Greetings in the Name of our Risen Lord,

What a wonderfully joyous Easter celebration our congregation has just experienced together!  I'm happy to report we had nearly 100 in attendance for worship Easter morning AND our front pews were still empty.  Looks like that means we still have room to grow.

We now move from a time of reflection during Lent and celebration at Easter to a time of action.  The Wednesday night small group has decided to continue meeting and is considering what material to use next.  I have recommended the #1 New York Times bestseller The Shack by William Young.  This is an engaging and provocative book that will doubtless be the topic of interesting discussions for those reading it.  All are welcome to join this group.  As a special bonus, the author will be visiting Quaker Hill Baptist in late June.  That will be a wonderful opportunity to hear directly from the person who penned this challenging book.

At our recent Spring Business Meeting, our church voted to participate in the Habitat for Humanity "Apostle's Build" this fall.  We are seeking pledges to cover at least a $1,000 share in this project.  We will be learning more about what is needed by way of volunteers.  I have started meeting with local New London Baptist pastors to see if they might be interested in participating in this project with us.

The way our denomination funds International Ministries (IM) has changed recently.  Previously, churches contributed to the United Mission fun of which 10% went to fund IM.  In addition, we also receive the World Mission Offering each year to support IM.  But, with the economic climate the way it is, the United Mission Offering has been decreasing and is now at the point where IM can no longer afford to keep foreign missionaries in the field.  All American Baptist foreign missionaries have been asked to raise their own support to fund their income needs.  Although this is a major shift for ABCUSA, it is, in reality, the way the most serving missionaries, even from other Baptist denominations, operate.  This new method will have the beneficial effect of linking specific missionaries closer to us and our sister churches.

We will have the opportunity in the coming months to learn more about particular missionaries and their families.  Our Missions Committee will make recommendations that seem appropriate for the congregation to consider as we seek to link up directly with one or more of our missionaries.  No longer will we be able to rely on our United Mission Offering to provide for so many important things.  The good news is that, instead, we will be able to direct our missions offerings to the people and the work that God brings to our attention.

In the weeks and months ahead we will continue to review God's purposes for our lives which we studied during our 40 Days of Purpose.  The next steps ahead of us are to work on these purposes in our lives and then look very closely at our church to make sure that we as a body are practicing these purposes as well.

The Lord bless you and keep you,

Pastor Tom