DECEMBER 4, 2011
VOLUME LVIII NUMBER 7
WELCOME, NEW MEMBERS!
We welcomed four new members and two Friends of Oakhurst into our community on November 20, GREAT DAY!:
Joshua Cowan
Amy Dills Moore
Joshua Moore
Sarah Moore
Jennifer Moss (Friend)
Jacob Pruett (Friend)
MORAVIAN LOVE FEAST
December 11
An Oakhurst tradition since 1979; this simple service includes carols, shared coffee and buns, and candle lighting. The choirs of Oakhurst and Friendship Baptist Church will sing. The service is designed to include children.
There will be a reception following the Moravian Love Feast in the Fellowship Hall. This will be a wonderful time for fellowship with each other, and our friends and guests from Friendship Baptist Church. Please remember to bring snacks and finger food to share. And don’t forget . . . finger foods are sandwiches, nuts, fruit, etc.; but nothing that requires forks or spoons. And remember that we will have guests, so please bring extra food to share!
SCHEDULE FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS
Sunday, December 4, 2011—Second Sunday of Advent
9:30 a.m. Church School for all ages
10:50 a.m. Worship begins with Morning Music
12:30 p.m. Stewardship Committee (Conference Room)
1:00 p.m. Gospel Choir rehearsal (Room 103)
2:00 p.m. Georgia Chin Baptist Church Worship (Sanctuary)
2:00 p.m. Church Council (Parlor)
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
12:00 p.m. Centering Prayer Group (Chapel)
5:45 p.m. Church Family Supper
6:45 p.m. Hanging of the Greens (Sanctuary)
7:40 p.m. Sanctuary Choir rehearsal (Room 103)
Thursday, December 8, 2011
10:00 a.m. Good Fellowship Club
Saturday, December 10, 2011
6:00 p.m. Youth Christmas Party(Jacy Gentry Pippin’s house)
Sunday, December 11, 2011—Third Sunday of Advent
Messenger deadline
9:30 a.m. Church School for all ages
10:50 a.m. Worship begins with Morning Music
1:00 p.m. Gospel Choir (Room 103)
2:00 p.m. Georgia Chin Baptist Church Worship (Sanctuary)
6:00 p.m. Moravian Love Feast (Sanctuary)
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
12:00 p.m. Centering Prayer Group (Chapel)
5:45 p.m. Church Family Supper and Christmas Party (Fellowship Hall)
7:40 p.m. Sanctuary Choir (Room 103)
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Milledgeville Prison trip
CHRISTMAS PARTY AND CHURCH SUPPER
Plan to join us for our family night supper on Wednesday, December 14, beginning at 5:45 p.m., and the Christmas party afterwards. Please donate some holiday goodies and desserts that can be eaten without flatware for the party. Contact Frank and Pat Painter, Fellowship Committee Co-Chairs (painterduo@gmail.com). To make a reservation for church supper, contact Leslie Withers in the church office by Tuesday at noon (leslie@oakhurstbaptist.org; 404-378-3677, ext. 223.)
CHRISTMAS CAROLING?
Oakhurst Baptist Church has a tradition of Christmas caroling, either in the neighborhood of the church or the homes of members who are no longer able to get to church. However, we have not been able to locate a coordinator this year. If you would like to volunteer, you can choose the date, the location(s), and the carols. Jennifer Hornbuckle has volunteered to co-lead, but only if someone is willing to co-lead with her. She can lead carols, but she’s not familiar with the Oakhurst neighborhood.
CHRISTMAS SPECIAL OFFERING FOR MISSIONS
This year’s Special Christmas Offering for Missions is going to the Alliance of Baptists, the American Baptist World Mission Offering, and the Oakhurst Recovery Program. More information about each of these will be inserted in Sunday bulletins and available in the Vestibule at the rear of the sanctuary. Offering envelopes can be found in the pew racks. Undesignated gifts will be divided equally among the three. There is also space on the offering envelopes for you to designate your gift to the Giving Tree and In Lieu of Christmas Cards.
The Giving Tree
It’s set up in Fellowship Hall, with paper angels crafted by our children. You can make a contribution to Hagar House in honor people you appreciate at Oakhurst. Pick up an angel for each person, write their name and a brief message on it, and hang it on the tree. (The angels will be distributed after Christmas.) Then write a check to the church in their honor. Hagar House is a project of Decatur Cooperative Ministries that provides homeless women and their children with safe, stable housing for 30-90 days, along with counseling and supportive services.
