notes & news, thoughts & views · 2021. 1. 14. · notes & news, thoughts & views...

American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware

Notes & News,Thoughts & ViewsFor ABCOPAD Churches fromRegional Executive Pastor Rev. Frank Frischkorn

Volume 32, Number 1 January, 2021

Greetings in the LORD!American columnist and author from the twentieth century, Bill Vaughan had the following to say about the celebration of a New Year:

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.

So what camp were you in last week as the ball dropped in Times Square?

By nature, I’m an optimist, but the events of 2020 put me in the pessimist camp when it came to the turning of the calendar this year. I was more concerned with showing 2020 the ‘boot’ than I was about welcoming 2021 with open arms—just being honest here.

And my guess is that I’m not alone in this. All of us have had more than our fill of 2020 and it is easy to lock our gaze in on saying ‘goodbye’ to the year that was, but the question I have to ask myself—and each of you—is this: what is it that we long to see in 2021?

David, the Psalmist, shared the following in Psalm 65:11, as he considered God’s crafting of a new year:

You crown the year with your bounty,And your carts overflow with abundance.

A reverberating ‘OUCH!’ echoes from my soul as I look at my heart’s perspective on 2021 in comparison to King David’s. For David, he looked at the year before him as one encircled—hemmed in—by the bounty of the LORD. It was a harvest ready to be reaped, a treasure ready to be discovered, with the carts dripping with the abundance that fell from the grace and goodness of God’s Hands.

For me, after the last nine months of all things Covid-19, I have to admit that it is far easier to live in the mindset of scarcity rather than abundance. To cling to what isn’t and

wasn’t rather than to long for what can be. To wait for the next shoe to drop rather than to be confident in the One who holds the future. It’s a subtle trap for us as individuals and for us as congregations, and I for one don’t want to live that way as 2021 unfolds, and I pray you will choose not to live that way either. May the Lord grant us ‘heavenly eyes’ to see what He is doing in our midst in spite of the lingering effects of this pandemic. May we be people that experience this year as one of bounty and abundance as we entrust ourselves into His ever-faithful Hands. May we choose to follow the admonition of the Apostle Paul as he wrote to the believers in Philippi:

May 2021 be the ‘year of our LORD’ in the way that we live and the way that we trust in God’s provision and presence.To God be the glory,

Frank


Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Johnson Regional Pastor with Congregations 888-687-0883 [email protected]

Last May, it became clear the COVID-19-19 pandemic wasn’t going away in just a couple months. But, I NEVER imagined that this COVID-19-19 crisis would last through the rest of 2020 and be carried over into this new year. BUT, now different than then, there is light (some) at the end of this tunnel. Therefore, for churches, this is a more critical time than ever to be examining ourselves and our churches and preparing

our people for the ‘what then?’ when the end of COVID-19 comes, and it will end.

With new things now in place that there wasn’t a year ago this month, some things no longer being done that were a year ago, and several other things adjusted and adapted from what they were once or the way they were once done, we need to be REALLY careful about the ‘going back’ mentality to the old patterns and previous practices, doing it the way it once was, as I believe there’s NO going back!

I’ve been SO impressed how so many of our pastors and churches have stepped up and stepped into the breach that COVID-19-19 has created in order to maintain connections with and among their congregants and their congregations with their communities, in ways they never could have imagined just. They had to build the plane once it took off unexpectedly and was in the air. I have to believe God is pleased!

This month I am going to change the order of what I shared nine months ago. This order now seems more appropriate in the present reality we are living.

PRAY … #1 LORD, what would you like us to STRENGTHEN? This is asking God what we are doing right now, especially what we are doing new that He wants us to continue to do just better and bigger. “Strengthen” Revelation 3:2. But, don’t rush it! Yellow means to slow down, not speed

up. Take what we have put into place, maybe just because of this pandemic, and expand it. Enhance your new components of ministry and enlarge them. Make them bigger, make them better. Quality results in quantity. “God added …” because they did it right (Acts 2). Don’t focus on ‘what had been’ but more on ‘what is now and could be’. These are exhausting days. That is true. BUT, these are exciting days too, like the Days of Elijah (I Kings) that was during a period of national crisis.

