Shiloh Baptist Church

The
Shiloh
December 2012
G lo r if y in g G o d b y … R e a c h in g , B u i ld in g , S e r v in g
THE CHRIST OF CHRISTMAS
Sometimes it seems as though we spend our lives waiting. Daydreaming about an upcoming vacation,
worrying over a medical test, preparing for the birth of a grandchild-our days are filled with anticipation and
anxiety over what the future holds. As Christians, we too spend our lives waiting. But we are waiting for
something much bigger than a trip, bigger even than retirement or a wedding: We are waiting for the return of
Jesus in glory. Advent heightens this sense of waiting, because it marks not only our anticipation of Jesus' final
coming, but also our remembrance of his arrival into our world more than 2,000 years ago.
I hope as you enjoy all of your Christmas festivities that you will join us in worship as we remember all that
God has done for us through the child of Bethlehem and anticipate what our Heavenly Father wants to continue to
do in our lives through the living spirit of the Christ child. As we move through this Advent season, let us affirm
our faith in Jesus our Lord through this Christmas Covenant:
-I believe in Jesus Christ and in the beauty of the gospel begun in Bethlehem.
-I believe in the one whose spirit glorified a little town; and whose spirit still brings music to persons all over the
world, in towns both large and small.
-I believe in the one for whom the crowded inn could find no room, and I confess that my heart still sometimes
wants to exclude Christ from my life today.
-I believe in the one who the rulers of the earth ignored and the proud could never understand; whose life was
among common people, whose welcome came from persons of hungry hearts.
-I believe in the one who looked at persons and made them see what God's love saw in them, who by love brought
sinners back to purity, and lifted human weakness up to meet the strength of God.
-I believe in God who gives us the best of himself. I believe in Jesus, the son of the living God, born in Bethlehem
this night, for me and for the world.
-I confess my ever-lasting need of God: The need of forgiveness for our selfishness and greed, the need of new
life for empty souls, the need of love for hearts grown cold.
Merry Christmas,
Pastor Mike
You’re Invited to A Cookie Exchange!!
DATE: Saturday, December 15, 2011
TIME: 2-4 p.m.
LOCATION: 12456 Ascot Close Drive King George
It is that time again everyone! That’s right it is cookie exchange time. Get out your favorite cookie recipe
or buy your favorite store bought cookies and join us on December 15th from 2-4 pm at the home of Sharon
Band. Bring a small gift (under $10) for a white elephant gift exchange. We will also be collecting cookies
again this year for our homebound members that will be distributed by our men’s ministry members. In addition, this year we will be collecting a donation that will go toward purchasing sewing machines for the ministry
of Wendy Ryan in South Africa. Wendy was one of the missionaries that we skyped with during VBS this year.
Wendy helps women diagnosed with HIV earn a living to provide for their family by learning to sew. Can’t
wait to see you there! Call Sharon Band at 540-775-2456 if you have any questions or need more information.
70TH Anniversary of the sinking of USS
JUNEAU (CL 52), our Shiloh
connection
by Cindy Miller
On November 11, we recognized our veterans
during worship service, reflected on their service to
our country, sang the patriot songs, and went away
feeling grateful to them for preserving our freedoms.
The day before, a special edition of the USS THE
SULLIVANS (DD 537/DDG 68) Association newsletter arrived in my mailbox, and I just wanted to
share this story.
On Nov. 13, 1942, USS JUNEAU (CL 52) was
sunk by a Japanese submarine in the naval Battle of
Guadalcanal during World War II. That special edition newsletter paid tribute to the 687 officers and
crew of JUNEAU who lost their lives, including the
“Five Sullivan brothers-- George, Francis, Joseph,
Madison, and Albert--from Waterloo, Iowa, and the
10 men who survived.
The next Navy ship built was to be named after
the Sullivan brothers, as directed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Less than a year after JUNEAU’s
sinking, USS THE SULLIVANS (DD 537) was commissioned and saw service in both World War II and
the Korean War. It was decommissioned in 1965; my
husband, Luke Miller, was the ship’s last weapons
officer.
The second ship bearing the brothers’ name, USS
THE SULLIVANS (DDG 68), was commissioned by
Kelly Sullivan Loughren, granddaughter of Albert,
the youngest of the Sullivan brothers, in 1997 in Staten Island, New York. The commissioning ceremony
included not only the officers and crew of THE SULLIVANS but also personnel who developed the Aegis
Weapon System and associated computer programs
for this ship and the Dahlgren personnel who to this
day install and maintain the programs. Some Navy
personnel and civilians in our congregation perform
many aspects of these duties every day.
Rob Dean was one of the Sailors at the commissioning that day who, with the entire crew, rapidly
boarded the ship, following the orders of ship sponsor
Kelly Sullivan Loughren: “Man our ship and bring
her to life.” Luke participated, too. As last officer of
the deck on the first USS THE SULLIVANS, he
passed the long glass to the first officer of the deck of
the new ship.
