(Click to join live stream)

       Scripture This Week: 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13

 First Baptist Church Welcomes You

Upcoming at FBC:

**All Red Links will take you directly to that event *
Remember –To make sure your event is added to this Calendar, please make sure dates and times are sent to the office No later than Wednesday of each week!

SUNDAY, May 28
Coffee & Conversation @ 9:30 & 11 am
Worship Service @ 10:00 am
FBC Small Groups @ 11:15 am
Safe Harbor @ 5:00 pm
Bible Study @ 6:00 pm 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13(Zoom)

MONDAY, May 29 Memorial Day
OFFICE CLOSED
Ukulele Jam @ 5:15 pm

WEDNESDAY, May 31
Crusaders @ 11:00 am
Vespers Service @ 5:45 pm

THURSDAY, June 1
Vespers Planning Meeting @ 4:45 pm
Worship Staff Mtg. 5:45 pm

FRIDAY, June 2
Jr. & Sr. High Lock-IN @ 5:30 pm

SATURDAY, June 3
All Church Workday @ 9:00 am
Jr. & Sr. High Lock-IN Pick up @ 9:00 am

SUNDAY, June 4 Outdoor Worship Service
Coffee & Conversation @ 9:30 & 11 am
Worship Service @ 10:00 am
FBC Small Groups @ 11:15 am
Bible Study @ 6:00 pm 2 Cor.13:11-14 (Zoom)

Click to access May 28 Worship Bulletin

 Click to access Church calendar

Our Zoom Link

Our church Zoom ministries will use one link for all regular meetings: 

• • Church Account: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3096624253
    Meeting ID: 309 662 4253 (same as the church phone number)
    Used for the Sunday Prayer & Sharing time, the Wednesday Bible Study, the Fellowship Breakfast, Board & Committee Meetings, LOGOS program, the Saturday Small Group and the Koinonia Class
    To Join Zoom meeting by phone dial: 1 312 626 6799, then when prompted, enter the Meeting ID number, followed by the # key.      

Ministry & Events:

Outdoor Worship Services
On June 4, weather permitting -We will have our worship service outdoors. This will be our pattern through September; the first Sunday of the month outdoors, with the second Sunday as a rain date if needed.     

Father’s Day Pictures
What is something you liked to do with your father or father figure? Please send in answers with a picture of you and your dad to be shared in a special Father’s Day video.  Please send pics to Michelle by June 16th

Constitutional Changes Missing Paragraph
Greetings from your Vice Moderator and Facilitator of the ad hoc committee on constitutional changes. I need to call your attention to an omission during the Congregational Meeting on May 7 regarding one section of the constitution.  In Article VI – Officers, Section 3, Subsection D – Treasurer, this paragraph from the original constitution was intended to carry over as-is but was accidentally omitted during the reading of the changes in the meeting. To read the changes please visit our website 

 All Church Workday June 3, 9am-12 pm
There will be an all-church workday on June 3 from 9:00am until noon.  This is a great opportunity to make new friends and try out your new yard tool or cleaning supply.  There will be a list of tasks for all ages and ability level.  Feel free to choose a task from the list or talk to a trustee and add a task of your choosing to the list.  This is a great family activity.  Everyone is encouraged to attend.

Volunteer Opportunity (Must be18 yrs. or older)
Royal Family Kids Camp is a camp that mobilizes local Churches to create life-changing moments for children who have experienced relational trauma. They need volunteers to help with serving meals at a Camp for Foster Children in July. This Camp will be held at East Bay Camp at Lake Bloomington July 10 to 14. Specifically requested are breakfast servers.  Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday at 6:30 am each morning.  We will be preparing and serving breakfast to the Campers.  Barb will be there to provide direction.   Barb Pfeffer, (stepmom to Chrissy Jennings). has supervised this for many years and she will be there to provide direction. If breakfast is not your thing, she could use help for other meals as well.  If you are interested in volunteering or need more information, please contact Beverly Jennings at 309-287-1150

Announcements: 

Technical Notes on the Worship Livestream:
         * Recordings of the worship service are usually available on our YouTube Channel immediately after the service ends. 

In the event of livestream disruptions:
        * Try completely exiting the program/tab or app and the rejoining from the front page of the website or using this link: https://www.youtube.com/user/FBCBloomingtonIL/live

       * Check the front page of our website or the FBC Facebook page. We will post information and updates there on what happened and how to rejoin.  

       *  On a brighter note: did you know that there are lots of ways to watch our church services and other videos on your TV?  If you have internet access and either a smart TV or other device connected to your TV (like Roku, Amazon Fire, TIVO, PC, etc.), you can use a built-in YouTube player to access our YouTube Channel – just look for First Baptist Church Bloomington.  Chatting during services will still require a separate computing or mobile device. Call or email the church if you’d like technical support in getting this set up.

