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Paul's Perspective
Dear Winter Park Family, As I write this edition of “Paul’s Perspective,” I identify with Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. You may recall that on Easter Sunday, we put ourselves in the Easter shoes of these three women. In the Gospel of Mark, it is these three women who bring spices to anoint Jesus after Joseph of Arimathea had laid him in a tomb and after the Sabbath was complete. You may also recall that on Easter Sunday, we spent significant time considering the unusual ending of Mark’s gospel. Mark 16:8 says about the women, “They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” The women are filled with fear and excitement all at once over the news from the young man, in a white robe, that Jesus is not in the tomb because He has risen. This is how I feel – excited and trembling – over important conversations that are around the corner in the life of our church. The following two topics are on the horizon: 1) Baptism and 2) Sunday morning worship structure. Allow me to offer a few words about each. We will vote on a motion, in our next business meeting on May 5, from the constitution and bylaws committee to expand our baptismal policy to accept people into our church membership who come to us from Christian denominations who administer baptism differently than we Baptists. If this motion passes, such persons will no longer be required to be rebaptized unless they desire rebaptism. Of course, we will continue to practice baptism as we always have – believers’ baptism by immersion. When persons come to us requesting baptism for the first time, they will be dunked! For persons seeking membership with Winter Park Baptist Church, who come to us from another Christian denomination, all that will be required for membership is their profession of faith in Jesus the Christ and the earlier baptism from whichever Christian tradition they emerge – Methodist, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Catholic, Disciples of Christ, etc. This Wednesday, April 10 at 6pm in our church fellowship hall, we will discuss baptism and this motion further. If you are interested in this discussion, please do all you can to be present. As you are likely aware, Chris Gambill will preach in both morning services this Sunday (April 14, 2024). And then, after a churchwide lunch that will begin around noon, Chris will lead us in an afternoon session that will begin at the conclusion of lunch and wrap up around 2pm. If you plan to eat lunch with us, please do sign up here , if you have not already. Or you can call the church office to sign up for lunch. Children will eat lunch with their families and then childcare will be provided during Chris’ afternoon presentation. Chris will speak with us about the impact of cultural shifts in American society on the church under the titles, “New Wineskins for New Wine” and “New Wineskins for the Post-pandemic Church.” After Chris’ time with us we will then engage in three congregational conversations about our Sunday morning worship structure. These conversations will be led by our church moderator, Steve Yandle, and these conversations will take place on the following days and at the following times: Sunday, April 21 at 10am in the community center (children and youth will meet as usual for Sunday School). Tuesday, April 23 at Noon in the church fellowship hall – bring your own lunch or sign up for lunch when the link becomes available later or just come. Wednesday, April 24 at 6pm – immediately following the churchwide meal which begins at 5pm. If you would like to eat at 5pm, sign up when the link becomes available later. Otherwise, just come at 6pm for the discussion. So, here we go – ready or not! I am ready, though. While not as big as Jesus’ resurrection, these two topics are, I believe, of central importance to our church’s future success and vitality. When such occasions arise, it is appropriate to walk with a degree of trembling in one hand and much excitement in the other. In Christ, Paul
Dear Winter Park Family, This weekend looks to be a big weekend in the life of our church. We have plentiful and significant activities scheduled. On Saturday, March 9, 2024, we will hold a missions’ fair in the community center from 11am-2pm. There will be outside organizations that we partner with present such as Vigilant Hope, The Harrelson Center, Winter Park Elementary School, and Christian Women’s Job Corps. Most of us have an outreach organization or two that we hold in especially high esteem. For me, Christian Women’s Job Corps is one such outreach organization. Christian Women’s Job Corps assist women who are trapped in poverty with a hand up, not a hand out. There also exists Christian Men’s Job Corps. Did you know there are six Christian Women Job Corps sites in North Carolina and one of them meets in our building each Monday night? In addition to the groups mentioned in the above paragraph, I am thrilled to announce that not only will Marc and Kim Wyatt and Lydia Tatum be present with us on Saturday for the missions’ fair; they will also speak to us during both morning worship services on Sunday (March 10, 2024). Marc and Kim are well-known throughout Cooperative Baptist Fellowship life. For years now, they have served as Cooperative Baptist Fellowship field personnel in the Research Triangle of North Carolina. Previously they served as CBF field personnel in Thailand and Canada. The emphasis of their service is housing hospitality – assisting people and families in need of housing. In October 2015, Marc and Kim established Welcome House Raleigh. Welcome House Raleigh serves as temporary living quarters for refugees who do not have a place to stay upon their arrival to the area. Today, Welcome House Raleigh is a partnership between