I was once frightened by a paper cup.  Heart racing, freaking out, Oh-My-Goodness frightened. 
I thought maybe it was about to kill me.  How so?  I was swimming in open water, and as I raised my head slightly to breathe, the cup was right in front of my face. From my perspective, it looked very much like the bow of a boat.  

So it is with ordination. (Yes, I just went from paper cups to ordination.)  From one perspective, it’s a clear example of maintaining an ancient tradition.  We were doing the same thing they did in the New Testament the day we laid hands on Right Rev. Chris Liles. But from another perspective, we were embracing what was a radical Baptist practice a mere few hundred years ago.

Allow me to explain.  In large swaths of our country, you can’t swing a broom without hitting a Baptist or a Methodist. Why so, when there aren’t that many Baptists or Methodists in Europe?  Well, on the American frontier, establishment churches (Anglicans, Catholics, for example) had a hard time supplying pastors to small rural congregations. Methodists adapted to this reality with the “circuit rider” model of pastors serving multiple churches.  Baptists adapted by drafting farmers to do what used to be done by seminary trained clergy. (Brown University, for example, started out as a school for Baptist clergy.) Instead of writing back to Virginia or Pennsylvania for a minister, they just said, “Hey, Pete, you pray pretty good.  How ‘bout we ordain you to be our pastor?”  

Even today, Baptists practice a very grassroots version of ordination. There is no long process, no “sanctioning body” outside the church. A church convenes a council just like we did, and they question the person wanting to be a minister. If they pass this informal test, they are ordained.  

Thanks be to God for rich traditions and for flexible spirits. Churches aren’t worth much unless they possess both!

~Chris Caldwell

F.R.E.E. Class Visits Burnett Avenue Baptist Church 

On July 15, The F.R.E.E. (Faith Reaching Every Edge) Sunday School class visited Burnett Avenue Baptist Church, a predominantly African-American Church on Hurstbourne Ave. The pastor from Burnett Avenue, Rev. Corrie Shull, led a book study on Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Thurman. We received a very warm welcome. The focus was on fear and how it prevents us from living an abundant life. Rev. Shull shared many personal situations where fear created a barrier in his life, as did many in the congregation. In visiting with him after the study, we discussed the applications in our own lives. I immediately thought of my students and how I interact with them, and how it is important not to manage them by using power to create fear. I also thought of the fear that many of my students, mostly coming from the West End, deal with every day. The opening lines from the chapter captures it perfectly, “Fear is one of the persistent hounds of hell that dog the footsteps of the poor, the dispossessed, the disinherited.” We left after a long talk inspired and with hopes of building relationships with the young people there. 

~ Cassie Lyles

Caroling and Winter Food Baskets

Every year the church youth deliver the food collected from White Christmas to Cochran Elementary. The food is divided into boxes according to the sizes of the recipient families. Our food is then paired with Christmas presents that parents can give their kids. The recipients of the food boxes and gifts are financially struggling families who will now have something to eat and give to their kids for Christmas. When we personally deliver the boxes to the families, it is cool to see how grateful they are and appreciative of what we do. Some of the parents even get emotional, because without this program they may have little to eat and nothing to give their own children for Christmas. I have learned that many people don’t have the opportunities I do and that I shouldn’t take what I have for granted. It puts in perspective the gaps in our society in terms of financial status and by helping the struggling families I feel that we help bridge that gap. Making these food deliveries every year has meant a lot to me, but even more to the families we help. I hope it continues to benefit more people each year. 

~Chris Liles

Jubilate 

I’ve never really been the type of person in the youth group who was super excited to go to youth choir because I don’t pride myself in being a good singer. So when Robert Gammon proposed the idea of Jubilate, a choir tour consisting of five Baptist churches across the southeast, I was sure I would not be going because 1) I’m not musically gifted and 2) a weekend in January and a week in June filled with singing did not sound like much fun.

I don’t know if I’ve ever been more wrong, at least about the fun part. This will be my third year attending Jubilate. Every year, I look forward to going on the next Jubilate trip more and more. I’ve not only bonded with the other youth from Broadway, but also met some pretty amazing people from South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee. The five directors are so cool and have great leadership skills, considering they can manage a choir of more than 100 teenagers.

Most importantly, however, is the music. I Believe is by far my favorite song we performed at Jubilate. The words were found etched by a child on the wall of a concentration camp in Germany. The first time we sang this song, chills ran through my body. Hearing the lyrics can take one’s breath away, but knowing the backstory totally knocks the wind out of you. The lyrics read as follows:

I believe in the sun even when it is not shining.
I believe in love even when I can’t feel it.
I believe in God even when God is silent.

