F R I E N D S H I P B A P T I S T C H U R C H — B A Y O N N E , N E W N E R S E Y

“We’ve Come This Far By Faith”

MAY 2016

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Inside this issue:

91 Years of Friendship

1-2

Member High-light

2

Words of Wilson

3

Did You Know???

3

Impact of Breakfast Club

4

The 91st anniversary celebration at FBC be-gan as usual; as any Sunday morning with devotional. As we pro-ceeded into our morn-ing worship I began to think about our church and what these last 91 years mean and have meant to me, the founding families, the new families and the community. Upon en-tering the sanctuary, above the doors is a sign reading “We’ve Come This Far By Faith”. This statement sums up the past 91 years and the future of FBC. Service was called to order with the en-trance of the choir, singing “Walking Up

The King’s Highway” which seemed appropri-ate to the beginning of FBC as a thought to our founding fathers when God planted in their minds to begin a church in the City of Bayonne by walking God’s highway to a place where God knew there was a need; A place that would “Lift Him Up” which was the next hymn that the choir sang. Thoughts went thru my mind of 91 years ago and what these founding fathers thought. God planted this seed in their minds and hearts and thru these 91 years this seed has been watered by the grace, mercy of God, it has gone thru many storms, thru many dif-

ferent buildings and possibly our founding fathers may have thought about giving up at some time or an-other but they didn’t, not because of their own strength but be-cause of the strength and determination that God implanted in them. The next hymn spoke about “He May Not Come When You Want Him But He’s Always Right On time – Just Wait”, which probably is what our founding fathers de-pended on when times were not going the way they expected and their belief and faith in God kept them going up that highway. They de-pended on their faith in God and that is all

The

Friendship

Times

NINETY ONE YEARS OF FRIENDSHIP By: Sis. Vernette Hughes (continues on p. 2)

Deacon Craig Thomas Editor-In-Chief

Bro. Roger Wilson Copy Editor

Deaconess Ramona Brown Photography

Contributors

Sis. Vernette Hughes

Sis. Lisa R. Brown

Deaconess Lynda Bryant

Sis. Veronica Brown

Prof. Sidney Hagans

Sis. Margaret Wise

Deaconess Gwen Wise

Page 2

Friendship Member Highlight

we have to depend on, they depended on faith when they started to wor-ship at 92 West 20th St., they depended on faith when they moved to 22-24 West 20th St., they depend-ed on faith when it was de-cided to buy, renovate and move to 41-45 West 20th St., and yet that faith in God has never failed us. We have had some ups and downs on that high-way but “There is Power In The Name of Jesus – He Will Break Every Chain”. Ephesians 3:14-19 was the basis of the sermon on this 91st Anniversary and it speaks about being estab-lished in the love of God. Verse 17 says that we are

rooted in God, he is our nourishment which sus-tains us. He has sustained us for 91 years and with the faith of FBC, his church will be here anoth-er 91 years. God gives us his love and said he will never leave us or forsake us, and we have to not on-ly know this but believe this in our very souls. I looked around at some of the founding fathers’ families that are still com-ing thru these doors every Sunday, every anniversary, families that never thought of not being at FBC; fami-lies that when you greet them and start a conversa-tion about the church will instantly, freely and happi-

ly tell you about their love for FBC and how it “used to be” back in the day; about Deacon Nelson and his ushers; about Mrs. Warren Ms. Mary Curtis and their discipline of the children in the church and all the others that have gone on to see the Father. I see the new families that have come thru our doors, the doors that state “We’ve Come This Far By Faith”. It makes my heart smile when I see that sign, for I know what it means to me and I can imagine what it means to others who pass thru that door, whether they notice that sign or not, they literally have come by faith.

Deaconess LaToya Thomas is the proud wife of Deacon Craig Thomas. She is a

native of Jersey City and has been a resident of Bayonne for the past 16 years.

She is always willing to lend a helping hand and has been extremely helpful in

the kitchen as part of the Sunday Morning Breakfast Club. In addition to be-

ing a Church Nurse, Deaconess Thomas is also a Certified Hemodialysis Tech-

nician and is the President of J.F. Thomas Candle Company; a scented soy wax

candle company operated by Deacon and Deaconess Thomas.

91 Years of Friendship

Did You Know ? Church has been the

house of worship for

many notable people

and their families in-

cluding: (1) Walker Lee

Ashley and (2) Danan

Hughes former NFL

Pros and (3) Kenny

Britt current receiver

for the NFL Tennessee

Titians as well as singer

(4) Herb Lane of the

70s R&B group GQ.

Bayonne is the birth-

place of several inter-

nationally known peo-

ple. Some major celeb-

rities like Bruce Willis

and the late Sandra

Dee; pro athletes, Joe

Borowski and Shaquille

O'Neal and politician

Barney Frank to name

a few. Over the years,

Friendship Baptist

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“…AND WE KNOW ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO THEM THAT LOVE GOD, TO THEM WHO ARE CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE. ROMANS 8:28

Sunday Morning Breakfast Making Impact - By: Sis. Lisa R. Brown

Friendship Baptist Church

has always reached out to the

surrounding communities in

varies ways throughout the

years. Recently, our Sunday’s

Outreach Breakfast, spon-

sored by the Friendship

Men’s Fellowship, has made an impact on

Bayonne’s most needy people which will cer-

tainly keep our kitchen doors open. Did you

know, Homelessness in the USA is an area

of concern for social service providers, gov-

ernment officials, policy professionals, and

society at large. A 2000 study estimated the

number of homeless people is between 2.3

million and 3.5 million. Strangely enough,

according to Amnesty International USA,

vacant houses outnumber homeless people

by five times. We can only image the many

factors on why people are homeless. Of

course, no-one is perfect, and everyone’s

background varies. With potential employ-

ers doing background checks for hiring, em-

ployment for work can be difficult to find or

hold down for someone who may have done

prison time, history of alcohol, drug abuse

or dealing with a mental illness. Then, fac-

tor in past housing crisis that resulted in

high-record home foreclosures; and plus to-

day’s higher rents which caused evictions

from rented property. Finally, for many of

the homeless is the lack of support from

friends and family. In cities across the coun-

try, many neighbors are becoming more and

more re-development an “gentrified”. Gen-

trification is always a good thing; however it

shouts that low-income neighborhoods are

declared blighted and need a financial make

-over. And what does one city do to make

this happen …well by making way for high-

rise “luxury” housing, bring in high-end

stores all these factors generate higher prop-

erty taxes and other revenues. Therefore,

this creates a shortage of housing affordable

to low-income working families, the elderly

poor, and the disabled. Recently, there has

been an influx of needy women attending

our Sunday’s outreach breakfast and many

of them are in need of women toiletries.

Therefore, please visit The Pink Box located

on the 1st level of the church to place your

contribution for women toiletries. Your

kindness and generosity to help out are

greatly appreciated, and will make a differ-

ence in the lives of these men and women.

(COMING SOON)