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Pastor’s Notes Mark Elkins

As summer vacations begin to wind down

and the school year begins to wind up, it is

time for us to once again turn our prayers

to whom God desires to be our next

Deacons. There are new members and

guests since our last Election, so I thought it

would be helpful to review our process and

seek God’s guidance in this very important

endeavor.

As we saw in our recent sermon series, we

have a very biblical and God-honoring

Leadership Structure here at Grace. At its

founding, we decided to combine the

roles of Elder and Deacon into one office,

that of Deacon. Each Deacon serves a 4

year term on the Leadership Team with the

Pastor. This year, Lee Bryant finishes his

term and rolls off of our Leadership Team.

Our Bylaws divide the Deacon Election

process into 3 phases:

The Nomination Phase runs through the

entire month of August and it allows

members to prayerfully discern whom

they believe God is calling into this

important leadership position. A Deacon

nominee must be at least 18 years old,

have been a member of Grace for at

least one (1) year, and meet the

following standards:

A Deacon must live above

reproach, meeting the biblical

standards as laid out in

1Timothy 3:1-13 & Titus 1:5-9.

A Deacon must be committed

to some level of ongoing service

within the church.

A Deacon must be a regular

attendee of weekly church

services.

A Deacon must be regularly

involved in an ongoing church

sponsored study of the Bible.

The Qualification Phase begins in

September. It allows each

interested nominee to meet with

the Pastor and Chairman of

Deacons to discuss the Biblical

Qualifications and the Practical

Responsibilities of a Deacon at

Grace Baptist, as well as the Basic

Biblical Doctrines of our church.

The Voting Phase begins by

distributing a secret ballot of all

qualified nominees to every

member of Grace Baptist Church.

There will be a 3 week time period

for all ballots to be returned to the

church, at which time they will be

tabulated and the results reported

to the church.

I encourage everyone to read your

Bibles and prayerfully discern whom

God is calling to lead our wonderful

family here at Grace.

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER | GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH | AUGUST 2017

Upcoming

Events

Aug 1st

Deacon Nomination

Phase Begins

Aug 13th

Baptism Service &

Promotion Sunday

Aug 18th

Virginia Peach Festival

Aug 22nd

1st MOPS Meeting at

GBC

Sept 6th

Wednesday Night

Activities Resume Fellowship Meal

AWANA &

AWANA MAMAS

Isaiah’s Bells

Bible Study

Choir Practice

AWANA Kick-Off

& Ice Cream Social

Grace Notes

Nursery Schedule

Aug 06 – Nancy Howell & Candi Hylton

Aug 13 – Chris Howell & Peyton Elkins

Aug 20 – Paula Reynolds & _____________

Aug 27 – Brenda & Leon Vaughn

Children’s Church

Aug 06 – Maynee Meadows & Mandy Worley

Aug 13 – Diane Ross & Jane Bryant

Aug 20 – Wendy Buchanan & Grayson Howell

Aug 27 – Casey Elkins & Dawn Gregory

Prayer Deacons

August 06 – Chuck Buchanan

August 13 – David Byrd

August 20 – Greg Carlson

August 27 – Dick East

Start spreading the news! Our

AWANA ministry starts up a brand

new year very, very soon, and we

are super excited here at GBC!

Tell your friends all about it and

join us on Wednesday,

September 6th at 6pm for a

special AWANA Kick-Off and

Ice Cream Social.

New and returning AWANA

“clubbers” will meet their AWANA

leaders and get a chance to see

what the new year will be like. At the

end of the night, we will celebrate in

the Fellowship Hall with… (drum roll,

please) …ICE CREAM SUNDAES!!!

Our AWANA Ministry has several

clubs that are perfect for your child!

Cubbies (Pre K-Kindergarten)

Sparks (Kindergarten-2nd Grade)

T&T (3rd Grade-6th Grade)

Trek (7th Grade & Above)

Please contact Lena Howell if you

have any questions!

