Winn’s Messenger

Published for Members and Friends of Winn’s Baptist Church 12320 Winn’s Church Road, Glen Allen, VA 23059 Phone: (804) 798.5512 ● Fax: (804) 752.2401 ● Web: www.winnsbc.org

May 2012

Dear Church Family and Friends, Winn’s has a long history of emphasis on Children’s ministry. When I had already been called to serve as Senior Pastor here, but before I officially reported for duty, I came to look in on the Vacation Bible School that was taking place at that time. I was very impressed! Before that, as my wife and I were considering the possibility of coming to serve here, understanding ourselves the importance of Children’s ministry, we decided to see if the church would be willing to start an AWANA program. When we arrived a few minutes early for the meeting with the pulpit committee, they told us to come on in, some of our folks were just discussing how they could get an AWANA program started! I had served with Cheryl Chadwick in the Children’s ministry at Grove Avenue Baptist Church and knew what a good program she established and led there. I also knew that Jeff Chadwick was feeling led to enter ministry at that season of his life. They were both working secular jobs in Texas at the time. As soon as our church had grown to the point where we could do it, I asked our people to call them here to Winn’s to serve with us. It was a big step, but we did it. Though we could only afford to put Cheryl in a part-time position at the time, she began to build on the good work that was already being done and parlay it into a first class program that would be the envy of many larger churches. When the Chadwick’s felt led to plant The Church on The Avenue, while everyone was excited for them in this new opportunity, some were concerned about the future of our excellent Children’s program. Everyone liked it the way it was, including me! I was confident, that if the Lord was leading Cheryl to a new opportunity, He certainly had someone in mind to keep everything rolling in the same direction here at Winn’s. As I began to think through and pray about the possibilities, and after discussing it with a number of people, I came to the conclusion that the best way to carry it on as it was, was to call on our own Dana Osborne to lead it. She was already on staff as Cheryl’s assistant, and has been involved in so many aspects of our program as a volunteer as well. When I presented the Staff Reconfiguration Plan in February, some questioned the wisdom in asking for approval so early in the year for a change that might possibly not take place until September or later. My motivation at the time was to dispel the cloud of uncertainty that was hanging over us as the church knew that some major changes were necessitated by the planting of TCOTA, and so that in each case a smooth transition could be planned. It is now obvious that the timing was Providential! We were all anticipating that Cheryl would return to teaching in the school system, which is what she always did when she wasn’t doing Children’s ministry full-time, so that she could be with her husband’s new church every Sunday. God worked it out so that she could work for the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia, our state convention. Though Children’s ministry is not her assigned responsibility there, they are well aware of her expertise and experience in the area, and will plug her in as opportunities arise. They needed her to start a.s.a.p., so it was great that we had everything worked out and ready to roll! For me, Children’s ministry is not simply an area that we need to cover. It is an opportunity to greatly affect the lives of people at a crucial time in their development. By introducing them to Christ and teaching them His Word while they are still young, we can help them avoid the many mines that the devil has laid for them, and assist in setting them on a course for a meaningful and productive life for Christ. We must excel, and I am confident that we will. With love for His little ones, Pastor Jeff

A HUGE Thank-You goes to everyone who

helped with the Egg Hunt this year!

Every person who served in this ministry

did such an awesome job- everything

went like clockwork. This ministry event

was such a testament to the body of

Christ coming together to serve

our community!

Remember the Jerusalem Marketplace?

Winn’s VBS Presents:

Paul and the Underground Church

VBS week of August 5th – 10th, 2012 There will be a VBS Meeting & Training on Thursday, May 3rd, 2012 7pm in the Winn’s Fellowship Hall. We’ll have door prizes, games, prayer and refreshments. To volunteer for this incredible opportunity (there is something for everyone) please sign up at the Welcome Center or contact Dana Osborne 798-5512 x26 or email her at dosborne@winnsbc.org.

Do you have a hobby, gift or talent you would like to share with kids? How about spending 3 hours over the course of 3 Wednesday nights

this summer in “WOW”? It can be anything- things like sports, playground games, sketching, a musical talent. Don’t miss this chance to have a

lot of fun by sharing the gifts God has given you with this next generation. For more information contact

Dana Osbonre 798-5512 x26 or email dosborne@winnsbc.org

If you enjoy being with younger children call Mary Lutz @ 798-5513 to volunteer in Preschool “WOW” this summer.

