February 2017

The Network News

MID-ATLANTIC REGIONAL JUSTICE CONFERENCE March 21-23

Hampton Roads Convention Center When does the church have the responsibility to speak out on issues of justice in the culture around us? Some people come from Christian traditions where there is very little energy given to speaking out on such issues, while others come from traditions where this has always been a big part of what they do. Any church that takes seriously the mission of reaching out to the community around them knows that we live in a very broken world. And, that brokenness will not go away by only changing individual lives (as important as that is). I believe the time comes for every church to speak out with a prophetic voice to address issues that hurt people in our community. But how do we do that in a way that is consistent with our scriptures? This conference will give you the opportunity to hear from many voices, from various Christian traditions, all speaking about this very issue. There will be conversations about economic justice, racial reconciliation, family issues, immigration, and much more. You will be challenged, and stretched, and hopefully inspired to action. The PBA became involved with this event, because we see how it can benefit our churches. Rarely does an event come to our area with the quality of speakers and presenters that this conference offers. The cost is affordable for just about anybody. Several leaders from the PBA will be leading breakout workshops at the event. The worship will be great. I believe all of our churches could benefit by being present.

Pipeline Training Part 1 Thursday, March 23, 10 AM -2 PM

Bridge Network of Church Resource Center; lunch $5

Far from the typical conference, Pipeline goes in-depth on practical strategies that will change your church from the inside out. It offers real training, something staffs can take home and implement immediately. Learn from top church leaders how and why to develop people at every level from weekly volunteers to pastoral staff. Speakers in this video training will include: Thom Rainer, Paul Tripp, Trip Lee, Carey Nieuwhof and others. RSVP to reserve your seat to admin@thebridgenet.org or call 757-938-9793.

WMU ANNUAL MEETING

The WMU will be having their Annual Meeting on Saturday, April 8th, 2017. The event will be held at Hampton Baptist Church, 40 Kings Way, Hampton VA, from 9:30 AM to 12:00 PM.

Schedule:

9:30 AM Continental Breakfast

10AM to 12 PM Meeting

Election for 2017-18 PBA/WUM Officers

Approval of the 2017-18 Budget

Guest Speaker: Daniel Byrd, Retired IMB Missionary to Romania

He will be sharing his work in Romania. An offering will be taken to assist his work in Romania.

“DON’T MISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO JOIN OTHER WOMEN WHO WANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE THROUGH MISSIONS.

DEER PARK BAPTIST

Deer Park is hosting the upcoming Priscilla Shirer Simulcast in April and are possibly in need of childcare workers. If you have any that are screened and may be interested in working this event for us if the need arises, please contact Mary Brown, Administrative Assistant at Deer Park Baptist Church at 757-596-9639.

PENINSULA KOREAN BAPTIST

Peninsula Korean Baptist will host 2017 Youth and Children Bible Drill at Peninsula Korean Baptist Church. Bible drills help youth and children to memorize Bible verses. We have study materials from SBCV. Please have the leaders of each ministry (Children & Youth) join us on Wednesday, Feb 22nd, @7:30-8:00 PM to go over how to train for Bible Drill competition. The actual competi-tion date will be on April 30th or May 7th @ 2 PM; I will inform again if we set the time for the competition.

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH

Our organist, David Wall, is retiring at the end of August, after 30 years of service. So, the search begins for his replacement. Any suggestions you have will be greatly appreciated! Please contact

Dennis Adams at dadams@fbcnn.org .

STUDENT MINISTRY NETWORK CORNER Student Ministry Network Monthly Gatherings. The next time for fellowship, networking, and resourcing will be March 30th, 2017 at the PBA Resource Center , 863 Cloverleaf Lane Newport News, VA 23601. We will eat at noon for anyone who would like to bring their own lunch and to join in fellowship around the table, and 12:30 is when the content portion begins. We hope to see all of those who work with the students within our churches on March 30th.

Love Local. There is a local summer “camp” opportunity being put on by a collaboration of some of the churches within our PBA network. The main purpose is to gather the students for a time of serving the local communities around the Peninsula, in learning to love and be Christ-like. The dates are the evening of July 9th-July 12th. For more information or if you’re interested in the possibility of having your students plug in, please contact Melanie Lassiter at email melanie@peninsulabaptist.org or call 757-596-4587

CHURCHES WITHOUT PASTORS This is to keep you informed of changes going on within our network of churches. Please let us know if you have any changes. pba@peninsulabaptist.org Calvary Baptist Emmaus Baptist

Hampton Roads Baptist Peninsula Chinese Baptist

Walnut Hills Baptist Warwick Baptist

Yorktown Baptist

SUMMER LEADERSHIP TEAM 2017

We are starting the process of interviewing and hiring of our Summer Leadership Team, with the goal of it being five young adults ages ranging from 18 to 25. The Summer Leadership Team for the PBA is a group of young adults that are committed to ministering to our churches and growing in their personal relationship with Christ. The team helps facilitate Sports Camp as a large portion of their time, offering assistance to the churches by filling in gaps that they may have in their volunteer pool. The other part of the Summer Leadership Team is committing to weekly meetings, as a team, to receive and participate in leadership and discipleship development. This is time to gain knowledge and perspective on themselves as individuals as well as how to connect and apply discipleship to all aspects of life. Team members are expected to be prepared for other miscellaneous jobs, such as but not limited to, participating in the PBA Love Local camp and serving our churches as the opportunity arises. Please contact Melanie, call 596-4587 or e-mail melanie@peninsulabaptist.org for more information about this opportunity, to receive the job description and application, and/or to recommend someone to be a part of this team.

THANK YOU!

