The Mary Elizabeth Wood Scholarship provides financial assistance to students for educational expenses. However, it is not limited to monetary aid. The scholarship provides a ministry mentoring opportunity, in which the student will complete a learning contract with the church. The recipient, with a scholarship team of representatives from Church Council and someone working in that ministry area, will construct a learning plan. The plan will be comprised of learning goals, learning objectives, and a ministry plan at First Baptist Church. The recipient will serve alongside First Baptist staff and volunteers in ministry for a specified length of time, likely one semester, two semesters or a calendar year. The goal of the experience is an increased understanding of ministry and service in the local church.

For some, the mentorship will lead into full-time church ministry. For others, the experience will simply increase understanding of ministry in the local church. As our church has discerned God’s prompting to greater involvement with students, this scholarship opens the door to equip students for ministry.

We anticipate that others will want to be involved in this endeavor. In fact, we will rely on future additional funding for this ministry to continue beyond the first year. If you are interested in donating to these mentorships, please designate your gifts to the Mary Elizabeth Wood Scholarship Fund.

Most of all, please pray for this new venture as we fine-tune the details, and pray that God will send us students whose lives and service can be enriched by opportunities to serve and learn.

How do we encounter our culture? Are we more wowed or disturbed? Do we find ourselves drawn into the trappings of our culture? Are we able to speak into culture the good news of Jesus?

Sally Barrett shares from her experience in Chicago this summer and Wade teaches from Acts 17.

As we think toward a fast approaching summer, we (the church council) want to share with you plans for new ventures. As usual, we will not be having Wednesday evening meals from Memorial Day to Labor Day. However, this year, we will discontinue all Wednesday evening programs for this period of time.

This is not to diminish the importance of prayer hour and choir. We encourage you to pray for the sick, the suffering, church leaders, and our community on a daily basis. Some may even organize informal groups of prayer throughout the summer. Perhaps, you will commit to pray for an hour each week for those on the provided prayer list. Please be steadfast in your praying. Those with musical gifts are equally encouraged to continue in these months. Rehearsals will take place this summer for special groups and combined choirs.

A pause in our regular schedule allows for more concentrated efforts in new directions. For some time, we have been discerning God’s course for our church. He seems to be prompting us specifically in the areas of poverty and students. In sure and precise ways, He has been pointing toward our increased energy in these areas.

Poverty

We don’t have the details figured out, but feel we must deepen our commitment to those struggling in poverty. The dynamics are complicated and a bit overwhelming. We have much to learn, to digest, to try. We would like to use this summer as a starting point. While our hands have been in this pot a bit (we have hosted the OPT dinner in our building for four years now), we sense a calling to strengthen our participation in the area of poverty.

We sense that our action in this realm will provide spiritual growth. As we are obedient to God’s calling, He will empower us to function as an authentic community of believers. We believe that He will use our efforts to draw new believers into our midst.

This summer, we plan to offer Poverty Training and a Poverty Simulation. We plan to connect with both the YWCA and the OPT dinner. Details will be provided as they are available.

Students

A second area of intensification is students. With an increased number of students in our midst, we sense God’s summons to focus energy in this sector. With our connection to The Oasis (aka The Baptist House), including David’s long time relationship with this congregation, students from other campus ministries attending worship, and International students filling the pews each Sunday, we recognize God’s prompting in this area. We aren’t entirely sure what this means, but have at least identified students as part of our mission.

Mentoring

We have identified mentoring as a primary mode of our operating as a church. While we have not yet detailed how this will play out, we understand that both poverty and students are areas requiring mentoring. We are confident that God will provide direction and strength as we continue to discern his leading.

As we persevere to define our calling, we want to begin to take steps in this direction. We hope you will join us on this venture.