Excerpts from The New Outlook

Early May 2007

Second Baptist 101 Begins Sunday
Second Baptist 101 is a month-long time for reviewing, naming and dreaming about who we are as a congregation—and whose we are! All adults are invited to come to the sessions, which will be held during the Sunday school time during the month of May. New and prospective members are especially encouraged to be part of this, but all members will find it a rich and rewarding experience. Most of the sessions will be in the Community Room, but the May 12 session, where we will share our stories and memories, will require more space and we will meet in Fellowship Hall. Here’s a preview of this important opportunity to deepen our relationship with our congregation.

MAY 6: What Does it Mean to Be an American Baptist?
The Rev. Dr. Larry Whitlock, a recently retired American Baptist pastor, will share his insights (and invite you to share yours) on the heritage and beliefs that shape us as a people. What sets us apart from other denominations, and what draws us together? What paths of faith and witness have we traveled, what challenges have we faced, that have molded our identity?

MAY 13: Sharing Our Stories
Telling the history of any church is a matter of collecting, analyzing, sorting and recording the stories that have shaped it. We have a wonderful history book about our Second Baptist Church, Neola McCorkle Koechig’s The Story of Second Baptist, but it only goes to 1982! This is a special anniversary month and year for us, in being the 50^th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone of our sanctuary. In light of that, we’ll gather and collect our own stories of events and memories that have shaped us as a church in our own lifetimes.

The more people come and participate, the better the event will be, so please plan to come if you at all can.

We will have more detail about May 20 (reviewing in words and pictures the many current ways that our church ministers and serves) and May 27 (looking toward the future) in the mid-May Outlook.

--Michael E. Dixon

What Can We Do?
When a tragedy occurs, especially an act of senseless violence such as the shootings at Virginia Tech, believers sometimes wonder, what can we do? Dwight Stinnett, our Great Rivers Region minister, offers these suggestions as part of his pastoral letter.

Pray – for those who lost loved ones, including the family of the perpetrator.
Forgive – as we have been forgiven in Jesus Christ.
Repent – for the violence within each of us and the ways we contribute to a world-wide culture of violence.
Resolve – to resist violence, both within ourselves and our communities.
Teach – the ways of peace.
Pray – that God’s will be done in earth as it is in heaven.

Express Your Love with “Flowertines”
Next Sunday, May 6, The Junior Church School Class is sponsoring a “May Flowers Gifting Fellowship” after the worship service. Think of it as giving “flowertines” rather than “valentines.” Everybody gets to send and receive “flowertines,” the children get to deliver them, and everybody gets to eat. Richard Daily is planning some great food!

Please cut out pictures of flowers to give to your church friends. Or draw, paste, or stamp flowers on paper and write a message. Or give artificial or real flowers. A box in the narthex contains assorted “flowertine” materials. Here is a chance to let others know you think they’re special!
Dotty Daily

Baby Shower for Angela Gillard and Twin Baby Boys

Next Sunday, May 6, 12:00 noon        
Community Room

Friends and Ladies of the Church

Please come and join in the celebration!

Registered at Babies R Us

"A church can turn itself inside out”
                                    From Pastor Mike Dixon’s sermon February 25, 2007

We are going to begin by inviting all young adults, single or married, to a

SOCIAL GATHERING at the Wakefields’ home

9029 Haverford Terrace, Richmond Heights

(across the street from Second Baptist’s McKnight Road parking lot entrance)

May 18, 7:00 p.m.

Dessert will be served.

Nursery provided for infants through age 12 in the children’s classrooms at the church.

Look and listen for more information.

Judy Gurley (636) 230-8393
Lynn Wakefield (314) 569-2382

Children Raise Money for Heifer International            
The children of Second Baptist brought in a total of $114.20 to support Heifer International, an organization that provides animals to impoverished people to help them work toward a better life for their families and communities. The children’s donations greatly exceeded their goal of $60, enabling them to purchase a share of a goat as well as three flocks of chicks for needy families. Congratulations!

Vacation Bible School—Save the Date!
Sunday through Wednesday, July 22 – 25, Second Baptist will be sharing Vacation Bible School with First Presbyterian Church of St. Louis, this year with the addition of the Mennonite Fellowship of St. Louis. The theme will be “Experiencing God.” Adults and children alike will gather in the evening for dinner, then go to their classes. Two classes will be  available to adults, one on “Helping Children Experience God” and one yet-to-be announced class led by Mary Shepardson. The children will explore different ways we can experience God: nature, labyrinths, prayer, and meditation/yoga. We will need teachers and assistants for the children’s classes and activity stations. If you have any questions or are able to volunteer, please contact me.           
Shari Nelson-Faulkner.

Book Group To Discuss Child of My Heart
Second Baptist’s Book Group will meet  Monday, May 14, at 2:00 p.m. to discuss Child of My Heart, by Alice McDermott. In this novel, fifteen-year-old Theresa’s parents move to East Hampton, Long Island, hoping that she will eventually be able to find a wealthy husband there. She babysits as a way to meet and impress the "right people" and half-innocent and half-ironic comments on the vanities and topsy-turvy lives of her employers.

The Role of the Family in the Spiritual Formation of Children
Ladue Chapel’s Lee Institute is offering a lecture on “The Role of the Family in Spiritual Formation” on Thursday, May 3, at 7:30 p.m. and a workshop on the same subject Friday, May 4, beginning with a continental breakfast at 9:00 a.m. The program will begin at 9:30 and end at 11:30 a.m.

