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GOOD TIDINGS

The Weekly Newsletter for Park Road Baptist Church

February 1, 2023

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We call this column “Heart & Soul,” an opportunity to share, personally. Here’s what’s on my heart and soul today.

A young mother is kidnapped with her one-year-old child. When she is able to break free, she realizes the police will be no help to her. They are corrupt and complicit with her captors. Back at her house, she finds an envelope containing an ominous, threatening letter, “Get out. Or else.” There’s also a live bullet. She and the father of her three children realize it is time. They must make the journey.

They say goodbye to their families and spend weeks, walking, riding trains, finding buses, carrying all of their worldly belongings and three young children on their backs. They make the muy peligroso journey (“very dangerous”), finally crossing the Rio Grande and arriving in Texas. After a year of navigating immigrant camps and the INS system for asylum-seekers, an organization in Charlotte, NC, contacts a local church. That church generously agrees to be the legal host for a family of five, providing for their needs for at least one year.

That is how we met Marvin and Yolani Perez, along with their three beautiful children Yaison, Milli, and Charlotte. In her state of the church address on Sunday, Amy said, point blank, “We have changed the world, literally changed the world, for five people.“

In our 22 years as your pastors, in addition to the ongoing work of being community to one another, being active in our broader community, several projects stand out in my mind, where I feel we have been The Church – in the very best sense of the word. There may be others, but I could name, “One Known Only to God” and “Infant Jordan Daniel” (Ask me if you don’t know these stories.), the team who has worked with Lydia Ingraham for 20 years, and now, the Perez family.

Those two young, Honduran parents, who had little opportunity for education and not much hope for a thriving future, now have a home and a faith community with resources unimaginable to them – and seemingly unlimited love and support. Three children who would have known limited opportunities have been given a new world. Can you imagine? Just play out the trajectories of those three young lives – growing up in a small Honduran village, versus the potential for success and productivity and happiness that lies before them here?

The words “sojourner,” “alien,” and “foreigner” are used countless times in our Scriptures. I have not checked the source, but I have read that there are more than 90 references to “immigrants” in our Bible. All of those references regard a posture of welcome, openness, acceptance, and inclusion. The basic story of our Jewish forebears in faith is the story of Immigration: from slavery in Egypt to freedom and the hope of The Promised Land. Out of that context, that movement from bondage to liberation, the story of Jesus is set. He is Savior. Liberator. The one who frees us from bondage.

Some years ago, we changed our church’s strategy with missions giving. Rather than supporting a multitude of worthy organizations, we decided to focus a large percentage of our Missions Budget, providing significant resource to one project. For the last few years, that project has involved Sedgefield Elementary and then Marie G. Davis Middle School. With changes to these schools, our focus has again shifted.

The support we are providing to the Perez family will receive a significant portion of our Missions Budget this year. I cannot think of a better way to spend significant dollars.

If you do not know Marvin and Yolani Perez, Yaison, Milli, and Charlotte, you are missing a treat. Volunteer to take them to lunch some Sunday. “Google Translate” easily allows you to communicate with them. These are wonderful and hard-working, honest people who are full of goodwill, easy to spend time with, and lots of fun! They want the best for their children, a future for their family.

I’m so glad we can be a significant part of making that future a real possibility. - Russ

"The State of our Church is Strong..."

Thus began Amy’s “State of the Church Address,” which she counts as her ninth such address. That address to the congregation has become her thing since we modified our schedule to include only one regularly scheduled church conference each year. Her words were an appropriate summation of another good year in the life of a thriving congregation. If you missed it, spend a worthwhile few minutes to read it here.

