mission statement pastor(s )orner · one or two business meetings beginning in 2017, financial...

Page 8 Smyrna Scroll

18971 Carson Road Dinwiddie, VA 23841

Angela B. Walker, Admin. Asst. Phone: 804-469-9363 E-mail: admin@smyrna1897.org www.smyrna1897.org

If you would like to submit information or an article for publication in the scroll,

please do so by the 15th of each month.

Mission Statement

Smyrna Bapst Church exists for the

purpose of building up a community of

fully equipped believers who give glory

to God with every aspect of their lives. www.sbcv.org

1st or 2nd time Guest? Be sure to fill out a Connection Card Connection Card Connection Card

(in the pocket on the back (in the pocket on the back (in the pocket on the back of each chair in the Sanctuary)of each chair in the Sanctuary)of each chair in the Sanctuary) and

drop it in the offering plate or text WELCOMEWELCOMEWELCOME to the number below. We would love to have a

record of your visit!

July 2016

Volume 12, Issue 7

Inside this issue:

Pastor’s Corner 1

A Message from our Assoc. Pastors

2

What’s Happening in SBC Youth Group

3

Upcoming Events 4

Worship Ministry 5

SBC Kidz 6

Church Calendar &

Birthdays

7

Hodge Podge 8

Special Points of Interest:

� Business Meeting format -

Time for a change?

� Teacher Trainees - Coming

to a SS class this summer!

� Servant Evangelism: Cart

Corralling @ Food Lion 7/4

� Summer Outreach Oppor-tunities: “A portion of your part in fulfilling the mission

of the bride of Christ!”

� Operation Christmas Child—Year-round Gift

Ideas

� Vacation Bible School

2016!

� BOP’s Luncheon 7/20

� Breakfast Fellowship 7/31

a decision is made. Please know that my door is always open and you are welcome to talk with me anytime. Well, not really anytime but I will make myself availa-ble to you as much as is possible and appropriate.

If we decide to go with one or two business meetings beginning in 2017, financial reports will be available to you on a monthly basis and ministry reports will still be provided on a quar-terly basis so that you can remain abreast of what is happening in the life of your church. Again, the driving force behind this direction is the hope that we can make our annual meeting an exciting, worshipful, informative event at which hundreds of our members participate in the very important privi-lege of deciding on who serves on what teams (nominating committee report) and how the re-sources are allocated and spent in ministry (ministry investment plan). Come out and join us.

Devotedly,

Pastor Robert

Dear Smyrna Family,

I really need to hear from you on a decision that we want to make in regards to business meetings here at Smyrna. For a little background, we currently have four business meetings per year; one each quarter. The Constitution requires that we have 7% of our active membership pre-sent in order to have a quorum. A quorum must be reached in order for business to be transact-ed at a business meeting. I know that is all a bunch of boring stuff but just hang in there with me for a minute. There are meetings at which we struggle to reach the re-quired number of mem-bers for a quorum; many and varying reasons con-tribute to this reality. We pretty much always make it but just barely.

Our business meetings have been rather une-ventful for a long time now as there is great uni-ty and peace around the direction of the church. This is a good thing but it also contributes to the lack of interest in these meetings. Sadly, the rep-utation of church busi-ness meetings has been a time in which so called Christians get together and act very ungodly in relation to unimportant issues. That is not true of our meetings. What is

Pastor’s Corner true is that they are of-ten rather dull.

Having said all that, we are considering reducing the number of business meetings per year from four down to two and possibly even one. The deacons have recom-mended that we do one “Annual Business Meet-ing” in October at which time the “ministry in-vestment plan” (budget) and nominating commit-tee reports are voted on and approved. The hope is that we could treat this as a big event in the life of the church and make that meeting a wor-ship event culminating with the vote for the vi-sion of the church for the upcoming calendar year. Yes, of course it would include a church wide meal together.

The other option is that we would have a meeting in April for the nominat-ing committee report and vote and then one in Oc-tober centered on the ministry investment plan. The staff and the deacon body like the idea of one big Annual Meeting but we want to be certain that you as the congre-gation feel that your in-put matters and that you have forums at which you can be heard as well. So, at the next business meeting which is sched-uled for July 20 at 6:30, we want to discuss this subject and allow you to speak to the issue before

Dr. Robert L. Rowland, III - Senior Pastor

(Johanna, Ben, Joe & Laura)

Page 2 Smyrna Scroll

A Message from. . . Aaron Bobo, Assoc. Pastor

Greetings Church Family,

We have finally made it to the summer. I know many of you are looking for-ward to vacations and days outside with the family. Summer is a time to relax, but it is also a season the Lord gives us in which to do His work! While it is easy to get caught up in the happenings and opportunities of summer I want to en-courage you to remain committed to praying for your church and to being a part of the fellowship of believers here at Smyrna.

