church

The turkey juices sizzle in the oven. The mashed potatoes are being stirred in the pot. Gooey, delicious sweet potato casseroles melt in the oven, while pumpkin pies baked and cooled, sit, tempting us toward an early desert.

Like any other holiday, Thanksgiving has a large store of such images attached to it. And, like other holidays, it is generally considered a time for us to reflect on the important things in life. As such, it is a time when families gather together in fellowship and in celebration of their blessings.

The social and emotional benefits of Thanksgiving -- or at least the possibility of these benefits -- are pretty clear. Its benefits to the palate (if not always the digestive system) are also well known. But what about spiritual benefits? What are the religious leaders in our area telling their congregations about the Thanksgiving holiday, and what it means to their lives? Moreover, how do they deliver a message that can be repeated each year and yet continue to be relevant?

The following comments come from four Batavia pastors, each reflecting on what they perceive to be the relevance of Thanksgiving to the Christian life:

Pastor Allen Werk, St. Paul Lutheran Church and School:

"Thanksgiving is far more than just a day for a family banquet. It is not about how much food we can prepare and eat.

"Thanksgiving is about expressing our gratitude to the source of all the things in life that we enjoy. It is a reminder to say thank you to the giver of all the wonderful gifts we so often take for granted.

"The Giver of all those good gifts in our lives, the Source of our blessings, is God our heavenly Father. Thanksgiving is a holiday that reminds us to thank our God for everything He does for us.

"'Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.'   James 1:17 (NIV)

"While it is good to take time to thank God for food and jobs and family and health, we also need to remember that God’s greatest gift was sending His Son Jesus to pay for our sins. Without Jesus’ death on the cross, we would be entirely cut off from this mighty and holy God. That salvation that Jesus has won for us is a gift that we would never be able to manufacture for ourselves. That is at the top of our list of blessings for which to say 'thank you' to God.

"God’s blessings to us span 365 days a year. We shouldn’t limit our thanks to one day a year. Remember to thank God often, daily, for all His love and blessings He abundantly pours into our lives."

Pastor Donald A. Shirk, Grace Baptist Church:

"What we as a congregation do at Thanksgiving is on the Tuesday evening (last night) before it, we have a special "Count Your Blessings" service. This evening is dedicated to folks sharing personal testimonies on how God has been good to them throughout the year.

"For the believer in Christ, Thanksgiving is not simply an annual event but a way of life. Paul put it this way in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, 'In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus.' To help prompt, I use a PowerPoint slide with ideas that might help our church members in their sharing. Last night was an exceptional service with our people sharing for over an hour on the goodness of God in their lives."

Pastor Roula Alkhouri, First Presbyterian Church:

"Thanksgiving is a great opportunity for us to take the time to remember the bounty of God's Earth. Often times, we take it for granted that our climate is going to be okay and that we will have good conditions to grow food. So, this time is a time of reconnecting with and paying attention to God's creation. We are often negligent of other creatures in the world. We tend to focus on our individual needs for consumption. Thanksgiving is a great time to be mindful of our responsibility to care for the Earth. The gift of life is so precious, yet it is often taken for granted."

Pastor John Hatch, United Pentecostal Church:

"Usually we focus on what we all are thankful for in a special Thanksgiving Eve service through volunteer testimonies (under 5 minutes) by anyone in the congregation who desires to share and give thanks to God for various personal things they feel the Lord has done for them. This year we will also be focusing on Thanksgiving by celebrating communion to thank Jesus for all He has done for us by the price He paid on the cross for our sins; healing by the stripes on His back and the wonderful way He has forgiven us, saved us and worked in our lives."

Here's an open invitation to area pastors and preachers: Post your Easter Sermons on The Batavian.  On Easter Sunday, we'll post sermons submitted by 10 a.m. ish on the home page.

It was a busy night at the Assembly of God church this past Wednesday evening.