the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina, refugee agencies, partner churches, and individuals. Earlier this year, CBFNC hired Lydia Tatum as Welcome Network Director. As noted above, she will be with us this weekend along with Marc and Kim. Marc, Kim, and Lydia will educate us concerning their work with housing hospitality towards their neighbors. Of course, deep reflection upon their ministry is timely for us as our congregation is much concerned about how to best use the three houses we own to the glory of God. On Sunday, in addition to Marc, Kim, and Lydia, we will also have the Gardner-Webb University Concert Choir with us during the 11am worship service. Winter Park Baptist Church is a part of their spring break travel tour. No doubt, we have more Camels than we do Bulldogs in our congregation. However, I know of at least two Gardner-Webb graduates! Please do all you can to be here for the worship of God and to support the Gardner-Webb University concert choir. Perhaps some from the 8:30am worship service might consider staying for the entirety of the 11am worship service as well. I so look forward to our big weekend together! In Christ, Paul
Dear Winter Park Family, In my January “Paul’s Perspective”, I asked if you would like to have a conversation about our Sunday morning worship structure which has been in place for 28 years now. I asked if you would like to have this conversation because inquiries were made during Advent. Families that regularly participate in the 8:30am worship service and families that regularly participate in the 11am worship service pulled me aside and whispered in my ear. With the awareness that this would be a big change in the life of our church, these families found it so satisfying when our congregation worshipped together in one blended service that they thought a change, of some sort, is worthy of a conversation. At this point, I did not know how widespread this sentiment was or was not. So, last month, I held my breath and asked! As you might expect, with an issue as sensitive as this, there was some negative response. However, I discovered the great majority of our people are open to a conversation. Even so, the decision to move forward or not was put before our church council. And the church council decided, in January, indeed, to move forward with the conversation. Now, because of the church council discussion as well as staff discussions, the decision has been made to broaden the conversation to provide more context and thus make our conversation more informed. First, we want to discuss worship itself. What exactly is worship? How can we deepen the worship experience for those who participate in the life of our church – both members and visitors? What is the purpose of music in worship? How should we engage with the public reading of Scripture? Is our worship more active or spectator? Are we enthusiastic about inviting people to worship? These and other questions will be considered. As a part of our worship discussion, we also want to become familiar with the changes in American culture over the last 30 years or so that have greatly impacted church life. Why is it that Winter Park Baptist Church, as with many other churches, is significantly smaller than it was just 10 or 15 years ago? Of course, we can point to difficulties unique to our church. However, there have been changes in American society, not unique to Winter Park Baptist, that have led many people to stop participating in a local congregation at all, and many others who do participate in a church, to do so with considerably less regularity. Chick-fil-A’s practice of closing on Sundays used to be a common occurrence among businesses. Now it sticks out like a sore thumb. What’s happened here? Why? What should our church do to be more effective in the current increasingly secular climate? What does healthy church growth look like in our day and time? What is best for Winter Park Baptist Church and what is best for the wider community we serve? To help facilitate this discussion, of worship more broadly, we ask the following of Winter Park Baptist Church. First, please pray! Let’s make the Lenten season which begins on Ash Wednesday – February 14 – a season of prayer for this upcoming discussion about worship. Soon, you will receive a prayer guide for Lent as well as a handful of brief articles that are relevant to our forthcoming discussions about worship. We are hopeful that this season of prayer and reading will enable us to carry out our conversations about worship with a spirit of Christian kindness (Ephesians 4:32). On Sunday, April 14, Chris Gambill – an expert on the church in American society – will be with us. Chris serves as the director of the Center for Congregational Health in Winston-Salem, NC. He will lead Sunday morning worship and then, after a church-wide lunch, Chris will further instruct us in an afternoon gathering. Please do pray for Chris’ time with us. Finally, after a season of prayer/reading, and after our time with Chris Gambill, we will then have small group discussions concerning worship. This is a general guideline. More details and specifics such as the prayer guide are forthcoming. Our goal here is not to defend our personal likes and dislikes. In fact, let’s work towards the elimination of “I like” or “I don’t like” in our language about worship. Rather, the goal is to hear God speak. Whether we make any changes to our Sunday morning worship structure or not, I am confident God will speak to us through this process in such a way as to deepen our worship experience as Winter Park Baptist Church. And I am confident we will be better prepared to be the church of 2024 in Wilmington and beyond. This sounds like a win-win for those of us who make up Winter Park Baptist Church! In Christ, Paul
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