Connection - Corinthian Baptist Church

DECEMBER 2015
IN T HIS ISSUE…
PASTOR W HITFIELD’S CHRISTMAS
MESSAGE
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DON’T MISS “HIDE AND SEEK” –
GOSPEL PLAY COMING IN JANUARY !
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W E NEED YOU ON THE COMMUNICATIONS
MINISTRY

PLUS
KARA PRAISE DANCERS , THE REAL
HISTORY OF W ATCH NIGHT, TAKE THE CHURCH
W EBSITE QUIZ AND WIN AND MORE !
Corinthian
Connection
HELPING MEMBERS OF CORINTHIAN STAY CONNECTED!
Corinthian Baptist Church  Des Moines, IA  Rev. Jonathan B. Whitfield, Pastor
shown to us by coming into the world as a baby, and
for giving us the opportunity to experience God
incarnate with awe and joy.
Dear Corinthians,
This year we celebrate the Christ of Christmas with
our hearts. It is my hope and prayer that we will
focus upon Christ not only in this year’s celebration
but also in the New Year to come. As we gather in
churches throughout this Christmas Season, I
would hope we can humble ourselves enough to
truly worship the Christ Child in the manger scene
and acknowledge him for who He truly is, and not
what the world, or at times even we, in our human
frailty and sin, want Him to be. May we, too, join in
the work of proclamation just as the angels on that
night of celebration, by singing “Joy to the World the
Lord is (has) Come, Let earth receive her King”.
Lady Whitfield joins me in praying that we will have an
experience that is both fresh and new in celebration of
Christ who is not only in the world but in our lives.
Have a Blessed and
Merry Christmas!
From Pastor Jonathan B Whitfield
Congratulations to newly ordained
Deacons, Larry Brown and Robert Parks!
It is so easy to belittle our human dignity, itself a gift
from God, and attach the vices of our world to
somehow being OK with God. Indeed, the ancients
allowed their gods to be representatives of such
vices, in other words to make it OK to forgo true
human dignity and not accepting that God is love.
So I vehemently request that we cling to the
experience of the promise and presence of our Lord
and Savior each and every day remaining in 2015
and throughout the New Year.
All of us who state that we are Christian must kneel
in humble prayer before the Christ Child and
express our thanksgiving for His divine love
December 13, 2015
Corinthian Connection
December 2015
Don’t miss the gospel play, “Hide and Seek”
– coming in January!
The plans have been in the works for nearly five months,
starting with auditions in August and the original gospel
play, written by sister Saundra Bickford, is almost ready for
its debut! You can see this awesome ministry through
drama on Saturday, January 23, 2016 at 6:00 pm right
here at Corinthian. And what a journey it’s been!
Rehearsals for the play have been happening for months,
all to bring you the level of stage expertise you would
expect from the Des Moines Community Playhouse or
even the Civic Center. And it all started in Sister’s
Bickford’s creative mind.
Sis. Saundra Bickford
Sis. Bickford studied
psychology and English at
St. Olaf College in
Northfield, MN. And
although her professional
career took her down the
path of social work, her love
has always been for Christ
and of course, the theatre.
“Hide And Seek” is not her
first play, nor will it be her
last.
She explains what the story
is about: It’s basically about a grandmother who likes to
micro-manage her family of two adult sons. One married
and one wayward. She’s widowed and her deceased
husband was a Pastor. The grandmother is supported by
the Church's Mother's Board who are three lifelong friends
of the grandmother. These ladies are not ashamed to tell
the truth to each other and to anyone else. They are also
not your typical mothers of the church.
In the play, the one son is married and responsible with
the perfect life: a lovely wife, one 8-year old son
(Grandma’s pride and joy), and one child on the way. The
play tells how this Grandmother is preparing for a family
get-together and shows the joys the complexities of
families that we all experience.
Saundra has been writing plays since high-school, She
continued her craft in college and some of her productions,
on a smaller scale, have been produced in Omaha. “I
have a big theater background. One of my majors was in
English and so, I’m a writer of stories. After doing some
plays in college I came back to Omaha doing Community
Theater and had some success with that. Writing is a lifelong love of mine.” She continues, “In any fiction there is a
bit of autobiography. Throughout this play there are
scenes that come from something I’ve seen or
experienced. And at times, I will reveal something to the
cast to explain where,from my life, the scene has come
from.
Saundra wouldn’t label this play a musical, but said that it
is a play with music, great solos, background singers, and
songs from some of your gospel favorites like James
Cleveland and Donnie McClurkin. Saundra and Minister of
music, Barry Jones, our talented musicians, and the entire
New Life choir will be involved. The singing and music will
obviously be amazing, that’s for sure. And here’s an extra
treat – if you come to the Music Department’s Christmas
banquet on December 20th, you’ll see a sneak preview of
the play as some of the cast will perform for you!
