E-Link Online -- News of the American Baptist Churches of Michigan

Voices

"The order and disorder which intertwine in the process of the world show that the universe upheld by the divine Word is not a clear cold cosmos whose history is the inevitable unfolding of an invulnerable plan. It is a world kept in being by the divine Juggler rather than by the divine Structural Engineer, a world whose precarious process speaks of the free gift of Love. We are accustomed to think of the vulnerability accepted by the Word in the incarnation, a vulnerability potentially present in the baby lying in the manger and realized to the full in the man hanging on the cross. What is there revealed of the divine in the human life of Jesus is also to be discerned in the cosmic story of creation." -- Physicist and Anglican priest John Polkinghorne, in his book Science and Creation: The Search for Understanding (Templeton Foundation), Times Literary Supplement, 12/14/07 -- cited in Context, July 2008

Arrivals, Departures, Celebrations, Concerns

§ First Baptist Church, Davison, has called an additional pastor, the Rev. Chris Radcliffe. He joins Dr. James Unger on the church staff.

§ Essexville Baptist Community Church recently celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their present building. Dr. Jerry Cain, president of Judson College, was guest speaker. Huntley Brown gave a concert. The Rev. Richard I. Kinnamon is pastor at Essexville. See pictures of the occasion at http://tinyurl.com/6lle5p.

Karen Moschenrose on Xtreme Team in Thailand

Karen Moschenrose, daughter of the Revs. Jane and Philip Moschenrose, is part of an eleven-member Xtreme Team now doing outreach in Thailand.

American Baptist International Ministries' Xtreme Team Mission Adventure Program has sent the group of young adults and leaders to do mission outreach in Thailand for the summer. The training, trip and debriefing of the xtraordinary xperience last from June 12 through July 12.

Upon completion, the Team will share its xperience at the World Mission Conference, July 18-20 in Medford, OR. For American Baptist young adults, the Xtreme Team enables them to Xperience the adventure of cross-cultural mission service.

Karen is blogging about her Xtreme xperiences at http://www.xtremeteamonline.org/people/2486

Bibles, Bibles, Everywhere....

Americans buy more than 20 million new Bibles every year to add to the four that the average American has at home.... Yet the state of American biblical knowledge is abysmal. A Gallup survey found that less than half of Americans can name the first book of the Bible, only a third know who delivered the Sermon on the Mount (Billy Graham is a popular answer), a quarter do not know what is celebrated at Easter ... 60 percent cannot name half the Ten Commandments....

There are about 900 English translations of the Bible, ranging from the grandiloquent to the colloquial. There are translations into languages, such as Inupiat and Gullah, that are spoken only by handfuls of people; a couple of eccentric geeks have even translated the Bible into Klingon, a language spoken only by scrofulous space aliens on Star Trek....

Thomas Nelson publishes 60 different editions of the Bible every year. The Good Book now comes in all colors, including those of your college. There are Bibles for every sort of person, from 'seekers' to cowboys, from brides to barmen. There is a waterproof outdoor Bible and a camouflage Bible for use in war zones. The '100-minute Bible' summarizes the Good Book for the time starved....

There are prayer books in everyday vernacular and even street slang ('And even though I walk through / the 'Hood of death / I don't back down / for you have my back'). In 2003 Thomas Nelson dreamt up the idea of Bible-zines -crosses between Bibles and teenage magazines. The pioneer was Revolve, which intercuts the New Testament with relationship advice ('Are you dating a Godly guy?')....

There are toddler-friendly version of the most famous Bible stories. The Boy's Bible promises 'gross and gory Bible stuff.' The Picture Bible looks like a superhero comic book. God's Little Princess Devotional Bible is pink and sparkly. -- The Economist (economist.com), 12/22/07, quoted in Context, July 2008

"School's Out" Party at Stockbridge

by Angie Stolarz, Director of Children's Ministry, First Baptist Church, Stockbridge

First Baptist Church of Stockbridge is in a very small town farming community. As a church focused on reaching the unchurched we try to think of ways that will be non-threatening and fun to attract those who have their mind made up that church is boring and irrelevant. With that in mind, what day do kids look forward to the most? The answer to that question is the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL! We wanted to share their joy and excitement of their accomplishment. So on the last day of school for the past two years our church has thrown a "School's Out" Party.