Supporting the ministry together

IN THE COMMUNITY 

• • • FBC Community Partner Opportunities

AT FBC 

• • • Online Giving

    • Do you have plastic grocery bags at home that you could donate? Please turn them in to the bin in the hallway so they can be upcycled into a project! Thank you!

    • Ways to help around the church 
      If you would like to help the trustees with some work opportunities around the church, there is a list here and in the narthex. 

Contact Us

 – Office Hours –
Mon -Thurs:        9:00am –   1:30pm
Fri:                        9:00am –   11:00am
Office Phone:   (309) -662 -4253

Church Office:  secretary@fbcblm.org / (309) 662-4253
Pastor Brian: brian@fbcblm.org / (920) 924-6857
LOGOS Director: michelle@fbcblm.org / (618) 303-3630
Praise Team Leader: Allison@fbcblm.org /(309) 846-0403

FBC Community Partner volunteer Opportunities 

 Recycle for Families. Recycling Furniture for Families has been privileged to serve almost 25,000 men, women and children since 2002. We are in search of new volunteers as well as people that may be in need of our services. We are a not-for-profit organization helping those in need obtain gently used furniture We continue to serve the individuals and families of McLean County who are in need of those basic household items that most of us take for granted. If you are aware of anyone that may be interested in our services or willing to help our cause, please feel free to contact us.

Safe Harbor Homeless Shelter
For over 12 years a small group of FBC members have faithfully purchased, prepared and served a meal once a month at the Safe Harbor Shelter in downtown Bloomington. It only takes a couple of hours if you cook and less than an hour if you serve of your time.
For more information about these FBC mission opportunities contact the office

Faith in Action
Are you ready to brighten an older adult’s day?  With Faith in Action, volunteer drivers, shoppers and friendly visitors choose when and how often they volunteer. Have you completed a Volunteer Interest Form? To register for Volunteer Orientation, email Stacey@bnfia.org or call (309) 827-7780.

Upcoming new volunteer orientation dates:

• • May 2, 2023 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
  • June 6, 2023 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
  • Jul. 11, 2023 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM
  • Aug. 8, 2023 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
  • Sept. 5, 2023 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
  • Oct. 3,  2023 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
  • Nov. 7, 2023 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM

**If these dates are inconvenient, please contact the Volunteer Coordination team (Stacey and Mary) to discuss options

Local Community Mission Opportunities

PATH
Consider volunteering with PATH. The team is always looking for compassionate, respectful, and responsible prospects to join. PATH offers the following volunteer opportunity:

Crisis Line/ 211 Volunteers – Spring (usually beginning in early February), Summer (usually starting in mid-June), and Fall (generally beginning in mid-September) Click for more information

Midwest Food Bank
Midwest Food Bank is structured to provide service opportunities and operate through the work of volunteers. Our volunteers are more than our hands and feet; they are fundamental to the success of our organization. They collect, sort, pack, and distribute food and disaster relief donations, and remind us every day that our mission could not be achieved without them. Click for more information

Home Sweet Home Ministries
Home Sweet Home Ministries demonstrates Christ’s love through innovative approaches that instill hope, restore lives, and build community. Our vision is for our ministry to be a ministry of refuge and renewal powered by Jesus Christ. Volunteers are the lifeblood of the way we serve those in need at Home Sweet Home Ministries. Every year, volunteers dedicate thousands of hours of service to accomplish our mission and vision. Click for more information

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Cor. 13:13

OGHS supports disaster relief, ministries to displaced persons, and development projects of the American Baptist Churches and it partners. FBC participated in a special collection in March to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. According to Lisa Rothenberger-Winter, World Relief Officer, ABC-USA the response was, “Unprecedented. Across six countries, Baptists spontaneously opened their churches, homes, camps, etc. to shelter some of the millions that have been forced to flee their homes…Within days, more that 1000 places were made ready – 600 within Ukraine – for all that are migrating to sleep, eat shower, and receive a word of hope. … Amanda and Jon Good in Debrecen Hungary opened their home to host families, providing space and radical hospitality when their church is at capacity hosting other refugees. And Larry Stanton is traveling to the border weekly with IM partner, Hungarian Baptist Aid, modeling the best of what it means to serve alongside a partner – doing whatever needs to be done. Our funds are following our relationships – foundations of trust, support and mutual accountability that were established in times of stability.” (ABC-USA OGHS publication 2022) The most recent amount the Great Rivers Region has raised is $48,587.11.