The Cast & Crew
Auditions for the play were open to the community, but as
it turns out, the cast and crew are all Corinthian members.
They are:
Stephanie Hall
Austin Lewis
Thomas Braxton
Shaun Coleman
Minnie Gary
Deisha Eaves
Priscilla Davidson
Eulatia Landers
Evonne Monroe
Dance coach: Faith "Alex" Wortherly
Music director: Barry Jones
Stage Manager: Stacie Zirkle
Set Design: Wesley Taul.
Saundra currently is a stay-at-home Mom. She and her
husband, Terry, have four children, two girls and two boys,
all under age 10, which is a full-time job alone! If that
wasn’t enough, she also has her hands full, as one of the
directors of Corinthian children’s choir, God’s Gifted
Voices, as well as director and choreographer for the Kara
Praise team (see article this issue). Plus Saundra sings in
New Life choir.
We are blessed to have Sister Saundra’s wonderful gift in
our church body but she is careful to give credit where
credit is due. She says “This is a phenomenal cast and I
appreciate their talent, dedication, and hard work in
bringing this play to life. I also am grateful for the support
of Corinthian's Praise and Worship Ministry, New Life
Choir, Minister of Music Barry Jones, and Pastor Whitfield
for their support on this project. Everything I do is
dedicated to God almighty and to my (deceased) parents,
because they are the ones who encouraged my craft.”
continued. . .
Corinthian Connection is written, designed, and published by the Communications Ministry under the direction of
Phyllis Butler. Editor is Lori A. Young. Contributors this issue: Lori Young, Bob Webb, Phyllis Butler, Cris Conner,
and Deaconess Dorothy Sheley
Corinthian Connection
December 2015
At a recent rehearsal for “Hide and Seek”
Merry Christmas from the Communications Ministry!
(L – R: Don Butler, Amina Cannie-Hall, Lori Young, Mary Lynne Jones, Phyllis Butler, Marvin Elliston, Barry Jones. Not
pictured Cris Conner, Jonna Johnson, and Bob Webb)
Corinthian Annual Christmas Dinner
Presented by th e
Music D ep a rtment
Sunday, Dec. 20 , 20 1 5
5:0 0 p.m.
Delicious Food,
A ngelic Music and Décor
Corinthian
Connection
The real history of
Watch Night services
Many of you who live or grew up in
Black communities in the United
States have probably heard
of "Watch Night Services," the
gathering of the faithful in churches
on New Year's Eve. But are you
aware of its history?
The service usually begins
anywhere from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
and ends at midnight with the
entrance of the new year.
There is a reason for the
importance of New Year's Eve
services in African American
congregations. The Watch Night
Services in Black communities that
we celebrate today can be traced
back to gatherings across the
South on December 31, 1862,
known at that time as "Freedom's
Eve."
On that night, Blacks came
together in churches and private
homes all across the nation,
anxiously awaiting news that the
Emancipation Proclamation by
President Abraham Lincoln 
Ha-Ha-Ha
What do snowmen eat for
breakfast? A: Snowflakes!
had actually become law.
Then, at the stroke of midnight, it
became January 1, 1863, and all
slaves in the Confederate States
were declared legally free. When the
news was received, there were
prayers, shouts and songs of joy
throughout the South as people fell
to their knees and thanked God.
Ever since, Black folks have
traditionally gathered in churches
annually on New Year's Eve,
praising God for bringing them
safely through another year, but
many do not realize the historic
value.
Many of us were never taught the
African American history of the
Watch Night Service, but tradition
still brings us together at this time
every year to celebrate "how we got
over.
Adapted from:
http://www.examiner.com/article/orig
in-of-watch-night-service

Get added to the church email
list and receive important
Church information quickly.
Just give your email address to
the church secretary,
Deaconess Dorothy Sheley
Thursday, Dec. 31, 2015
10:00 pm to 12:00 am
Music will be provided by New Life Choir
Prayer * Worship * Baptism
The Communication
Ministry needs you!
Corinthian Church is blessed to
have a talented and active
Communications Ministry.
The Communication Ministry
partners with church leadership to
get information to you as quickly
and efficiently as possible. We
also support church leadership
with their writing, design, and
publication needs. Here’s a
sampling of the type of work we
do for God and Corinthian:
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Church website design and
maintenance
Mass email messages
Church Facebook page
Church newsletter
Church marketing materials
(such as visitor brochures,
letterhead, business cards,
flyers)
Special Projects (like Church
pictorial directory, campaigns
(tithing), VBS promotions)
Signage and banners
Photography
Members of the Ministry are:
Phyllis Butler, Director, Lori
Young, Co-Director, Cris Conner,
Amina Hall, Barry Jones, James
Neely, Donald Butler, Dorothy
Sheley, Jonna Johnson, Mary
Lynne Jones, Marvin Elliston, and
Bob Webb.