THEN PRAY … #2 LORD, what would you like us to STOP? What do we need to stop? What do we need NOT to resume? Though we have been forced, no fault of our own, to stop a number of regular activities, this might be when we both seize the moment and cease some ministries that we haven’t

been doing for months. The scriptures speak to this very truth, “Old things are put away” II Corinthians 5:17. It is time to celebrate and to sunset ministries that have served their purpose in the past. Now, “let ‘em go!”

THEN PRAY … #3 LORD, what would you like us to START? When restrictions are lifted, and some normalcy returns, we need to be careful not to just fill the vacuum with what has been. The path has been cleared of some of the past. We are ready to move into the future. The scriptures say, a quote from

the LORD Himself, “Behold, I do a new thing” Isaiah 43:19. It shouldn’t take a worldwide pandemic to get us to try something different but I’m glad it has. As Winston Churchill said, “Never waste a crisis!” God already has in mind what He wants to do (John 6:6).

The mere existence of your church right now, when some churches HAVE CLOSED (more than 70) because of this crisis, means God still has something for y’all to do if y’all will do it. You need to decide what makes your congregation different and distinct from every other church (if nothing else, just the people who make up the congregation that no other congregation has but yours alone). If being ‘wonderfully made’ (Psalm 139:14) is true of us individually, couldn’t that be, wouldn’t that be, and for sure it also is true of us congregationally?

I NOW believe these prayer(s) must be done in this NEW sequence. You can’t honestly ask God to do a ‘new thing’ if you are too encumbered with ‘old things’. Sadly, some will simply wait out the virus. They are just biding time to go back to the way things have been. Ask yourself honestly, how effective was all that we were doing?

Use this time proactively. Use this time productively (Ephesians 5:16). This crisis WILL become a memory and a memorial. Don’t let your church become one!

Rev. Mark Mahserjian-Smith Regional Pastor for Mission and Communication 570-435-2001 [email protected]

Mark 2:21-22 — 21) “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment.

Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22) And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

Over the last several months it has been a joy witnessing the many innovations churches have made, making ministry possible in the midst of the pandemic. Ministry and Mission have expanded in ways that were unimaginable prior to the arrival of the Coronavirus. As people experience immense grief and loss with the loss of jobs, loved ones gravely ill, the death of family members or friends and so much more, pastoral and congregational leaders forged new ways to minister to those both inside and outside the church. Using a variety of methods including both technological and safe in-person innovations, church family after church family tried new strategies to share the Christmas message and BE the hands and feet of Jesus. A simple scan of our ABCOPAD Facebook Page and website offers numerous examples of these innovations forged at our local churches. Allow me to share two specific examples that were passed along to our Regional Staff. Pastor Melody Walden, lead pastor at the New Covenant Baptist Church in Pottstown used an FM transmitter for the first time to do a parking lot Christmas Eve service. Despite a significant storm with heavy rain, the church family gathered in the parking lot to listen to the service and at the close of the event sang Silent Night while lifting high their electric candles. (You can find pictures of this event and a short recap of the service on our ABCOPAD Facebook Page.)

Tom Parkins, a member of the Calvary Baptist Church of Newark, Delaware (Rev. Dr. Corey Fields, lead pastor) explained in an email message how the “Christmas For All, the homeless, lonely or hungry” service that was threatened to be canceled due to the pandemic found new life through innovation. Far from being canceled, the service not only moved forward in the parking lot of a local hotel but also provided necessary meals for those in need. (You can read more of this story and view pictures on our ABCOPAD Facebook Page.)


