December 15, 2007

Excerpts from The New Outlook
Late December 2007

A Year-Long Celebration of Our Great Heritage and Exciting Future!
Join us on Sunday, January 6, 2008, as we welcome back former Second Baptist Church pastor Rev. Harold Hoffman and his wife, Bea. Harold will preach in our 10:30 a.m. worship celebration.

Harold and Bea and daughters Elaine, Laura and Susan were a much loved and fully participating family during the years of Harold’s pastorate, from 1971—1982, including such things as Elaine’s wedding, Susan’s clipping the corner of the church while learning to drive, Bea (and Harold) hosting groups of church members in their home and Harold putting up the sign in the council room: The Last Seven Words of the Church: “We never did it that way before!”

Join us after worship at noon in Bitting Hall on January 6 for a 175^th Anniversary Banquet celebrating our grand heritage. The catered banquet costs $9 for adults, $4 for children, with a $22 family maximum. Make reservations through the church office or on Sunday’s Green Sheet.

Lessons and Carols Service Rescheduled for This Sunday
Sunday, December 23, the Fourth Sunday of Advent, we will light the Innkeeper’s Candle as Dr. Jones preaches on “Slow Down and Know,” based on Isaiah 11:1-3. The choir will present the beautiful Christmas music in Lessons and Carols, postponed from last Sunday because of the snow storm. Brad Short will direct, and Marilyn Short will accompany on organ and piano.

Thanks to Cindy Collins, Joan and Jay Jenson for decorating the sanctuary with beautiful poinsettias.

Note: There will be NO CHURCH SCHOOL on Sunday, December 23 or 30.

Open House at the Joneses'
Stephen and Janice Jones invite everyone to an Open House in their home near Soulard Market on Sunday, December 23, from 3:00 – 6:00 p.m. Feel free to drop by anytime during those hours. They live at 1611 S. 11^th Street, one block from the intersection of Lafayette and Tucker. There is ample street parking all around their townhome.

Annual Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, 5:00 p.m.
Second Baptist Choir singing

Dr. Jones will preach briefly on “Slow Down and Listen,” based on Matthew 1:18-25. We will light the Christ Candle, and the children will place the baby Jesus in the manger. We will close with a candle lighting ceremony.

Upcoming Sermons
January 6 Rev. Harold Hoffman, preaching, 175^th Anniversary of Second Baptist Church
January 13 Dr. Stephen Jones preaching on “The Inviting Community”

Beginning a new worship series, “Baptists: A Freedom-Loving People”
January 20: “Religious Liberty,” Stephen Jones preaching
January 27: “Soul Liberty,” Stephen Jones preaching

Upcoming Adult Study Topics in 2008:
Sundays at 9:15 a.m.

January 6: All adults gather in the sanctuary as Dr. Jones leads in a study, “The Impact of the Civil War on Second Baptist Church”

January 13: A Workshop on Becoming an Inviting Community

January 20: An Introduction to Our Baptist Liberties

January 27: “Scriptural Liberty”

February 3: “Church Liberty,” led by Fred Adams

Anniversary Special Events Planned for 2008

	Return visits by our former pastors Hoffman, Rook and Keeney and a visit by the sons of Leon Robison.
	Updating our church history book by Mary Shepardson and Judy Gurley
	Offering for sale 30 limited copies of an 1840 Lithograph of early St. Louis showing our first Second Baptist Church building prominently in the center. These are 16 x 20 unframed, $20, through the church office. They make an extraordinary keepsake and gift.
	Tour of former Second Baptist Church city sites led by Bill C. Winter next fall
	There is a proposal to light the lane leading onto our property from Clayton with six solar light poles and mount 175^th Anniversary Pole Banners on the light poles.
	Three performances by outside groups, the first on Sunday evening, February 17, by an African American musical group as we celebrate the 190^th Anniversary of the founding of the original Baptist Church of St. Louis, an inter-racial congregation, and celebrate the wonderful diversity of Baptists in St. Louis. Sunday morning, February 17, we will celebrate the 190^th anniversary in worship.
	Historical Highlights of past lay leaders changing every month in the narthex
	We will have two free “Share the Word” columns in the Post-Dispatch on Saturday, January 5 and February 16 celebrating these two anniversaries. And there are plans to run half-page ads about our heritage and future on those days.
	We will install two vinyl signs on our property celebrating the 175^th anniversary.
	Other ideas under consideration include launching St. Louis Jazz/Blues Vespers in 2008, inviting the Harris-Stowe Choir to perform, inviting a classical music group to perform, launching the “John Mason Peck. . .A Walk in the Woods” sculpture trail on our property.
	Premier Performance of a new musical about John Mason Peck, “The Man with 20 Hands.” Stephen Jones, Brad and Marilyn Short are collaborating on an original script and selection of choral works for an intergenerational “instant musical.” The “instant” part means that we will rehearse two Saturdays and perform it on Sunday, possibly April 13.
	The first educational opportunity around the anniversary will be our pastor leading a session for all adults in the sanctuary at 9:15 a.m. on the topic, “How Second Baptist Church Changed with the Civil War.”
	Beginning January 20 we will unveil a set of eight new posters that will create "The Baptist Liberties hallway" at Second Baptist Church celebrating our five Baptist liberties. On January 20 Dr. Jones will preach on "Religious LIberty" from the perspective of the Baptists of St. Louis and the transition from state religion in the Missouri Territory to religious freedom.