One specific way I would like to ask you to pray and support the ministry at Smyrna this summer is through supporting our new teacher trainees. As many of you know, we conducted our first ever new teacher training this spring with 11 “candidates” coming through our 8 week course. This course was designed to equip and disciple folks in our congregation who we will need to call on to lead our expanding Sunday school and small group ministry. Together, we walked through material de-signed to help them prepare, deliver, and lead a class with the ultimate product being a lesson they wrote individually.

This summer, our 11 trainees will each be delivering their lesson to a class at Smyrna. If you are in a Sunday school class, be on the look out for these new folks! They will be filling in for some of our teachers as they are on vacation as well as in different classes as we have need. I would ask you to pray for these men and women as they prepare to teach. Pray specifically that God would impress upon their hearts the call to teach. Pray that they would be given words to speak as they stand to teach these classes, and pray that God would lead us collectively as we discern where He would have them serve in the years ahead.

Devotedly, Pastor Aaron Email: assocpastor@smyrna1897.org

A Message from. . . Joe Rowland, Assoc. Pastor

Dear Smyrna Family,

Thank God for summertime! (Amen?!) I am so ready for warm evenings, grilling out, vacation and everything else that comes along with this wonderful time of year. Another reason that I’m so excited for summertime is because in my area—outreach—summertime is jam-packed! We have TWO movie nights (6/30 & 8/25), a cart corralling (July 4th), and potential mission-trips-in-the-making to our gospel

-partners in Northern Virginia. Much to be excited about!

You can join with me in getting excited about these missional opportunities in a few ways. First,

pray. Nothing of lasting spiritual significance can happen apart from prayer. A revival, reformation, or

local church growth-explosion never did and never will occur without many righteous people spending many hours on their

knees (metaphorically speaking) before God. Second, give. No, I’m not asking for money. I’m asking for your time and

support. Take movie night, for instance. We don’t need monetary help for those outreach opportunities; we need your vol-

unteer service as well as your personal investment. I made an announcement from the pulpit a few Sunday’s ago that our

outreach events, specifically movie night, will not be successful (meaning they will NOT actually connect anyone with

Smyrna or Jesus) IF you all as a church do not personally invest. What do I mean by personally investing? I mean taking it

upon yourself to ensure that tons of your family and friends come; not just leaving a ticket as a tip at Giuseppe's or El Cap.

This outreach opportunity will only succeed if you choose to use it as a way to get your lost or unchurched family/friends/

co-workers connected with the church and then changed by the power of Jesus Christ. This is more than a fun event; it is

a witnessing opportunity. We all know that as Christians we are supposed to witness and share our faith with others. But

Aaron Bobo

Associate Pastor (Ashley, Analeigh

& Alizabeth)

Joseph S. Rowland Associate Pastor

(Kristin)

Smyrna Bapt i s t Church

Calendar of Events - 2016 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

�JULY�BIRTHDAYS�-�HAPPY�BIRTHDAY!!��

Page 7 Smyrna Scroll

@11am

1st Fruits Sunday

BMen Breakfast 8am

6:30pm Zip 4 Kidz / Youth

Mid-Week Worship

Worship Ministry Practice

Wednesday, 7/20 @ 11am

6:30pm *NO Zip 4 Kidz / Youth

Mid-Week Worship

Worship Ministry Practice

6:30pm *NO Zip 4 Kidz / Youth

BUSINESS MEETING

Worship Ministry Practice

6:30pm Zip 4 Kidz / Youth

Mid-Week Worship

Worship Ministry Practice

Deacon’s Meeting 7pm

945 am SS & 923 Church 11am Worship Service

*Summer Schedule

1 Joe Parsons Lisa Barnhouse Mike McBride KJ Shifflett Greg Stamp Rick Jung 2 Bob Hatter 3 Sarah Arterburn Shay Tench 5 Barbara Kaufman Aaron Reynolds Daniel Cornett 7 Conner Cliborne Victoria Twisdale 8 Brittany Sober Laura Pate Dallas Wells

