Advance Notice, February 2007

All of the contents in this eNewsletter are for your use. Please feel free to use the information and illustrations in sermons, in newsletters, church bulletins, and on your website.

John V. Upton, Executive Director

Welcome to the latest edition of Advance Notice. We hope that this monthly eNewsletter provides you with relevant, useful information and resources.

“The Single Most Important Quality”

When I was a boy growing up in Chesapeake, I used to spend much of my summer and holiday vacations working with my grandfather on his farm. The farm was located in Virginia Beach not far from Sandbridge. Granddad raised cows, horses, pigs, and turkeys. It was more of a hobby for him than a real farm, but caring for animals is a demanding task even if it is for fun.

What I enjoyed about those times was working with my grandfather. He had a wit that kept daily chores interesting and a laugh that brightened the dullest days. One day he and I were hanging barbed wire fencing around the back lot. That was the chore I enjoyed least. On one occasion I pulled the wire too tight with the winch and it exploded all around me. One doesn’t forget those experiences.

More...

There is no doubt that strong, positive, spiritual leadership is necessary in order for a church to share the love of Jesus with people in their community and around the world. In order for a church to carry out the Great Commission, beginning with her own community, dramatic change has to take place in the DNA of that church. Learn how at the Pastor-Deacon-Church Leadership Retreat, May 11-12, 2007 at Eagle Eyrie.

Some of the best young singers from around the state will be sharing their gifts on Saturday, February 24, at Bon Air Baptist Church in Richmond.

Are you looking for new ideas for your church’s Sunday School? S⁴ is for you. Come connect and learn from others.

Disaster Relief Services has some important training events coming up soon. There is also an important update about the situation in Florida in the aftermath of the devastating tornados.

Senior High Weekend is designed for students in grades 9-12 during the 2006-2007 school years. The weekend will include: celebrative worship, morning devotions, special interest conferences (targeted directly to the needs of senior high students), recreation and fellowship.

February is always a good month for a love story, since St. Valentine’s Day comes smack dab in the middle of the most maligned and generally miserable month of the year. And so here is a love story with a Baptist history and heritage lesson to boot.

The story begins in Texas and concludes in Virginia. In the 1890s a shy young woman named Minnie Lou Kennedy was teaching first grade in Rockport, Texas, and one fall a new principal was hired. He was a recent graduate of Richmond College, a Baptist school in faraway Virginia. He was a tall, handsome native Texan and he quickly took a romantic interest in the first grade teacher.

More...

As always, we want to hear from you with your feedback. How can we better communicate with you? How can we better serve you? Let us know your thoughts by sending an e-mail to Paige Peak.

In this space we have been featuring many of our ministry partners that are a part of the BGAV. The desire is for more people to know and understand what makes up this entity called the Baptist General Association of Virginia.

Baptist Ministry Assistants of Virginia

Baptist Ministry Assistants of Virginia is a professional organization for secretaries, administrative assistants, and ministry assistants in local churches and in denomination and association offices and agencies in Virginia (as well as those retired from such positions). Founded in 1987 as the Virginia Baptist Secretaries Association, the organization changed its name to Baptist Ministry Assistants of Virginia in 2002 to reflect the diversity of its members and their job descriptions in their ministries. BMAV’s purposes are to encourage individual spiritual growth and maturity, to promote professional excellence and encourage improvement of individual performance, to offer opportunities for continuing education and spiritual enrichment, to develop a greater understanding of the church’s mission and the ministry assistant’s part in that mission, and to work cooperatively with other Baptist churches and entities in Virginia.

That Baptist Ministry Assistants of Virginia will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2007 with a luncheon at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond on March 24? All secretaries, administrative assistants, and ministry assistants are invited to attend. For more information, contact Sandy Weakley at sandy@doverbaptist.org.
That Baptist Ministry Assistants of Virginia has approximately 50 members? For membership information, contact Nancy Wicker at nancy.wicker@
blackcreek.org.
That Baptist Ministry Assistants of Virginia distributes a quarterly newsletter by email and in print? To sign up to receive the BMAV newsletter, contact Nancy Greene at Blackwater1@verizon.net.
That Baptist Ministry Assistants of Virginia offers professional certification training for ministry assistants every two years? The next training will be offered in the spring of 2008. For more information, contact Joan Newsome at jnblackcreek@aol.com.

Learning Curve Ahead

Did you know that Virginia Baptists help to support three college preparatory schools, two colleges, and eight seminaries, as well as Baptist Collegiate Ministries on more than a dozen college and university campuses in Virginia?

From arts and sciences to Bible and theology to missions and service, these institutions provide diverse opportunities for Christian education and discipling. Students seeking higher standards of learning can find learning and guidance at schools supported by the combined giving power of over 1,400 Baptist General Association of Virginia Churches to Cooperative Missions.

For free downloadable ads for use in your church bulletin, eNewsletter and/or website, click here.

Each month, we will provide you with downloadable calendars to guide you in reading the Bible through in 2007. This month, we are including the March 2007 calendar. We are strong believers in reading God’s Holy Word, and we pray that these calendars will help you and your church in reading the Bible regularly. Each calendar is provided in two formats (8.5 x 11 and 5.5 x 8.5, the latter designed for bulletin inserts) and may be viewed and downloaded here.

Subscribe to the best source of news about Virginia Baptists and the Christian world at large! The Religious Herald is available at very reasonable rates.