In This Moment, With These People
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In This Moment,
With These People
In This Moment, With These People
This past weekend, forty women traveled to St. Simons Island for our church’s annual women’s retreat. The theme was “Storytelling: Weaving a Tapestry of our Belonging,” and each of our retreat sessions included several participants telling a five-minute story around a particular topic. Some of them were funny; some were poignant; all of the stories gave the other attendees a glimpse into the storyteller’s life and faith in a way that deepened our relationships with each other. As often happens in the telling of stories, each listener found some point of connection to her own experience, something that made her say, “Yes! Me, too.”
In This Moment, With These People
What an amazing time to be a part of First Baptist Church of Christ at Macon! Our almost 200-year-old church is both steeped in history and in touch with today’s issues. Here we are offered majestic worship, nurturing relationships, and opportunities to reach out to a world in need. Some of us have been a part of the congregation for generations and others have recently joined.
In This Moment, With These People
The pastoral installation service we shared last Sunday is lingering in my mind and in my heart.
In This Moment, With These People
In March of 2023, Erika Houser began her role as our Interim Director of Children’s Ministries, having served as a regular children’s Sunday School teacher before that for most of her college years.
In This Moment, With These People
“Now that we have a pastor, what are we going to do about our other staff needs?” I’ve heard some version of this question asked many times over the past several weeks, as I imagine many of you have!
In This Moment, With These People
In This Moment, With These People August 4, 2024 Written by Julie Long, Pastor On the morning of July 1, I began my month away with a walk in the woods at the Wesleyan College arboretum. I often go to this spot (a lesser-known Macon treasure) for an early morning...
Personnel Committee Announces July Leadership Plan
On Sunday, June 23, our congregation voted to call Julie Long as our next pastor, beginning August 1, 2024. Julie will conclude her tenure as our Interim Director of Staff and Congregational Life on June 30 and will take the month of July away before beginning as...
Rev. Julie Whidden Long elected as Pastor of First Baptist Church of Christ
The First Baptist Church of Christ today elected its first woman pastor in the church’s almost 200-year history, calling Rev. Julie Whidden Long as Pastor of the church, which is located at the top of Poplar Street in downtown Macon. Rev. Long has most recently been...
Candidate for Pastor Recommended by Pastor Search Committee
To: The Congregation of First Baptist Church of Christ, Macon, Georgia From: The Pastor Search Committee Subject: Recommendation to call Julie Whidden Long as our next pastor With great pleasure and much excitement, the Pastor Search Committee unanimously recommends...
Stable and Adequate
written by David McCollum, Church Treasurer Financial support for the ministries and programs of FBCX through the first quarter of 2024 was virtually breakeven with the costs of those activities. Total gifts through three months totaled $142,561.89 while expenditures...
Update from Pastor Search Committee
The Pastor Search Committee, after reviewing and discussing the comments we received last fall in listening sessions and then the notes from the Congregational Conversations in February and March, have prepared a profile of our church and a profile of the...
Donkey Fetchers
Written by Julie Long, Interim Director of Staff and Congregational Life In an article published in the Christian Century entitled “Donkey Fetchers,” Tom Long offers readers a new take on the Palm Sunday story. In Mark 11, just as Jesus was about to descend the Mount...
Reflections On Baptist Women in Ministry
written by Rev. Kathy Manis Findley Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. Joel 2:12 (NRSVUE) . I have been thinking about my ordination, since its anniversary draws near, March 29. I am a...
Putting our Children in the Midst of Us
Written by Julie Long, Interim Director of Staff and Congregational Life Then Jesus took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me...
Feeling Multiple Things at the Same Time
Written by Julie Long, Interim Director of Staff and Congregational Life Last Saturday, about 35 members of our church participated in a church-wide cleanout day as we began the process of clearing out the Washington Avenue building. As you likely remember, we...
Report from Facilities Master Plan Feedback Sessions
written by Harold Tessendorf, Chair, Facilities Master Plan Committee The Committee facilitated two well-attended, congregation-wide listening sessions on January 24th and January 28th, 2024, to receive feedback on a range of broad options related to the future use...
Because Presence Matters, Support the Offering for Global Missions!
Written by Karen Ebey-Tessendorf, Missions Committee member Because presence matters. This is the tag line for the CBF Offering for Global Missions. I’ll admit that I didn’t know much about the Offering for Global Missions (OGM) before I volunteered to do a Missions...
We Need You at the Table!
Written by Julie Long, Interim Director of Staff and Congregational Life Back in 2015-16, our church embarked on a visioning process that engaged our entire congregation in conversations around who we were and what we sensed God was calling us to do next. We spent...
Celebrating our Deacons
Written by Julie Long, Interim Director of Staff and Congregational Life Today (Sunday, January 28), marks a significant annual event in the life of our church – deacon ordination and installation. Each year in January, we set apart deacons for a new three-year term...
Further Background from the Master Plan Committee
written by Harold Tessendorf, chair The Master Plan Committee recently consulted with Rickey Letson of the CBF Foundation. Rickey, along with Kelly Rhodes Jones, is the co-author of a two-volume study entitled Sacred Spaces Innovative Places: Reimaging Church...