2
Lester Zook, a JUNEAU survivor, was among
the prominent guests at that commissioning ceremony. His presence showed the spirit of camaraderie that spanned three generations of ships and Sailors. He died in 1998 on the anniversary of the JUNEAU disaster.
The motto “We Stick Together” was taken from
the Sullivan brothers and handed down from the
first ship to the second.
As those five Sullivan brothers cherished each
other, the men and women of the U.S. Navy treasure the bonds they’ve made with passing shipmates, such as Lester Zook…such as those in our
congregation.
Eternal Father, Strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bid'st the mighty Ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
O hear us when we cry to thee,
for those in peril on the sea.
Fire Controlman 1st Class Robert Dean
(SW), shown here at Shiloh’s 2012 Memorial Day
services, served in the U.S. Navy from 1991 to
2001. He commissioned two Aegis Destroyers:
USS JOHN S. MCCAIN (DDG 56), with whom he
served from 1993-1996, and USS THE SULLIVANS (DDG 68), serving aboard her from 19961999. He was also an Aegis instructor at the Aegis
Training and Readiness Center, NSWC Dahlgren
Division, from 1999 to 2001.
By: Angela Clatterbuck
Sparks is for grades kindergarten through 2nd.
This is a wonderful age to learn about Christ’s love
for us. Sparks are distinguished in their uniform by a
red vest. They will use this vest all 3 years and
attach patches and jewels as they accomplish their
books. This age group will read biographies on
people from the Bible, memorize scriptures, learn the
books of the Bible and complete some fun activities.
If they complete all three books they will have
explored the whole Bible. We have several
wonderful adults who work with this group each
week. Again, it is not too late to join the Awana
program. If you or someone
you know is interested in
checking us out, come by any
Sunday from 4 to 5:30 – we’d love to see you!
Also this month we are preparing for our Awana
Christmas store! As the kids memorize scriptures
they earn “Awana bucks”. They can use these
Awana bucks at the Christmas store to buy presents
for siblings, Dad, or Mom. We are asking the church
to donate small items that would make nice gifts for
the kids to purchase. Please see Jim Jensen, Angela
Clatterbuck, or Cathy Lyon if you have questions or
need ideas!
Finally, this Month the Trek kids (middle school
age) joined the regular youth for Sunday nights. Trek
kids that are still interested in continuing to
memorize verses should arrive at 3:45 to have those
verses signed off by a leader. We praise God for Jim
Reger’s calling to the Minister of Youth at Shiloh
and look forward to working with him to enhance the
middle school youth experience!
By: Diana Moore
Christmas is coming soon! Books and videos are
now on display in the library and on the shelves by
the choir room. There is something for every age.
Keep your children reading over the holidays. They
can then share what they learn about the reason we
celebrate the season – Christ’s birth. The lovely
Christmas scene miniature by Henrietta and Ed
Hastings is lit up in the library. Be sure to drop by to
admire their talents. Dana Jensen donated “Junie B.
Jones and that Meanie Jim’s Birthday” by Barbara
Park. The Reger family donated a big bag of books
and toys. Richard and Suzanne Headley brought in
three big bags of books. There are also two
inspirational books for teens: “Chicken Soup for the
Teenage Soul II” and “Taste Berries for Teens #3”.
Thank you to all of these donors.
Thank you all so much for donating so many
coats! We were able to send about 95 warm winter
coats to the people at the Standing Rock Indian
Reservation! I was so excited to be a part of this
ministry opportunity and I am thankful for the
support that you all gave me. My aunt even sent
coats from Japan to be donated! When the ladies
went to Eagle Eyrie to drop them off to be shipped,
they doubled the amount there that day. Again, thank
you for helping me to bless others with the donation.
Jordan Lyon
Upcoming Events
Dec. 8
Dec. 9
Dec. 11
Dec. 15
Dec. 18
Dec. 19
Dec. 21
Dec. 24
Dec. 26
Jan. 4
7:00 pm Christmas Concert
7:00 pm Children’s Christmas Prog
10:00 am Bible Study in FLC
2:00 pm Cookie Exchange
1:00 pm Feed the Needy
No Services
6:00 pm Christmas Caroling
5:30 pm Christmas Eve Service
No Services
4:00 pm Awana resumes
Coat collection site at Eagle Eyrie.
5
Women’s Getaway
The first weekend in November a group of eight
women from Shiloh Baptist attended the annual
Women’s Retreat at Eagle Eyrie Baptist Convention
Center in Lynchburg, VA. We had a wonderful time
of Bible study, fellowship and wonderful food! There
were amazing worship services and insightful breakout
sessions where we had the opportunity to learn about
subjects ranging from children’s ministry and mission
opportunities, to making key chains out of handmade
Ugandan beads, to the human trafficking trade. Our
keynote speaker was Kathi Macias who spoke on how
to live “Beyond Me”, or outside your own comfortable
boundaries by surrendering to God’s will for our lives.