Jubilate, to me, is something that cannot be expressed in words; it’s not just a choir retreat the youth attend. Yes, we have fun and it’s an indescribable experience. However, we are not the main beneficiaries; we’ve performed at countless churches, retirement communities, nursing homes, and even a juvenile correction facility. It’s surprisingly refreshing to be able to sing these gorgeous songs, even if we didn’t inspire or affect the people in the audience. I can’t think of a better way to spend this upcoming weekend than attending Jubilate.

~Meagan Sanders 

Speakers from Slovakia and Uganda

This fall, the children had the unique opportunity to visit with missionaries serving in Uganda and Slovakia. Both sets of missionaries taught the children songs in the respective languages of the people they serve, but more importantly than that, they taught the children how important each person is in the eyes of God.

Our speakers from Slovakia brought Slovak coins with them. They showed the children two coins - one that had been soiled after many years of being tossed from pocket to pocket, and one that had recently been cleaned. After passing around the coins, they asked the children which coin was of greater value, to which the children responded that they were worth the same!

Through visiting with these missionaries, the children were reminded that people are like those coins - it doesn’t matter how many scratches or scars we have, we are all worth the same in God’s eyes. I think the children were inspired with a deeper passion for serving others after these visits!

~Emily Holladay

Creative Arts Camp 

We were thrilled to have the opportunity to participate in Creative Arts Camp at Broadway Baptist this year. Our church has a remarkable number of talented musicians and artists, and there are a number of opportunities to expose our children to the arts. My daughter, Beatrice, came home from camp daily excited about the new things she had learned and made that day. It is such a blessing for our children to interact with the arts in a church setting - thank you for creating this opportunity for our family. 

~Beth Davis

FREE Class 

The FREE class is a group of young adults, ranging generally from early 20’s to mid 30’s, who view our faith through a lens of compassion, community, and a responsibility to be servants and stewards of our faith to both the people in our church and the world outside of Broadway.  The FREE class is important because in many churches the voices of the “young” Christian is either completely absent or lost.   FREE has created a space for those voices to be shared and nurtured, as well as a community of support and encouragement as we grow in life and in faith together. 
 
~Noelle Bailey

Parents Night Out

This past Christmas break, I helped watch kids at an event at my church called Parents Night Out, which allowed parents to drop their children off and not have to worry about them for a few hours. The children spent the evening playing games, making crafts, eating, running around, and watching The Polar Express. I stayed in the gym for most of the night making sure no one got into any accidents on the tricycle, but I’d go around looking for help somewhere else when the kids got tired of playing around in the gym.

I don’t consider myself terrific with kids, but I try to help out at church whenever I can, and they usually make it easy on me anyway. I’ve noticed that most of the time when a child does something wrong, he or she knows that it’s wrong and admits to it, instead of pretending that it didn’t happen like many others would do. They are all surprisingly conscious of what is right and what is wrong at such a young age. These aren’t major crimes or anything of course, the biggest offense is is usually making a mess of the ball pit or stealing someone’s toy, but they always own up to what they’ve done and apologize. I really appreciate the time I get to spend with them no matter the event, and I look forward to the next time I get to work with them.

~Davis Jones

Trunk or Treat

I don’t know how to talk about this year’s Trunk or Treat without gushing about the success of the event. Last year, the Children’s and Outreach Committees volunteered to plan the event in conjunction with the Social Team, who has done such a wonderful job of creating and organizing Trunk or Treat in the past. The goal was to make Trunk or Treat an event large enough for the community to attend, and one in which our whole congregation could participate. 

The Outreach Committee sent post cards to the community, and passed out flyers at the St. Matthew’s Area Chamber of Commerce Trick or Treat event at Brown Park. Their work brought in multiple children from around the community, who experienced the warmth and hospitality (not to mention - fun!) of our church family.

The Children’s Committee and Social Team decorated the Family Life Center, planned games, and made lots of fun treats for the families to enjoy. Our Wednesday night crowd proved their ability to be flexible, and ate chili in the FLC, while enjoying the sights of children in costumes and the sounds of their laughter and enjoyment.

Overall, this event was not just about growing younger populations, but bringing together all the age groups represented in the church. It ended up being a night in which we could all celebrate together as a church body, and everyone left with a smile on their face!

~Emily Holladay

Jubilate

Jubilate has been an awesome experience for me personally, as well as my faith. When the Jubilate program was first introduced to Broadway Baptist, I was very hesitant to sign up. I knew that we would be singing all weekend, and since I was not an experienced singer, that was definitely intimidating for me. I ended up giving it a try, and I am very glad I did. Jubilate quickly became one of my favorite church experiences. In the winter session, we spend the entire MLK weekend learning around 8 pieces with a choir of five churches and more than 100 youth, polishing them so that we can perform them at a couple of churches that Sunday. Then, over a week in the summer, we practice and perform the songs for various churches, groups, and people all over the South. While it is a lot of work, it is a very rewarding experience learning with a large choir of people my age, and being able to share the music and touch other’s lives. Jubilate has allowed me to meet many people, improve my musical abilities, and share God’s word through music.
     ~Robert Thomas

Family Advent Breakfast 

This past Christmas Season was a bit more magical with Zeke now old enough to realize that Santa would soon be visiting our home laden with presents. While “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” rang through the air daily during November and December, Matt and I knew that our priority was to refocus that excitement to that of Jesus Our Savior’s Birthday. This is quite a tall task considering every day in a four year old’s life is pretty much all about them (or at least our four year old!).  Thankfully, Emily Holladay and the Children’s Ministry put together a Family Advent Breakfast to begin the Holy Season.  