This is a great opportunity for those who can’t serve during the school year to spend time with the kids and allow our school-year Preschool, Children’s

and Student Ministry leaders a chance to take some adult classes.

Please prayerfully consider where you would like to serve.

Elementary Children’s Department Fishin’ Trip

Who: 1st – 5th graders and their Families

When: Saturday, May 5th 2012 from 10am – 2pm

Come and enjoy fishin’ & a picnic with your Sunday School & Children’s Church Teachers &

classmates, at the home of the Duke’s 11066 Holly Berry Rd, Ashland VA 23059 (its 2.06 miles

from the Church).

You Can Bring: A fishin’ pole (if you have one) or any outdoor activities such as mitts, balls,

Frisbees, etc.

PICNIC LUNCH AND BAIT WILL BE PROVIDED

Sign up at the Welcome Center or in Children’s Church

Mother’s Day Children’s Church

The Elementary Children’s Church, for grades 1st – 5th is inviting the Mothers,

Grandmothers, Aunts or female relative to join their children for a very special

Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 13th 2012

Good Morning Church Family!

I cannot believe that the year is passing so fast. But you know what they say – “time flies when you are

having fun!” It doesn’t seem like my family has been at Winn’s for 8 months now, but we have. In the

8 months that we have been here there have been a lot of developments of which I have written about

in past articles, but one in particular that has come to pass in the last month I would like to brag on

God for His guidance and provision:

Last month when I wrote about Cheryl Chadwick going in the future to The Church on the

Avenue full-time, I meant in a volunteer capacity only instead of paid staff member. There was some

confusion caused by my wording and for that I apologize. But here is where the bragging on God

comes in! Thank the Lord that He provided our association (SBCV) with an opening that allowed Ms.

Cheryl to go full time there. We had been praying that our association would place a greater emphasis

on the importance of children’s ministry. Now in her new capacity of assisting with the maturing of

churches she will be a strong voice in that direction. Praise be to God for answering everyone’s prayers

in such a powerful way! She is now able to be at TCOTA every Sunday as she volunteers in heading up

their children’s ministry.

A second element to my bragging on God’s provision: We had no idea that all of this would take

place so quickly but God of course did and He led us to be prepared in selecting a successor in the

Children’s ministry director’s position. And now that has become more evident than ever with the

transition occurring this past week. Mrs. Dana Osborne is prepped and ready to hit the ground

running. God knew we would need her sooner than we did. I am grateful for continuity that the Lord

provided our church and our children’s ministry.

On a different note: I issued a challenge in January’s newsletter article concerning reading God’s

Word every day and I wanted to re-iterate just how much of a blessing it is to know and understand

God’s Word. That develops from actually reading it with the desire to see all that God wants us to

know in this life. I am loving it and I want to re-challenge you to pick up God’s Word today and read it

for yourself, you won’t be sorry that you did!

The Youth Lock-in:

I want to report on our 1st quarter evangelistic outreach that we had at the end of March. Because our

articles are written a month in advance, I didn’t have the opportunity to do so until now. We had 62

people participate in our Spring Lock-in at Church and the Midlothian Athletic Club. We had

everyone arrive at 6:30pm and get signed in and headed across the street to play a game of kick-ball

until it started raining so we packed up and went inside and had hamburgers and hotdogs followed by

a 28 minute video by Louie Giglio, a Youth Evangelist. We had 4 decisions for Christ that night! 3

guys and 1 girl accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. That is what it is all about right there!

From there we took 1 bus and the church van to MAC and had a blast until 6 am playing tennis,

racquetball, dodge ball, basketball, and board games. And we had Papa John’s pizza at midnight. I

was glad not to be driving the bus because 60 youth packed into the bus after sweating all night

wouldn’t have been pleasant. Ashley Cauthorne was gracious enough to bear that cross for the

team.

I also want to say a big thank you to Bruce & Renee Bingham, Jeff & Kathy Rector, Caleb & Jenna

Brauer, Tim & Amy Jones, Rachel Williams, Georgia Osborne, Cyndy Brauer, Cindy Rath, & Rachel

Madison for helping out and making this all possible!

Summer Camp:

Deposits were due in April 18th to reserve a spot for SBCV Studentz Camp @ Liberty University. If you

didn’t make the deadline, there is a possibility that we can secure a few more spots, but you must let

us know ASAP! (If funds are an issue please see me)

Youth Summer Schedule:

May 30th will be our last regular Youth Group Meeting of the spring.

