Coming Up in April . . .
Wednesday Evenings in April:
April 2, 6:30 p.m. – “Jesus: Jewish Priest” (In-person; dinner will be served.)
April 9, 6:30 p.m. – “Jesus: King of the Jews” (In-person; dinner will be served.)
April 16 – NO BIBLE STUDY
April 23, 6:00 p.m. – Virtual Bible Study on Facebook
April 30, 6:00 p.m. – COMMUNITY DINNER and in-person Bible Study
Easter Egg Hunt, Saturday, April 12, 11 a.m.-noon – We will host our annual Easter Egg Hunt on the front lawn, weather permitting. This event is a great time to share the Good News of salvation, along with information about our church, with our community. Kids of all ages are invited! The Christian Ed team will be stuffing the roughly 1000 plastic eggs on April 11 at 10 a.m. and would welcome your help. (Workers have been known to sneak a piece of chocolate!) See Barb for more information.
Maundy Thursday/Good Friday Service, Thursday, April 17 – Please plan to join us for a solemn worship experience in which we remember the night when Jesus broke bread, shared the cup, and was betrayed; and participate in a reflection on “Jesus: Suffering Savior.”
Easter Morning at MWBC – We hope to see you at our traditional Easter morning celebration on Sunday, April 20, featuring Pastor Clay’s message, “Now What?” and our ever-popular Flowering of the Cross! Come early to share in a continental breakfast beginning at 9:00 a.m.
. . . and Beyond
Quarterly Business Meeting, Sunday, May 4 – Our First Quarter 2025 congregational meeting will be held immediately after the worship service.
Racetrack Ministry Dinner, Tuesday, May 13 – The first of our summer evenings at the back track! A team of volunteers from MWBC will prepare and serve a meal for the workers at the racetrack. See Pastor Jim if you’d like to help.
Pastor Clay has completed his 14-week sermon series, What If? Seven Letters to You, Seven Letters to the Church. Some of the “big questions” in that series:
~What if you invited Jesus into your dark places?
~What if we dealt with sin redemptively?
~What if we were known as a community of prayer?
~What if you lived out the concept that “iron sharpens iron”?
Mark your calendars for the week of June 2-6. We will visit True North and learn about “Trusting God in a Wild World.” The bears, otters, eagles, crabs, and moose will help in our understanding, and kids will take a deep dive into the book of Matthew. Vacation Bible School will start at 9:30 each day and end at noon. Registration begins at 9. We welcome children aged pre-K through entering 6th grade. Be looking for ways to help!
We are still looking for a few volunteers. We will also need to borrow a canoe, if anyone has one, for our set. VBS is always a fun time of learning and sharing the good news. Please share with your friends and family. If you have questions, please see Barb Cagle.
International Ministries Announces Miles for Mission
Have you ever considered how the simple act of walking can impact God’s mission?
ABCUSA’s International Ministries (IM) is excited to announce its first-ever virtual 5K, Miles for Mission, which will take place during Holy Week 2025. Miles for Mission is a global mission movement that unites people worldwide as they walk to make a difference for God’s global mission. Every step together represents IM’s commitment to walk alongside the global servants, partners, and communities they serve. You are encouraged to come together with your local community (this could be your church, small group, family, or friends) and walk 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) together, reflecting on God’s mission and celebrating Jesus’ resurrection.
How to Participate
1) Register: You can register online at https://internationalministries.org/milesformission/. You’ll receive a hat, digital packet, and personal fundraising page when you register.
2) Fundraise: Personalize and share your fundraising page with your community.
3) Invite: Invite your community or church to join you and share who you will be walking with.
4) Walk together: Walk with your community, praying together as you go.
Scenes of the Season: Advent and Christmas 2024
MWBC Calls Rev. Clay Self
After the exciting candidating weekend of April 27-28, the congregation of Mt. Washington Baptist Church voted to call Rev. Clay Self as our new pastor, effective in late July of 2024.
