checks—but for
page 2
Choir notes… THANKS... to Glen Brown for
playing guitar in worship during Oct/
Nov, and in particular for playing in
chilly temperatures on Nov. 4 when
the church was without power … to
Paul Koslowski, piano; Glen
Brown, guitar; and the Chancel
Choir and Song Leaders for step-
ping in and leading the musical parts
of worship on Oct. 21 when Bill
Mathews was out with a case of shin-
gles… to Katie Engel for running
bell rehearsal on Oct 18… to the
Children’s Choir and their director,
Erin Klein, for their joyful “Alleluias”
on Nov. 11… and to Carl Della Pe-
ruti for running the orchestra rehears-
al on Nov. 18...
Somewhere around 1983-84, Dot
Waugh took over as chair of the
“Choir Birthday Committee” from
Dick Franklin, when Dick retired
from Choir (the committee only has
one member — the chair!) Since then,
she faithfully reminds the director at
rehearsals that it is time to sing or ring
the birthday song; she even finds ways
to remember the summer birthdays
and, in fact, we found recently found
out it was she who encouraged many
of you to flood the Minister of Music
with cards on his day back in July (so,
thank you!) Dot’s special day was Oct.
21, so we’ll return the favor with a
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DOT right here in the Messenger where it
can be seen on-line by millions surfing
the net!
The NEW Song Leaders… The 1960’s had the NEW Christy Min-
strels (remember Green, Green?), and
here at FBC, we have the NEW Song
Leaders — well, maybe not in name,
we’re working on that — but our Song
Leaders from Chancel Choir have
merged with the Youth Song Leaders
and some young adults who were part
of the old Youth Choir days. Our new
ensemble, with Glen on guitar and
Devin on drums, is participating in
worship on a regular basis, leading the
congregation on the contemporary
songs.
Music in December
Children’s Choir
December 23
Chancel Ringers
December 9, 16
FBC Orchestra
December 16
Song Leaders
December 9, 16, 23
Christmas Eve
Chancel Choir
December 2, 9
Christmas Eve
Christmas Music
for flute, guitar,
& organ
Christmas Eve
beginning at 7PM
FBC Orchestra
Second rehearsal,
Sunday, December 9,
following worship
Orchestra plays
Sunday, December 16,
during worship.
9am rehearsal
Carols in the Round Saturday & Sunday,
December 1-2 at 4 PM
The Westfield Chorale in their 25th appearance
Child care provided. Call the church office for ticket availability.
Net proceeds to
benefit those affected by
Hurricane Sandy.
Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” Saturday, December 15
at 4 PM Peter J. Horn, narrator
Westfield HS Concert Choir
Appropriate for all ages, the program lasts about an hour and 15 minutes. Mr. Horn will use the church’s sound system and the FM radios will be available for those who have difficulty hearing. Free-will offering to benefit Grace’s Kitchen in Plainfield.
On Friday evening of “Carols”
weekend, The Westfield Chorale
will be recording their fourth al-
bum, and once again, a double
CD. The CD’s are $15 — the
SAME price as Volume 3 back in
‘01! — and will be available in
February or March. Order forms
are in the narthex and can also be
found on the web site.
Christmas wth the
Westfield Chorale Volume IV
page 3
Women’s Book Club Saturday, December 15 ,
10am Church Lounge
Join us for a discussion of “Here if You Need Me”, by
Kate Braestrup. All are always welcome! Contact Bette Savage at
[email protected] with any questions.
Missions on The Move Thanksgiving Meals
Members of First Baptist once again worked to-gether to fill Thanksgiv-ing dinner
bags for ten families. Even the Sun-day School children participated (pictured below). They decorated the bags and brought donations to make a whole meal. Thank you to Atossa Cicchino, Beth Frantz, Mar-yann Friscia, and Wanda McCloud for help with packing the bags. Five of the dinners were delivered to
First Baptist Church in Manasquan which will ensure that families af-fected by the hurricane have a brighter holiday. For those families
12/3 Greg Mathews
12/4 Atossa Cicchino
12/6 Hilary Araujo
12/6 Warren Hanscom
12/7 Dudley Painter
12/11 Trevor Morris
12/13 Charles McCloud
12/14 Jennifer Gawronski
12/17 Alicia Lambros
12/18 Muriel Jones 12/20 Gillian Clark
12/22 Latifat Owolabi
12/18 Jay & Lalitha Kakileti
who have been allowed back in their home, it is very important to have a traditional Thanksgiving at home.
Once again we will participate in the Salvation Army Angel Tree pro-gram. This provides gifts for chil-dren who otherwise might not find any toys under the tree. Dec. 2nd – Choose a child and hang your tag on the tree. Dec. 9th – Bring your gift to church in a bag. Attach the tag securely. Do not wrap.
