May God touch your life... Gage Park Baptist Church [email protected] www.gpbctopeka.org e*Murmurings An American Baptist Church At A Glance • Sunday, October 4 3:00 pm - Annual Fall Picnic at the Bredow’s • Thursday, October 8 9:30 am - ABW meet • Saturday, October 10 9:00 am - Church Work Day • Saturday, October 17 9:00 am - Needlenees 9:00 am to 11:00 pm Doorstep Fundraiser at Macy’s 6:00 pm - 140-Year Celebration Dinner • Monday, October 19 7:00 pm - Executive Board meeting • Sunday, October 25 12:00 pm - Youth Fundraiser Lunch Let Jesus show you what you can be... October 2009 MITTEN PATCH It is time again for the Mitten Patch! The Mitten Patch is our collection of mittens, caps, socks, sweatshirts, etc. for the children at Avondale East Elementary School. The teachers and school nurse disperse these items to the children in need throughout the cold season. We will be collecting items throughout the month of October. If you wish to make a cash donation for the Mitten Patch, someone else will do your shopping for you. Do you remember the feeling of wearing brand new mittens to school? Most of these kids do not have that luxury and that is something we can give them! TIME FOR THE BAZAAR School has started, the nights are getting cooler, so it's time to think of Christmas and the church bazaar. This year's contribution quilt is hanging in the parlor and tickets are available from the Needlebees -- $1 per ticket or 6 for $5. Many thanks to Bud Parnell for providing his mother's embroidered blocks. They made a great quilt! Pick up your tickets, take them to your office, sell them to your neighbors, and be sure to buy some for yourself. Also get out your knitting needles, crochet hooks, sewing machines, needles and thread, hot glue guns, beads, etc., and put your imagination to work! It's time to think BAZAAR!! The Needlebees organized in 2003 for the purpose of remodeling the kitchen. We knew it was going to be a project that would take many bazaars and lots of work. We're pleased to see that planning has begun. The proceeds this year will go toward the kitchen. But not all bazaar proceeds have gone for the kitchen. We provided the built-in cabinets and other renovations for the parlor. We've given proceeds of two bazaars to the church general fund and we've set aside $1,000 as seed money for a mission trip. We appreciate everyone's willingness to pitch in and help with the bazaar. We meet on the third Saturday morning of the month. Highlights Spotlight Stories 1 Coming Events 2 Announcements 3 Youth Page 4 Celebrate History 4 20 Questions 5 A Look Ahead 6 Dear Friends—Thank you so much for all the cards and wellwishes for my birthday. —Becky Miller Thank you all for the prayers and cards following my surgery. Doing much better now! —Shari Irish Thank you for all your cards & prayers from my back surgery. Everything is going great! I’ve been released from physical therapy, and only one more doctor visit! —Shirley Kirby October 2009 Coming Events ANNUAL ALL-CHURCH FALL PICNIC Once again the Bredow family has invited us to come to their home for a Fall Picnic on Sunday, October 4 at 3:00 pm. Mark and Tracy have a beautiful yard for kickball and more. The church will provide hot dogs and hamburgers, drinks and table service. Please bring a side dish or salad to share. Transportation will be provided if you sign up for it. Pastor Bob will pick you up and return you to your home following the picnic. This is always a fun time of games, food and fellowship. Bring a friend and introduce them to the rest of us. 2 church staff links • Pastor Robert Roesler [email protected] • Christian Education Sarah Roesler [email protected] ATTENTION LADIES American Baptist Women will meet on Thursday, October 8 at 9:30 am in the church parlor. The hostess is Betty Burkett, with no one in charge of the program. If you are interested in filling this much needed spot, please contact June Smith ASAP. • Youth Coordinator Danny Goeckler [email protected] • Secretary CHURCH WORKDAY Please mark Saturday, October 10, 9:00 am on your calendars now and plan to join us. This is a time of upkeep for the church that is very important. If we can fix the little