Rev. Self grew up in Maumee, Ohio, in a large family of eight half-siblings and 2 siblings. Growing up, Clay was active in his home church, Ashland Baptist Church. He served two terms on the Ohio Baptist Youth State Board and spent one summer on staff at Judson Hills camp before going off to college. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Eastern University in St. Davids, PA, and a Master of Divinity from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary located in Kansas City, MO. He served in an associate pastor capacity in Des Moines before attending seminary and in Independence, MO, while in seminary. He served as lead pastor in Urbana, IL, and Mill Creek, WA, before moving back to his home state of Ohio in 2018 and assuming the position of Pastor at First Baptist Church of Hillsboro.
Before coming back to Ohio, in addition to pastoring there for 14 years, for two years he was a lead carpenter for a remodeling company in Seattle. Clay has served as a volunteer chaplain for the local fire and rescue department, as the Area Regional Minister (ARM) of the ABC-Ohio churches in the Clinton Baptist Association, and as an officer of the ministerial association in Hillsboro.
Pastor Clay is married to Kacy and has one stepchild living at home, Alex (AKA Ruger). The family also includes Kacy’s adult child, Remington, who lives in the Seattle area, and Clay’s two adult children, Tyler (living in Seattle) and Kayla (living in New York City).
We look forward to Pastor Clay’s first Sunday in the pulpit, July 28.
Thanks, Barb!
On Sunday, January 28, we showed our gratitude to Barb for her many years of service to our church. Through her work as Administrative Assistant and through her compassionate, joyful heart, Barb has been a blessing to all of us!
Operation Christmas Child
Members of our church packed over 60 shoeboxes (double our goal!) with toys and gifts to be sent to children internationally.
MWBC Supports Local Missions This Holiday Season
With our Operation Christmas Child gifts winging their way toward international children, MWBC turns its sights toward the needs of those in our local community. As in years past, we will again provide holiday dinners for families in our community who are struggling. Rev. Jim will lead the effort this year. If you’d like to donate money to help purchase these dinners, please let Jim know. For the Christmas distribution, we will also be giving family games to our families along with their dinners. If you’d like to provide the games, or donate the money for them, reach out to Jim.
At Mt. Washington Baptist Church, August was a month of serving, supporting, and sending. We seek to live out the exhortation found in 1 Peter 4:10: “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”
Racetrack Ministry – On Monday, August 14, under Rev. Jim Cagle’s leadership, a team of ten MWBC people, serving food donated by a number of additional church members, provided dinner for about 40 workers at Belterra between in-house and take-out orders. It was a great experience for all
who participated!
Special Recognitions – We recognized Holly McIntosh for her 25 years of service to the MWBC Day Care and congratulated Louann Bartholomew on finally getting out of the third grade as she recently retired from teaching at Miami Valley Christian Academy!
Mission Overview and All-Church Luncheon — Tim and Stacy Reese, ABCUSA Global Servants who are endorsed to serve among the Haitian sugarcane Bateyes in the Dominican Republic, will join us in worship on Sunday, July 9, to provide an overview of their background and what they will be doing in the DR.
An all-church luncheon, sponsored by the Mission Board, will be held after the worship service, giving us additional time to meet the Reeses and learn more about their ministry. Please plan to attend the service and luncheon!
The Mission Board will be presenting a check for $1000 to the Reeses to help with their children’s education and would like to offer the congregation an opportunity to add to this gift. Envelopes will be available at church on Sunday. Your generous support will be of great help to the Reese family.
MWBC in Independence Day Parade — Under the leadership of Rev. Jim Cagle, a team of people from our church will be walking in Mt. Washington’s annual Independence Day parade, to be held on Monday, July 3, at 7:00 p.m. This is a great opportunity to engage with our community and let more people know about our church! We encourage you to come watch the parade as it passes by MWBC on its way to the Legion Hall. Bring a lawn chair and get there early, as Sutton will be closed to traffic prior to the parade’s beginning.