Save a tree with a gift “In Lieu of Christmas Cards.”
Send or bring one card to the church, along with a check to the church. These contributions will be passed on to the Atlanta Community Food Bank, which distributes donated food to more than 700 nonprofit partner agencies such as food pantries and homeless shelters. Cards will be posted on a bulletin board, and names of donors will be published in a future edition of the Messenger.
And don’t forget Oakhurst Baptist Church as you consider your year-end donations. Your offerings and gifts pay the upkeep on the building and the salaries of the staff, as well as the many missions supported by the church. The services you value and the missions that are important to you are only possible because of your generous support.
WE STILL NEED A FEW BAKERS
We have gotten a fairly good response to the call for bakers for Love Buns for the Moravian Love Feast, but we still need a few bakers. If you have been on the fence about baking the buns, please consider doing this. This is a well-attended service by our congregation and Friendship Baptist Church and we want to make sure that everyone can enjoy these special buns. Contact Steve Vellines (Steve.Vellines@ricohusa.com).
PAY-IT-FORWARD ADVENT BASKETS
Let’s try something different during Advent! With our theme of Being Home, let’s share something from our homes with someone else in the church community. Beginning the first Sunday of Advent, you are invited to share a small basket of something from your home with someone else at Oakhurst. If someone hands you a basket of goodies, take the basket home and enjoy the bounty. Then put something in the basket and pass it on to someone else in our community who will in turn do the same.
This is a way to share home with one another. Get creative as you consider what you might share with someone at Oakhurst. Don’t enjoy baking? How about making some Christmas ornaments? Do you have a great collection of holiday music? How about making a CD? Do you enjoy writing poetry or short-stories? Perhaps you could share some of these in the basket. Have some fresh fruit or something you canned yourself? Sounds good to me!
Look around the congregation. The challenge is not to deliver the basket to your best friend, but maybe to surprise somebody you don’t know very well. If someone tries to give you a basket and you have already received one this Advent season, kindly let them know to pay-it-forward to someone else.
This fun activity follows at least these three statements in our church covenant:
- I will also be sensitive to God’s message as it comes to me from persons, history, the arts, nature, current happenings in the world, and other sources.
- I will discover and affirm the gifts God has given me and use them in God’s service; I will evoke, affirm, and celebrate the gifts God has given to others.
- I will offer to know and love my sisters and brothers in this fellowship, and I am willing to be known and loved by them.
Be creative and have fun!
PATCHWORK RETURNS THE PRODIGAL SON
On Sunday, December 11, the Patchwork Class begins a study of Henri Nouwen’s The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming. From a review on amazon.com: “The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming is a spiritual adventure story. A chance encounter with a poster depicting a detail of Rembrandt’s “The Return of the Prodigal Son” set in motion a chain of events that enabled Nouwen to redefine and claim his vocation late in his life. In this book, which interweaves elements of art history, memoir, Midrash, and self-help, Nouwen brings the parable to life with empathic analyses of each character. Nouwen’s absorption in the story (and the painting) is so complete that the father’s challenge to love the son, and the son’s challenge to receive that love, become Nouwen’s own. And Nouwen’s writing is so clear and his tone is so appealingly frank and humble that readers—no matter how far from home—will find hope for themselves in the prodigal peace Nouwen ultimately achieves.”
We meet in Room 300 immediately following adult opening assembly, usually by 9:45. Please let me know if you would like a copy of the book ($8.70). We welcome anyone interested in this topic.
—Gray Crouse
OAKHURST BAPTIST CHURCH
222 East Lake Drive
Decatur, Georgia 30030
Every member a minister
404-378-3677 • fax 404-378-3225
www.oakhurstbaptist.org
Oakhurst Recovery Program
404-371-0590; fax: 404-371-0577
Lanny Peters Pastor (lanny@oakhurstbaptist.org)
Melanie Vaughn-West Pastor (melanie@oakhurstbaptist.org)
Karen Shipp Minister of Music (karen.shipp@oakhurstbaptist.org)
Leslie Withers Church Administrator (leslie@oakhurstbaptist.org)
Peter Junker Custodian
Joe Canzoneri Editor, The Oakhurst Messenger