problems before they become BIG problems it is always better. But to do that we need help. Please give of your time, and help your church in the process. Donna White [email protected] board members • Tracy Bredow [email protected] 140-YEAR CELEBRATION North Topeka Baptist Church is celebrating 140 years! We invite you to join us on Saturday, October 17, registration begins at 5:30 pm with dinner at 6 pm. Please RSVP to Connie & Betty Messenger 273-7040. NEEDLEBEES The Needlebees will meet on Saturday, October 17 at 9:00 am. We encourage anyone to join us who has a passion for any kind of stitchery or crafts. Enjoy some fellowship while you work! • Wilda Davison [email protected] • Danny Goeckler [email protected] • Elise Mooneyham • Donna Schulz [email protected] • Al West [email protected] FABULOUS DOORSTEP FUNDRAISER Doorstep is having a Fundraiser on Saturday, October 17 from 9 am to 11 pm at Macy’s store at the Westridge Mall. Tickets sell for $5 each and are good for 20% off regular, sale and clearance clothing, jewelry, housewares and more. Tickets are available from Dorothy Ingle but must be purchased before October 17. church officers YOUTH FUNDRAISER LUNCH This will be your LAST chance to help the Youth before they go on their tubing trip. Join us on Sunday, October 25 immediately following worship. Menu: Chili, soup, veggies, cinnamon rolls and drinks. THANKSGIVING DINNER The next Fundraiser/Fellowship lunch will not occur until November 22nd, 2009. This will be our yearly Thanksgiving Lunch with turkey and all the fixin’s. Tickets will be on sale starting October 11, from Donna in the office, or from Danny Goeckler. Prices will be $7.00 for adults and $5.00 for children 10 years of age and younger. If you would be willing to bake/donate a dessert for the lunch, please contact Danny. This is always a good fundraiser for our church’s general fund, plus it’s just good food and great company. Please try to attend. • Moderator Bob Brown [email protected] • Clerk Kitty Miller [email protected] • Treasurer Terry Conus [email protected] • Financial Secretary Becky Miller [email protected] October 2009 Coming Events/Announcements 3 “JELLY LADIES” The “Jelly Ladies” are ready to make jelly for the bazaar. Kathy has help this year from Bev Conus. They have plenty of jars, but can use donations of: Sure-Jell, standard-size seals, and money to buy fruit. Please see Kathy Button or the Sign-Up Sheet on the bulletin board. CHILDREN’S CHURCH SCHEDULE THIS MONTH Oct 4 - Alice Sanchez Oct 11 - Elise Mooneyham Oct 18 - Velda Hanna Oct 25 - Kathy Button If you have an event or article that you would like included in next month’s newsletter, the deadline will be Monday, October 26 at 9:00 am. HEALTHY REMINDERS The Shawnee County Health Agency wants to make sure our community knows how to stay healthy this flu season. Personal hygiene is the easiest way to stay healthy. You should: • Always wash your hands • Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue or sleeve—NOT your hands • Get plenty of rest • Eat a good balanced diet • Stay hydrated To help you stay healthy, there is a new “Hygiene Station” that dispenses hand sanitizer (no water needed) located in the lobby on the column in front of the Pastor’s office. We also do extra cleaning chores here to ensure your safe health, such as wipe all banister railings and door handles with a Clorox wipe at least once a week. Please do your part and let’s keep everyone healthy! DOORSTEP NEEDS We all know that many people in our town are having a difficult time with having enough food to feed their families. Doorstep is doing what they can, but most of the food they have comes from the churches in Topeka who are willing to support them. Let each of us continue to bring non-perishable items to the church and I will take it to Doorstep for distribution. Thank you to those who do it often, but we need more people bringing food. Some items that are needed are canned milk, pork and beans, jelly and other non-perishable items. Bring your items to the parlor. Thank you! —Dorothy Ingle Doorstep is also getting ready for Christmas and will need help in getting items for needs such as: Sheets, quilts and blankets, towels and washcloths, razors, toothpaste, shampoo and other hygiene products, underwear (often larger sizes are needed). They seem to have plenty of stuffed animal toys, so please don’t bring those. Bring your items to church at any time, several weeks before Christmas. PLEASE CHECK THE LOST AND FOUND BASKET in the Church Parlor. It is located on the counter on along the north wall. It is getting very full! Also, there are quite a few coats and jackets on the hangers that have been here quite awhile. If they belong to you, please take them home!!! Also please check the coat racks, there are quite a few left here! IN NEED OF UPC SYMBOLS Kathy Button needs just 100 more Best Choice UPC symbols to equal 1,000 so she can turn them in. If you have collected some, could you please bring them to the church? Thank you! ROWERS HALL INDUCTS ONE OF OUR OWN The Topeka Rowing Association inducted three new members into its Hall of Fame on Saturday at Lake Shawnee. Hank Miller, who started rowing at Washburn University in 1970, was the third inductee. Miller coached at Washburn, then started refereeing nationally in 1980, internationally in 1992 and became an Olympic official in 1996. This is an excerpt from an article from the Topeka Capital Journal. The whole article is posted on the bulletin board. Congratulations Hank!!! October 2009 Youth/Celebrating History Tuesday, 10/6—Youth 6:30-8:00 pm Tuesday, 10/13—Youth 6:30-8:00 pm Tuesday, 10/20—Youth 6:30-8:00 pm Sunday, 10/25—Youth fundraiser lunch. This will be the LAST fundraiser for the Youth before they go on their tubing trip. Menu: Chili, soup, veggies, cinnamon rolls and drinks. Tuesday, 10/27—Youth 6:30-8:00 pm 4 YOUTH CORNER The Youth Team is going to adopt a family for Christmas this year. Please watch for more information to follow. GPBC TO HOST HEALTH SCREENINGS THAT COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE We are pleased to offer a preventative health event. Life Line Screening, the nation’s leading provider of community-based preventative health screenings, will host their affordable, noninvasive, painless health screenings on December 14, 2009. Four screenings will be offered that scan for potential health problems related to: blocked arteries, which is the leading cause of stroke; abdominal aortic aneurysms, which can lead to a ruptured aorta; hardening on the arteries in the legs, which is a strong predictor of heart disease; and atrial fibrillation or irregular heartbeat, which is closely tied to stroke risk. Register for a Vascular Package with Heart Rhythm for $130. Add a fifth test for osteoporosis for just $10 more. All five screenings take 6090 minutes to complete. Your health is in Your Hands, so call 1(800)653-6441. Every month, an article called “Celebrating Our Church History” will be in each newsletter. These are excerpts taken from the GPBC 50th Anniversary “Remembering the Past, Living the Present, Keys to the Future” WHAT GAGE PARK BAPTIST CHURCH MEANS TO ME, My experiences at this church have brought me through a lot of my life. I will never forget all the things I have learned whether by a teacher of by experiences. The youth group gave me life-time friends. I remember when my grades started to slip and my mother grounded me from youth group. I was devastated because that was what mattered to me the most. Every time I saw a youth group member or Hank (the youth group leader) they always hounded me. “Do you have your grades up yet?” Those friends were what helped me get my grades up. I also learned to work together with the youth group. I will always remember one particular trip. We were on a float trip and two of our groups tied our boats together. We had been warned that at the end of the trip was a sharp turn-off and we should be prepared for it. Well, we were not prepared. We were on the other side of the river, the current was strong and with both boats tied together, we missed the turn-off. We floated to a sand bar about 200 ft. from the turn-off and decided to jump out and push the boats up-stream against the current. The current started to push us the other way so we banked our boats on an old tree. Alas, one