Good News Newsletter

Gift ideas for your church Budget ranges for each gift idea We also welcome your ideas for new projects!

The Betty Creech Memorial Scholarship was established in 1999 in memory of Mrs. Betty Creech, an active member of First Baptist Church until her passing in January of 1999. The Scholarship fund was established by one of her sons, Masatoshi Omiya, when he contributed $1,000 as seed money for the scholarship. This scholarship is designed to provide small supplemental scholarships for any persons related to the ministry of First Baptist Church. The scholarships would help to provide for books for a semester or cover similar expenses related to higher education. Betty Creech was a wonderful Christian woman, who loved her church family dearly and believed in education at the next level. To keep the memorial active in providing supplemental scholarships, further contributions are welcomed. This scholarship fund has aided many students related to the ministry of FBC over the years. If you would like to contribute to the Betty Creech Memorial Scholarship, please mail your contributions to the Church office and mark it Betty Creech Scholarship Fund. Contributions are accepted year-round. The Administration Ministry Focus Area appreciates your continued commitment to supporting the Betty Creech Memorial Scholarship Fund. Thank you for your prayerful consideration.

G ood N ews N ewsletter Rev. Dr. K. Scott Robertson Senior Pastor pastor@fbcmiddletown.org Weekly Live Stream from our website: www.fbcmiddletown.org and from our Facebook page and YouTube Channel Sunday School 9:15 AM Sunday Morning Worship 10:30 am Wednesday Bible Study at 2 pm Office Hours M-Th 9 am to 2 pm

It’s been a long cold winter for everyone (our heating bills are evidence) but the signs of spring are everywhere. The month of March brings the start of Lenten season and Community hosted the first of six Lenten luncheons on March 12. Many thanks to all those who helped. First United Methodist hosted the second one. Other churches participating include First Christian and St. Paul Church of Christ. First Baptist will host a second soup and sandwich luncheon on April 9. This all leads up to Holy Week. Maundy Thursday services will be here at First Baptist this year and will be open to the public. Community leaders are planning Easter morning breakfast, same as last year. Yes, we’ll have eggs! Looking ahead, we are planning to do a new family photo directory. Paula has started distributing signup sheets. Signups will begin in earnest in April. Photos will be taken in the month of May by Paula Cox. Hopefully, we can get this directory compiled and printed for distribution this summer. Our last photo directory was published in 2018. Community leadership is also planning to restart home communion for those who request it. By the way, you might have noticed a small change in communion. We now use a real loaf of bread at the altar.  Your Community leadership team: Tim Willis, Jean Back, Bob Allen, Jeannine Taylor and Jo Johnston.

Rev. Weber’s holistic concept of ministry – belief in the total person, care and love for all people – has always been manifested through his work with organizations in Middletown as well as his church. He has been very involved with the Alcoholics Anonymous group, has served on the Board of Directors of United Way, served on the Civil Service Commission and is one of the founders of the Council on Human Relations. He served on various boards of American Baptists at the State and National level and was president of the Middletown Ministerial Association – to name a few! Excerpt from: Anniversary Service and History, August 10, 2008, by then Church Historian Evelyn Dell.

G ood N ews N ewsletter Rev. Dr. K. Scott Robertson Senior Pastor pastor@fbcmiddletown.org Weekly Live Stream from our website: www.fbcmiddletown.org and from our Facebook page and YouTube Channel Sunday School 9:15 AM Sunday Morning Worship 10:30 am Wednesday Bible Study at 2 pm Office Hours M-Th 9 am to 2 pm

It is so appropriate that the Discipleship Focus Group reports to the congregation in February for it is the month when First Baptist is involved in its biggest hands-on mission. Many of you reading this will have been a part of serving those that find themselves homeless as we hosted SHALOM for the week of February 16th-23rd. For this week, we opened our Celebration Center to house, feed, and share the love of Jesus with 40+ different guests. This endeavor had over 65 people providing food and supplies, chaperoning during the evenings or through the overnight, driving guests to and from the check-in location and keeping the facility clean and ready. Our children and young adults got involved by making trail mix and breakfast casseroles as well as doing artwork for decorations. Think of this supported by even more involved in prayer for this endeavor. We also had several community neighbors call and ask to join us. The week brings many challenges but also many blessings. God is present.