Families and friends of the Assembly of God Church and Care-A-Van Ministries got together to celebrate the spirit of Christmas. The spirit of giving was flowing through the air and room. While the Christmas carols rung sweetly through the room and the hot chocolate and goodies warmed the tummies of all, the hands and hearts were busy wrapping Christmas presents. The presents were not for themselves or their families. No, these presents will be delivered to familes that are facing tough times this holiday season.

Through the generosity of church family and community members, there was monetary and gift donations made to Care-A-Van Ministries to help bless many families. In years past, Paul and Bridget would do all of this wrapping by themselves. This year a new tradition was formed. With all of the hands that were available, Santa's work went alot quicker! Can you imagine being Laura and having to do all of this shopping? Bless her heart! Approximately 15 families will be blessed. The Care-A-Van bus will be helping Santa out. The bus will spend 4 nights out on the street during this upcoming week to deliver presents along with the Lord's blessings.  Here are a few photos to share with you:

Our Own Pastor Dan gets in on the action

Emmanuel Baptist Church will host an outdoor concert with vocalist and evangelist George Miller on August 24 at 4:00pm under the church pavilion at 190 Oak St. The concert will be followed by an ice cream social, so "bring a friend and a lawn chair for this old-fashioned hymnfest."

Before the year is out, Batavian Rindy Walton will quit her job as a physical therapist, get rid of almost everything she owns and move with her three young sons to a suburb of Cincinnati with no financial prospects to found an itinerant church and minister to the disenfranchised.

"We're leaving the only place we know," she says, seeming to measure the gravity of the statement. "There's not a doubt."

It was the right decision, she says. She was called to it. It had to happen. Not everyone in her life, however, was able to match her conviction. Her family rejected her. Others have said she is stupid or crazy. They ask her how she could give up everything for... for what?

"It is a leap of faith, absolutely," she says. "I've had a lot of people support this. But I've also had a lot of people criticize."

Rindy talks unflinchingly of her past. She has been through "a lot of brokenness and abuse," she says. "And a lot of other people have been through that. I can use what I've been through to help other people."

Rindy lives in Batavia where she has worked as a physical therapist for BOCES for 21 years and raised three sons, doing it mostly on her own for the past ten years. For a long time, she hid her hurt out of shame, she says. She was like so many others who felt that private pain ought to be kept private.

No longer.

"There are people who say family secrets should remain secret," she says. "But there are too many families struggling. People are suffering and it's not OK to keep things secret. People dont deserve that."

Ministry is Rindy's way of changing that. Paul Peterson, the former pastor of her church, Northgate Free Methodist, is right now in Georgia attending a "church planning registry," explains Rindy.

"He felt the call to start a new church," she says. "We want to reach people who don't attend church, people who just don't feel that they'd fit the mold."

Peterson will pastor the church that the two of them will found in Maineville, Ohio, just north of Cincinnati. Walls Down Church, as it will be known, will be exactly that: they will build up and tear down the church every week in a new venue out in the community, at schools, theaters, generally anywhere with an auditorium, bringing the church to the people, explains Rindy, rather than insisting that the people come to the church.

"That way we can go to the people," she says. "We can go where the need is. Especially for the people who are not attending church, to walk into a strange building is foreign to them. It's going to be a place where you feel comfortable, familiar."

Officially, Rindy will oversee family ministries for the church, which really means that she will work to make the church best suit the needs of its parishioners and do the most for them. She also plans to use her training as a physical therapist to accomodate families and children with special needs.

"From where I was to where I am now — there was someone who was hiding a lot of stuff, a lot of abuse, a lot embarrassment, shame," she says. "Now it's open. What's really cool is that I get to spend the rest of my life helping people who are where I was to get to where I am. That's just so cool."

If you want to donate to the Walls Down Church, send a check to Mountain Lake Church, 3105 Dahlonega Highway, Cumming, GA 30040. Indicate Rindy Walton or Walls Down Church in the Memo line. All donations are tax deductible, and Walls Down will receive 100 percent of the money.