more thing went wrong! Joel Conrad started to get swept away with the current and was hanging on a branch attached to the willow tree we were banked on, on the tree there was a snake! Someone kicked it and it floated right past Joel. We then tool off our life jackets and tied them together, throwing one end to Joel. He grabbed his end and we pulled him back into the boats. After piling back in the boats, we found the only choice we had was to drift down-stream to another stop-off point. When I walked into high school at the beginning of the year, I was terrified. I didn’t know anyone and I felt alone, but I didn’t let it show. I got up the courage to talk to people and one thing led to another. I soon became acquainted with everyone and no longer felt lonely. I want to mention some names in thanks for the years of guidance and friendship: Bob, Jill, Shannon and Sarah Roesler; Hank and Becky Miller; Mark, Faith, Michael and Adam Loretto; the Hanley Family; Luke and Holly Franzen; Jeff, Deborah and Joel Conrad; Allan and Dorothy Ingle; and the rest of the youth group and church family. I will be eternally thankful to all of you. Yours truly and sincerely, Lynette Truitt TO THE CHURCH FAMILY, I asked Lynette to write some memories about the church. To my delight and surprise she Celebrating did it! She made me smile and cry remembering all our fellowship there. My first memory of Gage Park Baptist Church was when Bob came to visit Lynette and I. We chatted and he made us feel at Our ease. That feeling never changed. As the years rolled on, we especially enjoyed being a part of the Church music ministry and camping programs. For me, the Women’s Retreats were a refreshing oasis in my spiritual journey. We miss all of you and long to replace that fellowship we lost as we moved north. History In love, Michelle Truitt October 2009 20 Questions 5 1. What are your names? James and Linda McDonald 2. Where were you born? J-Newport, RI L-Topeka, KS 3. What brought you to GPBC? L-Grew up in this church, tried other churches after we moved out north. Came back after my mom died in 2005, because it felt like home. 4. Who are your family members? James, Linda, Tanner, Katelyn, Colton, and Linda’s father, James Dyer 5. What do you do for a living? J-Supervisor at Del Monte L-Security Benefit 6. Who at GPBC has had the biggest spiritual impact in your life? L-Dorothy Ingle 7. What is your favorite movie? J-Saving Private Ryan L-P.S I Love You 8. What is your favorite hymn or praise song? J- “A Thing Called Love” L-”Amazing Grace” 9. What is your favorite Topeka restaurant? J & L-North Star 10. What is the last book you read? J-Cook Book L-Toxic People 11. What is your dream vacation? J-Hawaii L-Ireland 12. What is your biggest pet peeve? L-Rude people 13. What is your favorite Bible passage? L-23rd Psalm 14. What might people be surprised to know about you? — 15. What person do you most admire? — 16. What are your hobbies? J-Fantasy football, Competition BBQ L-Music, Competition BBQ 17. What is your favorite month of the year? L-November 18. What was your favorite TV or radio program growing up? J-Gilligan’s Island L-Cosby Show 19. What is your biggest indulgence? L-Music 20. What is your greatest blessing? L-My family October 2009 A Look Ahead November 1-Sunday, 2:00 am 12:00 pm 10-Thursday 11-Wednesday 16-Monday, 7:00 pm 21-Saturday. 9:00 am 22-Sunday, 12:00 pm 29-Sunday Daylight Savings Ends, set clocks back Church Relations Team meeting ABW meets Veterans Day Executive Board meeting Needlebees meet Thanksgiving Fellowship Lunch First Sunday of Advent December 5-Saturday 6-Sunday, 12:00 pm 10-Thursday, 9:30 am 13-Sunday, 12:00 pm 19-Saturday, 9:00 am 21-Monday, 7:00 pm 24-Thursday, 7:00 pm Annual Holiday Bazaar Church Relations Team meeting ABW meet in church parlor Fellowship Lunch/Business Meeting Needlebees meet Executive Board meeting, 1st Day of Winter Christmas Eve Candlelight Service January 2010 10-Sunday, 12:00 pm 14-Thursday, 9:30 am 16-Saturday, 9:00 am 18-Monday, 7:00 pm Church Relations Team meeting ABW meet in church parlor Needlebees meet Executive Board meeting, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 6