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FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH
729 Ocean Boulevard St. Simons Island, GA 31522-5018
RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
Supporting Ministry Together
as of October 28, 2020
Year to Date Need $617,050
Year to Date Given $559,843
CHURCH STAFF
Rev. Dr. Tony Lankford, Senior Pastor (On sabbatical till Nov. 29)
Rev. Michael Jennings, Minister of Worship
Rev. Justin Moser, Associate and Youth Minister [email protected]
Ms. Rachel Sherron, Minister of Children & Families
Mr. John Harper, Organist
Mrs. Faith Hamilton-Trent, Pianist
Ms. Barbara Burke, Administrator [email protected]
Mrs. Alicia Shell, Preschool Director
Mrs. Mary Lee Brown, Church Accountant [email protected]
Ms. Jeon Carter, Childcare Coordinator
Ms. Alix McHale, Audio/Media Specialist
Ms. Annie Akins, Admin. Asst.
Phone: 912-638-3337 www.fbcssi.org
Please remember, your faithfulness in
giving is still important.
There are several ways to give your
tithes and offerings: Online at fbcssi.org
By mail to 729 Ocean Blvd., SSI 31522 In person at the church office
November Mission House Guests
November 1-8: Scarlette Jasper, from Somer-set, KY, serves with the CBF through the Togeth-er for Hope Rural Poverty Initiative. She serves in persistent poverty-stricken counties in South Central/South Eastern Kentucky and Scott
County TN, ministering to those experiencing homelessness, survivors of do-mestic abuse, the elderly, disabled, and working poor. Her special project is Christmas Boxes for Appalachia, where a Christmas box is given to children in the poorest counties of Kentucky and Tennessee.
November 22-28: Pat and Mich Tosan, from Salem, NJ, who provide out-reach to Persian speakers worldwide (Afghan, Iranian, and Tajik peoples) by evangelism and discipleship, church planting, networking, partnering, hu-manitarian relief, advocacy, and literature distribution. Their home church is the Persian Church of Herndon, VA.
Advent is coming and our
annual devotional is being
prepared. But we need
YOUR help! Submissions
are needed for each day in
Advent.
We still need 4 more
entries!
Submissions are due by
Friday, November 13th.
If you’re interested in
submitting, please contact
Annie at
F BP is selling car magnets!
They are round, 5 inches, and feature the cute Lil Fish logo.
And they are only $5! All proceeds benefit the preschool.
Let FBP get stuck on you while you help our fabulous preschool!
Contact Alicia (preschool@ Fbcssi.org) to purchase.
Our vision is to be a family of believers
sharing God’s love and grace with all people.
November 2020 Volume 66 Number 11
First Baptist Church of St. Simons Island 729 Ocean Boulevard | St. Simons Island, GA 31522 | www.fbcssi.org
Reflections from Rev. Michael Jennings
SPOOKTACULAR A SMASHING SUCCESS
Many thanks to Rachel, her team, and the host of volunteers that made the Spooktacular a smashing success! Flexibility and creativity during a global pandemic are imperative when annual activities have to be adjusted.
HANDBELL CHOIR TO MAKE THEIR SUNDAY MORNING DEBUT The bell choir will make their debut in both worship services on Sunday, November 1st. They have been rehearsing for several weeks and will continue to contribute in worship in the weeks to come.
ADVENT IS SOON APPROACHING The first Sunday of Advent is November 29th. We will light the Advent candle of hope and have a service of Communion in both services. Throughout the Sundays in Advent we will have a variety of musical offerings, including special guest soloists, the handbell choir, and vocal ensembles. Church staff is also making plans and adjustments for a Christmas Eve service.
November Preaching Schedule
While Pastor Tony is being refreshed and renewed on
sabbatical, we will have the
opportunity to hear messages
from several other voices during
worship. Following is the schedule of our guest preachers for November:
November 1: Rev. Felix Haynes
November 8: Rev. Justin Moser
November 15 Rev. Dr. Bill
Hardee
November 22 Rachel Sherron
Pastor Tony will return on Sunday, November 29th.
Lastly, your church staff appreciates your patience, flexibility, and resolve as we wade through the challenging times of a global pandemic. Even though we have had to make significant changes and alterations to church programming and activities, the church is still ministering and contributing in meaningful ways and will continue to do so.
