We are excited about our Financial Wellness Workshop, which will take place at 9:30 a.m. on October 27, 2007 and will be led by our own Mrs. Wanda Catala Hugley.  Mrs. Hugley is the daughter of Sister Beverly Catala; she lives in Albany , New York and is very active and involved in her church.  In fact, she will become an ordained deacon in the very near future.  Come and be a part of this informative financial workshop and learn how you can improve your financial well-being and future.

We are excited that The Rev. Dr. John Waters, the Pastor Emeritus of Greater Solid Rock Baptist Church in Atlanta , Georgia , will be our distinguished guest speaker for our Annual Men’s Day Service.  Furthermore, he will speak at the upcoming session of our Great Fellowship Baptist Association, which will be held on November 10.

The Got Jesus Ministry did it again!  Our final community block party, which took place on September 15, was an astounding success.  I am so proud of you for your commitment to this ministry and I thank you for your evangelistic spirit and willingness to reach out to your community to share the love of Christ.  Thank you for a job well done!

Dr. Raymond Jackson’s Native Son Returns Home Recital turned out to be one of the best spiritual events we have sponsored in recent years, and we thank Dr. Jackson, a son of Congdon Street Baptist Church and Providence , for returning home to share his gift and the special anointing God gave him.  Dr. Raymond Jackson is a Professor of Music at Howard University and received the Howard University Faculty Excellence Award.  He has performed as a recitalist and orchestral soloist throughout the United States , Europe , Russia , and South America and has won excellent reviews.  Please keep Dr. Jackson and his family in your prayers.

I want to personally thank the members of the Native Son Comes Home Recital Committee for their hard work in making this event a success; special thanks to Ms. Linnear Horne for serving as our chairperson, and very special thanks to Mr. Ernest Cox, the Recital Consultant, for a job well done.  Moreover, I thank the Community Church of Providence for the use of the sanctuary and fellowship hall.

God recently blessed us with the funds to complete very essential work on our church building.  God gave us the vision and the resources to accomplish this and for that we are thankful.  In the next few months we will do the following: install central air conditioning, install new floors in our Fellowship Hall and kitchen, totally renovate our kitchen, install new floors in the foyers by the sanctuary and by the bathrooms, and update and repair our baptismal pool.  If feasible, we will build a new bathroom near the sanctuary.  I thank the trustees, Sisters Wanda D. Jones, Alysia Smith, and my secretary, Maria Smith for the team spirit they displayed and their administrative assistance and logistical support.  I give special thanks to Deacon Alvin Green, Sophia Shields, Phyllis Powers, Meredith Costa, and Dayus Metts for serving on the committee that is responsible for establishing and defining the renovation priorities and providing me with essential administrative support throughout the process.

Commander Frank Stubbs recently returned from Iraq to spend a short vacation at his home in Jacksonville , Florida ; he is excited that God blessed him with this opportunity to spend meaningful time with his family.  However, he will return to Iraq in a week, but he will complete his duty in Iraq in January 2008 and return home.  Please continue to pray for him and our other friends in Iraq , Afghanistan , and Kuwait and send them messages via our blog at:http://www.csbchurch.org/csbccommunity

We have resumed our inspiring Thursday morning prayer ministry, Mornings Before the Throne, which is held at 5:00 a.m.   This is a powerful prayer ministry where we go before the “throne of God” for healing power, strength to get through life’s struggles, discipline and focus to continue to grow spiritually, and to intercede on behalf of our relatives, friends, community, and nation.  Please continue to pray for our church, and we hope that you will join me at our Mornings Before the Throne for prayer and meditation.  I promise – your life will be changed!

To God be the glory!

Your Pastor