Old Greenbrier Baptist ChurchPO Box 456Alderson, WV 24910Pastor: Rev. Dr. Bill Bryan(304) 646-8631Ministers of Music:Dell & Nancy WoodCarolyn Holliday Treasurer:Charlotte MeltonCongregational Visitor:Peggy BollenbachOfficial Board, ChairBob LaRueStreet Address:301 North Monroe St.Church Phone:(304) 445-7854

Old GreenbriER

Baptist News2015

Non-ProfitPostage PermitNo. 32

Volume XVII No. VII

Church website: http://oldgreenbrierbaptistchurch.typepad.com/

Forwarding Service Requested

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S

HEARTThe Fourth of July always brings many friends and family home for the big Alderson

celebration. Be sure to gather for worship on July 5 as we celebrate both the great freedom we have in Christ Jesus and the freedom we have to worship him in the United States. We must never take our freedom for granted. When we do, we risk losing that freedom. SonSpark VBS – July is our month for Vacation Bible School. Donna Simms will serve as our VBS Director of

SonSpark Labs the week of July 19. We are thankful for her leadership

and for the many volunteers who support this annual ministry outreach.Nigerian Blessing – Thank you for allowing me a week to go with a team to Nigeria. Please read the article relating my experience in this newsletter. I will show slides and talk about this trip on Wednesday, July 8 at 6:30pm. I hope you will be there to hear about what God is doing in Nigeria.Keeping Warm – As I write this article we are six months away from Christmas and our annual round of severely cold weather. We are all trying to keep cool rather than warm! However, cold weather will come. This past winter we were plagued by water leaks into our fuel oil tank that prevented us from heating our church on several occasions. Now is the time for us to replace this tank. We will meet as a church after worship on July 5 to vote on a recommendation from our Official Board regarding fixing this problem. Please plan to be present and to support this necessary effort with both your vote and your giving.

Guest Organist in July

The next Men’s Community Prayer Breakfast will be Saturday, August 1st at 8am at Johnson Memorial United Methodist Church.

During the month of July our sanctuary choir traditionally goes on vacation. This will be the case again this year. However, this time Carolyn Holliday, our church organist, will join them on vacation. We truly appreciate Carolyn's dedication in playing the organ so beautifully and faithfully. We hope she is blessed by this time of rest.While Carolyn enjoys her time off, our organ will be played by the capable hands and feet of our own Brennan Wood. We look forward to hearing him play to the glory of God each Sunday in July. We also anticipate at least one mother/son duet as Nancy continues to play the

3 – Chad McCallister 4 – Pat Ayers Charlotte Melton Thomas Willis 6 – Melinda Samimi 7 – Mary Lou Bowden 11 – Eddie Via 12 – John Robert Holliday Virgil McCutcheon 13 – Rose Carter 15 – Sylvia Keaton 16 – Barbara Bradley 17 – Barbara Harris 20 – Lorraine Hatcher 23 – Bill Holliday 30 – Megan Hanna

1Bible Study~ 6:30pm

2Ruth Thurmond Circle ~ 1pm

3 4

5Communion SundayS School ~ 9:45aWorship ~ 11a

6 7 8Nigeria Trip Report ~ 6:30pm

9 10 11

12S School ~ 9:45aWorship ~ 11aOfficial Bd. ~ noon

13 14 15No Bible Study

16Pack Food Pantry ~9am

17Food Pantry~9am

18

19S School ~ 9:45aWorship ~ 11a

20 21 22No Bible Study

23VBS Picnic ~ 5pmVBS Program ~ 7:30pm

24 25

26S School ~ 9:45aWorship ~ 11a

27 28 29Bible Study~ 6:30pm

30 31

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL WEEK 6:30 - 8:30pm

piano faithfully each Sunday. No vacation for you Nancy. Oh right--you did have a cruise to the Bahamas!

AMA Summer Work Teams UpdateOur Alderson Ministerial Association (AMA) is sponsoring five work teams in our community this summer.

Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church, Camden, NJ – This group of seven folks has served with us for the past three years. The week of May 16, they worked on a home in Alderson and also worked as volunteers at Wellspring.

United Church of Christ, Southbury, CT – This large group of volunteers helped us in construction of Amy’s House a few years ago. They will return again the week of July 5 to begin clean-up and refurbishment of the new AMA building.