We advertized in the paper and sent flyers to the schools. Everything is FREE! We served hotdogs, popcorn, and ice-cream sundaes. We had waterslides, a moonwalk, kiddie pools, and a dunk tank filled with teachers, and principals for the kids to dunk. Inside our kids room we served the food,Ýhad face painting, and a raffle to win prizes. The raffle ticket had to include name, address, phone number, and email address. This was a great way to get info on kids and send aÝ"Hope you have a great summer"Ýpost card in the mail. We also had a table set up for Vacation Bible School registration, and a table full of prizes that the kids could take home at the end of the party, including balloons. Sponge Bob even showed up to celebrate Summer. We talked with the schools to see if Sponge Bob could visit the classrooms just as school was ending inviting them to come, after that he stood at our four corners in town inviting, and catching the eye of our local newspaper, resulting in a front page photo.

This was a great way to connect with parents, show them our awesome kids room (Discovery Island), and let them know how much we love kids, and let them know that Jesus can be fun. We had almost 600 people attend. It was so cool to see the excitement and thrill of kids having fun their first timeÝin God's House.

Contact Angie Stolarz at thehaircutgirl@hotmail.com

Short Notices

American Baptist clergywomen have planned a one-day conference at St. Francis Retreat Center, DeWitt, on September 30, 2008. Led by the Rev. Dr. Mary Ellen Ashcroft, the event is called Quickening the Art Spirit: Kindling and Encouraging Vitality of Faith Through Questing, Quieting, Creating. The brochure and registration form are available in two PDF files: here and here. Dr. Ashcroft is chaplain and professor of English at Kalamazoo College. She is known as a scholarly storyteller whose books allow readers to live alongside Jesus and followers such as Mary Magdalene, Lydia, and Martha.

Camp Lael is looking for few people to serve on their board. Have you had a passion for camping? Have you or your families had fun or been enriched by attending camp? We meet a minimum of four times a year and enjoy working for God's outdoor kingdom. If you are interested in serving, contact Gary Vanek at vangm@aol or 248-585-9377. Sixty percent of the board members must be American Baptists.

The current issue of Prayer Call for ABC International Ministries is online at http://abc-mi.org/elink/prayer-call.pdf.

The Friendship House Newsletter is now provided in both PDF and DOC formats. The DOC format is a much smaller file and will take much less time to acquire on slow dialup connections. Read it in PDF at http://abc-mi.org/elink/fh.pdf or in DOC format at http:abc-mi.org/fh.doc.

The next issue of E-Link Online will be published on July 14, 2008. Please send news items and notices to the Editor (editor@abc-mi.org) by July 10.

Editor's Trips

Disclaimer: listing of these references does not imply endorsement of positions or policies advocated in them by either the American Baptist Churches of Michigan or the editor of E-Link Online. They are provided here for further thought, discussion, and inquiry. Caveat lector. Suggestions for "Trips" and readers' comments are welcome. Send to editor@abc-mi.org.

The Editor

»»  Atheist China is now the world's leading Bible publisher. Most of the output is for domestic use. See http://tinyurl.com/44pmps.
»»  Most Americans have a non-dogmatic approach to faith. See all the data in Pew Forum's latest research: http://tinyurl.com/3uc9mk. See also this PBS interview: http://tinyurl.com/5v25zv.
»»  Much "gospel" preaching ignores the Four Gospels, according to N.T. Wright. See what one of the world's leading New Testament scholars has to say: http://tinyurl.com/6yyzao. [Highly recommended. JIM].
»»  Young people are tired of personality-driven churches, according to this article: http://tinyurl.com/5ltnxe.
»»  Downturn in economy hits church contributions. Here's the story: http://tinyurl.com/5vakn3. What's your experience?
»»  Arizona pastors urge compassion toward immigrants. See http://tinyurl.com/5p66nr.
»»  The practice of democracy in Baptist churches can trump the practice of the Gospel, according to Charles Poole. See his comments at http://tinyurl.com/3pfemd.

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