Coming Up in March . . .

90-Day New Testament Challenge – We invite you to join your church family as we continue our reading through the New Testament in the first 90 days of the New Year. As March begins, we’ll be starting the book of Ephesians, and we’ll finish the final reading in Revelation just in time for the celebration of Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday, March 31. A schedule of readings may be found at the Welcome Center and posted on our Facebook page. Feel free to jump in now, even if you’ve missed the first few weeks!

Daycare Open House – The Daycare staff will host an Open House of the Daycare on Friday, March 22, from 6-7 p.m. If you know parents who are seeking a positive, caring daycare environment for their children, send them our way!

Easter Egg Hunt – Bring your family, friends, and neighbors to our children’s Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, March 23, from 11 a.m. to noon on the front lawn of the church (weather permitting). Kids will enjoy hunting for eggs, candy, and prizes. Bags will be provided for gathering goodies.
Maundy Thursday – On Thursday, March 28, we’ll gather for a fried chicken dinner in the Fellowship Hall at 6:00 p.m., then move to the sanctuary for a special Maundy Thursday presentation featuring the drama Search for Understanding by Margaret Rose Fletcher.

Easter Sunday – Join us for Easter Sunday on March 31 at MWBC! We’ll start with a continental breakfast of pastries, juice, and coffee at 9:00 a.m., followed by our Easter service at 10, featuring a special message and music along with our traditional Flowering of the Cross.

. . . and Later

Candidate Weekend, April 27-28 – Save the date for the final weekend in April, when the Search Committee will introduce us to the candidate whom they are recommending to be our new pastor. Specific details of the weekend’s activities will be shared in the near future.
New Adult Sunday School Class – There has been some discussion about the possibility of starting a new Sunday School class/small group that meets in person, with the time and place yet to be determined. If there is any interest in leading or participating in such a class, please see Barb Cagle.
VBS 2024 – In Vacation Bible School this year, June 10-14, we’ll be traveling to the ocean depths with Group Publishing’s Scuba curriculum. If you’d like to volunteer to help in any capacity, see Barb Cagle.
Other Summer Activities – Please see Jim Cagle if you have an interest in participating in the Mt. Washington Independence Day parade on July 3,  and/or if you’d like to help a team of volunteers serve a meal at the racetrack this year, on a Tuesday night to be determined later.

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!

Fred's Ordination

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.

Having a blast with Mickey Wey (aka Dylan)!

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

Need to reserve a space for an event or meeting?
Use this Event Registration form in PDF or Word format. Return to Barb W.