|
Written by Administrator
|
|
Saturday, 01 November 2008 09:50
|
|
|
|
|
Dedication Song:
"I Enter This Path Alone"
|
 |
Words/Music/Recording By:
Gray Burchette
|
|
|
The labyrinth is an ancient universal symbol that goes back thousands of years. About nine hundred years ago the labyrinth was adapted for use within European churches. The labyrinth was used to emulate the believer’s journey to a pilgrimage site to which they were unable to travel; Jerusalem in particular. Today the Christian community has embraced the labyrinth as a symbol of the inward and outward spiritual journey as experienced in walking the winding path.
The labyrinth is not a maze. One cannot get lost. It is one path that leads into the center and back out again without any tricks or deceptions. As a metaphor for life and our individual spiritual journey, it has been found to be a wonderful prayer tool that enables individuals to center on God. It twists and turns, as does life, but we are ever walking toward God, our center.
This labyrinth is a scaled down replica of the eleven-circuit labyrinth found in the floor of the Notre Dame de Chartres Cathedral located near Paris, France. The labyrinth at First Baptist Church, Elkin, NC, was designed by The Labyrinth Company and is a six-circuit Abingdon style, in the à la ChartresTM series.
|
|
How to Walk the Labyrinth
- On the threshold = at the entrance, take a deep breath and focus on God, quieting your mind; perhaps repeating a short prayer, such as, “My soul longs for you, O God,” or “Be still and know that I am God”
- Journeying in = as you enter the labyrinth and walk toward the center, release whatever clutters your mind or any burdens you carry; walk the path conscious of God’s presence
- The resting place = in the center of the labyrinth, receive calm, strength, perspective, new hope, peace, as you stand or sit or kneel with God; rest here until you are ready to return
- Journeying out = move out from the center to return to daily life on the same path which you entered
|
|
Road Rules
Please remain quiet as a courtesy to the other walkers.
Surrender to the journey with an open heart and an open mind.
Allow your body to find its own pace; there is no wrong manner or speed for your walk.
It is common to pass other walkers or to be passed by others due to our natural differences in walking pace.
You may wish to think of the walk as a three-fold path:
- Releasing of concerns and worries on the journey in
- Centering prayer or meditation
- Empowerment of new commitments on the journey out
The single path between the lines runs two ways; those entering may meet those on their journey out. Gently make room for others as you pass.
|
|
|
|
Text and Creativity: Rebecca Maynard
Photos: Teri Hunt
|
|
|
|
|
Last Updated ( Thursday, 29 July 2010 12:35 )
|
|
Written by Administrator
|
|
Wednesday, 29 October 2008 20:48
|
|
Dr. Bill Johnson
Pastor
Rev. Rebecca Husband Maynard
Associate Pastor
David McCollum
Minister of Music
John Callaway
Minister of Students
Tony Robertson
Organist
|
|
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 28 July 2010 16:54 )
|
|
|
Written by Administrator
|
|
Wednesday, 29 October 2008 20:43
|
Welcome to First Baptist Church. We are glad you stopped by our website. We want to tell you a bit more about who we are and what we do. We hope this information will help you decide if First Baptist is the right place for you
Our membership is a diverse collection of people. Some have lived here all their lives. Some folks work has brought them here. Some have come here to retire. Some are lifelong Baptists, others are transfers from a host of different Christian denominations, some are new converts to Christianity and some are new to church life in general. We are white collar and blue collar, multi-degreed and barely degreed. We relish this diversity, which is reflected in such policies as open membership, gender equality (including ordination of women deacons and ministers) and strong ecumenical relationships within and outside our immediate community.
We find unity in our diversity through worship, missions and congregational care. There are two Sunday morning worship services. The 11:00 o'clock service is formal, often called liturgical, with several scripture readings, litanies, prayers, silence, anthems, hymns and a sermon. Our goal for this hour of worship is to do nothing except focus on making time and space for people to meet God. There are no announcements and only rarely any kind of promotion of church programs. We call it traditional worship. We mean the historical Christian tradition of setting aside sacred space and time for the worship of God in a highly structured ritual. We believe such ritual feeds the human hunger for familiarity in the search for God. This service is warm and lively. We run the gamut of human emotions, from laughter to tears. We are people friendly. All these moving parts, however, are lubricated by the formal order of our service.
The 8:30 service, which we call alternative, is just that. It is different from the traditional service, not an adaptation or another version. There is an order of worship but it is rather fluid, depending on the dynamics of the service of the day or the kind of service we might be having on a given Sunday. We might have a story teller or a multi-media presentation or a short film or reader's theater, always with the opportunity for immediate feedback from the congregation. We might have a hymn or a rock song or a country song or a Taize chorus or sung Psalm or a Bluegrass number or a gospel tune. Sometimes the entire service is given to music of one kind or another or to sacred dance. Someone recently suggested that this service is like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates: you never know what you are going to get. We believe this kind of variety feeds the human hunger for experiencing God in different ways. People need food, too, and people crave companionship, so we end each 8:30 service with breakfast together. All these random pieces are held together by our determination to get people to confront the presence of God.
|
|
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 28 July 2010 17:02 )
|
|