Thank you for Being Found Faithful

Those words have come to signify your faithfulness, specifically regarding financial stewardship, and 2022 was another “faithful” year! Notable highlights of giving, outside our AMP include a $10,000 designated gift to enhance our audio/visual/livestream capabilities, a $40,000 designated gift for improved acoustical treatment in the sanctuary (This will complete our sanctuary renovation.), a $10,000 Legacy Gift from the Deloris Kross estate, for Music Ministry, a $3,000 for A Tu Lado, a $5,000 gift for the Honduran mission, a $10,000 gift for mission work, a $2,000 gift for the church and CDC from a CDC family, a $1,000 gift for the sidewalk project, a $7,000 undesignated gift, for the Milford Dialogue, Music, and the Honduran mission, a $4,000 gift for the Ashcraft endowment, a $1,000 gift for the Pastors’ Discretionary fund, a $15,000 designated gift for the salary for a new Children’s and Youth Minister, and a Legacy Gift from the Mack Duncan estate, which is being used to support a number of different projects. (The recent “Pay it Forward” program was only the first.) Regarding our regular giving, we finished 2022 with a $14,581 surplus. The money we had budgeted for the Tiny House project has been moved to a designated account and will be used this year. The balanced of the surplus will be used from some much-needed physical enhancements. Regarding the 2023 Annual Ministry Plan, we concluded the pledging process with a $1,600 shortfall but were able to cover that with the 2022 surplus. It’s been a good year, a great year, and 2023 is already shaping up to be even better. Thank you for being found faithful.

Sunday Worship

January 29, 2023

Called Church Conference: February 19

There will be a very brief Church Conference at the conclusion of worship on Sunday, February 19 to approve an addendum to the Slate of Nominees which was voted on Sunday. Church officers and trustees were inadvertently omitted from the slate. The following names are placed in nomination:

Tom Polaski, Moderator. Laura Baxley, Clerk. Chris Woolley, Treasurer. Max Carol, Assistant Treasurer. Parks Helms, Brian Smyth, Hugh Ashcraft, and Chris Woolley, Trustees.

A New Master Gardner!

Thanks to Laura Leach for stepping up to organize the Al Wilson Community Garden. We are grateful to Brian Hedgepeth for his years of service and are excited to see our garden continue to produce a harvest of fresh veggies! Garden boxes are available to church members at no charge and to neighbors for a nominal annual fee, which covers the cost of water. Until Laura is completely onboard, contact the church office if you have questions or interest in reserving a box for the year.

Mission Updates

Men’s Shelter Lunch: Saturday, February 11, 10:30a-1p

Every other month, on the second Saturday of the month, Park Road prepares and serves a hot lunch for up to 150 residents of the Men’s Shelter at 1210 N. Tryon Street. Food preparation begins at 10:30a and lunch service ends at 1p (sometimes earlier). If you have never participated in this service opportunity, you should give it a try. The food preparation is not difficult and requires no prior experience. Volunteering there provides a great chance to work together with other Park Roadians, and for us to get to know one another a little better. Sign up here to help:

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

Mission Offerings – A Year in Review

Park Road does a mission offering every month in keeping with our initiative to create a culture of generosity. In 2022, the church donated a total of $14,795.31 to support a variety of worthy causes. Thank you for your generous contributions!

Jan – Families Forward Charlotte $609
Feb – Refugee Support Services $1,202
Mar – Ukrainian Red Cross $2,250.10
Apr – Riley Haskin Scout Project $2,322.21
May – Life Connections $492
Jun – Baptist News Global $320
Jul – Baptist Peace Fellowship $565
Aug – Stratford Richardson YMCA $197
Sept – PRBC Educators $1,005.04
Oct - Charlotte Crop Walk $582
Nov – EWO Haiti Relief $559
Dec – Perez Family Assistance $4,691.96

Welcome, Debbie Davis

After traveling with our group to Cuba, Debbie felt so connected to her companions and the mission of our church, she just had to join! Originally from New York, Debbie spent most of her adult life in Carlisle, PA as a supervisor for the Department of Transportation. She and her husband, Fred, have been married 34 years. Debbie is a Harley Davidson motorcycle enthusiast and a dog lover, having fostered or adopted over 30 boxer dogs. Debbie lives in Monroe but looks forward to getting to know her Park Road family. Please make an effort to introduce yourself.

Youth Updates

Whitewater with Youth

There was ice skating (and some ice falling!) last Sunday night with the youth. Then there was a short hike through the woods filled with beautiful lights. And a good time was had by all!

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.