The Pinnacle
February 12, 2021
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In honor of the Baptist Women in Ministry Month of Preaching, we are delighted to have Rev. Kristen Pope as our guest preacher this Sunday. A graduate of McAfee School of Theology, Kristen has served First Baptist Church in Rome, Ga. since 2017 as its minister of faith development. Her primary areas of focus in ministry include preaching, advancing inclusivity as a part of church life, and helping children and their families to realize their importance and potential as Christ followers at every age. During the time of COVID, she has enjoyed socially-distanced front-porch visits with members, living out her long-held belief that the church isn't trapped in the church building. |
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The organization Baptist Women in Ministry observes the month of February as the Martha Stearns Marshall Month of Preaching, inviting Baptist churches to schedule a woman to preach at least once during the month. Honoring the legacy of 18th-century Baptist clergy member Martha Stearns Marshall since 2007, this annual event has been a source of joy and discovery for many churches as they have celebrated the giftedness of women. Although hearing women preach has been common practice at NDBC for decades, we are pleased to welcome Kristen Pope to our pulpit on February 14 and Emily Harbin on February 28, in concert with Baptist Women in Ministry.
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The Pastor Search Committee began its first of three church-wide listening sessions on Thursday evening, addressing the question: NDBC's Past: What is our DNA and how did we get where we are today?
If you missed the time slot on Thursday, you can still participate this Saturday, February 13, at 9:30 am
Please join via Zoom. If you do not have access to Zoom, you can join by phone by dialing 301-715-8592 or contact your deacon to see if he or she can help you in coordinating a session. Call the church office at 404-237-8621 if you do not know who your deacon is.
The process works best when we hear from as many members as possible, so please take the time to attend one of these sessions and share your story.
Meeting ID: 831 3410 5399
Passcode: 206617
Geneva Hall-Shelton, Chair of Pastor Search Committee
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The NDBC Kids Ministry has at-home Lent and Easter fun for you and your family. Mrs. Andrea will be sending every family home kits, which include devotionals, coloring sheets, and even a resurrection kit for Easter Sunday.
You can check out the materials here:
Families, you can come by the church on Ash Wednesday, February 17, to pick up your kits and receive your imposition of ashes.
Of course, please wear your masks! And note that there will be self-imposition of ashes with Q-tip application and six-foot distancing observed for COVID safety.
Drive by the porte-cochere at these times:
10:00 am-12:00 pm with Pastor Daniel OR
4:30-6:00 pm with Ms. Andrea
Each child will also receive a craft that goes with our "Commit to Connect" challenge. It's a Lenten surprise challenge! Our children and families will lead the way, and the whole church can join in with us. Tune into Sunday worship on February 21, the first Sunday of Lent, to hear all about it.
Our Kids Ministry will also be participating in a Lenten missions initiative benefiting Morningstar Children & Family Services, our missions partner in Brunswick, Ga. If you're interested in supporting their Lenten giving initiative, please read more information on their website.
May God bless you and your family this Lenten season!
Andrea Corso Johnson
Director of Children's Ministries
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Through our missions budget, NDBC supports more than 30 organizations, including many local organizations you are familiar with. We also support many national and international organizations through our giving. Over the next few months, we will continue to share news about the important work of these organizations.
Baptist Joint Committee
This week we focus on the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC) . For 85 years BJC has brought our uniquely Baptist perspective of “soul freedom” to protect religious liberty for all and to defend the principle of separation of church and state.
With a staff of ministers, attorneys, scholars and mobilizers, the BJC files briefs in pivotal Supreme Court cases, advocates for and against legislation, testifies in Congress, and unites with others across faiths to ensure that every American has, and will always have, the right to follow his or her personal spiritual beliefs.
The BJC is the only faith-based group working on the national level with this singular focus. Northside Drive has a long history with BJC, and in recent years, both former Executive Director Brent Walker and Amanda Tyler, the current Executive Director, have shared the BJC story with our congregation. Former NDBC Youth Director, Alyssa Aldape serves on their Board. For more information, visit bjconline.org.
Hunger Fund Report
Thank you to those who joined the Zoom lunch last Sunday and to those who have donated to the 2021 Hunger Fund. It’s not too late to donate. We have now added an option to the NDBC website's Online Giving Portal that allows you to designate your contribution to a designated fund, such as our "Hunger Fund."
With apologies to all who wanted to contribute in this way during our "Souper Bowl." Click on our "Giving" tab at the top of our website, then click on the "Online Giving Portal." On the drop down screen for "Choose a Fund" select "General Budget" and a note box will open up. Simply type the designated fund in the note. Here is a link to our Giving page.
Nancy Hall, Missions Chair
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For this year's Lenten study, the Adult Education Committee has chosen Where the Eye Alights: Phrases for the Forty Days of Lent, a book by Marilyn McEntyre." This study is an exercise of daily meditation on phrases and reflections for the forty days of Lent starting on Ash Wednesday, which occurs this year on February 17. "Lenten Phrases" is the overall theme of NDBC's Lenten journey this year and will be echoed in the music and text of the weekly Lenten services. Explore these words and phrases with us as we each take a daily, introspective approach to Lent this year. The author, Marilyn McEntyre, will be joining us on March 10 via Zoom to discuss the book. RSVP to Will Mathews if you would like to join. A Zoom link will be sent out at a later date.
The book can be ordered from Amazon, but we encourage you to order the book through your favorite local book store to support small businesses.
