As many of you know, I am a runner. And as I write this, we have been enjoying some really nice mornings for the past week. Temperatures have been mostly in the 50s. Ideal running weather. Fall is in the air! Some seasons of the year are better for running than others. Fall and early Spring are my favorite running seasons. Winter would be next. Yes, it’s cold, but you can dress appropriately. And then there is Summer. Those hot and humid mornings that sap every ounce of energy (and sweat) from your body. Summer is awful for running. But I do it anyway. I press on.
Paul wrote to the church at Philippi encouraging them to press on. Using his own experience he wrote, “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining toward what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). No matter the season. Press on. No matter the obstacles. Press on.
There is a sense of anticipation these past few weeks at Huffman Baptist Church. Fall is in the air. Your staff is praying and planning for 2022. We are actively looking to see where God is working so that we can join him to make Jesus known across the street and around the world. We press on!
2022 Financial Plan for Ministry
The most tangible expressions of our prayers and plans are the church calendar and the church financial plan for ministry (budget). God is under no obligation to resource our plans for his church, but he will spare no expense of heaven to resource his plans for his church. As we have prayed, we have sought his plan. And the financial plan for ministries that we will present to the church at our Quarterly Family Meeting is a reflection of what we believe to be God’s plans for Huffman Baptist Church. I hope you will join us on October 17 at 3:00 pm in the Worship Center.
Community Engagement
During the month of October we will have three opportunities to engage our neighbors in ministry. The first will be on Tuesday, October 5th as we host the runoff election for the City of Birmingham. Once again, we will welcome hundreds of our neighbors onto our campus as they cast their votes for the District 1 representative on the Birmingham City Board of Education. As we did in the general election in August, we will welcome them with bottles of cold water and an offer to pray for them. We will start around 8:30 and continue until we run out of bottles of water. There is no sign up for this event, and you can come anytime for as long as you are able.
The next community engagement opportunity will be on Tuesday, October 12th from 11:00 until Noon. Through our partnership with the Christian Service Mission and Kingdom Family Christian Fellowship, we will distribute 100 boxes of food (dry goods) to families in our neighborhood. There is no sign up for this event.
The third community engagement opportunity will take place on Sunday, October 31st from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. This will be our Fall Festival. There are multiple ways for you to participate in this event. First, you can pray. Pray that God would use our efforts to build relationships with our neighbors that will result in families being transformed by the glorious gospel of Jesus! Second, you can bring bags of individually wrapped candy to the church. Storage bins are located at the three main entrances to the church. And finally, you can volunteer to serve on Sunday afternoon. We need dozens of church members to man the activities. But we also need church members to just mingle with and get to know our neighbors. To sign up, visit https://huffmanbaptist.churchcenter.com/registrations
Eastern Area Christian Ministries (EACM)
For decades Huffman Baptist members have served alongside our neighboring churches to meet the needs of people in our community through the ministry of EACM. We are thankful for each of you who have served over the years, and we are grateful for the opportunity to have made a difference in our community through this ministry. It is with sadness that we report that the EACM Board of Directors have made the decision to cease operations and to transfer all assets to the Lovelady Center as soon as possible.
Deacon Nominations
We will continue to receive nominations for the office of deacon through October 31st. Nomination forms are available at the entrances to the Worship Center, or you can submit your nominations online by visiting https://huffmanbaptist.org/deacons/