A giant thank you to all who helped with this year’s

Vacation Bible School!!! It was an amazing, fun-filled,

God-glorifying week. We were blessed immensely by

the opportunity to share our love for Jesus and God’s

Holy Word with so many children from the community.

Please, pray that seeds were planted that will bring

forth a mighty harvest in their hearts and that they will

surrender their lives to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Announcements We will be having a special Baptism service

on Sunday, August 13th. These baptisms will

take place in Dick and Pat East’s pool,

directly after our regular morning service here

at Grace. Please, come join us, as we

celebrate together the new life these

believers have through their Lord and Savior

Jesus Christ. After the baptisms, stay for a little

cookout and fellowship. If anyone has any

questions about being baptized, contact

Pastor Mark, as soon as possible. And if you

can, please bring a side dish or dessert to

share.

August is Deacon Nomination Month. There

are small sheets of paper and a green box in

the hallway outside the sanctuary, where you

will be able to drop in your nominations. A

nominee must be a male member of the

church (for at least one year), who meets the

biblical requirements of Elders & Deacons as

outlined in 1 Tim. 3:1-13 & Titus 1:5-9. Please

contact Chuck Buchanan, if you have any

questions.

August 13th is also our Promotion Sunday.

Each student will move up to the next grade

level in our Children’s and Youth Ministries.

On Friday, August 18th we will be providing the

community with FREE waters and face

painting at the Peach Festival, and we need

your help! If you can serve anytime between

3 and 8pm, please see Pastor Mark and/or

the sign-up sheet in the hallway as soon as

possible.

Grace Baptist Church is happy to welcome

the local MOPS group for their first meeting of

the year on Tuesday, August 22nd, at 10am.

The Mothers of Preschoolers will meet here at

Grace, every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the

month, to encourage and equip one another

in the love of Jesus Christ. Please contact

Leisa LeFew, if you have any questions.

Mark your calendars! Wednesday Night

Activities resume on Sept 6th.

Join us for our Fellowship Meal,

which begins at 5:15pm.

AWANA Clubs are starting up again

on Wednesday, September 6, at

6pm with a special Kick-Off Night for

each child to meet their AWANA

Club leader. Please contact Lena

Howell, if you have any questions.

Isaiah’s Bells Rehearsals begin again

on Wednesday, September 6, at

6:15pm in the Music Room. Please

contact Marceia Bartlett, with any

questions.

Bible Study will meet again upstairs

at 6:15pm. Please contact Pastor

Mark, with any questions.

Choir Practice will be at 7:40pm.

We are in need of more volunteers for our

Nursery and Children’s Church ministries.

Please contact Nandrea Groves, if you

have any questions and/or are interested

in serving with the Children’s Ministry.

School supplies are on sale, which means

this is the perfect time to begin

purchasing supplies for Operation

Christmas Child shoeboxes. Please buy

pencils and sharpeners, pens, journals,

paper, scissors, hygiene items, small toys,

etc., while you can, and do not forget to

start praying for the children whose lives

these boxes will impact! If you have any

questions, or would like more info, please

contact Peyton Elkins.

Did you know? GBC has a library

upstairs across from the youth room

that’s full of Christian fiction, non-

fiction, periodicals, DVDs, and more!

Everyone is invited to use the library!

Just be sure to check out the

materials you want with the

sign-in sheet.

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

1 2

3 Frank & Alma

Guzman

4

Rodney &

Karen

Matthews

5

Lee Bryant Sam Register

6

7

8

9

Beth Hughes

10

11

Jan Ferraro Grayson Howell

12

Chuck Buchanan

13 12:30pm Baptism Service @ Dick & Pat East’s

Promotion Sunday

Rick Menear Karen Thisse

14

15

16

17

Dale Hollandsworth

18 3-8pm GBC Booth @ The Peach Festival

19 Jeff & Annetta

Lind

Samantha Register

20

Adrian Hodges

21

22 10am 1st MOPS Meeting of the Year

23

24

25 26

27

28

Kaleb Marshall

29 30 Sharon Joyce

31

August 2017 Birthdays Anniversaries