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Excerpts from The New Outlook
Celebrating Our 175th
Anniversary
We looked back to 1833 when St. Louis had a population of 7000, just eleven years after it was incorporated as a city. Eleven people gathered in a school house to found Second Baptist Church after the closing of the Baptist Church of St. Louis. We relived some proud moments in our history, such as when Pastor Galusha Anderson preached the first anti-slavery, pro-Union sermon in St. Louis and was one of the Confederacy’s top 10 most wanted men in Missouri. Anderson set the course for Second’s later activity on behalf of justice for African-Americans. We reconnected with Harold and Bea Hoffman, a much-loved pastor and his wife from 1971 -1982. Former members returned to see him—there were many at the worship service whom Harold had baptized and/or married. Two of the staff during Harold’s pastorate, Bob Johnson and Chester McCormack, were there. The music set the tone. We sang hymns written in 1833. The choir sang “Blessed are the Pure and Merciful,” based on the Beatitudes, which are so important to us as a church. Brad Short sang God of the Ages, reminding us of the “love divine that led us in the past.” And at the anniversary dinner, we sang the song Stephen Jones wrote in honor of Harold’s retirement when they were both pastors in the Detroit area. It was a wonderful day of remembering and reconnecting. We look forward to a future in which we carry out in our day the love of God and commitment to justice by those who have gone before us. Many thanks to Steve Jones and Paula Rardin for all of the work they did to make this day such a special one.
A New Piano! Later In February the piano will be relocated to the choir loft. In the meantime, it will be available for the Kim Massie jazz concert on February 17. Thank you so much to the family who donated this wonderful addition to the worship life of our church. "The Inviting Church" Is Theme January 13 New Worship and Study Series Begins January 20 January 20 January 27 February 3
Announcing… Kim Massie is a St. Louis Blues and Jazz Recording Artist Free and Open to the Public In
Celebration of the First Inter-Racial Congregation in St. Louis In the
Sanctuary of the Beatitudes, Second Baptist Church An Opportunity for Our Youth
Baptist
Peace Conference in July Presidents Carter and
Clinton Found Group for Progressive Baptists Upcoming Events for Middle Schoolers and Young Youth The interdenominational Middle School Youth group will be meeting Sunday, January 13, from 5-7 p.m. at Samuel
UCC (320 N. Forsyth Blvd.). We will be sharing a meal, creating craft kits for
kids at Children’s Hospital, and cleaning up toy donations for use by kids, age
0 to 14, at St. James Center. If anyone has any unwanted, but church office by the 13th. We've been told that board and card games are also encouraged, but that games/toys with batteries or missing pieces are discouraged. Thank you.
The Young Youth group will be meeting Sunday, January 27, from 5-7 p.m. at First Presbyterian church (Delmar at Midland). Details on this event are still to come.
Second Baptist is helping with the planning of both of these events, so it would be great to have as many of our kids there as possible! Thank you! Shari Nelson -Faulkner
What Is God Like: Answers from Our Kids Mitchell Bancks: God is like a campfire that burns wood and then it burns it up and then goes out and then it’s wood again. God is like a bird that loses its feathers and gets them back. God is like a cliff really dug into the ground deep with a cave in it. God is like a dragon. Linden Faulkner: He looks like everything good. God is like a blooming flower and a light blue butterfly Book Group to Discuss The Glass Castle The Second Baptist Book Group will meet on Monday, January 14, at 2:00 p.m. in the Community Room to discuss The Glass Castle: A Memoir, by Jeannette Walls. This award winning book was also chosen as a New York Times Notable Book and was on their Bestseller List for over a year. "Some people are born storytellers. Some lives are worth telling. The best memoirs happen when these two conditions converge. In The Glass Castle, they have." From the pastor I was reading the obituary of Lee Robison and there it was in black and white: Lee served as the president of the Baptist Peace Fellowship! Lee was an ardent pacifist. The BPF which Lee led was actually a bit different than the one today. His was the American Baptist Peace Fellowship. Today the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America represents all Baptist denominations in four nations (Puerto Rico, USA, Canada and Mexico). Lee’s BPF was one of the forerunners of the broader international network that exists today. I’m actually thrilled to have made this discovery. I’d far rather be Numero Dos, because it suggests that I stand in a long, historic line of pastors who have preached a similar gospel, who have practiced faith in similar ways, and who have pursued peace and justice in St. Louis and around the world in notable ways. Rather than creating a tradition, I am racing to keep up with a tradition that has endured 175 years. This church was unique from its founding. There aren’t many Baptist churches in pioneer America that can claim 175 years of an educated clergy. All of our pastors have been seminary-trained and many have had advanced degrees. The first pastor to have an earned doctorate was Galusha Anderson from the Civil War era. I’m not Numero Uno, thanks be to God. I am getting to know your pastors from their writings, from your archives, and from other sources. The only former pastors whom I have personally known prior to my coming were Kim Egolf-Fox and Harold Hoffman. But the paper trail is indeed impressive, and it inspires me to stand in a pulpit tradition which they have shaped. It calls upon me to push that grand tradition forward. As I get involved here in interfaith, inter-racial or ecumenical work, I will not be Numero Uno. I will be standing in an honored tradition. As a peacemaker, though myself not a pacifist, we’ve had several pacifists and notable peacemakers as prior SBC pastors. In December, I was invited to join a clergy group of “big steeple” St. Louis churches that has been in existence since the late 1800’s. During nearly all of that period, the pastor of Second Baptist has been a member. I’m joining because it is a tradition in which I want to stand. I’ll double the number of Baptists as Jerry Keeney remains a member from his pastoral days at SBC. Numero Dos, thanks be to God! We remember the stories from the past because they bring to mind not only the greatness of our shared past, but the ministry of engagement that is necessary for us to be faithful in 2008 and beyond. I’m actually Numero 23, and proud of it! – Stephen Jones
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9030 Clayton Road (at McKnight Road, 3/10 mile west of the Galleria) St. Louis, MO 63117 (314) 991-3424 |