8 Wayne Pugh Hayden O’Carroll 9 Ben Sober Laura Rowland 10 Lemuel Duke 11 Jeremiah Davis Monroe Adams 12 Debbie Westmoreland Charles Evans, Jr. Susan Means Tom O’Bryan Lexi Moseley 13 Jonan Elder Lori Patton Taylor Humphries 14 Marvin Westmoreland

17 Kirstin Andrews Haley Upton 18 Johanna Rowland Bart Patton 20 Margaret Lewis Cheryl Joyner Ashley Henard 21 Allena Gattis Erica Clark 22 Angie Adkins 25 Mae Phillingane McKenzie Wilson 26 Patricia Edgerton Jill Thomas TJ Allen Abigail Tench

27 Lester Harris 28 Shannon Nowak 29 Kaydyn O’Carroll 30 Alison Tyler 31 Brian Adkins Daniel Rogerson

If your name does not appear on our Birthday Calendar that means we do not have your birthdate in our records. Please call the church @ 469-9363 (Monday - Friday 9am - 4pm) to update the records we have on file or you can update it yourself via MY SMYRNA on our website www.smyrna1897.org. For help getting setup with MySmyrna (where you can manage your own data such as address changes, phone, email changes, view directories, view volunteer opportunities & more!!) call the church office.

Vacation Bible School

Communion Sunday

945 am SS & 923 Church 11am Worship Service

*Summer Schedule

945 am SS & 923 Church 11am Worship Service

*Summer Schedule

COMMITTEE CHAIRS: Book of Report submissions are due to the church office by 4 pm on 7/13

Church Office Closed

VBS Decoration Week 10am-3pm

Manna Ministry 10am-2pm

Manna Ministry 10am-2pm

CentriKid Camp @ Gardner –Webb Univ. NC

CentriKid Parent Mtg 12:15pm

VBS Volunteer Mtg 12:15pm

VBS Family Night 7pm

945 am SS & 923 Church 11am Worship Service

*Summer Schedule

945 am Breakfast Fellowship during SS 11am Worship Service

*Summer Schedule 31

Cart Corralling @ Food Lion

Prayer Shall Ministry Rm 121 / 930 - 12N

Prayer Shall Ministry Rm 121 / 930 - 12N

Prayer Shall Ministry Rm 121 / 930 - 12N

Prayer Shall Ministry Rm 121 / 930 - 12N

Page 6 Smyrna Scroll

Kidz

Dear Smyrna Family, Wow! Another month has flown by and it is crazy to think we are already half way through 2016. I have been so blessed beyond measure working with you and your children. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all out amazing volunteers!!! I could not do this without you. We have been tirelessly working on Vacation Bible School for this year and I cannot tell you how excited I am. We have an awesome group of volunteers that I am thrilled to be working with.

The Vacation Bible School theme this year is Submerged. During this week of Bible study we will learn about 5 stories from the Bible. The first story is the story of Zacchaeus. In the study of Luke 19:1-10 we will learn that Jesus knows who we all really are, people in need of salvation. During the second day we will learn about the woman that Jesus saw at the well. John 4:1-42 is an amazing timely lesson of our worth in Jesus. Jesus values everyone regardless of their past, their current situation or how the world sees them. Day three is the study of Nicodemus and our need for a Savior. During the fourth day we will study Jesus’ interaction with a blind man. In John 9 Jesus had a plan and a purpose for this man and his disability. Jesus explained to his disciples that this man was not born blind because of any sin or wrong do-ing, rather he was born blind so that his healing would bring about glory to God and God alone! The last day we are going to study one of my personal favorite passages, Mark 10:3-16. In this lesson we learn of His great love for children. Jesus LOVES children. When the disciples tried to turn the children away, think-ing Jesus didn’t have time for such insignificance, Jesus quickly corrected them explaining that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those with child-like faith.

As you can see, I am so thrilled about this year and I look forward to meeting all of the visiting kids! We still have plenty of room for volunteers. If you want to help please call or text me at 434-221-8683. Our greatest need right now will be decorating. If you are interested in serving in that way, let me know!

Love, Jordan

Page 3 Smyrna Scroll

A Message from. . . Josh Rowland, Interim Youth Pastor

Smyrna Family,

Since you have heard more of me speaking than normal this past month, I will keep my scroll entry short and sweet! Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for allowing me the privilege of preaching on Sunday, June 12th. It is an honor to serve a church that has such great faith in not only the senior pastor, but also the entire staff. I do not approach that privilege lightly. I pray that God will continue to use the faithfulness of Smyrna Baptist to raise up Christian leaders and expand the Kingdom of God.