Home First Children’s Party This is the second year hosting a party for children of families that were homeless and are settling into a new house. Nova Spinner and Len Gabriel are planning craft pro-jects, and Paul Koslowski is provid-ing the music. We could use craft helpers for this event on Wednes-day, Dec. 12th from 4-6 at the
Home First office in Plainfield. We’d love to have Youth and Young Adults help with this. Transporta-tion will be provided from Westfield and Scotch Plains. Please let Janet Winey know if you can participate. We also welcome some cookies for refreshments. If you are willing to share some of your Christmas cook-ies, please bring them on Sunday, Dec. 9th.
The Christmas Offering When I delivered the Thanksgiving bags to Manasquan almost four weeks after the storm, the destruc-tion was still evident – many roads still blocked, piles of ruined house-hold items lining the streets along with sand that washed up from the beach, churches set up to feed peo-ple with no cooking facility and contractor staging areas. The deci-sion for this year was easy – Hurri-cane Relief.
Janet Winey, Missions Chair
page 4
News and Upcoming Events
Wednesday, December 5,
7 o’clock
A highlight of the season for
sure! Participants should
bring 4-5 dozen cookies, or
other small desserts to be
shared. We will set up the
plates of desserts on a festive
table and all will fill their own
containers or tins with samples
of their favorites. When we
are finished filling our
containers we will have
delicious desserts to take home
for our family and friends to
enjoy! Invite a friend or neigh-
bor—the more the merrier!
In loving memory of long-time First Baptist member Doris Beck Titsworth
September 13, 1922-November 13, 2012
A warm welcome to
our newest members,
Jim and Lynda Lloyd!
Jim and Lynda were
baptized on October
28, 2012 and received
the right hand of fel-
lowship into membership on the
same day. They are proud par-
ents to 5 children and we wel-
come them with open arms!
Advent and Christmas 2012
Reclaiming the Christ of Christmas!
Invite your neighbors and friends – share the hope, share the peace, share the joy, share the love --- Share Jesus!
12/2 -- Lighting of the Candle of Hope Sermon Title: Promises Kept! 12/9 – Lighting of the Candle of Peace Sermon Title: The Way of the Lord! 12/16 – Lighting of the Candle of Joy Sermon Title: Filled with Expectation! 12/23 – Lighting of the Love Candle Children’s Spontaneous Pageant Sermon Title: Fulfillment and Restora-tion!
Monday, 12/24, 7:30pm w/ Music for Prayer and Reflection
at 7pm (childcare provided)
The Light of The World is Jesus!
Meditation: A Simple Story.
Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
For Parents and Teachers
Sunday, December 2nd, following worship, join us for a Meet n Greet….beginning with a sing-along
in children’s choir!
We will also review the Safe Child & Safe Church Policy, plus take a look at our classrooms & nursery.
Please share any thoughts. Looking forward to spending the Advent season with your families!
AND FOR EVERYONE... Sunday, December 9th -Advent Festival Luncheon
Bring along a salad, sandwiches, bread or dessert to share and enjoy soups and chili provided by the Christian Education Committee. After lunch, our festival of crafts begins! All ages are invited to create a variety of Christmas ornaments and decorate gingerbread cookies, supplies provid-
ed. Some of the ornaments created will be given to Home First families. So, please come and
enjoy food, fellowship and fun while providing a service to local families in need!
Each Sunday in December, 10:30am
page 5
...Dot Waugh, Caroline Siess, and Lil Wheeler, with help mailing the October Messenger. ...Ken & Terry Wooster, Linda John-son, Lil Wheeler., Jean Kellogg, Mary Dobos, Cherie Parker Beth Frantz Maryann Friscia, and Janet Winey for helping with Bridges lunches in October. ...Steve and Donna Lind for trans-forming our sanctuary for Christ-mas, along with lot of help from Ike Alvarado, Gillian Clark, Wendy Engel, Morris Family, Erin Klein, Scott Lind, Atossa Cicchino, Caro-line Siess, and Pam & Alan Green-law, and thanks to Pam for the deli-cious homemade soup all the work-ers enjoyed so much, and Donna’s corn and pumpkin muffins to go along with it! ...Allison Johnson and Michelene Lambros for providing childcare during Congregational meeting. ...Paul Clark for changing light-bulbs. ...Alan Greenlaw with boiler help. And from Katie McGuire...
Thanks to all the Sunday School teachers and nursery helpers serv-ing with such cheer in dedication and loving care to the youngest of our church family! The little ones are growing in their faith through your lessons, smiles, stories and playtime. Such God moments to witness! When they are loved by their families and church families, they can begin to understand that God loves them, too. Thanks a latte!
CHURCH COUNCIL
The objective of the Church Council is governance and to lead our Faith in Action
Ministry towards a Disciple-Making Church. The elements of a Disciple-Making
Church include prayer, inspiring and vital worship of God, relevant education/
discipleship and impact mission. The pathway we must take with the guidance of
Pastor Mayra is through:
*COMMITTED LEADERSHIP AND MEMBERSHIP
*LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
*GIFT-BASED MINISTRY
*EFFICIENT ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE
Members of Church Council are the Senior Minister/Pastor, Moderator, who acts
as chairperson, the chair/co-chairs of each of the church’s committees, two at-large
members and as of June 2010, the investment manager. Current committee mem-
bers are listed below:
The committee regularly meets on the third Monday of each month at 7:30 p.m.
from September through June.
