Support in time of tragedy
A guest preacher from a church that experienced its own tragedy will deliver the sermon Sunday at the Maryville, Ill., church where the pastor was shot and killed.
The Rev. Fred Winters, pastor of First Baptist Church of Maryville, was killed March 8 by a lone gunman who walked into the church during worship services. The Southern Baptist church is east of St. Louis.
The Associated Baptist Press reported that the Rev. Al Meredith, pastor of Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, will preach at the First Baptist Maryville’s three worship services.
About 10 years ago, Sept. 15, 1999, a gunman walked into Wedgwood Baptist and opened fire, killing seven and wounding seven before turning the gun on himself.
Associated Baptist Press reported that Meredith wasn’t at the church during the attack, but has experience in dealing with the aftermath of a deadly assault.
Meanwhile, a trust fund is being set up for contributions be made to a trust fund being set up for Winters’ two daughters.
For information on where to send donations, go to the church’s Web site: First Baptist Church of Maryville.
Read about Winter’s funeral service in a Baptist Press story: “Widow of slain Ill. pastor points to ‘celebration day.’”
(AP PHOTO: Memorial service for the Rev. Fred Winters, pastor of First Baptist Church of Maryville, Ill.)
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
A sermon to make you squirm …
How many of us have heard sermons that made us squirm uncomfortably?I’m talking about those sermons that challenge the way we do things or those that force us to confront our apathy on certain issues.
Geez magazine is sponsoring a contest for pastors who preach those sermons that make people squirm.
It’s called the Daringly Awkward Sermon Contest.
The 2009 contest builds upon last year’s “”30 Sermons You’d Never Hear in Church Contest.”
“The world needs bold voices of spiritual depth,” Geez publisher Aiden Enns said in a news release.
”But maybe the message can have an element of holy mischief, a smirk instead of a furrowed brow, and, at the same time, more connection to the pressing issues of the day.”
The Daringly Awkward Sermon Contest invites entries that explore the aspects of social change that make folks squirm, things like privilege, the drunk stranger in the back pew, guilt feelings, or litter in the poor part of town.
The leaders at the magazine said constructing a more fair and compassionate world involves awkward people, pauses and topics, and “we want to find the wisdom in the awkwardness.”
The top three sermons will receive $400 each. The winners plus a selection of other entries will be published in the Spring 2009 issue of Geez. Deadline for entries is February 28, 2009. Word limit is 800.
Enter the contest at contest@geezmagazine.org.
Incidentally, the Winnipeg, Canada-based Geez Magazine is a self-described ”quarterly magazine of spirit and social action.”
Go online to www.geezmagazine.org to see what else the magazine is up to.
(Photo above was taken from the Geez Magazine Web site)
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
