SUNDAY SERVICES

Sunday Worship

9:00 AM - Sunday School

The morning begins with a short opening held in the sanctuary prior to the start of Sunday School. This is a time of preparation which includes singing of 2-3 hymns, announcements, recognition of any birthdays or anniversaries for the upcoming week, and a short devotional. This opening typically lasts 10-15 minutes after which everyone is dismissed to the appropriate class.

Classes include:

Younger Youth

Older Youth
PAC (Practical Application Class - All adults)

10:00 AM - Morning Worship

Our morning worship can best be described as a balanced blend between traditional and contemporary. Pastor John Parrish always gives an inspiring scripture based message. He often times will include members for a demonstration of real life examples.

To include the children there often is a short story geared to them where they are asked up front to listen and participate. Ages kindergarten through second grade are then dismissed downstairs for Children’s Church - a time for Bible lesson and crafts.

The first Sunday of each month we observe The Lord’s Supper. At First Baptist Church of Virden we observe an open communion which means you do not have to be a member of our church, anyone who has accepted Jesus Christ as their personal saviour is welcome to participate.

Typical Order of Service

First Baptist Church

Virden, Illinois

Sunday, 10:00 A.M.

Welcome/Announcements

Prelude-

Call to Worship-

Hymn

Worship with our Tithes and Offerings

*Doxology, #382

*Prayer of Dedication

Hymn

Children's Church Dismissal

Sharing Our Joys and Concerns/Prayer

Scripture Lesson-

Sermon:

Hymn

Benediction

YOUTH MINISTRIES

On Wednesday evening during the Fall and Winter months a meal is served in Pitman Hall at 6:00 PM. This starts off the evening for both the youth and adult ministries.
Following the meal the youth split into their appropriate group:
JAM - Jesus And Me (Kindergarten - 5th Grade)
SWAT - Students With A Testimony (Middle School - High School)

J.A.M. - Jesus And Me

After our Wednesday meal is finished, the younger youth, grades K-5, are dismissed to the church basement. Here they enjoy a bible lesson, crafts, games, and songs designed to "plant the seeds" of faith in their young lives. They "earn" beans for answering questions about the story, helping, sharing, participating, and a host of other things. Once a quarter they can cash in those beans for a variety of gifts from the Prize Table!

S.W.A.T. - Students With A Testimony

Older youth, middle school through high school, has a special place at First Baptist. In deciding on a name, the students themselves came up with scriptures that accurately define who they feel they are, and the ministry they want to be, with Christ as the center. They decided that Paul's instructions to Timothy said it best, and became – S.W.A.T.
Students With A Testimony
Spiritually sound in doctrine, and one with a purpose.

Along with the regular Wednesday evening meetings for Middle School students and Sunday evening for the High School students, the SWAT group participates in many other activities throughout the year. They work hard at raising funds to finance their attendance at concerts, a canoe trip, and even SKWIM, an annual area American Baptist Youth snow skiing and swimming event held every January in Wisconsin.

NORTH MAC MOMS

Our mission statement says it best:

North Mac Moms is a Christ-centered ministry of First Baptist Church of Virden focused on supporting and empowering mothers in the North Mac area through fellowship, faith, and friendship.

When the John Parrish family joined us in 2011 as a pastor with a young family, we began to be motivated in a different way. We have had a Wednesday night supper and ministry open to local area children for many years and we discussed the needs of the families tied to those children, many of which are single moms. We wanted to give those women and other local moms a resource to grow in their faith and share in the struggles they face on a day to day basis. It's been hard to find the right equation that works, so we keep trying to evolve and change. Lately we've discovered that helping at local events such as helping to bring back the Chamber's abandoned Easter Egg Hunt is a way to bring awareness to our group's efforts and goals.

What kind of support does North Mac Moms offer moms?
   ➥ We have a tent at local festivals that is offered free of charge for nursing moms to have a private area where they can nurse. There's a changing table and supervised toddler play area where little ones can get out of that stroller and have some fun of their own. For the last three years we have worked with the Virden Area Chamber of Commerce to organize and run two of their biggest Country Christmas events. We have sponsored women's Bible Studies complete with child care that are open to all, and even brought in special guest "mom" speakers that have faced incredible challenges and obstacles. We have all at one time or another attended together and been inspired by the women's conference "Hearts at Home" and are excited that it has made a comeback this year and will attend as a group in March.