If your Ministry needs assistance,
don’t hesitate to contact the
Director.
WE NEED YOU
We are always looking for people
who want to be a member of the
Communication Ministry or just
want to work on a specific type of
project. Please send an email by
December 30th to
[email protected] saying you
want to be a part!
We’ll be meeting in January to
plan for our 2016 and we
welcome you!
The Kara Praise Dance Team
Let them praise his name with dancing,
making melody to him with tambourine
and lyre. -Psalm 149 (3)
Sandra Bickford, had a song on her heart that she
wanted interpreted into dance to help emphasize its
meaning. Without any formal background in dance but a
love for theatre learned dance and choreography and in
November, 2009 with the support of Pastor Burton and
Corinthian’s minister of music, Barry Jones, formed the
Kara Praise Dance team.
The name “Kara” was taken from lyrics from a song that
indicated, “shout” and after further research by Sandra
and her team found two meanings in Hebrew, “pure and
bow down” which they found appropriate and decided
to use the name “Kara Praise” for their group.
themselves.
The Kara Praise ministry goes outside the walls of
Corinthian Baptist as well where they have shared their
gifts with other churches, carnivals, birthday parties,
weddings and other special events. They have hosted
the dance group for the church vacation bible school,
where they lend their talents with VBS attendees.
When ask “what would you like our congregation and
surrounding community to know about your group”;
Sandra says that the Kara Praise loves and looks
forward to each opportunity to share their gift and she
was quick to praise the parents and other Corinthian
members who have offered their assistance to the
group. She went on to say that the parents have been
diligent in getting their daughters to rehearsals,
cooperating with hair and costume requirements and
most importantly, supporting their girls at each service.
The Kara Praise comprise of girls ranging in age 8 to
12years old with the love for dance and the wiliness to
rehearse regularly. Sandra says that behavior and
wiliness to learn are key components in remaining a
member of the group. Other criteria is focusing on
learning the routines and displaying social skills that
Sandra says not only facilitate learning but encourage
an atmosphere of praise and support of each member.
The Kara Praise team meets on most Saturdays to work
on their various routines, some of the members say
they sometime get a little nervous performing new
routine in front of the congregation but with practice and
as the newest of the routine wears off they feel more
comfortable.
The songs selected for routines come from various
sources, Sandra, Kara members and even the church
member themselves suggest songs. They try to have a
wide repertoire that will minister to the entire
congregation. Sandra says that she like to see a
spiritual message delivered from each routine, however
she goes further by saying that the dancers will not
dance any song unless every single member is able to
understand the song and commit to individually; they
have to dance the truth.
She says that they spend a great deal of time
discussing the meaning of the lyrics of each piece they
are to perform and there must be a clear understanding
and belief of the message they are delivering.
Sandra says that the girls work with disciplined which
will benefit them in other environments as well. They
have an opportunity to conquer the fear of standing
before an audience; they are ambassadors and are
expected to demonstrate the kind of behavior that
proudly represents Corinthian, their families and
“We dance for laughter, we dance for tears, we
dance for madness, we dance for fears, we dance
for hopes, we dance for screams, we are the
dancers, and we create the dreams.”
Corinthian Connection
December 2015
Take the Church Website Quiz and WIN!
Our newly designed church website has been available for about 4 months now. The website address is
www.corinthianbc.org
If you haven’t been to visit our website in a while, here’s a little incentive – a quiz! The answers to these five questions
can be found in the content on our website.
Directions/Rules - The answers to the questions below can be found only on our website. Just go to the website, write
your answers down on a sheet of paper and turn your answers into the church office by Sunday, January 3, 2016. Be
sure to print your name and phone number on your paper. Entries with all correct answers will be entered into a
drawing for a $25 Hy-Vee gift card! Only one winner will be drawn.
So take a little time to visit our church website and hunt for the answers to these questions. Turn i n your answer
sheet with your name and phone number by 1/3/16 to the church office. Good luck!
1. Name 3 of the 6 ministries of our church.
2. Name the church that Pastor Whitfield was first licensed to preach at and who presided over that service .
3. Is it possible to give your tithes and offering online through our church website? YES or NO?
4. What was the biblical reference for Pastor’s Nov. 17 th Sermon?
5. Name two of the photo galleries available for viewing on our church website.
6. (a) Who preached a sermon entitled “Living in the Flow” on April 23, 2015? And (b) what was the scriptural
reference?
Dr. Cornel West visits Corinthian!