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Excerpts from The New Outlook
Mid March 2007
Celebrating the 200th
Anniversary of the End of the British Slave Trade—And Continuing the
Battle
American Baptists have joined with many Christian groups and other
organizations and governments to hail the power of Christian faith and
political activism that led to the historic vote in British parliament to
abolish the slave trade 200 years ago March 25. That was the first step.
Twenty-seven years later, in 1834, just a month after the death of British
legislator William Wilberforce, whose Christian faith drove him to
initiate the anti-slavery measure, all slaves in the British empire were
freed. Thirty-one years later, in 1863, Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation
Proclamation freed the slaves in the rebelling Confederate states, and in
1865, the 13th amendment to the Constitution abolished slavery
everywhere in the United States.
This celebration has strengthened the resolve of Christians
and others everywhere to fight the slavery that still exists in the present day.
The U.S. State Department estimates that between 18,000 – 20,000 people are
trafficked into the U.S. annually to work in prostitution, sweat shops, hotels,
farms and as domestic servants. Among the 27 million enslaved people worldwide,
80% are women and half are children under 18, according to Free the Slaves, a
nonprofit group based in Washington, D.C.
“We have a very difficult struggle in front of us. Ending
modern human trafficking in our time will take as much faith, courage, and
persistence as Clarkson, Wilberforce and other Christians had 200 years ago,
said Reid Trulon, executive director of International Ministries (IM), an arm of
the American Baptist denomination.
IM continues to make human trafficking a primary mission
concern through the work of missionaries and global consultants such as Lauran
Bethell, a recipient of the Baptist World Alliance human rights award for her
work around the world against human trafficking, and Annie Dieselberg, who runs
NightLight ministry in Bangkok Thailand, and Kit Ripley, who serves at New Life
Center in Chiang Mai, Thailand, All of these ministries and more serve persons
who are victims of modern slavery.
New Film Amazing Grace Tells
Wilberforce’s Story
A new movie, Amazing Grace, in the theaters now, tells the story
of William Wilberforce and his colleagues, who devoted their lives to the
abolition of slavery in Britain and its colonies. Also featured in the film is
John Newton, a former slave trader who after his conversion became an Anglican
priest and wrote the well-loved hymn “Amazing Grace.”
Sources for this story are the American Baptist News
Service (February 26, 2007) and The United Methodist Reporter of
February 23, 2007.
Learning to Pray the Psalms
Beginning March 25, all adult classes will meet together for a 6-week
series on praying the Psalms, led by Fred Adams. For thousands of years the
Psalms have been used in prayer and worship. We’ll learn why that is and try out
“praying the Psalms” ourselves.
Fred recommends that we read Answering God: The Psalms
as Tools for Prayer to go along with this series. Books cost $10.40. If
you’d like one, contact Mary Shepardson.
Lenten Series Continues
Come join us for the remaining two sessions in our Lenten series, Through the
Fire, on Sundays, March 17 and 25. We gather in Fellowship Hall at 5:00 p.m.
for a light supper and begin the program at 5:45, ending by 7:00. There is a
sign-up sheet on the table in the narthex for bringing soup (or another main
dish), salad, dessert, or making the coffee and punch.
More Special Lenten Events
On Palm Sunday, April 1, we will celebrate Christ’s entry into Jerusalem.
with a joyous, palm-waving processional.
On Maundy Thursday, April 5, at 7 p.m., we will gather for
an ecumenical communion service with our brothers and sisters from Faith Des
Peres Presbyterian Church and Samuel United Church of Christ in the Samuel UCC
sanctuary.
The Sanctuary of the Beatitudes will be open for silent
meditation on Good Friday.
Easter, April 8, brings the joy of celebrating Christ’s
resurrection!
28 Chicks and Counting! The children of Second Baptist have brought in $46.63 of their own money toward their goal of providing 3 flocks of chicks for needy families overseas. Since they only have 8 chicks left to hatch, the kids are thinking of buying a goat as well. The money will be given through Heifer International, an organization that works with community groups in impoverished areas to allocate donated livestock and provide training for the environmentally sound and culturally appropriate care of the animals. Each recipient of livestock then “passes the gift” on, giving the firstborn of their animals to another waiting family. Click here for more information about Heifer International. Every Sunday the kids count the money brought in. For every $1.70 they “hatch” one of the pom-pom chicks they made earlier to represent a live chick their money will purchase. These chicks that will help families become self-sufficient!
Dinner and a Scavenger Hunt
As a fundraiser for their trip to Green Lake this summer, the youth are inviting
everyone to a St. Patrick Day’s dinner and scavenger hunt at the church on
Saturday, March 17.
Dinner will be at 5:30. Then at 6:30 the youth will divide
us into teams and give us a list of things to look for. Each team will ride
together as we drive around looking for the items on our list. When we find
one, we’ll take a picture of it. At 8:00, finished or not, we’ll head back to
church for dessert while our pictures are printed out. Then come the prizes!