After we fellowshipped and ate breakfast provided by Gracious Plenty, we were directed to three different stations.  The first was to create an advent box. Once finished, it contained an advent calendar with various symbols for each week to help celebrate. The second station was to make an angel to give to the Homebound members. The third was creating jars of hot cocoa and marshmallows to place in the food baskets that were delivered after the Christmas Musical. This was Zeke and Hank’s favorite station as they filled about 10 jars, of course all while eating a chocolate chip or two. Cathy Smith and Glenna Hess helped at this station and I loved seeing the interaction of the children with these two adults.  

I was filled with gratitude for all the people that help make Broadway’s Children’s Program function. Having multiple hands to guide my three boys during these early stages matters. The children understood that both the angels and the hot chocolate were given to others that needed it more than them. This giving to others is what fulfills the Christmas Spirit and can only be understood with practice.
    
Weeks before Christmas, Zeke found the glow sticks that were part of the Advent box. They had been included in the box to remind us to shine the light of Christ wherever we went. Matt and I walked into a dark playroom to find the three boys adorned with the glow sticks made into bracelets. The kids were floating around singing “little gray donkey, clip-clop, clip-clop, on the way to Bethlehem.” At least for a moment, the excitement of Christ’s coming was realized and embraced.

~Jessica Washer

Finding Hope in Grief

All Saint’s Sunday in November is a time when our church remembers those members and family members that have passed away during the previous year. For me, it is also within a few days of the anniversary date of my husband’s death. I had signed up to attend that afternoon a small group session on grief, led by Leslie Townsend, PhD.  

I have had several years now to work through my grief, though at times it does not feel like it. I have wondered about this and knew I wanted to attend this group. Our numbers were small with all of us at various stages of our grief but the conversations and sharing were meaningful, thoughtful and inspirational.  

Dr. Townsend is an excellent facilitator for small groups. She recommended readings including Kubler-Ross’ Stages of Grief, Wayne Oates’ Phases of Grief and “It Hurts So Bad Lord.” If this small group led by
Dr. Townsend is offered again, I would highly recommend it for anyone experiencing grief. 

~Donna Williams      

Disciple Now 

What does Disciple Now mean to me? Yes, it’s a weekend retreat away from home. Yes, it’s fun. Yes, it’s a good way to bond with other youth. Yet I come out of every weekend with a new perspective.

This year, the theme of Disciple Now centered on how our relationship with God is anchored, specifically through music. I wouldn’t consider myself musically gifted, unless you count joining the middle school band and occasionally playing the piano in my living room. However, I’ve found myself growing closer to God through song in the past couple of years. Youth choir, handbells, and Jubilate, Broadway’s annual youth choir tour, has definitely played a significant role in that. But it was Disciple Now that opened my eyes to see this connection between myself, music, and my faith.

As a senior, leaving for college soon is one of the most terrifying thoughts I’m constantly reminded of. There was one song the youth sang this year in worship at Disciple Now that made me feel at peace with growing up so quickly and leaving my home in a few months; it’s called “Oceans.” One of the verses says,

“You call me out upon the waters /
The great unknown where feet may fail /
And there I find You in the mystery /
In oceans deep /
My faith will stand.”

The first time I heard this song, specifically this verse, something happened that is difficult to express in writing. I truly felt God’s presence surrounding me, reassuring me and telling me it’s okay to feel upset about leaving behind a place I love so much. Disciple Now is a time of change and of growth, and I can say I have continued to grow in my faith year after year of attending; I will never forget what I have learned from this retreat. It is one my favorite youth activities and it is a bittersweet moment that this past Disciple Now was my last.

- Meagan Sanders

Throughout January and February, the Love in Action Bins (in the Atrium, Friendship Hall and by the church office) will be used to collect “Hearty” Canned Soups with pull-top lids.  These soups will be used by Samaritan Patrol in their ministry to people who are homeless in Louisville.

Beginning Monday, January 25 at 2:00 p.m.
This four week small group will meet on Monday afternoons from 2:00 - 3:00 beginning January 25. If you would like to be a part of the study, please sign up with Susan Reed in the church office (susanr@broadwaybaptist.org or 502.895.2459).  Also, please read Mark chapters 1- 4 prior to the first meeting.