Blessings, Rev. Michael Jennings
Thank you to everyone who attended the Scavenger Hunt! An extra special THANK YOU goes out to all the volunteers who participated in some way: by bringing candy, decorating the church, making treat bags, serving on the leadership team, preparing food, or serving at a station. It was a fantastic time of fellowship. Several people in the village asked what we were up to; it was excellent to tell them we were having fun with First Baptist Church. In addition, we gave out treat bags filled with treats, 365 Bedtime Devotional books, a church invite, and activity book to the Boys and Girls Club, First Baptist Preschool, and to scavenger hunt participants. Thank you for spreading the light of Jesus!
It has been such a joy to get to see our youth again on a regular basis. Our Wednesday morning breakfasts continue to happen and are going well. We are looking forward to figuring out plans for our yearly Christmas party and as well as some form of a spring retreat. Continue to pray for our students as they navigate all the school and social pressures that come with being youth. Thank you to everyone who has already filled their shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. For you procrastinators out there, we hope to pray over our boxes on Sunday, Nov. 15. So please return your shoeboxes on or before that date. The fee to ship them is $9 per box. Last month we partnered with the Hope 1312 Collective to offer a “Family Fun In” kit for families who have opened their homes to foster children. The kit gives them a night off from cooking dinner and hopefully the resources and games to have a fun family night at home. Thank you to everyone who stepped up to put one of these kits together. We also saw an uptick in our church members responding to needs sent through the Care Portal. Thank you for your faithfulness and desire to serve the precious children and the families who care for them. We are looking forward to our Morningstar Thanksgiving event. We are currently still working on the details of what it will look like this year, so please keep an eye out for more information once it comes available.
From the Minister of Children and Families by Rachel Sherron
From the Associate and Youth Minister by Rev. Justin Moser
Scenes from our SPOOKTACULAR SCAVENGER HUNT
CUTEST PUMPKINS IN THE PATCH
October brought with it lots of excitement about “pumpkin month” at FBP. The kids came dressed in their pumpkin and Halloween best from the very first day of October! And it’s a good thing too, since this month we hosted our fall picture fundraiser. Lindsey Stewart Photography graciously donated her time and 20% of all sales to FBP.
Since Covid prevented us from going to UMC’s pumpkin patch, we hosted our own pumpkin patch! Each class got to visit the FBP Pumpkin Patch (the playground), pose for cute fall pictures, and choose a mini pumpkin. The children really enjoyed finding hidden pumpkins and often re-hiding them.
First Baptist Preschool in now officially a part of Harris Teeter’s “Together in Education” fundraising program. It’s easy and FREE to participate in the program, and it doesn’t interfere with your VIC savings or cost you any money! Simply give the cashier our code (6904) and your VIC card and your card will be linked for the entire school year. That’s it! Once your card is linked, FBP will receive 2% of your Harris Teeter brand (Harris Teeter, H.T. Traders, Harris Teeter Organics, HT Farmers Market, and purchases in the HT Pharmacy) purchases.
We look forward to our costume parade on Oct. 30th. There’s nothing better than a bunch of cute kids in costumes! Two new friends joined FBP in October, bringing our grand total to 70 Lil Fish! Please be sure to check out our Facebook and Instagram pages for more cute pictures.
From the Unit Director of the Boys & Girls Club by Hannah Johnston
From the Preschool Director by Alicia Shell
BRINGING YOU GHOSTLY GREETINGS from The Boys & Girls Club! We had a SPOOKTACULAR October. We began by wearing pink to support Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We were also open two full days in October and took field trips to Jekyll putt-putt golf and bowling.
We celebrated Halloween a little early with a fun-filled Fall Festival with Halloween costumes, a Minute-to-Win-It pie-face challenge, fall-themed bingo, a mummy wrap, and much more!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year - Flag Football season! - which runs from Oct. 17 through Dec. 5th. We had a record-breaking number of participants sign up to play. With so many members in attendance, we decided not only to have two coed flag football teams, but to have another first for our club: cheerleaders! We can’t wait to see all the fun this season brings us. Go BLUE!
October was also National Bullying Prevention Month. Our club focused on learning about the importance of unity in preventing bullying. So often the focus is on just one person standing up to a bully, but real social change occurs when we stand united. We wore orange on Unity Day to show our support and growth to be better young people and to take a stand against bullying.
We’re excited to see what faBOOlous adventures November brings us!
