Volume 112 December 2018 Issue 12

BAPTIST BUILD 2019 Raleigh and Wake Missionary Baptists building together

Due to a wonderful response from our churches and the success of last year’s build our coalition will be building two homes this year for two partner families. The locations for Baptist Build 2019 will be on Skycrest Drive in Raleigh.

Key Dates: Wall Build: Monday, January 21 (MLK Day) 8:15 am Wall Raising: Thursday, January 31 Clergy & Church Staff Day: Saturday, February 2 Dedication Ceremony: TBD

Construction Schedule: Week 1 starting 2/17/2019 thru Week 9 4/4/2019 There are opportunities to volunteer or to serve meals to the volunteers during these weeks. Contact Christin Mur-phy at 919.744.2417 or christin.murphy@habitatwake.org for specific dates and volunteer opportunities.

Coalition Churches:

Baptist Grove Church

Capital Community Church

Ephesus Baptist Church

Greystone Baptist Church

Juniper Level Missionary Baptist

Macedonia Baptist Church

Millbrook Baptist Church

New Providence Missionary Bap-tist

Oak City Baptist Church

Oberlin Baptist Church

Plymouth Baptist Church

St. Augusta Missionary Baptist

Springfield Baptist Church

Tabernacle Baptist Church

The Fountain of Raleigh

Trinity Baptist Church

Wake Baptist Grove Baptist Church

Wake Chapel Church

Mother Daughter Camp at Camp Mundo Vista April 5 & 6, 2019

Mothers with Daughters 1st - 6th Grade

Cost: $68 per person, includes t-shirt, 2 meals, all activities, one night lodging

Electives Include: Canvas Painting Scavenger Hunt Missionary Time Scripture Journaling Games, Games, Games!

Registration and Full Camp Details Coming Soon! Registration begins January 7

Go to imb.org/lmco or call 1.800.999.3113

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Executive Director Roger E. Nix Second Thoughts

Seeking Strategic Alternatives to Existing Mid-Weak Services

One of the pressing questions often raised by church leaders when planning programs for tradition-al Wednesday mid-week services is this, “is there anything new that might attract families and chil-dren?” There is no easy answer to the question but the article below by Jonathan Howe presents a good process for evaluating what your church is doing and ways it might be improved if leadership is willing to embrace change.

KEYS TO GROWING YOUR CHURCH’S MIDWEEK SERVICES By Jonathan Howe

With the rapid changes happening in church culture and church norms it should be no surprise that many midweek ser-vices can now be more appropriately labeled mid-weak services. Midweek services originated in the late 1800s as a way for itinerant pastors to meet with frontier churches for prayer and reflection as they went from town to town.

They grew in popularity in the 20th century as meals and programming were added, but over the past two decades, many have seen a consistent decline. However, it doesn’t have to be this way. Midweek gatherings can still be a vibrant part of the life of your church if done well and tailored to fit your context. Here are seven things you can do to keep your midweek services from being mid-weak:

1. EVALUATE EVERYTHING YOU’RE DOING RIGHT NOW. You can’t expect your midweek services to grow without being honest about where you are currently. Simply encourag-ing people to come more often is likely not going to turn things around long term. You may see a spike for a week or two, but if you aren’t honest about the current state of your midweek programming, you likely won’t see any sustained growth.

2. MAKE SURE YOUR KIDS PROGRAMMING IS RELEVANT. Parents follow kids. So if you want to improve adult attendance, have something kids actually want to attend and hate to miss. Unfortunately, too many churches have kids programming that appeals to the adults and senior adults who lead them instead of the kids who are participating. What your volunteers enjoyed as kids in 1978 might not be enjoyable for kids in 2018.

3. TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT. Has your church only ever had a prayer meeting on Wednesday nights? Try adding options for classes in addition to the prayer time. Have you had the same curriculum for kids for 60 years? Consider using different curriculum for a season.

4. INVOLVE ATTENDEES IN THE DECISION MAKING.

Want young families to be more involved in midweek services and programming? Let them be part of the decision-making process. Get feedback. The more people you have invested in a decision-making process, the more likely they’ll be invested in selling the outcome to others.

5. IF YOU HAVE A MEAL, DO IT WITH EXCELLENCE. One church I attended always lamented the lack of attendance for their Wednesday night meals. One bite of the food would have tipped off the staff as to why people stayed away.

6. OFFER QUALITY PROGRAMMING FOR ADULTS. Churches often focus on age-graded ministries in midweek services and programming, but adults need quality options too. Discipleship classes or a pastor’s Bible study class are some of the most common options, but sometimes become stale choices. Freshen things up with specific theology classes or stewardship classes. Use the midweek for practical dis-cipleship small groups.