The PBA staff wants to say a big thank you to West Hampton Baptist Church, our presenters, and attendees for making the Get Equipped Event a great success. There were forty-six people who attended and nineteen churches that were represented. We have only heard great things from both those who attended and those who presented. We pray that this was only the beginning of great works for the Kingdom.

SPOTLIGHT ON CHURCHES!

The monthly Spotlight on Churches offers the opportunity for our PBA Family to get an update look at churches in the Network, and the wonderful ministries they are involved in that enhance relational ministry in the community. Each month we will be spotlighting 2 churches in the PBA Network of churches.

PINE CHAPEL BAPTIST

Pine Chapel Baptist Church officially began in May 1938 as a Mission Sunday School. A church building was completed in February of 1942 on Pine Chapel Road, Hampton. The church then moved to its present location on W. Queen Street in 1982.

Pine Chapel Baptist is known for being a very loving church, and a church that has many ministries. We have an active Women On Mission group (WOM) that participates in various mission projects throughout the year, such as helping pregnant mothers, outreach to missionaries, and aiding the local Foodbank. Our choir and special music group - the Riverdale Quartet - sing at local nursing homes on a regular basis.

Pine Chapel Baptist is a friendly church that welcomes all in our community, and offers preaching that is biblically-based with an emphasis on the word of God. We offer several Sunday School classes, as well as Bible studies several times a week.

Pine Chapel believes in community outreach. For about five years on Halloween night we have hosted a "Trunk or Treat" event. This past year we joined with the members of New Life Christian Church and Pastor Arthur Rogers, across from us on Power Plant, in expanding our nights activi-ties. We all had a great time.

During the holidays our church has provided food for as many as 6 families at one of Hampton's elementary schools. They also purchased Christmas gifts though our Angel Tree ministry for the children of those 6 households.

Another ministry involves our work with the local H.E.L.P. organization. Being on the corner of Power Plant Parkway, Briarfield Rd. and W. Queen St. puts us in a unique position of ministering to folks whose cars have broken down, families needing food, and the homeless sleeping on our sidewalks. That's how our partnership with H.E.L.P. came about. Our secretary came to work one morning to find a woman sleeping on the sidewalk outside our youth activity building. She invit-ed her in, offered her food and listened to her story. Part of her story was seeking personal safe-ty while she slept, among other challenges. After talking to the pastor and sharing her story, the secretary found out that it had not been her first time and other members of the church had seen her around the buildings. He in turn shared with the church members what was happening on our property. Brainstorming began about how we could use our empty parsonage as a shelter, but how? We found out that there was no facility on the peninsula offering shelter for homeless women. We decided to contact Charlotte Dillow of H.E.L.P. to see if they might be interested in forming a partnership. A lease was signed February 12, 2012!

We are a small congregation with a big heart doing ministry for the Lord.

SPOTLIGHT CONTINUED: WILLIAMSBURG BAPTIST Williamsburg Baptist Church has been a fixture in the Williamsburg community since 1828. Originally meeting in Colonial Williamsburg’s Powder Magazine, the congregation built its first building on Duke of Gloucester Street and worshipped there until its relocation to Rich-mond Road in 1934. Williamsburg Baptist now enjoys its location across the street from the College of William and Mary and seeks to be a family of faith to the campus community as well as many of Williamsburg’s area residents. Daniel Willson has served as the church’s pastor since 2015. “I’ve really enjoyed being a part of this faith community. We’re a place where moderates and progressives have come together to dream of something special happening both in our church and in our community.” For the last two summers, Willson has led church-wide adult Sunday School classes that engage problems relating to how Christianity is sometimes conceived of and practiced. These classes also have addressed how these problems lead to so many leaving organized religion (especially among Millennials). “For a lot of these folks [who are leaving] it’s not that they’ve stopped being interested in their faith. I find that in a lot of cases churches have not offered a compelling vision of what life in a missional community looks like. Too often, churches perpetuate ignorance and lack compassion.” A former fundamentalist, Willson believes strongly in the importance of Christian education and spiritual formation. In 2016, the church reorganized its adult Sunday School to rotate from term to term between Biblical, theological, historical, missional, and spiritual discipline topics. “The goals here are literacy and balance. We want our people to be well-informed in the context of a supportive learning community, and we want them to avoid getting stuck in a rut.” But learning isn’t the end result for this congregation. This is a congregation that seeks, according to its new mission statement, to “extend God’s welcome to all.” Pastor Willson says this is a missional as well as congregational endeavor. The church is involved in a number of initiatives from college ministry and hunger ministry, to racial reconciliation and community education. “It can be busy around here, but we keep a lot of partner organizations busy too,” says Willson. Many Williamsburg Baptist members volunteer in community organizations like COFM, GWOM, and FISH. Willson insists, “It’s not about us; it’s about finding what God is doing and helping that flourish.” Williamsburg Baptist is hoping that it will flourish too for many years to come.

www.facebook.com/pen.baptist @penbaptist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpi0kvUHFKA

PBA STAFF Chuck Harrison - Director of Missions - 1chuck@outlook.com Melanie Lassiter - Church & Community Ministry - melanie@peninsulabaptist.org Charles Cheek - Community Networking Director - cecheek2004@yahoo.com Rose Chang - Bookkeeper - rose@peninsulabaptist.org Linda Reynolds - PBA Administrator - pba@peninsulabaptist.org

Harald Aadahl - Interim Eastover Operations Manager - Eastover Retreat Center - eastover1@mindspring.com Eastover Administrator - eastover1@mindspring.com

Peninsula Baptist Association 863 Cloverleaf Lane Newport News, Virginia 23601

Phone: 757.596.4587 Web: www.peninsulabaptist.org

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