Proverbs 11:14 “Where there is no wise guidance, the nation falls, but in the mul-
titude of counselors there is victory.”
Wendell O. Scott
Moderator and Chairperson,
Church Council
CHURCH COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP
COMMITTEE & COUNCIL MEMBER COMMITTEE & COUNCIL MEMBER
Senior Minister/Pastor – Rev. Mayra Castañeda
Moderator & Chairperson – Wendell Scott Facilities & Finance – Barron Cashdollar
and Warren Hanscom
Christian Education – Carleen Morris Investment Manager – Trish Scott
Deacons – Cherie Parker Missions – Janet Winey
Evangelism – Elaine Pratt At Large Members – Janet Gabriel
Thank you for all your pledges to date. We
have received 41 pledges, for a total of
$175,000, with 7 more pledges expected.
Those who pledged last year have pledged
9.7% more this year. We also have three
new, first-time pledges! Our goal is
$200,000, so we still have some work to do to meet it and support our
ministries and programs without having to borrow from the Investment
Fund, but we are certainly a long way towards our goal.
For those who have not pledged, you can continue to provide your pledge
information to Ike Alvarado this Sunday, or as soon as possible within
the next few weeks.
Tyronne Singh
Stewardship Chair
page 6
Handyman Needed!!
to….. change light bulbs
paint move heavy items
help with some carpentry work, and pretty much anything and everything maintenance related! There is always build-ing work needed, and if you are willing and able to volunteer some time on occasion,
please contact the office and let us know. We may also from time to time post a maintenance project on the board outside the office. Thank you in advance.
The Facilities and Finance Committee
December Youth Calendar
Theme:
December 2nd
4:30pm CORE
5pm Youth Group
December 9th
Advent Festival (after Church)
YG on a Mission
December 16th
4:30pm CORE
5pm Youth Group
December 23rd
5pm Christmas Dinner—Bring a unisex gift (no more than $10)
December 30th– No Youth Group
page 7
Ongoing calendar on back page
December 2012 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 Carols in the Round, 4pm
2 12Noon -Meet n Greet; Carols in the Round, 4pm
3 4 7pm—Evangelism
5 7pm-Cookie Exchange
6 7 8 Memorial Service for Lillian Carter, 11am
9 12 Noon-Advent Festival
10 7:30pm—Deacons
11 7pm—F&F 12 13 14 15 Charles Dickens A Christmas Car-ol, 4pm
16 Special Congregational Meeting after worship
17 7:30pm—Council
18 19 20 21 22
23 Children’s Christmas pag-eant during 10:30 worship
24 7:30pm—Christmas Eve Service (w/music for pray-er and reflec-tion @7)
25 26 27 28 29
30 31
ONGOING SONGOING S CHEDULCHEDUL EE
(Weekly, unless otherwise noted.)
Sundays: 9:15 a.m. Bible Study, led by Pastor Mayra Youth Bible Study, led by Rev. Sully Singles Group Childcare available until 9-11:30
10:30 a.m. Worship Service (Lord’s Supper Dec 2)
10:30 a.m. Children’s Sunday School (pre-school-5th grades) -
11:30 a.m. Children’s Choir rehearsal (pre-school to 5th grades) 5:00 p.m. Youth Ministry/Supper (6th-12th grades) Tuesdays: 7 a.m. GRUB w/ the Guys (1st Tues. of ea. Month, Dec 4) 10:30am Women’s Writing Group (monthly: Dec 11) Wednesdays: 12Noon Conversations w/God Prayer Time (sanctuary) 1-3pm Knitting/Craft Group - (2nd Wed, Dec 12) Thursdays: 10:30 a.m. The Hearing Society: Speech Reading Class 7:15/8 p.m. Chancel Choir & Ringers Saturdays: 10 :00 a.m. Women’s Book Club (monthly, Dec 15)
www.fbcwestfield.org
OO URUR PP URPOSEURPOSE Coming together in joyful worship,
we’re here…
To share the reality of God’s love,
To connect our lifestyles to
Christian truth,
And to put our faith into action
through responding to needs in our
community, nation, and world.
CC HURCHHURCH SS TAFFTAFF
Rev. Mayra Castañeda, Senior Pastor William R. Mathews, Minister of Music Rev. Suleima Rosario-Diaz, Associate Pastor for Student Ministries Katie McGuire, Director of Children’s Ministries Nancy Lambros, Church Administrator
Adriana Rodriguez, Custodian
170 Elm Street
Westfield, NJ 07090
ph: 908.233.2278/fax: 908.233.0555
e-mail Pastor Mayra Castañeda [email protected] Rev. Suleima Rosario-Diaz [email protected] Bill Mathews [email protected] Katie McGuire [email protected] Nancy Lambros [email protected]