7. EXPLORE OTHER NIGHTS FOR PROGRAMMING. Brentwood Baptist in Nashville, Tennessee, found a niche that many others have modeled. They started a Tuesday night young adult worship service called Kairos that has become an entry point for the church for those who may never have come on a Sunday morning. Your church may come up with something that would work on a night other than Wednes-day to reach those in your area who may never come on a traditional “church night.” Midweek programming will contin-ue to evolve as traditional work schedules and cultural norms change. But your church can combat the decline by show-ing a willingness to change and be inventive. Those who do will reap the rewards of greater engagement and deeper discipleship.

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Network and Mission Opportunities

Hurricane Relief—Volunteers Are Still Needed

So far, over 4000 recovery jobs have been completed. More than 2000 jobs are still open and we need lots of tear out vol-unteers/teams. You do not need to be trained to help!

There are 14 sites that have recovery operations working out of them for running chainsaws, mud-outs, tear-outs, shock-wave/sanitation and putting tarps on roofs. Large Recovery sites with site coordinators include: New Bern, Lumberton, Wil-mington, Morehead City, Cape Carteret, Laurinburg, Warsaw, Scotts Hill, Rocky Point, Brunswick County, Red Springs, Whiteville, Elizabethtown and others are being added.

How Can You Help?

Pray—Please continue to pray for those affected and the volunteers.

Volunteer—You do not need to be Disaster Relief trained to help with clean up, recovery or rebuilds. Youth groups are able to help in the recovery process. Please make sure you have a ratio of 1 adult for every 3 youth. Youth must have to be in 6th grade and older. Information about background checks, parental waivers, etc. will be found in the packet of information you receive when you are assigned to a site. All Disaster Recovery volunteers (trained and untrained), should register online at www.baptistsonmissions.org

Donations—Cash donations are the best form of help for disaster relief efforts. If, however, you would like to donate oth-er items, please follow the list below. Please do not deviate from the list as these items are specific to requests from the areas affected.

Canned food

Hygiene items

Baby products (diapers, formula)

Cleaning supplies

New appliances

All donations need to be delivered to our Red Springs Missions Camp in Red Springs, NC or our Shelby Mission Camp in Shel-by, NC for distribution. For Red Springs please contact Larry Osborne at 910.843.7700 or 919.264.4397 to schedule your delivery. For Shelby please contact David Brown at 919.422.9990 or 704.487.5599. For more information, go to www.baptistsonmission.org

Thank you for Praying, Giving and Going!

Please NO CLOTHING.

Mission Fair & Car Race

March 10, 2019

Registration 1:00 - 1:45 pm Race Begins 2:00 pm Location: Rolesville Baptist Church 203 E. Young Street, Rolesville, NC Race Categories: - Lads – Boy’s Grades 1-3 - Crusaders – Boy’s Grades 4-6 - Challengers – Boy’s Grades 7-12 - Girls – Grades 1-3 - Girls – Grades 4-6 - Girls – Grades 7-12 - Adults – (Men and Women Leaders) All race participants must have an individual mission project. Rules and Registration Forms available on our website.

Openings:

Plymouth Church, a growing church in southern Wake county is seeking a pianist. Duties are only on Sunday mornings. We have a blended style of worship and so we are praying for someone who can play

RBA Calendar and Bulletin Board December 2018 24 Christmas Eve - RBA Closed

25 Christmas Day - RBA Closed

26 RBA Closed

27 RBA Closed

28 RBA Closed

31 New Year’s Eve - RBA Closed

January 2019 1 News Year’s Day - RBA Closed

10 Resource Commission

15 Church Relations & Credentials

21 Martin Luther King Day

22 Missions & Ministry Council

February 2019 5 Meetings & Plans

7 Christian Education Team

12 Nominating Committee

14 Valentine’s Day

18 President’s Day

Children’s Music Camp June 17-20, 2019

New Hope Baptist

Church 4301 Louisburg Rd

CONNECTIONS, (USPS 020955) is published monthly free by Raleigh Baptist Association, 820 S. New Hope Rd., Raleigh, NC 27610. Mailing address (P.O. Box 46659, Raleigh, NC 27620--6659). Periodicals Postage Paid at Ra-leigh, NC. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Raleigh Baptist Association, P.O. Box 46659, Raleigh, NC 27620-6659.

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traditional hymns as well as play with our praise band. We would also like to have a choir sing once a month and rehearsals may be held at whatever time is convenient for the staff person. Currently they rehearse after service a couple of times a month. We are offering $150/service with three paid Sundays off per year. Come be a part of what God is doing at Plymouth! Send resume to Plymouth Church, 6104 Rock Service Station Rd, Raleigh, NC 27603 or plymouthpastor@hotmail.com

For Full Job Descriptions and Other Ministry Openings Go To:

www.raleighbaptists.org