The Spire - First Baptist Church in America

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The Spire 1HZVOHWWHU RI WKH )LUVW %DSWLVW &KXUFK LQ $PHULFD )HEUXDU\ 9ROXPH ,VVXH Greetings church ~ This month, we approach a full year of living in a pandemic-altered reality. These past months changed the way we worship, learn, work, and breathe. Our worlds both shrunk to the footprint of our households and expanded globally with the reach of online life in our palms. As we move towards the promise of spring, we continue to explore togeth- er what it means to be the Beloved Community. How do we, as Lorretta Ross challenges us, go beyond calling people out, and do the deeper work of calling people in? Our challenge is to move beyond performance and begin to participate in being the church in the world. This month, you are invited to do this in a number of ways. On February 11 th , Corey Johnston will lead a zoom Bible study on Ecclesiastes 7, offering us a contextual study on its approach to loss and life. Many have already signed up to par- ticipate in the Delightful Church project, a Feb-May online collaboration between Baptist churches from Providence, Philadelphia, Savannah, and Austin. More information is available about each of these opportunities elsewhere in the newsletter. During our worship services, we will examine grounding virtues inspired by the work of On Being that can foster the Beloved Community we aim to be and to build. These grounding virtues encompass our words and our listening, hospitality, humility, patience, and humanity. Heaven will not build itself, friends. God invites each of us to participate in making it man- ifest here on earth. We do not know what the next year will bring, but we can equip ourselves to be God’s disciples and begin to shape the world around us by beginning to live now as if God’s realm were already here. This is how we bring heaven, the Beloved Community, to earth. Peace, Pastor Jamie )520 7+( 3$6725

Transcript of The Spire - First Baptist Church in America

The Spire 1HZVOHWWHU�RI�WKH�)LUVW�%DSWLVW�&KXUFK�LQ�$PHULFD ������������)HEUXDU\�������9ROXPH�����,VVXH���

Greetings church ~

This month, we approach a full year of living in a pandemic-altered reality. These past months changed the way we worship, learn, work, and breathe. Our worlds both shrunk to the footprint of our households and expanded globally with the reach of online life in our palms.

As we move towards the promise of spring, we continue to explore togeth-er what it means to be the Beloved Community. How do we, as Lorretta Ross challenges us, go beyond calling people out, and do the deeper work of calling people in? Our challenge is to move beyond performance and begin to participate in being the church in the world. This month, you are invited to do this in a number of ways. On February 11th, Corey Johnston will lead a zoom Bible study on Ecclesiastes 7, offering us a contextual study on its approach to loss and life. Many have already signed up to par-ticipate in the Delightful Church project, a Feb-May online collaboration between Baptist churches from Providence, Philadelphia, Savannah, and Austin. More information is available about each of these opportunities elsewhere in the newsletter.

During our worship services, we will examine grounding virtues inspired by the work of On Being that can foster the Beloved Community we aim to be and to build. These grounding virtues encompass our words and our listening, hospitality, humility, patience, and humanity. Heaven will not build itself, friends. God invites each of us to participate in making it man-ifest here on earth. We do not know what the next year will bring, but we can equip ourselves to be God’s disciples and begin to shape the world around us by beginning to live now as if God’s realm were already here. This is how we bring heaven, the Beloved Community, to earth.

Peace,

Pastor Jamie

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The First Baptist Church in America Jamie Washam, Pastor 75 North Main Street Stephen Martorella, Minister of Music Providence, RI 02903 Holly Edwards, Administrative Assistant Phone: 401-454-3418 Anne Gagan, Bookkeeper E-Mail: [email protected] Tony Zambarano, Sexton Website: www.fbcia.org Damion Burgin, Sunday Sexton Ann-Marie Bausserman, Office Relief Secretary Ivy Bermudez, Child Care Worker Haley Jamroz Baccaire, ASL Interpreter

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