How many women are members of the group?
   ➥ 10-12 active members
Is there an age range of women who are members?
   ➥ We have young mothers and grandmothers, single moms, and though none currently attend, we encourage any woman who has played a part in the life of a child they love (which of course is almost every adult woman) to join us as well.
When and where does the group meet?
   ➥ Most of our meetings are held at First Baptist Church in Virden, 157 W. Jackson---and just like a mom's schedule, we have no regularly set meeting date-just whatever works for the most of us. Some of the Bible studies are held in our homes as it makes for a more comfortable place to open up and share.

How is the group funded?
   ➥ We have small fundraisers, and by donations, or sometimes a special offering.

FAITH IN ACTION

Faith in Action began in 2012 with Pastor John Parrish’s vision of putting “feet” to our Sunday morning worship. Once a year we step out of the pews and instead go into the community where we try to make a difference in a variety of ways. Children visit the nursing homes to sing to the residents, ladies bake cookies to take to our community service members such as police, fire department, and more. Others paint fire hydrants, or spruce up parks, or clean gutters of shut-ins, the list there is endless. Still others take the time to send notes of encouragement, or simply bow in prayer for those in our community who struggle each day. There’s even a group that prepares items for the foreign mission fields. There is so much to be done, and so many that are able to help. Perhaps that is why in 2016 not just First Baptist, but 6 other area churches are joining forces to make Faith in Action reach even farther and do even more for our North Mac community.

Details for the 2022 Event

Potential Projects and Locations include the following:

The “Hospitality and Prayer” committee, will be packaging home made cookies that will be delivered to our police, fire department volunteers, and ambulance workers. Each person on this committee will take some time in the sanctuary to keep a constant stream of prayers lifted up for the other committees’ service project, our church, our community, and whatever else God lays upon their hearts.

The “Food for the Soul” committee needs help to prepare and serve a spaghetti meal that we will all share together after our committee projects are complete. Additionally, we plan to deliver these meals to some of those on the regular meals on wheels delivery route since those aren’t available on the weekend. This committee may also meet on Saturday to prepare the spaghetti sauce ahead of time.

The “Outreach” committee which will be assembling hygiene bags for the homeless. This is still a work in progress as we figure out all the details, so watch your Sunday bulletin for more details.

The “God’s Good Earth” committee will be available to those who have a real need of help with yard work or light indoor or outdoor chores. Things like raking leaves and cleaning out gutters. The members of this committee plan put their backs into it! And, depending on the number of people who volunteer, and the weather that morning, they will help as many folks as possible.

The “Kids Can Minster 2” committee needs help with the youngest members of our congregation as they travel to our two area nursing homes to present their own special church service and visitation for the residents there. If you have ever been at the nursing home when children arrive, you know the pure joy it brings for the residents. Now add singing, and hugs, and smiles and you have a perfect Sunday morning! Depending on the number of children we can wrangle, we’ll need vehicles and drivers that can carry our precious cargo (and car seats) to and from the care facilities in Virden and Girard.

So that’s it! There is surely something for each and every one of us to do on Sunday. Each committee has at least two leaders, it is their job to organize the tools and the plan to make their particular “Faith in Action” ministry successful. That means they may, if you sign up for their committee, ask for your help in the planning stages prior to Sunday.

“CHURCH” will begin that morning at 9:30 AM with everyone gathering together in the sanctuary for a very short prayer time and blessing. By 9:45 we will be headed to our respective “mission fields” to put our Faith in Action. Pastor John will travel from group to group with his own volunteers to help record and photograph the morning activities. At 12:00 noon we will return to the church for a potluck meal that we will share together. The meat will be provided!!

Now it is time–take a step forward. Put your name on one of the sign up sheets at the front of the sanctuary. Make the commitment to not only be a part of this special day, but to pray for it’s success. May God bless our efforts as we put our Faith in Action!

MISSIONS

We at First Baptist Church of Virden feel missions both locally and beyond to be a vital part of our ministry. We have a very active Women’s Missionary group that is engaged throughout the year in activities supporting many various causes.

Many years ago the church felt led to follow the scriptures calling for tithing of 10%.

In doing so each month 10% of the undesignated offering collected goes to one or more of the following groups:

•United Mission

• Murrow Indian Childrens Home

•America For Christ Offering

•Judson University

•One Great Hour Of Sharing

•Lake Springfield Baptist Camp

•Central Baptist Theological Seminary

•World Mission Offering

•One Hope United (Hudleson Home)

• First Baptist Church of Virden Deacons & Deaconess Funds