Ivy Beckwith, the presenter, has been a children’s minister in several churches and has worked in curriculum development in two publishing companies. She is the author of PostModern Children’s Ministry.

Come On In. . . 
The “Come On In and Pull Up a Chair” Class will meet throughout the summer. To those of you who have been attending other adult classes that will break for the summer, we extend a warm invitation to join us for mutual encouragement as we try to live out our faith in the challenges of daily life. We meet in the library at 9:30 on Sunday mornings.
Jo Koehler

Note: All other church school classes will take a break after May 27, resuming on September 9.

A Smashing Success!
We had a wonderful time at the Talent Show! The Beatles were there and the Supremes. The Red Hats danced and sang. We heard musical performances and stories. Pastor Mike Dixon did a "Lake Wobegan"-type monologue about Pierson, Iowa, where he was pastor for a time. Pictures are available in the print version of our newsletter, which you can get by calling the church office at 314-991-3424. We also have a DVD available for $11.

Youth Skit Highlights Launch of Recycling Program
Sunday, April 29, we celebrated Earth Day and marked the official launch of our new recycling program. In the past we have recycled aluminum to make money for Northside Team Ministries. We're still doing that (thanks to Larry Marks), but now we are also recycling plastic (if it has the recycle triangle on it), glass, steel cans, aluminum cans, paper, cardboard (both corrugated and paperboard-like cereal boxes), phone books, and magazines. Just toss any of these into one of the blue containers you will find around the church. You don't have to sort it out.

We are doing this to take care of the church's recycling, so please don't bring your own        materials except for aluminum. Please bring your aluminum bundled in a bag and let Larry Marks know you have it for him. He'll cash it in to support Northside Team. 

If you're not sure if an item is recyclable, go ahead and place it in a blue container or ask Pat Justis. Thanks for your help in taking care of God's Earth!    
Pat Justis!    

Church Secretary Needed for the Summer
Would you be available to fill in as church secretary this summer from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday? This is a paid, temporary position.

Debbie Albu, our church secretary, will be taking a leave of absence from June 1 to August 31 to join her husband in Minnesota, where he has accepted a nursing job for the summer. She will do the New Outlook and the church bulletin layouts from there and e-mail them back to us. Some of her other duties will be taken over by council members and the newsletter editor. But we need someone to answer the phone, open and distribute the mail, help print and fold the newsletter and bulletin, and other odds and ends. Call Debbie at the church office for a complete list of all the tasks that need to be done.

If you could help us out, please contact Mike Dixon or Tim Keeney

Volunteers Needed for the Shakespeare Festival
Second Baptist is providing 8 volunteers for the Shakespeare Festival on Saturday, June 9. If you can help usher, set up chairs, or do whatever’s needed, contact Pat Justis.

From the Pastor
“I was there to hear your borning cry, I’ll be there when you are old; I was there the day you were baptized to see your life unfold.”[1] That song by John Ylvisaker, which our choir sang last Sunday, keeps going through my mind. It fit in so well with our beautiful dedication service for Annalise Bancks, and with Good Shepherd Sunday as a whole. The words were written from God’s perspective, God promising to be with us every stage of our life, until in the end, there’s “just one more surprise.” In a conversation about the song, I told one of our members that it was a long-time favorite of mine. She said, “I’ve only heard it once, but it’s a favorite of mine, now.”

Just the hour before in adult Sunday school, we were finishing our study on the Psalms by going in depth on Psalm 23. God as Shepherd, said one commentator, James Mays, is a metaphor for saying “I Am with You.” God is with us always, even in the valleys of the shadow of death. That, in essence, is the power of the Gospels. Matthew begins with the name Emmanuel, “God is with us,” and ends with “Lo, I am with you always.”

“I am with you.” “I was there to hear your borning cry.” That’s a good message to hear at an infant dedication, a baptism, a marriage, a deathbed, or just about any time in between. It’s good to remember as a congregation, as well. Look at our heritage. We’ve been around since 1833, and in this spot since 1957. Many have come, many have gone, but we continue to serve and to worship. And in all that we have done, in all that we do, in all that we will do, we have the promise “I am with you.” “I was there to hear your borning cry.” Let us never forget, and let us always trust the promise. Amen.
Grace and peace,
Michael Dixon
 

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                                                   
May 04    Young Youth Cluster 3rd—5th graders, Second Baptist  Church      
May 06    “Second Baptist 101” adult SS class begins 
                 May Flowers gifting fellowship” sponsored by Junior High Sunday School class
                  Baby Shower for Angela Gillard and twins, noon                         
May 13    Mother’s Day              
May 14    Book Group, 2:00 pm, discusses Child of My Heart 
May 18    Young adult gathering, Wakefield’s home, 7:00 pm      
May 19    Men’s Breakfast, 7:30 am, Delmar Baptist Church                        
May 20    Council meeting, 12:00 noon
May 27    Last day of church school until fall                                   
May 28    Memorial Day  (office closed)                                
June 03   Congregational meeting and dinner                                       
June 09   Shakespeare Festival volunteers, sign up with Pat Justis                                 

9030 Clayton Road (at McKnight Road, 3/10 mile west of the Galleria)    St. Louis, MO 63117     (314) 991-3424