August Birthdays

4 Lori Bowers

8 Andy Bowers

9 Jenne Steffen

10 Dottie Dowman

12 Trudi Woods

14 Brittany Kesselhon

14 Donna Mentink

16 Dave Mentink

16 Denise Schmitz

18 Joy Veldboom

19 Myrna Lopas

21 April Bachorz

21 Robert Bell

21 Grace Zoglman

22 Mikayla Hoehne

23 Christi Lewis

29 Ellen Lehl

29 Luke Moravec

August Wedding Anniversaries

14 Trudi & Mike Woods

15 Joy & Brian Veldboom

16 Sheila & Rick Piunti

July 2011 Baptist Light Newsletter

Dearest Friends,
In some ways it feels like I have been pastor at Whiting Community Baptist Church for a very long time. Actually I have – 19 ½ years! I measure the length of my time by Leah Bowers. Leah was born the month after I came to WCBC. This coming fall Leah will be a sophomore in college! 19 ½ years is young for a person, but a long time in many other respects. Did you know that the average length of a pastor serving a church is around four years?
At the same time it seems like only yesterday that I began my ministry at WCBC. However, all I have to do is look at pictures of myself back then and compare them to the present time to know that it has indeed been almost 20 years. Where has the time gone? And what happened to that mustache? . . .and the brown hair?
I remember preaching at WCBC long before I was called here to be your pastor. It was in 1983, and I was a potential candidate for another church. I never dreamed that nine years later I would be called to pastor the Whiting Community Baptist Church. God works in wonderful and mysterious ways.
I consider myself extremely blessed to have been called to be your pastor. I have been in ministry since 1980 – 31 years. Well over half of those years have been at WCBC. I am amazed. And I am grateful. Thank you for granting me the privilege of being your pastor!
A pastor’s role is very unique. Preaching and teaching are a big part of it, and I have certainly enjoyed that aspect of my ministry. Thanks for listening all these years! But more important than the preaching and the teaching are the relationships that develop over the years. I think of the many ways that I have been invited into your lives. I have had the great privilege of dedicating your children, baptizing your youth, officiating at your weddings. I have had the holy privilege of sitting with you during hospital stays for yourself or for a loved one, being with you in times of crisis, and walking with you through the death of one you held dear. You have let me into the most intimate circumstances of your lives – in times of joy and sadness, in times of grief and pain, in times of celebration and thanksgiving. I do not take these privileges for granted. I hold them in awe and thank you for trusting me with such experiences. They were a blessing to me.
You are a very special congregation. I will forever hold you in my heart with joy and thanksgiving. We have shared many special times together. I have been truly blessed and honored to have served God with you through the Whiting Community Baptist Church. Thank you for that honor.
I now pray that God will bless and encourage you as a congregation; that you may always know how special you are in his eyes. Continue to trust in God and follow God’s leading. May God’s peace and hope fill your hearts in this present time and in the days ahead.
The words of the Apostle Paul at the end of his first letter to the Corinthians are also my words to you as I conclude my ministry with you: “May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love to all of you in Christ Jesus.”

Love,
Pastor Jim

Vacation Bible School

Imagine yourself in a Judean Marketplace around 29 AD. The buzz in the marketplace is that Christ is journeying close by and may be coming. Come to the Marketplace and
· SMELL the aromas of bakeries
· HEAR the sounds of workers and animals.
· SEE the villagers in Bible-times attire
· EXPERIENCE learning the occupational skills of the times
· JOURNEY with the caravan to visit the great storyteller
· SING AND DANCE Israeli folk dances
· WRITE Hebrew in the Scribes Shops and make many other Bibletime crafts in the Marketplace.
The Marketplace will be held in Faith United Methodist Church from 6:00 pm until 8:15 pm, each evening on July 31 through August 4, 2011. Marketplace AD is a co-ministry of Whiting Community Baptist Church and Faith United Methodist Church. For more information, call Trudi Woods or Holly Robinson.

Upcoming VBS Preparation Schedule

Tuesday, June 28 @ 6:00 - kitchen crew
Thursday, June 30 @ 6:00 - marketplace shopkeepers
Sunday, July 17 @ 10:30 - drama team
Sunday, July 17 - set up begins
Tuesday, July 26 @ 6:00 - tribal leaders
Sunday, July 31 @ 4:30 - KICKOFF DINNER
Sunday, July 31 @ 6:00 - VBS BEGINS!!

List of food items needed will be available on Sunday, July 3rd.

Other items needed: fabric scraps of all sizes and colors, buttons of all sizes and colors, empty kleenex boxes (long, flat boxes), wire hangers, brown paper bags or brown packing paper.

July Birthdays

2 Grace Bell
6 Heather Rose
6 Jeremy Rose
8 Zachery Woods
11 Barb Bell
12 Joe Najodowski
17 Hsar Say Paw
18 Rachel Luebker
20 Paw Yu Lee Goggin
21 Jim Schmitz
24 Brianna Demarais
24 Kathy Schroder
31 Jessica Gulbrandsen

July Anniversaries

23 Denise & Jim Schmitz
27 Lori & Fritz Bowers
29 Kathy & Joe Najdowski