Oaklyn Baptist Church, Oaklyn, NJ – This group of friends returns for their eleventh consecutive year of ministry in Alderson. We look forward to continuing to work with them the week of July 18.

Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Nutley, NJ – This group of young men and women will come from the New York City area the week of July 26 to assist us this summer. I will be personally coordinating the work of this team on several projects in Alderson.

First Presbyterian Church, Honesdale, PA – This group returns for their fourth year of service with us the week of August 2.

Please be in prayer for these teams as they travel to and from home and as they complete their work assignments here. As always, we know that

God will do more than we can hope or imagine. Our prayer is that God will be glorified in and through all that is done.

Pastor Bill and his students attended chapel each morning and listened to fellow students as they preached. These sermons were analyzed later as part of their classroom studies. Pastor Bill also preached a sermon for his students and allowed them to give him feedback as part of their learning experience. It was a wonderful opportunity to learn from each other.

A real joy of the week was meeting and getting to know the seminary staff. Dr. Solomon Ishola, who is pictured above with Pastor Bill, served as co-professor for the preaching course. Dr. Ishola, who is lovingly called Baba (i.e., “grandfather”) by the students, is the former General Secretary of the Nigerian Baptist Convention and currently is a professor at NBTS. Dr. Ishola was a great help in facilitating the course. Dr. Emiloa Nihinlola, NBTS president, is shown in the far right of the picture to the right which was taken during the initial welcoming reception for the BCGC team.

During their stay at NBTS, the BCGC team was housed in the Frances Carter Jones Guest House. Frances Jones was a Baptist missionary from Virginia to Nigeria who served 1936-37. Her service was cut short due to her death from Yellow Fever shortly after arriving on the field. Because of the fear of spreading Yellow Fever, her body could not be returned to the United States. So, she was

buried in Sana, Nigeria, where she died, and a stone was placed in her memory on the grounds of the Guest House. The small Guest House graveyard pictured here includes Frances’ memorial stone as well as the graves/stones of Lucille Regan and three infant children of Ameriacn missionaries. Lucille Regan served as a Baptist missionary from Texas to Nigeria from 1921 to 1937. Her marker reads, “Her life was the measure of her gift.”

Emma Alderson Christian Academy News

Pastor Bill is grateful to Old Greenbrier Baptist Church for once again supporting an opportunity to teach/preach abroad to the glory of God. These missions teaching opportunities are truly a part of Old Greenbrier Baptist's ministry to the ends of the earth.

. . . to the ends of the earthPastor Bill was recently invited to join a team from the Baptist Center for Global Concerns (BCGC) traveling to the Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary (NBTS) in Ogbomosho, Nigeria. Ogbomosho is known as the "Baptist Jerusalem" of Nigeria. The seminary’s grounds include the original compound that housed the first Baptist missionaries to Nigeria. NBTS is now fully staffed and run by native Nigerians and recently celebrated its 116th commencement with the conferral of 233 degrees. NBTS is a thriving center of God's work in preparing men and women for gospel ministry.

The BCGC team had a four part ministry. An agricultural economist consulted with the seminary on plans for starting a farm to grow produce both for seminary use and sale. A medical doctor and an ethicist consulted with Bowen University Teaching Hospital doctors, nurses, and staff on issues in medical ethics and hospice care. The hospital is located next to the seminary and was also begun by Baptist missionaries. A team of three ladies helped in leading two conferences for pastor's wives. Finally, Pastor Bill and two others delivered theological education through four intensive summer courses. Pastor Bill's course in preaching was delivered for credit to nine masters students and two doctoral students as well as to six local pastors who

audited the course. He is pictured above with his students on the last day of class. The picture to the immediate left shows the main chapel (top floor), library (lower floor), and one of the academic wings of the central NBTS complex.

Most of Pastor Bill's students had never experienced the American style of teaching. They were uncertain at first, but by the end of the week, they were energized and excited by the hands-on, application-oriented approach.

Look for the Emma Alderson Christian Academy float in the Alderson Fourth of July Parade.

The Academy is accepting applications for both the Pre-K Program (3s & 4s) and the After-school Program (K - 5th grade).