Beginning on June 13th we will participate and assisting Mrs. Dana in the WOW Summer

programming here at Winn’s.

We will be having W.O.W (Winn’s on Wednesdays) each week except July 4th until August 22nd.

Also, we will be participating and assisting with Terrific Tuesdays (T.T.) which is every other week

starting June 19th until August 21st.

T.T. Exceptions: August 7th for VBS

Calling All World Changers Summer is fast approaching and so is our World Changers mission trip. If you are somewhere between 7th grade and a senior in college, don’t mind working hard, and love to have fun, you might be a World Changer. World Changers is a week-long mission trip where we share the love of Christ by making much needed home repairs for needy families. World Changers is scheduled for 7/23-7/28 and will be held in High Point, NC. Deposits have been made to hold spots and the cost to participate will be $190, which is due by May 15th. If you have questions, or would like to sign up, please contact Tommy Trexler at 804-572-3446. Spots are limited so please don’t delay.

Masterpiece & Little Lambs Choirs

last performance of the season will be

Sunday, May 6th evening service,

followed by celebration party.

Both choirs will resume practice the

first Sunday in October 2012.

Ladies, if you have ever wanted to shoot a gun, this is your chance! If you are experienced with firearms, this is a great opportunity to practice your shooting skills. If you have never shot a gun, this is a great opportunity to learn how to shoot and handle a gun. Our main emphasis is SAFETY, so there will be instruction and experienced shooters to help you. There will be several different types of firearms available for you to shoot. If you want to bring your own gun and ammo, please be sure that you bring your gun UNLOADED. This is very important as we want to assure your own safety as well as the safety of others. The cost of the event will be to bring an item for Operation Shoebox. Items include tooth paste ,tooth brushes, bar soap, plastic (not throw away) drinking cups, bowls or water bottles, small cars for boys all ages, small dolls for girls, school supplies, small stuffed toys for boys and girls, hard candy, scarves, hats gloves. Come out and enjoy an afternoon of shooting with fellow females and exercise your Constitutional right!

Here we are at the end of April and only one more month left for this Awana year. Where has all the time gone? Reflecting back over the past several months our clubbers have participated in Bible quizzing, a Grand Prix, and the Awana Sparky, and the Awana games. This year our Bible Quizzers did an amazing job participating in three events that challenged them to test their knowledge of the scriptures they learned in Awana. How many adults can recite scriptures word perfect or even answer multiple-choice questions under pressure while their coaches, parents, and people they do not know, observe the event. I know that I personally would not be able, so I commend our clubbers who participated in the events Awana offers. Even though our club did not bring home many awards, we did have one clubber receive high honors in the multiple-choice part of the competition.

During the Sparky and Awana games, we had two teams registered. Our Sparks team placed fourth place and the T&T team third. Competition during these events among all the churches is very tough…the clubber had their work cut out for them I commend them immensely along with the leaders for dedicating their time to teach the clubbers the games played. I also thank the parents for allowing the children to participate.

We held a penny race among the clubs and they raised $190.54 for support of adopt a club and the local Awana Missionary. What an awesome way to have the kids see how their support and donations goes to help a worthy cause. We are getting closer to our $1000 goal for adopt a club and support of our Awana Missionary.

I can hardly believe the Awana year is coming to a close, is it bad for me to want the year to continue through the summer, I do understand that the leaders do need a break to refuel. Speaking of refueling the annual Awana conference is coming around and our church is hosting the conference again this year. I hope that more leaders plan to attend this year. The theme for this conference is “Zoom Out -- There’s more to your Awana Club than meets the eye.” Whether you are a Cubbies® leader, T&T® a game director, Awana youth volunteer, or a pastor, you will benefit from the practical teaching, encouraging atmosphere and hands-on understanding an Awana Ministry Conference provides.

In April, both Mary and I had the pleasure of attending Commanders Collage 301 at the Awana headquarters in Streamwood, IL. This was very much a life changing experience for the both of us. The training was structured around leaving a Legacy, more on this in the next newsletter.

His Servant

Commander Jerry

Winn’s Baptist Church 12320 Winn’s Church Road Glen Allen, VA 23059 Address Service Request

Operation Christmas Child (Shoe Box) May: Plastic (reusable) Drinking Cups, Bowls or Water Bottles

June: Small Cars for Boys

Non-Profit Org.

U.S. Postage PAID Glen Allen, VA 23060

PERMIT #28