PCBA and Evergreen Baptist Association

For the past twelve months, PCBA and the Evergreen Baptist Association have been engaged in an ongoing dialogue about a closer relationship between Evergreen, PCBA, and the churches we serve. We reported on the beginning of this dialogue in our last NewsBrief.

A member of the Euro Caucus of Evergreen (Bob Sittig) met with some of our Board members in May and attended our Spring Conference. A dinner meeting of PCBA and Evergreen people was held at the Pasadena Biennial. Marcia Patton, Evergreen’s Executive Minister, met with our PCBA Board in September.

In the course of our dialogue, we wrote: “Simply, what we are seeking is a commitment from the Evergreen Baptist Association to support and facilitate more formally our Association‘s mission and activities among California churches, understanding that would have financial and staffing implications.”

For the best of reasons, PCBA’s income has seen a recent decrease as some of its member churches have found a rewarding Regional home and life as members of the Evergreen Association. (In 2008, PCBA churches that are also Evergreen churches gave $15,000 to United Mission Giving, and a total of $25,000 to American Baptist Mission Support through Evergreen.)

In an 8 point memorandum, Evergreen has agreed to “provide support for the common life of Churches in California” that will enable us to continue our mission and ministry. A copy of that memorandum will be sent to all our churches and is included separately with this NewsBrief.

Our PCBA Board has affirmed this agreement at its October meeting. Our Association will continue its life among California churches. Program events like BLT and our Spring Conference will continue. We expect to continue various mission activities as well, such as the Philippine book project, participation in the Shoreline Stroll, and support of ABSW. As we make this change, Paul Hardwick, our Association Minister for the last seven years will retire again, and Marcia Patton, Evergreen’s Executive Minister, will assume our staffing needs.

BLT

Arrangements for Baptists Lunching Together gatherings for the rest of the year have been completed:

• Wednesday, November 4, 12:00 noon, at Grand Lake Gardens, 401 Santa Clara Avenue in Oakland. Cost: $ 8.00. Speaker: Dr. Everett Curry, Director of Development at ABSW. For a lunch reservation, please e-mail rdevbriandixon@ , or call him at 415 812-0931 (and leave a message) by Monday, November 2.
• Saturday, December 5 at 3:00 p.m. at Oakland First Baptist Church, 534 22nd Street. We will join the church in celebrating their annual Candles and Carols service in the OFBC sanctuary. This will be the last year that OFBC has this service in their sanctuary and we rejoice in the opportunity to share it with them. (Each of our churches will receive a separate e-mail with more details.)

Shoreline Stroll

Final figures are not yet available, but a number of our churches participated in the Seafarers Shoreline Stroll in September and shared in the picnic lunch that followed.

The Seafarers have their Annual Swedish Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, December 5.

Missional Church Orientation

The Grace Baptist Church in San Jose has rescheduled its Missional Church Orientation for Saturday, December 5, 9:00 am – 2:30 pm. The Rev. Glynis LaBarre from National Ministries will be the workshop leader. For more information, please contact Dennis Glover, Grace Baptist Moderator at dennis.glover@.

Baptist Anniversary

As Baptists celebrate our 400th anniversary of this year, Roy Medley asked a variety of Baptist voices to share their reflections on this milestone. The following is from Johnny Pierce, editor of Baptists Today.

“Baltimore, in the racially charged and challenging days of the early ‘60s, is the setting for the musical Hairspray. In the 2007 movie version, Nikki Blonsky plays the main character, Tracy Turnblad – a chubby young white girl with good dance moves and a strong social conscience.

“She is expressing her idealism about racial equality and interaction when African-American actress Queen Latifah’s character, Motormouth Maybelle, responds: `Have you been dozing off during history?’

“It is a question that has frequent application. We often encounter words or actions that suggest a need to look backward before moving ahead.”

News and Notes

• The Rev. Wes Shipp has concluded his interim Ministry at the New Community of Faith in San Jose and returned to Georgia. The Rev. LeAnn Gunter Johns has begun an interim ministry there.
• The Rev. Wally Bryen concludes his interim ministry at Grace Baptist in San Jose on the last Sunday in October.
• The First Baptist Church in Berkeley installed their pastoral ministry team of the Rev. Nancy Hall, Sharon Allen, and the Rev. Judy Huston on Sunday, October 18.
• The American Baptist Seminary of the West formally installed the Rev. Dr. Paul Martin as its 21st President on October 2.
• The Revs. Greg Ledbetter, Wally Bryen, Rick Mixon, Sarah Halvorson, and Ted Sandberg, pastors of all our PCBA and Evergreen churches, along with Nancy Hall from the Berkeley church, attended the Evergreen Annual Meeting in October. Several lay members also participated.
• The United Church in Moscow, Idaho unanimously invited Jodie Tooley, a 2007 ABSW graduate, attender and provider of part-time ministry at Shell Ridge Community Church, to be their pastor. She began on October 18.
• The Allen Temple Baptist Church celebrated its 90th anniversary in October. The Rev. J. Alfred Smith, Jr. is the Senior Minister.
• “FBC Palo Alto welcomes to its ministry team the Rev. Oleta Proctor as part time Church Administrator and the Rev. Linda Pickens-Jones as part time Director of Educational Ministries and Family Life.” The Rev. Rick Mixon is pastor.

Gifts and Contributions

Our Association is grateful for the many gifts from churches and individuals over the years. We anticipate that our gifts from churches will continue to be reduced as they are re-directed to the Evergreen Association of American Baptist Churches.

Because our Association will continue to have some expenses as we continue our life together, we will continue to be grateful for gifts that are made by individuals, especially as 2009 draws to a close. More than ever, our individual gifts will be appreciated.

Individual gifts may be sent to our Association office at Shell Ridge. Many thanks!