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“We’ve Come This Far By Faith”
FRIENDSHIP BAPTIST CHURCH—BAYONNE, NEW NERSEY
MAY 2016
Deacon Craig Thomas
Editor-In-Chief
Bro. Roger Wilson
Copy Editor
Deaconess Ramona
Brown
The
Friendship
Times
Photography
Contributors
Sis. Vernette Hughes
Sis. Lisa R. Brown
Deaconess Lynda Bryant
Sis. Veronica Brown
Prof. Sidney Hagans
Sis. Margaret Wise
Deaconess Gwen Wise
Email Us:
[email protected]
Visit Us:
www.fbcbayonne.org
Inside this issue:
91 Years of
Friendship
1-2
Member Highlight
2
3
Words of Wilson
Did You
Know???
3
Impact of
Breakfast Club
4
NINETY ONE YEARS OF FRIENDSHIP
By: Sis. Vernette Hughes
The 91st anniversary
celebration at FBC began as usual; as any
Sunday morning with
devotional. As we proceeded into our morning worship I began to
think about our church
and what these last 91
years mean and have
meant to me, the
founding families, the
new families and the
community. Upon entering the sanctuary,
above the doors is a
sign reading “We’ve
Come This Far By
Faith”. This statement
sums up the past 91
years and the future of
FBC. Service was called
to order with the entrance of the choir,
singing “Walking Up
The King’s Highway”
which seemed appropriate to the beginning of
FBC as a thought to
our founding fathers
when God planted in
their minds to begin a
church in the City of
Bayonne by walking
God’s highway to a
place where God knew
there was a need; A
place that would “Lift
Him Up” which was
the next hymn that the
choir sang. Thoughts
went thru my mind of
91 years ago and what
these founding fathers
thought. God planted
this seed in their minds
and hearts and thru
these 91 years this seed
has been watered by the
grace, mercy of God, it
has gone thru many
storms, thru many dif-
(continues on p. 2)
ferent buildings and
possibly our founding
fathers may have
thought about giving
up at some time or another but they didn’t,
not because of their
own strength but because of the strength
and determination that
God implanted in
them. The next hymn
spoke about “He May
Not Come When You
Want Him But He’s
Always Right On time
– Just Wait”, which
probably is what our
founding fathers depended on when times
were not going the way
they expected and their
belief and faith in God
kept them going up
that highway. They depended on their faith
in God and that is all
91 Years of Friendship
Page 2
we have to depend on,
they depended on faith
when they started to worship at 92 West 20th St.,
they depended on faith
when they moved to 22-24
West 20th St., they depended on faith when it was decided to buy, renovate and
move to 41-45 West 20th
St., and yet that faith in
God has never failed us.
We have had some ups
and downs on that highway but “There is Power In
The Name of Jesus – He
Will Break Every Chain”.
Ephesians 3:14-19 was the
basis of the sermon on this
91st Anniversary and it
speaks about being established in the love of God.
Verse 17 says that we are
rooted in God, he is our
nourishment which sustains us. He has sustained
us for 91 years and with
the faith of FBC, his
church will be here another 91 years. God gives us
his love and said he will
never leave us or forsake
us, and we have to not only know this but believe
this in our very souls.
I looked around at some
of the founding fathers’
families that are still coming thru these doors every
Sunday, every anniversary,
families that never thought
of not being at FBC; families that when you greet
them and start a conversation about the church will
instantly, freely and happi-
ly tell you about their love
for FBC and how it “used
to be” back in the day;
about Deacon Nelson and
his ushers; about Mrs.
Warren Ms. Mary Curtis
and their discipline of the
children in the church and
all the others that have
gone on to see the Father.
I see the new families that
have come thru our doors,
the doors that state “We’ve
Come This Far By Faith”.
It makes my heart smile
when I see that sign, for I
know what it means to me
and I can imagine what it
means to others who pass
thru that door, whether
they notice that sign or
not, they literally have
come by faith.
Friendship Member Highlight
Deaconess LaToya Thomas is the proud wife of Deacon Craig Thomas. She is a
native of Jersey City and has been a resident of Bayonne for the past 16 years.
She is always willing to lend a helping hand and has been extremely helpful in
the kitchen as part of the Sunday Morning Breakfast Club. In addition to being a Church Nurse, Deaconess Thomas is also a Certified Hemodialysis Technician and is the President of J.F. Thomas Candle Company; a scented soy wax
candle company operated by Deacon and Deaconess Thomas.
Page 3
“…AND WE KNOW ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO THEM THAT LOVE
GOD, TO THEM WHO ARE CALLED ACCORDING TO HIS PURPOSE.
ROMANS 8:28
Did You Know ?
Bayonne is the birthplace of several inter-
Church has been the
house of worship for
many notable people
and their families in-
nationally known people. Some major celeb- cluding: (1) Walker Lee
rities like Bruce Willis Ashley and (2) Danan
and the late Sandra
Dee; pro athletes, Joe
Hughes former NFL
Pros and (3) Kenny
Borowski and Shaquille Britt current receiver
O'Neal and politician for the NFL Tennessee
Barney Frank to name
Titians as well as singer
a few. Over the years,
(4) Herb Lane of the
70s R&B group GQ.
Friendship Baptist
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Sunday Morning Breakfast Making Impact - By: Sis. Lisa R. Brown
Friendship Baptist Church
has always reached out to the
surrounding communities in
varies ways throughout the
years. Recently, our Sunday’s
Outreach Breakfast, sponsored by the Friendship
Men’s Fellowship, has made an impact on
Bayonne’s most needy people which will certainly keep our kitchen doors open. Did you
know, Homelessness in the USA is an area
of concern for social service providers, government officials, policy professionals, and
society at large. A 2000 study estimated the
number of homeless people is between 2.3
million and 3.5 million. Strangely enough,
according to Amnesty International USA,
vacant houses outnumber homeless people
friends and family. In cities across the country, many neighbors are becoming more and
more re-development an “gentrified”. Gentrification is always a good thing; however it
shouts that low-income neighborhoods are
declared blighted and need a financial make
-over. And what does one city do to make
this happen …well by making way for highrise “luxury” housing, bring in high-end
stores all these factors generate higher property taxes and other revenues. Therefore,
this creates a shortage of housing affordable
to low-income working families, the elderly
poor, and the disabled. Recently, there has
been an influx of needy women attending
our Sunday’s outreach breakfast and many
of them are in need of women toiletries.
Therefore, please visit The Pink Box located
by five times. We can only image the many
factors on why people are homeless. Of
course, no-one is perfect, and everyone’s
background varies. With potential employers doing background checks for hiring, employment for work can be difficult to find or
hold down for someone who may have done
prison time, history of alcohol, drug abuse
or dealing with a mental illness. Then, factor in past housing crisis that resulted in
high-record home foreclosures; and plus today’s higher rents which caused evictions
from rented property. Finally, for many of
the homeless is the lack of support from
on the 1st level of the church to place your
contribution for women toiletries. Your
kindness and generosity to help out are
greatly appreciated, and will make a difference in the lives of these men and women.
(COMING SOON)