VBS Mission Project — This year’s VBS Mission Project was A Caring Place. This organization is dedicated to being a source of hope and practical help to women facing untimely pregnancies, as well as families in need, through an array of no-cost services such as pregnancy testing, ultrasound, abortion counseling, adoption consultation, parenting classes, sexually transmitted diseases information, and material assistance, which
is how our VBS kids and volunteers helped. Thanks to everyone who participated in donating items and filling the baby bottles. Our prayer is that God will bless the families who receive these items.
Vacation Bible School Review and Thanks — We had an average of 38 children in attendance each day at Stellar VBS. Some of the time we were pretending to be in a rocket ship on the moon. Kids enjoyed songs, drama, Bible stories, crafts, snacks, movies, and object lessons. Each station tried to reinforce the message for the day. We learned that when life is dark, when people don’t get along, when good things happen, when people are sad, AND when people need help — we can shine Jesus’ light.
Thanks to all of the volunteers who helped to make VBS a success both behind the scenes and in person: Darby Atchison, Josie Baker, Louann Bartholomew, Andy Bartmess, Nancy Basil, Grace Brem, Barb Cagle, Jim Cagle, Tammy Caldwell, Courtney Funk, Connie Green, Cathy Herren, Dylan Herren, Pastor Karen Johnson, Eileen Kjeldsen, Susan Lattarulo, Donna Malone, Shureka Nyawalo, Holly McIntosh, Sharone Racer, Elias Rechel, Israel Rechel, Johnetta Stallworth, Dianne Steelman, Emily Sutton, Cody Taylor, Luke Tiettmeyer, and the kitchen staff at the Day Care. Thanks also to all who donated for snacks and for the mission, A Caring Place. We certainly saw Jesus’ light through all of you!
Baby Bottle Campaign — The mission board will be handing out baby bottles on Mother’s Day to be filled with cash or oins to support A Caring Place, and will collect them on Father’s Day. A Caring Place is a local organization that supports pregnant women, families, and children in need through no-cost services, parenting classes, and much-needed items such as car seats, formula, diapers, etc. Thank you for your support.
The Maundy Thursday Service, on April 6, will feature a potluck dinner, a time of communion, and the drama When They Crucified My Lord: A Tenebrae Service of Monologs. Make plans to join us for this solemn commemoration of the time of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion. If you plan on coming for the dinner, please sign up at the Welcome Center or email Darby to let us know what you’d like to bring.
We’ll celebrate Easter Sunday, April 9, with a joyous worship service including special music and teaching, as well as our traditional Flowering of the Cross. Come early to fellowship together over a continental breakfast of pastries, juices, and coffee.
Easter Egg Hunt
Licensing of Fred Anderson—MWBC is privileged to be able to work with Fred Anderson as he pursues ordination. A necessary step in this process was our granting him a license for ministry, which occurred on March 26 during our morning Worship Gathering. Licensure signals the congregation’s full support of and investment in Fred’s ministry path and our recognition of his unique skills for ministry. Please continue to pray for Fred as he follows God’s leading.
A wonderful Craft Fair was held at MWBC on Saturday, March 18. Seventeen crafters and vendors set up in the Fellowship Hall. Between the space fees paid by vendors and donations from shoppers, a total of $200 was raised for the SEM Food Pantry, along with non-perishable food items given by shoppers. Thanks to Cathy Herren and Holly McIntosh for organizing and running the fair!
Reception of new members Johnetta, Jomil, and Fred.
Congratulations to Rev. Jim Cagle, who was ordained at Mt. Washington Baptist Church on Sunday, January 8, 2023.
The Mission Board, through the generosity of our congregation, was able to give support for both the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays to a number of families in our community.
Our Annual Business Meeting took place on Wednesday, January 25, with a pizza dinner to kick off the evening. The meeting was well attended, and it felt great to share a meal with the church family on a Wednesday night — it’s been a while!
Children’s Christmas Party
Live Nativity