Please contact Allison Bell at ajro223@gmail.com with any questions or if you have issues when ordering the book.
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Ash Wednesday is nigh upon us! On February 17 the season of Lent begins. It was around this time last year that we were trying to interpret the vexing news about a rapidly spreading virus. My prayer for this Lenten season is that the door has been cracked a bit wider, and we can see the light of change on the way. Here are our plans for Ash Wednesday:
A Drive Through Option for receiving ashes. We will offer two time slots for those who would like to pick up an ash kit for self-imposed ashes: 10-12 and 4:30-6:00 pm. Drive through the covered area where the preschool enters (the porte-cochere entrance). Have your mask on. We will hand you a tray with a cotton swab and a disposable cup of ashes. You will place the ashes on your forehead, and a masked minister (sounds ominous!) will pronounce words of blessing from six feet away.
A Mailed Option. If you would like us to mail you a little "ash kit," we will be happy to do so. Please email or contact Will Mathews (will@northsidedrive.org or 404-237-8621) with your name and mailing address no later than February 4. We will place the ashes in a little baggie with a note for you and send via USPS.
A Live-Streamed Service at 6:30 pm. At 6:30 pm that evening we will livestream our Ash Wednesday service from the NDBC Chapel on YouTube. Daniel, Andrea, Keith and Melinda will bring music, prayer, and the homily.
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This Sunday, the Art & Soul class continues its study of the book Left Behind and Loving It: A Cheeky Look at the End Times (Cascade Books, 2011) by D. Mark Davis.
Donette Lee will lead this Sunday's class, a discussion of Chapter 2, Artificial Intimidation: This Rapture Brought to You by Anxiety, Inc. You are invited to order the book through Amazon or your local bookstore, but please feel free to join our always-lively and thought-provoking discussions, whether or not you have the material.
The Art & Soul church school class meets each Sunday at 9:30 am via Zoom (Meeting ID: 824 8851 2109 and Passcode: 936319). |
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The Ash Wednesday service on February 17 and the Good Friday service on April 2 will both feature a performance of the first movement of Gottes Zeit is die allerbest Zeit (God's Time is the Very Best Time) by Johann Sebastian Bach. Here Dr. Irwin Ray DMA, retired professor of music at Oglethorpe University, provides notes on the piece to prepare us for listening and worship:
This four-movement chorale cantata was composed in 1707 for Bach’s church in Mülhausen, Germany. It would have been performed by the church’s service choir and orchestra. The texts are from Acts, Psalms, Isaiah, Luke and three German chorales (hymns). In the early 18th century this genre was known as Actus Tragicus, implying a tragic or sad event; in this case the work’s quiet, somber and personal quality evokes a funeral. The work is usually considered one of comfort.
We are fortunate to have not only a fine organist in Melinda Clark, but also a thoughtful, theologically and aesthetically astute individual as well. She will perform the very appropriate first movement of this cantata at our Ash Wednesday service as well as on Good Friday as “musical bookends” to our penitential season of Lent.
The first movement of this chorale cantata is a “sonatina”, i.e., a short work for orchestra that functions like the sinfonia or overture to larger oratorios and operas. It sets the mood of the work and sounds some of the chorale melodies and motives heard during the full work. The requisite orchestra is quite small: two recorders (wooden, vertical flutes), two violas da gamba (predecessor of the ‘cello) and continuo (organ and violone, which is an 8-foot, double-bass viola da gamba). In this setting, transcribed for organ, the various sounds of the instruments are emulated by the sounds available on the organ.
The two recorders play mostly in unison and only occasionally play separate lines of music, usually to indicate expressive friction or tension. This quasi-unison was very innovative and was not used again until the 20th century. The recorders seem to float on a cushion supported by the gambas and violone. The melody with its “sighing” figures symbolizes both mourning and consolation. Many scholars believe these highly innovative concepts, from a very young J. S. Bach (only age 22), provides evidence of the maturing genius he soon became.
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February 21 - Daniel Headrick
March 7 - Priscilla Eppinger
March 14 - Daniel Headrick
March 21 - Daniel Headrick
March 28 - Karen Massey
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Weekly Church Events
We are moving to live-streaming our worship in the next few Sundays, and we ask for your patience as we figure out the technology. We are grateful for the Audio Committee and the direction of Brian Knight.
Art and Soul Church School - This Sunday at 9:30 am via Zoom
Meeting ID: 824 8851 2109
Passcode: 936319
Sunday Morning Worship - 11:00 am live-stream via YouTube, a recording of which will be available for later viewing.
Wednesday Pastor's Morning Bible Study - 10:30 am via Zoom
Meeting ID: 250 663 1572
Passcode: 6789
Sanctuary Open for Prayer - Monday through Friday - 2:00-3:30 pm.
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Blythe Goodhead - February 13
Mike Almeida - February 13
Cate Denham - February 14
Letty Denham - February 14
Bo Thomas - February 14
Lindy Dyer-Wall - February 14
Mary Ann Hickman - February 14
Jeanne Hicks - February 14
Van Thomas - February 18
Marshall Dewell - February 20
Allison Bell - February 20
Susan Dew - February 21
Gloria Smathers - February 22
Dee Davis - February 23
Cameron Ellis - February 23
Levon Thomas - February 24
Maggie Johnson - February 25
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During this time of remote worship, know of our prayers for you and your family. Contact our clergy if you have prayer requests or other concerns.
Northside Drive Baptist Church
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Church Office Hours
Monday through Friday
9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
(404) 237-8621
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