OLD FASHIONED HYMN SING
 (Feasting on the Manna)

Several months ago, my son Grant asked me to begin thinking and praying about starting a Senior Adult Choir.  I am a retired Music Director who thought singing in our FBCW choir and then sitting in the pew was my new assignment.  I think God used that invitation to awaken my heart to all the joys and possibilities of establishing a Senior Adult Choir.  So, sign-up began for all those who loved to sing and who also enjoyed the old hymns.  We started with rehearsals every other Thursday but soon began rehearsing every Thursday at 10:30 a.m.  Each member is committed to being at rehearsal as much as they possibly can.

On June 12, this Senior Adult Choir invited everyone to come and participate in an “Old Fashioned Hymn Sing.”  This evening included just the perfect blend of Senior Choir specials, piano solos, a piano duet, and congregational participation in a variety of beautiful, old, and much-loved hymns.  

One of our graduating high school seniors, Caleb Hoke, played the accordion in the lobby before the program began which was a special treat for all of us.  During the program, a piano duet was played by Cheryl McDonald and Vickie Anderson.  The piano soloist and accompanist for the senior adult choir is Anna Wright. 

One of the Senior Choir’s special was “Dwelling in Beulah Land.”  Some of the hymns that the congregation sang were: 

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
I love to tell the Story
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus
The Old Rugged Cross
Amazing Grace

The Hymn Sing lasted just an hour.  Based on feedback I received, it was just long enough to enrich and uplift us, but short enough to leave us with a deep hunger for more.  It was also both surprising and encouraging to see many young people scattered throughout the congregation. 

The Hymn Sing was followed by an ice cream fellowship that was sponsored by Dallas Brower and the Legacy Builders and Boomers Ministry. Needless to say, this fellowship was also very much enjoyed by everyone. 

The entire evening was a wonderful blessing! In fact, this Old Fashioned Hymn Sing was so well received that we are looking for another time to have another one. Stay tuned for a future date. 

The Senior Adult Choir will take the rest of the summer off and will regroup in September.  If you love to sing and you love hymns, come join us.  Watch the bulletin for our start-up date in September.

As our society has moved to where on-demand content is the expectation, it’s exciting that now no matter where you are you can view the sermon wherever you are and whenever you want. Maybe that’s at home sick, on the road for vacation, traveling for business, or maybe you just want to go back and watch it again…bottom line is now the sermons are available 24/7 wherever you are in such a way that you can watch it and share it with others.

 Currently we have 2 options for you to view the sermon live. On our Facebook Page, FBC Wentzville, and also on our website at fbcwentzville.com/live.  Facebook will archive the video each week so you can go back there anytime to watch the video.  On our website, early each week on the Sermon Archive page you can find the addition of that week’s sermon with options to “Watch”, “Listen”, “Download”. In the future we may increase options on where you can view the sermon.  You can find the Sermon archive at this link: fbcwentzville.com/resources/sermon-archive. If you’d like to suggest somewhere that would make it more convenient for you to watch, feel free to do so!

For many of us each week, the Holy Spirit uses the Pastor to challenge us and lead us to repentance through his preaching.  That 40ish minutes a week is incredibly formative for us as we seek to grow in relationship and worship our Lord!  I want to encourage you to extend the life to the message the Pastor brings each week by sharing it with others who might need to see it.  Who knows what hitting that Share button on Facebook could do as someone you know might watch a portion of the sermon and be moved by the Holy Spirit as well either to salvation or to greater obedience to Christ!

As we take these first steps into the world of Live video, we have a small team of young men that are making it possible to live stream 1 service each week.  We’d love to do ever more, starting with streaming the 11 AM service on Sunday mornings as well.  Each service needs a 2-person team to make it possible.  The pastor would also love to use some live video even inside the worship center to make things easier to see when he does visual illustrations from the stage.  All that would be possible with more volunteers.  If you’re the behind the scenes type and looking for a way to serve regularly, let us know by contacting Jeremy Shirley in the church office or email me at .

One other thing I’ll mention as it’s a question we’ve received multiple times.  We’d love to do the entirety of worship from beginning to end. At this point we’re unable to do it well due to limitations associated with our really old sound system in the Worship Center.  For those of you considering giving to the Project Priority List as part of Channels of Blessing, the replacement of the sound system is the majority of the 2nd Phase once we get done with fixing our Worship Center roof, replacing flooring, and creating some additional first floor classrooms by adding partitions to the Fellowship Hall.  Once we’re able to put forth a quality live music feed, we’ll gladly expand to offer the entirety of worship each week.

If you ever experience technical difficulties, feel free to share them but also realize that there are many variables that are out of our control with the strength of the internet signal being number 1 and then the way your specific device handles the content being a close second.  We do make mistakes sometimes, no doubt about it, but many things are out of our control.

We hope you enjoy this new ministry and look forward to it growing as some of you step up to help in the future!