The response to the Ukraine crisis is just ONE aspect of how OGHS offers help to those hurting. OGHS has responded to Covid19 relief, building schools for children in Liberia, working with partner Lutheran World Relief providing blankets, hygiene supplies and clothing to families in Yemen, supporting immigrants from Central America finding a new life in Indiana, and helping with hurricane relief in Louisiana. Prayerfully consider supporting this annual offering. Click here for more information or to learn how to help 

 Saturday, March 12, 2022  @  9:00 AM

All Are Welcome to Join us on ZOOM

Speaker: Don Mahannah from INtegRIty Counseling

INtegRIty Counseling is a community-based, non-profit counseling agency located in the heart of Bloomington’s west side.
They do not have a set fee for counseling, but instead, use a pay-as-you-can method and ask clients to contribute what they can.
We use qualified professionals and
counseling interns who donate their time to see clients.
People cannot easily address emotional or mental health issues on their own.
Emotional and mental problems affect economic and physical health.
Poverty, unemployment, family issues, peer pressure and neighborhood conflict can cause abuse, neglect, low self-esteem, depression, addiction, trust issues, violence and other problems that limit self-growth.

Contact: Daniel Schuetz @dschuetz11@gmail.com

LOGOS resumes January 19^th with
Pajama Night!! LOGOS is from 4:15-7:30pm on Wednesdays and is for ages 3 through 12^th Grade! Youth are still able to join LOGOS! Please contact Michelle to register!
In the case of inclement weather, the cancellation of in-person LOGOS will be sent out through text, updated on the website, and sent in a LOGOS email. Please know that if you feel unsafe to drive in your area, it is okay to remain home. Remember to call to let us know if you/or child will be absent, so we know you are safe.
On LOGOS “Snow Days”, we will hold a shortened LOGOS Game-Time on the church Zoom! This will be from 4:15-5:15pm where will check in, play games, and have a prayer time. You can join this at Zoom! 

On behalf of the First Baptist Church board, we are excited to share that Allison Benton has been hired as our Interim Praise Team leader, with an additional role in coordinating our new Wednesday Evening Vespers Service that is scheduled to begin on September 22.  Allison has a Bachelor’s degree in Worship Arts from Greenville University, is a member of First Baptist and has a long history of participation in our worship ministry.  She has a great love for the Lord and seeing the church thrive.  

Food is a necessity of life — and a meal shared with others can be life for the soul.

Our human interactions with and around food are a universal experience and are likewise found throughout scripture.  Sometimes those meals are life-changing; from Abraham and Sarah setting a feast before three strangers who will share good news, to a Passover feast eaten hurriedly in anticipation of God’s saving work, to the meal Jesus shared with his disciples on the night before his crucifixion…

In our lives today, meals are both an ordinary experience and one with the potential to experience God’s presence is made tangible.  How might we lean into that potential, both in our the lives of our homes/families and among our friends and wider community?

Some quick thoughts:

• Use a meal as an opportunity not only to connect with friends but to get to know new people.  Invite someone you don’t know as well.
• If family meal time has become scattered – what would it look to prioritize that time at least a few times a week?
• Another building block would be to use conversation starters or short devotional times as part of the meal.
• Remember that at the core of this is loving one another where they are at.  It is important to stay open to spiritual opportunities and deeper conversations – but the goal is not “getting people to come to church” or a aiming for some kind of conversion conversation.  Let God do that work.  People are not projects for us to work on, but are beloved by God whatever happens or doesn’t happen in a specific moment.

A quick note – obviously much of this is more difficult in the time of Covid; particularly outside of the people in our immediate circles.  The CDC has provided updated guidance for small gatherings of fully vaccinated people, and the possibilities that opens up.  For Christians, the law of love of neighbor and care for those most vulnerable/at risk, continues to take precedent in guiding our choices and actions.  In the midst of this, let us continue to think and act creatively so that we are connecting with others while caring for one another’s health. 

Ideas and Resources for Gathering around the Table:

(links provided are not a blanket endorsement of all content and perspectives found within them; take/adapt what is useful)

Small Group Meal Resources:

Meal Ideas — something to get some friends together and try: http://sneakyspoons.com/2012/01/small-group-meal-ideas.html

Incorporating meals into existing small groups: https://www.smallgroups.com/articles/2009/sharing-meal.html

Family Resources: 

Simple conversation starters provided monthly by the UMC https://www.umc.org/en/content/get-them-talking-discussion-starters-for-families

50 Table Talk Questions (general questions that open up conversation)

The challenge of leaning into difficult subjects around the dinner table:

Religion and Politics at the Dinner Table: Challenging the Old Maxim

Tips for Having Challenging Conversations – Some really good practical advice here