We were able to deliver almost 95 coats to be
distributed to the Standing Rock Reservation, collected
by our own Jordan Lyon. We are incredibly proud of
all of her hard work and the amazing response of our
church congregation!
Erin and William Brown, missionaries from Israel,
were also at the conference. If you were a part of the
VBS this summer you may remember that they
participated in the skyping sessions. We were able to
hear a first- hand account of their experiences and even
got a picture with them. They were very impressed
with the idea of skyping as part of VBS and plan to
spread the word to other VBS groups that they work
with!
As always we came back exhausted but energized
and with strengthened existing friendships and new
friendships started. I would encourage anyone who
could not go this year to mark your calendars for the
first weekend in November for next year!
Missionaries from Israel, William & Erin Brown,
with our Shiloh ladies.
Music News
by Barbara Perry
Music Minister
What a blessing to be a part of such a wonderful
church and music program!! We are super busy in the
music department gearing up for Christmas. The
children and adults are all working hard to prepare for
the Christmas concert on December 8 and for the
Christmas Services.
We are also planning on some special practices for
the Children for the last of November and beginning of
December. Please check the church calendar for those
dates. I plan to start using our new Orff Instruments!!!
We hope to see you all there!
Operation Christmas Child
(OCC)
Shoebox Update
Thanks so much to everyone who
supported this year’s shoebox collection. Shiloh
collected a total of 161 shoe boxes to bless children in
one or more countries around the world. Along with
Shiloh members and visitors, a Girl Scout troop, the
Classical Conversations home school group and even
some Dahlgren Aegis
Training and
Readiness Center
employees
contributed to this
year’s
collection. Without
the donation of filled
shoe boxes, items to
fill shoe boxes and
money for postage,
our Operation
Christmas Child
support would not
have been
possible. Each shoe
box will be delivered
with “The Greatest
Journey” booklet which introduces a child to Jesus and
how He loves them – a simple but effective way to
meet needs and reach children for Christ. Thank you
again for your tremendous support!
Teresa & Rachel Tubbs
3
Children’s Ministry News
by Ray Tubbs, Jr.
Children’s Minister
Birthdays
15 Steve Davis
1
Daniel Williams
18 Jason Norris
3
Jacob Schouweiler
19 John Owens
4
Betsy Altman
Lynne Mitchell
Mildred Thorne
20 Lorrie Gump
5
Kenneth Lee
26 Elizabeth Lee
6
Robert Burge
Weston Rouse
Chad Taylor
28 Lee Bulger
Jim Jensen
Faye Lumpkin
8
Richard Mason
29 Stephen Ballard
9
Travis Chewning
30 Brenda Hastings
Tom McGinniss III
Joshua Parker
.
It’s hard to believe that Christmas is almost
here. It just seems like yesterday we were in the
middle of VBS. I would like to thank all of you
that have volunteered for 2nd hour and Wednesday
nights and helped out with the various events for
the children. I am so very thankful for each of
you. We do have a few things coming up. The
Children’s Christmas program is set for December
9th. I just looked on the calendar and noticed that
Christmas is on the 25th this year, so don’t forget
that. On January 19th we are planning on roller
skating again from 10 – 12. In February we are
planning something a little different. The Children’s Council and myself are having a Bible Adventure. The children will follow the life of Moses,
unlocking clues, following maps, interacting with
Bible characters. This is something that the Children’s Council and myself are writing from scratch.
A lot more info will follow in the next newsletter.
Have a wonderful Christmas.
10 Jack Gouldman
Richard Minter
Hazel Jones
Seth Parker
Agnes Oakey
11 Sam Jensen
13 Jeremy Jones
14 Rick Wilks
24 Paul McDonald
31 Caleb Parker
Anniversaries
10 Frank and Linda Moore
16 Charles and Agnes Oakey
18 Richard and Jane Mason
Shiloh Baptist Church
13457 Kings Hwy
King George, VA 22485
Rev. Michael Jessee, Pastor
Barbara Perry, Music Minister
Ray Tubbs, Jr., Children’s Minister
James Reger, Youth Minister
(540) 469-4646
www.kgshiloh.org
The Shiloh Visitor is published
monthly as an official
communications medium for
Shiloh Baptist Church. The
deadline for submission is the 15th
of each month. Address all
comments and submissions to:
Sherri Hall, Editor,
The Shiloh Visitor
Shiloh Baptist Church
13457 Kings Highway
King George, VA 22485-3015
telephone (540) 469-4646
fax (540) 469-4500
or email [email protected]
Forwarding Order Requested