Bring your kids! The youth will provide activities for the
little ones back at the church. The cost is $15 for adults and $5 for kids, with
a maximum of $40 per family. Please call the church office right away if you
haven’t signed up.
Church World Service Giving Opportunity
During the March 18 worship service, our ABW (American Baptist Women)
will have a brief service of consecration in honor of the 100th
anniversary of women in ministry in the American Baptist churches. In addition
to our regular offerings, ABW encourages us to give a special offering to Church
World Service to help in relief work around the world. A Church World Service
blanket, which costs $5.00, will be on display in the worship area. To dramatize
our world outreach, the servers will be collecting the total offering with
special offering pouches made by women in Thailand. Click
here for more information about
Church World Service.
Area Churches Meet
Area V of the Great Rivers Region (Missouri and Greater St. Louis area churches)
had its annual meeting on Saturday, March 10 at Third Baptist Church here in St.
Louis. Pastor Mike attended, representing 2nd Baptist. A good crowd
enjoyed fine music, a stirring call to mission, and excellent preaching on the
theme Ministry and
Mission for Such a Time As This.
Red Hats Have Tea
The Red Hats are stepping out again to have tea at the Ladies of Lucerne
Restaurant at the corner of Kehrs Mill and Clayton Roads. All women are invited
to join in this fellowship time—over 50’s wear red hats, and under-50’s wear
pink. We will meet at the restaurant on Saturday, March 24, at 11:30 a.m. Call
Linda Marks or the church office to make a reservation.
A Talent Show!
Last year’s talent show was so much fun that we’re having another one!
All who would like to share their talents—singing, readings, storytelling,
dancing, comic routines, musical entertainment, or whatever—please sign up on
the Talent Show sheet on the table in the narthex. Mark your calendar for
Saturday, April 28, at 7:00 p.m. for Second’s 2007 Cabaret Talent Show!
Book Group To Discuss
Stone Diaries
The book group will meet Monday, April 9, at 2 p.m. in the Community
Room to discuss Stone Diaries, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Carol
Shields.
An excerpt from Publishers Weekly review of Stone
Diaries:
“[Stone Diaries] It is at once a playful sendup of the art of biography
and a serious exploration of the essential mystery of human lives; the gist of
this many-faceted story is that all biographies are only versions of the facts.
Shields follows her heroine, Daisy Goodwill Hoad Flett, from her birth--and her
mother's death--on the kitchen floor of a stonemason's cottage in a small quarry
town in Manitoba through childhood in Winnipeg, adolescence and young womanhood
in Bloomington, Ind. (another quarry town), two marriages, motherhood,
widowhood, a brief, exhilarating career in Ottawa--and eventually to old age and
death in Florida. Stone is the unifying image here: it affects the geography of
Daisy's life, and ultimately her vision of herself. Wittily, ironically,
touchingly, Shields gives us Daisy's version of her life and contrasting
interpretations of events from her friends, children and extended family.”
From the Pastor
Sometimes, especially in Lent, we get so caught up in how and why Jesus
died that we tend to forget how and why he lived. It’s good that we can accept
Jesus as our Savior because he died and rose for us, but we must remember that
he was more than a robot going through the motions. This is illustrated in the
Apostles’ Creed, which states that Jesus was “born of the virgin Mary, suffered
under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried.” That comma between his
being born and his suffering covers so much! His way of life mattered, and he
was constantly teaching his disciples to take up that way of life. Jesus was
gentle and compassionate to the poor, the needy, the outcasts, the sick, the
suffering, the sinful. He healed. He forgave. He taught. He fed. Again and
again, he lived out his teachings, especially the Great Commandment, to love God
totally and whole-heartedly, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. In our
Beatitudes sermons over the past several months, we see Jesus living out each
Beatitude, just as he asked us to live them out. We are invited to live them out
as well. Let’s each try to find ways to live as Jesus lived, in our actions and
attitudes.
WEEKLY ACTIVITIES
Mon 7:00 p.m. Obsessive-Compulsive Group in Community Room
Tue 10:00 a.m. American Baptist Women's
Ministries, 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month
Tue 6:30 p.m. Adult Children of Alcoholics Group in Community Room
Wed 7:00 p.m. Choir practice
SPECIAL ACTIVITIES
Mar 17 St. Patrick's Day Dinner and Scavenger Hunt, 5:30 p.m.,
Scavenger Hunt 6:30 p.m.
Mar 18 Lenten Bible
Study; 5:00 p.m. supper, 5:45 study
Mar 24 ABWMinistries Rally in Columbia, Missouri 9:30 a.m.
Red Hats' Tea, 11:30 a.m., Ladies of Lucerne Tea Room
Mar 25 Lenten Bible
Study; 5:00 p.m. supper, 5:45 study
Apr 1 Palm Sunday
Apr 5 Maundy Thursday Service, 7:00 p.m., Samuel
UCC
Apr 8 Easter Sunday. Christ has risen!
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