Announcing a Strategic Plan for a Welcoming Community
On Sunday, January 13, at the close of worship, the Strategic Planning Team will present a five-page proposal that has the endorsement of the Church Council. This will occur 20 minutes after the close of worship in the Sanctuary, and Coffee Fellowship will occur that day in the narthex. Their recommendations are divided into these sections:

	Attracts visitors and guests
	Welcomes visitors and guests
	Interprets to visitors and guests the nature of our congregation and mission
	Invites visitors and guests to further involvement at Second Baptist Church
	Incorporates new members into the fellowship of our church

We give thanks for these members of the Strategic Planning Team: Karen Fields, Dar Novak, Carol Novak, Fred Adams, Cindy Collins, Lynn Wakefield, Kara Reagan and Stephen Jones. If there is consensus within the congregation, a plan of action will follow to implement as many of the proposals as possible by Easter.

Children’s Christmas Program
A rousing, sustained round of applause is due Linda Marks and Shari Nelson-Faulkner for the very successful annual Christmas party and play on December 2. The catered dinner was followed by “A Cricket County Christmas Cruise,” performed to perfection by the children and youth of Second. A large and very receptive audience laughed, cheered, laughed, clapped, laughed and in general relished the antics, misunderstandings, inappropriate (?!) grammar, confused identities, unexpected dialect and terrific acting by all performers.

While the “country cousins” want to fish, the city cousins want the country cousins’ inheritance. The angel wants a millionare to produce her “Masterpiece,” among other things. The truth is finally revealed. The characters find they are looking for the wrong things in the wrong places. Coming through all the confusion was the recognition and understanding of the true spirit and meaning of the Christmas story. A very well done “work of art.” Ryan Keeney, Meadow Faulkner, Will Adams, Rebecca Nall, Rebecca Swarm, Courtney Nall, Jennifer Comfort, Charlie Garside, Morgan Burton, Katharine Eicher, Andrew Keeney, Kate Justis and Caroline Adams were all together a terrific cast.

From the pastor
Mixing of Secular and Sacred
No other season of the year mixes the secular and sacred quite like Christmas. The celebration of the birth of Jesus is the reason for this special season of the year. But along with that, there are the many cultural celebrations associated with this season of merriment and gift-giving.

This past week-end, my sister and mother came up for the week-end so that my sister could attend Second Baptist Church and meet our new congregation. After serving as career missionaries in Africa for 31 years, Marcia and her husband Jim are home for their final year of furlough, and retirement will follow. They have had an extraordinary career, and I have been excited for you to meet her. With the snow storm, we stayed home, as nearly all of us did, and decorated our Christmas tree. I think it was the first time that I decorated a Christmas tree with my mother and sister since high school days. My mother loves Christmas lights, so we went to Our Lady of Snows and to Tilles Park and also saw lots of lights around St. Louis neighborhoods.

Jan and I took them downtown to Macy’s to see the sidewalk windows related to the story, “Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.” They are delightful. There are so many secular things to do related to Christmas and much of it brings joy. Of course, many people deal with the “blue” side of Christmas in terms of feeling the absence and separation of loved ones.

We can fret that Santa Claus and Frosty and Rudolph overpower the sacred meaning of the season. And the retail industry depends upon Christmas and gift buying in order to make a profit. “Happy Holidays” has replaced “Merry Christmas” in order to be politically correct and include everyone in the season. And I sympathize with many Christians the sense that we are losing a cultural battle and that Christmas will soon be wiped clean of Jesus except in private worship services.

One response I have to this concern is that it presents a special challenge to the church. It is our job, not Macy’s and not the city or county, to advance the story of Jesus’ birth. It is a compelling story, whether legend or history, and it is worth knowing and telling. That is our call and our work. And too often in the past the church has depended upon retail and government to put up the crèches and play our sacred music.

At Second Baptist Church, our decorating is mostly confined indoors. Perhaps we ought to turn things around so that we announce the birth of the Christ child to the world next year in some of our six prominent acres.

The other response is that the secular and sacred can never fully be separated. They aren’t separate categories. What we insist upon as Baptists, and what our U.S. Constitution insists upon, is the separation of church and state. We don’t want the church supported by the state or the state supporting the church. This has to do with institutional separation. But faith and politics and the sacred and secular belong together and cannot be easily separated.

Doesn’t your faith express itself publicly? Aren’t your political views influenced by your faith? There is no need to separate the secular and the sacred of Christmas, just to ensure that the two remain in creative tension. If we are losing the sacred dimension of Christmas, it is likely the hesitation of Christians to share our message.

– Stephen Jones

WEEKLY ACTIVITIES

Sun	9:15 am 10:30 am 11:30 am	Classes for Children, Youth and Adults Worship in the Sanctuary Coffee Fellowship
Mon	7:00 pm	Obsessive-Compulsive Group in Community Room
Tue	10:00 am 6:30 pm	1st and 3rd - American Baptist Women's Ministries Adult Children of Alcoholics in Community Room
Wed	7:00 pm	Choir Rehearsal

SPECIAL ACTIVITIES

Dec 23	NO church school Lessons and Carols (rescheduled from last Sunday_ Congregational 2008 budget vote, after worship Open House at Joneses’ 3:00 6:00 p.m.
Dec 24	Christmas Eve candlelight service, 5:00 p.m. Office closed
Dec 25	Christmas Day! Christ the Savior is born!
Dec 26	NO Choir rehearsal
Dec 30	NO cboir rehearsal or church school
Jan 1	Office closed
Jan 6	175th Anniversary Celebration and luncheon New Outlook deadline
Jan 8	Council meeting, 6:15 p.m., Bitting Hall

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