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GOOD TIDINGS

The Weekly Newsletter for Park Road Baptist Church

June 28, 2023

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What We’re About…

Thanks for the nice comments about the last couple of weeks in worship. This summer series is giving us an interesting opportunity to look at church, Park Road style. It has been very interesting to look back and do a little research on the history of the church, to review a little Baptist history, and to speak about the distinctives of Park Road’s particular take on theology. It is helpful to see where we've been, even as we keep moving forward into this new day.

In the last couple of weeks, there has been a lot of talk about individualism. There is a definite streak of that in Baptist life, historically, as well as with our particular church. One of those “four fragile freedoms,” is individual freedom: we each stand on our own before God. Amy and I have the privilege of being your pastors, but we are not priests. We do not mediate your approach to God. Ultimately, you are free to be you, both in your expressions in the world and also in your most intimate spirituality.

The emphasis on individuality came through in the topics for each of the last three weeks, but I commented at the end of worship last Sunday that this emphasis need not imply to anyone because any of us can go it alone. There are no “lone rangers” in Christian life. We need each other. While Baptists have always insisted on freedom, we have also been from the beginning “connectional.”

Technically speaking, Baptists are not “denominational,” as other groups are. Each church stands on its own. There is no Superintendent or Bishop, no hierarchical structure enforcing compliance. (Even with the unfortunate recent decision by Southern Baptists to exclude from its membership churches supporting women in ministry, the Convention has no authority to restrict any church’s decision—the churches that were recently “disfellowshipped,” have retained their female ministers. The Convention does not set any church’s policies and practice, as other denominational authorities do. The Convention’s only authority is to control whether or not a church can remain in good standing within the Convention.)

I hope you see the individualism even within that connectional emphasis: churches are free to choose their own path, make their own decisions—to choose their own affiliations—yet being connected to a larger body of Baptists, has also always characterized our life together.

Individualism within community, diversity within a voluntary connectionalism. The question seems to be: Are we free enough to be bound to one another?

This talk of the necessity of community reminds me of our upcoming churchwide retreat. It has been several years since we have been able to get away together, but now that the pandemic is in the rearview mirror, we are going again. Over Labor Day weekend, we will be together at Lutheridge Camp and Conference Center outside of Asheville. If you have been on one of these retreats, you know how important they have become to us. It's great to get away. It's great to get away, together. If you ‘ve not been on a retreat, we hope you can make plans to participate.

Dan Davis, a long-time friend of Amy's and mine, will lead us in several group sessions. Also there will be plenty of time to explore the mountains or just relax. Thanks to a very generous donation a few years ago, we still have funds to be able to provide this weekend free of charge.

I hope you’ll be free to join us for a wonderful getaway.

“Free to join us” -it’s What We’re About! - Russ

You can sign up for the retreat in Helt Hall on Sunday mornings or email info@ParkRoadBaptist.org. All Reservations need to be made my August 1.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Join us for an evening of Charlotte Knights baseball on Friday, July 7. Game time is 7:05p. and tickets are only $16 per person. Seats are in right field home run alley, so not in direct sunshine. Come and enjoy the game and stay for the fireworks display immediately afterward. Sign-up deadline is THIS Friday, June 30. You can sign up by clicking on the link below, in Helt Hall on Sunday, or by calling the church office.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0945aca92da2fd0-knights#/

Sunday Worship

June 25, 2023

A Youth Birmingham Mission Trip

We had a great experience last week on the Youth Mission Trip. Let us begin with Thank Yous: Thank You to Allyson Neeriemer for chaperoning. Thank You to JD McDonald for flying in from Waco to spend his first official week as our new Associate Pastor for Children, Youth, and Families with us. Thank You to Mountain Brook Baptist Church for hosting us so well for our lodging. (MBBC was the church Russ served as Associate Pastor for 4 years prior to coming to PRBC.) A final Thank You goes to everyone back home who prayed for us and supported us all along the way with your interest and encouragement.

We spent one day weeding the tomato plants in a community garden run by the East Lake Initiative – Thrive ministry. It was hot and a bit buggy, but we helped those tomato plants along as they provide fresh produce for a food bank sponsored by ELI. We sorted canned goods and stocked shelves for the afternoon before grabbing pizza and heading back to our church home-away-from-home for a movie night. Only it was not so much entertainment as it was educational. Have you seen the 2014 movie entitled “Selma”? If not, you should. It was hard to watch but necessary for us to fully appreciate the next day of our journey, which was the hour-and-a-half drive to Selma, AL. We worked with two organizations in Selma, both primarily food distribution organizations. One was very organized and well-maintained. The other was more grassroots. Both groups work hard to provide food to hungry people. The town is depressed and still recovering from a big tornado that came through this past January.

We met people who were working and giving and people who were receiving. Everyone was gracious and kind and generous, and we were grateful to be a small part of a bigger solution to end hunger. A trip to Selma would not be complete without walking over the Edmund Pettus bridge in solidarity with all those who have lived and known discrimination. (See the movie if you don’t remember your history!) Of course, just as we were about halfway over the bridge, major lightning chased us back to our van, so we drove over it instead. Our final day of work landed us back in Birmingham to spend a couple of hours at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute which is a walk-through of the toughest of days and years in the Civil Rights Movement. The museum experience ends overlooking the front of the 16th Street Baptist Church which was the site of the bombing that killed four little girls in 1963 (again, for context see Selma and the 1997 Spike Lee documentary 4 Little Girls.) We spent the afternoon and evening at the Jimmie Hale Mission unloading a truckload of donated food from Publix. We worked so hard! The employees did not think we could do it, but we knew we could, and we did! After serving the men in the residential rehabilitation program dinner, we led their chapel service. The youth were completely in charge of every aspect of the service, and they were so well received by the clients who participated in that worship service.

There is no tired quite like week-long-youth-trip-tired. It’s the best kind of tired of all! - Amy

Fun Food Friday - July 7

For our next foodie outing we’re going to The Penguin Drive-In. This long-time Charlotte favorite relocated to East Boulevard a few years ago. They kept some of their favorites, and also upscaled the menu a bit. Some of the new items come with an upscaled price, but for $14.99 on the lunch menu you get: “any burger, toasted sub, Nashville hot chicken sandwich, or 2 hot dogs. The entrée comes with seasoned crispy fries and a coke product or iced tea.” Sounds like a deal these days! Please signup – whether you plan to meet in the parking lot at 11:30a and ride the bus, or meet at 1531 East Blvd. at 11:45a.

PRBC History

Thanks to Hugh Ashcraft for providing some video of Park Road from years past. The video was running in Helt Hall a few weeks ago when we talked about this church’s history. Since not everyone got to see it, we wanted to post it here. Even though most of you will not know the people in these videos, it’s still interesting to take a look. Click here for the Youtube link.

Friends at Home

Please check in on each other via phone,

email, text, Zoom, or letters.

Thank you.

We list an individual each week that we call our “Friends at Home” with their contact information.

Drop a card or give a call to check-in. Even if you do not know someone personally, a contact from someone from their church is always an encouragement.