Seeing all the innovations taking place at our local churches, Jesus’ words about new wine in old wineskins keep coming to mind. I have been so grateful and thankful for all the “New Wine” created in the midst of ministry during the pandemic. The new wine of mission and ministry is significant and valuable in our culture right now. Often this new wine is, for many churches, their most relevant, culturally connected ministry taking place in the life of the church.

My fear is, with the promise of a vaccine now being distributed and hopefully relief from the pandemic coming soon, the temptation will be to take the “New Wine” and try to simply pour it into the “Old Wineskins” of church program and structure. In the end, my fear is the new wine and the wineskin will be damaged or destroyed.

As we begin this New Year, my hope is, for all our churches, that they will continue to create and value their “new wine” but also craft new wineskins moving into the future. My hope is our churches will find ways to adopt and make permanent the numerous changes they’ve made, continuing to be connected and relevant to our current culture. For many of our church families it will be tempting to return to old structures and methods of ministry, losing or destroying the new wine created during the pandemic. May we express our gratitude for old wineskins of ministry but find the courage and resilience to create new wineskins in the new year.

Thank you for your partnership in ministry and thank you for the many ways you’ve been innovative and creative during the COVID-19 crisis. Know how much we as Regional Staff appreciate you.

God Bless, Mark


Sue Wilson RadelPastor, Forest, WinburneRegional Ministry Associate for Women in Ministry, [email protected]

Focus....On..... Me......

When Covid-19 first hit our shores and every media outlet, I felt what many people felt: fear. But, as a Christian rooted and established in Jesus Christ and the Word of God, I did what I knew best...I hit my knees, and raised my face (and concern) to the Father. I wish I could say revelation rained down on me, and that he enlightened me with understanding of what was happening in our world...but as you can probably guess, He didn’t. Instead, He spoke quietly these three words that have sustained me since that night in March. The Lord said “Focus on ME”.

I immediately felt reassured, and have rarely felt fear since then. Oh, I have had many ups and downs and felt many emotions in the face of so many unknowns, but not fear. I have taken those

words to heart, and applied them to every situation I have encountered. But, I will admit I have uttered a few “Lord, you couldn’t have given me just a BIT more than three words?” But deep down, I know it’s enough. Clinging to Jesus has been and always will be the lifeline and hope we need in this world.

We have just begun a new year, one bursting with new beginnings, new possibilities and new challenges and yes, maybe even some new losses. However, we can be assured that by seeking God above all earthly things, He will provide all of our needs, He is our God, we are His children, and what He won’t deliver us from, He will walk us through. Focus on Him!

I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:4

In Christ,Sue

Allegheny RiverThe congregation at Port Allegheny bid Pastor Mike and Angie Culver a fond farewell. Pastor Mike officially retired as pastor of the church on Dec. 31st. He preached his final sermon from I Corinthians 13, entitled “The Last Message”. The Culvers have served the congregation and community since 2003. While Mike pastored the church, Angie worked at the nearby Senior Center.

BeaverThe Lighthouse of Faith, Canton, invited its membership to a 21-day fast, that began Jan 1. It’s an opportunity to get alone with the Lord, using a daily devotional guide “Open My Eyes.”

Central UnionRoyersford held a “virtual” Christmas Pageant. Participants sent photos and videos of themselves in their best homemade nativity costume. An entire segment featured pets from members of the church (yes, you read that right!). Pictures were then assembled into a video format, and the pageant was presented

at their Christmas Eve service. Joy to the world!

Pastor Dan McDowell, GraceCrossing Community, Phoenixville, received a message from his daughter, who lives in New York City, that the homeless shelter near her home was planning a Christmas celebration for the residents. Though they could provide a holiday meal, Pastor Dan’s daughter was wondering if his congregation could help with providing presents to the many resident children. The response was overwhelming. The items donated in such a short window of time filled numerous tables in the church’s fellowship hall. Pastor Dan and his wife Terri drove the items Christmas Eve to the shelter following the church’s evening service. ALL OF THIS with less than a 24-hour turnaround!