In youth news, camp has arrived! We will be there 6/27-7/1, so we may have already returned by the time you read this! Pray for more than an emotional experience for our youth; pray that the Holy Spirit would take the seeds planted at Centrifuge and give them the life to sprout into ac-tion. Continue to pray for our youth in many ways: spiritual development, resistance to temptation, strong friendships, and steadfastness in the face of a wavering culture. Also please continue to pray for Stephanie and Penelope Joy (less than a month to go before she is here with us). We love you all, and we thank you for your prayers!

In Christ Alone,

Joshua Rowland youthpastor@smyrna1897.org (804) 929-7164

I’m sure you would agree that hardly any of us (pastors included!) do it enough! We usually complain that it’s awkward or

out of the way or what have you. But guess what! It can’t get any easier than inviting your friend and his or her family to a

super fun, family friendly event! By inviting someone to this event you will open yet another door to invite them to come

back to our church on a Sunday morning. What’s more, if you do all this while “praying without ceasing” I guarantee that

we will see the church grow like we have never seen before. God promised to build his church (Matt 16:18) and he prom-

ised to use His power in us to do it! (Matt 28:18-20). Let these summer outreach opportunities be a portion of your part in

fulfilling the mission of the bride of Christ!

For the King, Pastor Joe Email: assocpastor2@smyrna1897.org

A Message from. . . Joe Rowland, Assoc. Pastor

Joshua D. Rowland Youth Pastor (Stephanie)

Servant Evangelism Opportunity: We have another opportunity to serve our community at Food Lion on the Fourth of July! The 4th is one of the busiest days at the grocery store and so Food Lion has asked us if we would be interested in helping people to their cars and returning carts to the corrals. If you are able to help serve on one of our two shifts (9-11am, or 11am -1pm) we would love to hear from you! Please call the church office and ask to speak with Pastor Joe or send an email to him at assocpastor2@smyrna1897.org

Page 4 Smyrna Scroll Page 4 Smyrna Scroll

July

Clothing items

Page 5 Smyrna Scroll Page 5 Smyrna Scroll

A Message from…the Worship Ministry

It’s July already but my thoughts are already turned towards Christ-mas music. I get bombarded with all the new Christmas music that is published beginning in May and then I begin the task of reviewing all that music. Over the years, I have become very familiar with writers and publishers so much so that most of the time, I don’t need to listen to the audio sample to know whether or not it might be a contender for the season’s Christmas music. There are times that the first few measures leading into a song either captures my attention or turns me off. Some years, I find the right music quickly & easily, others years it takes me the entire summer. The same is true when choosing music for the worship services.

In thinking about this approach to selecting music I began thinking about my approach to reading the scriptures. I’ve been a believer for 49 years, I’ve read the Bible, heard sermons, sat in Sunday School classes and other Bibles studies over those years. I have to make an effort to approach my studying scripture in fresh ways. If I don’t, I can easily find myself falling into the “I’ve heard it all before” trap and therefore, skimming over familiar passages, or skipping chapters and books altogether. What I have found is “God’s Word is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the divi-sion of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart”. Hebrews 4:12. I don’t want to miss anything; I want to dig deep in understanding.

Our worship can be this same way unless we guard against routine, just going through the motions. That is certainly not acceptable worship to the Most High God. He wants our full attention; He wants our full adoration and praise. The entire worship service is an act of worship! Do you come late to the services because you don’t like the music, don’t like to sing or don’t think it is important? God word puts value on music in numerous passages:

“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord?”

“Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; speak of all His wonders” 1 Chronicles 16:9

“Sing praise the Lord, you His godly ones, and give thanks to His holy name” Psalm 30:4

“Sing for joy in he Lord, O you righteous ones; Praise is becoming to the upright. Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings” Psalm 33:1-3

“Shout joyfully to God, al the earth; sing the glory of His name; make His praise glorious” Psalm 66:1-2

There are many, many more scriptures on the subject. My goal in this writing is to get you to think about being intentional, focused and participatory in corporate worship each week as well as in your personal time with the Lord during the week. Guard against going through the motions and make the worship of God a top priority!

We ask for your prayers as we seek to be under the Holy Spirit’s guidance as we plan the music for the worship services and special events at Smyrna.

Singing His Praises,

Melodie & Brad Melodie Parsons Music Minister

(Joe)

Brad Perkinson Worship Leader (Ashley, Jackson

& Noah)