Enrollment forms are available at the back of the sanctuary or by calling the Academy phone at (304) 992-9312. Information about our Academy’s programs and costs is also available on our church website.

http://oldgreenbrierbaptistchurch.typepad.com/site/emma-alderson-christian-academy.html

Our Finance Team monitors our church budget and spending. Thank you for your regular tithes and special offerings. Each month, we want to present an overview of where we are

financially.

General Fund for the Month Ended May 30, 2015

Beginning Balance $ 3,707.10 + Income 9,703.69

− Total Expenses 10,254.64 Ending Balance $ 3,156 .15

Budget Needs Actual Need Difference

Giving thru May: $48,281 $58,498 - $10,217June 7, 14, 21: $ 4,929 $ 7,977 - $ 3,048 Total 2015 Giving: $53,210 $66,475 - $13,265

Prayer Needs as of June 24

Family of Bill JarvisFamily of Strealy HatcherVisions of Jesus during RamadanStudents and staff of Nigerian BTSSaeed AbdeniGlenna Adams (sis-in-law of Mary Godby)June Ames (friend of J. Lehmann)Nathan BradleyGary BryantJohn Butler (Dean Butler’s father)Dreama CarterDarius Christian (C. Grimmett’s brother)Magnant Danjuma (student of Pastor Bill)Don Dean (Deborah Bryan’s father)Donna EskinsLinda Fitzwater (Friend of Anne Parker)Frank GodbyCrystal & Emma HalsteadKent Hanserd (C. Knapp’s nephew)Clara HardestyJerry HarrisJohn HedrickBetty HighlanderDickie & Ora HonakerShawna Hopkins (C. Smith’s granddaughter)Lorene HouseJesse Hylton (friend of Dolphis Wood)Bonnie KirbyMichelle KnappBob & Judy LacyBob LaRueRebecca LaRue & baby (Bob &Gayle LaRue’s daughter-in-law) Levi LevisayCharlie LobbanLori Loggins (A. Parker)Peggy McKenzie (friend of Curtis Pauley)Theresa MasseyMelody Moss (A. Parker)Lee PattersonBoyd PenceAlice Penfield’s great-great nieceLevi Pugliani (Bob & Gayle LaRue’s grandson)Marsha Ray

Rebecca Rexroad (Jewell Smith’s grand-daughter)Jim Reynolds (friend of Pastor Bill & Deborah)Libby, Stephanie, G.W. Richmond (C. Smith)Brittany ShaferMargie SimmonsTammy SkaggsKen Tiennes (friend of Jodi Wiseman)Myra Vestal (C. Knapp)Sammy Walker (friend of C. McCallister)Claudine Hinkle WaltonTrip Zobrist (friend of Theresa Massey)

ALL TROOPS In Our Armed ForcesRandy Fleshman (home)Katie Hunter (home)Jess Phillips (home)Brent Taylor (home)Ernie Tincher (Afghanistan)

Church Family Shut-inMary Lou Bowden Ernestine LightFrances Canterbury Juanita RookstoolHarriett Dancy Dorothy Taylor Louise Utterback

Government Officials Heads of State

Students: Jonathan Bradley, Bethany Burdette, Hannah Griffin, Rhys Rogers, Kari Still, Stephanie Willis, Keith Wiseman, Brennan Wood

Note: Please notify church office 304 445-7854 to delete or add to prayer list.

Get ready to explore God’s life-changing plan as it’s revealed from Creation to the present and on into the

future. Our children will find answers to life’s most important questions. Who made the world, and who made me? What happens when I do wrong things? What is God like? Why did Jesus have to die? So . . . now what do I do? By answering these questions, they will discover that God loves them and that through Jesus they can be members of God’s family and personally experience God’s formula for life. SonSpark Labs begins on Sunday, July 19th and explores through Thursday, July 23rd. The SonSpark Labs experiment will begin each evening at 6:30pm and end at 8:30pm.

On Thursday, July 23rd

we will have our VBS picnic at 5pm. VBS will begin that night at 6pm. Our VBS Closing Program for parents, family and friends will begin at 7:30pm.Begin inviting your children, grandchildren, friends, and neighbors now. We will have pre-registration forms available the week before VBS. Be in prayer for our leaders and children during this important time of learning and fun. For more information or to volunteer to help with our VBS, please contact Donna Simms, our VBS Director, or Pastor Bill. We also need donations of money or food for our nightly snacks and picnic. Please see Alice McCutcheon or Alice Penfield regarding food needs.