Great News! We have 12 youth choir members from Broadway who are going to participate in the Jubilate Youth Choir Festival Singers Winter Retreat, January 15-18. This mass choir of over 100 singers is comprised of 5 youth choirs from churches in Georgia and South Carolina. They will rehearse the choral music during the first part of the weekend. Then, they will present two concerts in the Atlanta area on Sunday. The Jubilate experience has been challenging and nurturing youth choirs for 23 years, and we look forward to another great year.

January 6, 6:10 p.m., Chapel
Church historian Bill Leonard once observed that, in terms of church structure, “Baptists have always walked around with their shirttails hanging out.” Occasionally someone will ask me who is in charge at our church. My answer is a couple paragraphs long, and always begins with, “Well.......” and ends with, “the congregation.”  In some churches a military top-down sort of model exists, with the pastor at the top.  That’s not how it works at Broadway. On the most important issues, the congregation has the final word.

The congregation, however, delegates some of its authority to deacons (and to committees). Deacons are lay (not clergy) leaders, and some of them will be ordained or installed soon.  They make some decisions on behalf of the congregation, but, like the ministers and me, they are both leaders and servants. Our deacons help welcome new members, and they visit and keep in touch with those who are in the hospital, who are recuperating from a hospital stay, or who are homebound.

I hope you’ll come to the ordination service, and I also hope you will say a word of thanks to our deacons. They, along with other leaders in our church, are listed within the Who’s Serving Where Document attached with this newsletter. 

                                    ~Chris Caldwell

We live in an era when conspicuous consumption is rarely frowned upon, and consistently celebrated.  Professional athletes are among the most notorious conspicuous consumers.  But in Managua, Nicaragua, a statue stands in memory of an exception to this rule. I saw this statue about 20 years ago, when I spent six weeks there.

The statue is of Roberto Clemente, of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who was the first ever Latin American inducted in baseball’s hall of fame, and who is considered by many to be the greatest right fielder ever to have played the game.

Clemente was from Puerto Rico, not Nicaragua, and never played baseball there.  Why then the statue?  

Clemente was a generous man.  Throughout his career, he would spend time in the off season rounding up and delivering aid and sports equipment in Latin America.  On New Year’s Eve, 1972, following a devastating earthquake in the heart of Managua, Clemente died in the crash of a rickety plane loaded with supplies he was escorting to Managua.  He was personally accompanying the supplies, because aid workers on the ground in Managua told him that the power of his celebrity was the only way to keep these supplies from being stolen by the Nicaraguan National Guard, who were stealing most of the aid coming into the country.

Sadly, Latin America is known by many for this sort of corruption.  Fewer people are aware of the strong sense of community and of family that runs throughout Latin America.  Clemente translates into English as, “Gracious.”  May the graciousness of this man and the Latin American people inspire all of us to be more loving people.

En memoria de Roberto Clemente, 
y en honor a nuestros hermanas y hermanos de América Latina, 
encendemos esta vela de amor.

In memory of Roberto Clemente, 
and in honor of our Latin American sisters and brothers, 
we light this candle of love.

Susan: As we focus on Stories of Christ from around the world, my friend Robert shared this story of Joy with me from a KY Baptist Fellowship partner church in Morocco. 
Last month I had the opportunity to journey to Rabat, Morocco to attend a meeting of Protestant Churches in Morocco.  During this trip I was fortunate enough to worship with a migrant house church.  I accompanied Jumel, who is employed by the church in Morocco, to connect with the migrant house churches across the country.

We went into one of the poorer neighborhoods of Rabat which is populated mainly by Sub-Saharan African migrants and poor Moroccans.  The worship took place in a small, 3-room house located in the back of the neighborhood.  I entered the house and was offered a seat right up front (not the first choice of most Baptists). The service had already begun and the congregation of 55 people was fully engaged in worship.  They were literally packed into this small house – it was hot – and it had begun to rain onto the leaky roof.  That did not put a damper on the worship that was taking place.  It is important to note that these gatherings in house churches are illegal and are often interrupted by the police.

The entire service was in French, so I was at a major disadvantage.  But one thing was very evident:  these individuals were filled with joy and were expressing it through their songs, their prayers and their response to the sermon.  As I sat in that service and took it all in, I was struck by the exuberance of the joy filling those rooms.  Here were migrants in a country not their own, as Christians living in an Islamic society, unemployed or greatly underemployed and living in less than adequate conditions and yet, they were joyful.  This was truly a gathering of what many of us would consider the “least of these”.

In spite of the conditions, this congregation was gathered together in worship - celebrating being a part of the family of God.  Throughout the service it was amazing to watch the sincere and joyful worship taking place around me.  I found myself questioning “how much joy would I have if I were in their shoes?” “How have we in the United States defined joy and how do we relate to God as God’s children?”  I walked out of that two hour service with a new appreciation and understanding of what it means to be joyful.  I was also challenged to find my way back to the roots of my joy in my relationship with Christ.
 

Frequently, when we hear of “peace,” it’s very likely in the context of an absence of violence. And with stories of war, terror, and murder that we hear almost daily, this sort of peace is certainly necessary and longed for. Yet even if we were able to go a day without some form of conflict, many of us would at some point still long for a different kind of peace; the kind we desire to feel in our spirits. 

When Jon and Tanya Parks think of peace, they think of their friend Denisa. Denisa attends church with the Parks in Kosice, Slovakia, and they have described her as having the most peaceful spirit of anyone they have ever met, despite the turmoil she faces in her life. 
Denisa’s husband left her and her two young children years ago, leaving her to raise them by herself. She made ends meet, until she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. She has now lost her ability to work, and lives off of a small disability payment she receives from the government. Her now teenage children also provide their own forms of disquiet in her life. Her daughter is pregnant and unmarried, and her son has a consistent job, but refuses to help the family with the money he makes. 

Add to all of this that Denisa and her family are Roma, living in a culture that is very prejudiced towards the Roma people, frequently pushing them to the fringes of society. Denisa is living in the midst of turmoil, and yet she exudes peace and love. Her very presence produces a calming influence on the room she is in. Her smile comes easy, and her words are calm and kind. She doesn’t hurry. She can’t hurry, but goes about her day with a peaceful determination. She prays often, cries sometimes, and talks openly about her concern for her children and the world they live in. 

You see, Denisa’s peace doesn’t come from her circumstances. It doesn’t come from her health, her money, or the things around her. Denisa’s peace comes from a deep faith in Christ. Through her relationship with the Prince of Peace, Denisa’s spirit finds that peace and rest that many of us desire, but can struggle so hard to find. This morning, do you want that kind of peace that transcends circumstances? Then stop in the midst of your busyness, and seek the Christ child. Ask, seek, and you will find. 

The church office will be closed for the Christmas holidays from Thursday, December 24, through Friday, December 25. It will be open from Monday, December 28, through the end of the year. However, it will also be closed on New Year’s Day, Friday, January 1.