Sing We Now of Christmas! The Baptist Church of West Chester prepared an online “album” of seasonal music performed by members of the congregation. A lovely compilation of songs celebrating the season!

CentreMount Zion, Altoona, ushered out the old year and welcomed in the new during an online Watchnight Service on New Year’s Eve. Reverend Carla Gregory-Beckton, Associate Minister at Mount Zion, brought The Word as the church took time together online to talk to God about their individual and congregational successes and their challenges. They spoke of their hopes for the New Year.

DelawareCalvary, Newark, held its Annual Youth Christmas Party (outdoors!). It was a festive gathering as youth came together wearing their ugly Christmas sweaters AND Christmas-themed face masks. Hey, no humbugs allowed!

HarrisburgKudos to FBC, Gettysburg. The Shoebox Team and FBC volunteers recently gathered for their first church-wide Shoebox Packing Party for Operation Christmas Child. They packed 581 shoeboxes! You might imagine the joy on the faces of so many children.

News From our Associations (www.abcopad.org)


Westgate, Lancaster, has been meeting out in the parking lot, due to covid restrictions. They have had up to 50 cars on their parking lot with multiple people in one vehicle. Attendees include folks from their own congregation, as well as visitors from the area. Just a couple of weeks ago, the congregation welcomed 10 people into church membership.

NorthumberlandCongratulations to the White Hall church who has called John McCarty to serve as their new pastor.

RiversideUpper Merion church invited members to participate in a “virtual” 12 Days of Christmas Caroling Video Project. Participants made selfie-videos singing the Twelve Days of Christmas. They used props, pets and whatever. The submissions were then edited into a single video and shown on Sunday, Dec. 20.

At Upland church, members were invited to send a single Christmas Card and cash donation. Cards were hung on the Church Christmas tree and donor names were listed in the bulletin. Donations were used to provide a meal for the Upland Police Department and also the Upland Fire Company.

Feb. 2021 Deadline: Items to be included in the Feb. issue of Notes & News need to arrive by 5 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 4.

Please send all material to Denise Veselicky. Mail: ABCOPAD 159 N. Bellefield Ave. Pittsburgh, PA 15213-2609 Email: [email protected] Phone: 888-687-0883 Fax: 412-687-3941

Thank you!Donna L. Schneff, [email protected]


Pittsburgh Baptist Association 159 N Bellefield Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15213

Pastor Sue Wilson-Radel, ABCOPAD’s Regional Ministry Associate

and advocate for Women in Ministry and Dr. Jeff Johnson,

ABCOPAD’s Regional Pastor with Congregations, invite you to a

special online presentation on the evening of Thursday, January 28

from 7 to 9 p.m. During that time, we will be looking at the

justification and affirmation of Women serving in Pastoral Ministry looking at the biblical, cultural, societal,

and just plain logical perspectives. During the two-hour session, historical narratives will be given of women

called into ministry who changed their world then and still impact our world today.

EVERYONE IS INVITED! Those who should attend include individuals needing an

affirmation to ministry, those feeling a potential call to ministry, and those who have just

wondered, “Is it okay for women to be pastors?” The presentation will be both a time of

information and inspiration. You won’t want to miss this! You’ll be glad you attended. It

could change your life and/or your mind! Visit www.abcopad.org to register.

Any specific concerns that you would like to see addressed can be emailed to either Pastor

Sue Wilson-Radel at [email protected] or Dr. Jeff Johnson at [email protected]

prior to the presentation.

Christian Education & Old Testament Starting January 30, 2021 - 8-10 am & 10:15 am- 12:15 pm

https://actschristianleaders.wordpress.com

For further information contact Rev. Ruth Moore: [email protected]

Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Pittsburgh, PA Permit No. 379

Address Service Requested

http://www.abcopad.org/

mailto:sradel@abcopad.

mailto:[email protected]

https://actschristianleaders.wordpress.com/

mailto:[email protected]

notes & news, thoughts & views · 2021. 1. 14. · notes & news, thoughts & views...

Documents