Category: Newsletters

Thank you for your faithful prayers and continued support!!! Praise the Lord–two people have asked Jesus Christ to forgive them of their sins and be their Savior this month! Praise His glorious name!

It was so nice to go camping together as a church! We had a wonderful Saturday morning prayer breakfast, and then Sunday after church, we came back to camp for “s’more” fun! Getting together in God’s great oudtoors was such a blessing. Those who couldn’t camp overnight were able to come and join the fun during the day. Praise the Lord for good fellowship!

What a lovely day we had together at our Autumn Tea. Our ladies prepared dainty finger foods and decorated the tables beautifully! Twenty-nine ladies in all gathered for sweet fellowship. Our guest speaker presented a devotion on missions. She gave an illustration which challenged us. According to her, only 2/10 of us and 0.5% of our finances go to unreached people groups worldwide. Let’s pray that God would help us do better! You can see more pictures of this and other events by clicking here.

On September 22, the Youth Chorus sang “Trust in the Lord” by Ron Hamilton. It is a song with text taken from Proverbs 3:5-6, which says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” They did a beautiful job! The kids also began making the pinatas for our upcoming Harvest Party. They covered balloons with paper mache. They will paint them this coming Sunday.

We are so thankful that the Free Will Baptist Home Missions Heritage Tour stopped by on Sunday, September 1. For Sunday School, Pastor Henry Horne from Union Chapel Free Will Baptist Church in Chocowinity, NC, blessed us with a message.  After that, Pastor Dann Patrick from Faith Free Will Baptist Church in Goldsboro, NC, delivered the Worship Hour sermon. Praise the Lord, one lady for whom we had been praying accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior, asking Him to forgive her sins! Quite a few local visitors also joined us!! What a great day!
To top it all off, we went into the fellowship hall for a Seafood Fest! Fresh clams, called “Steamahs,” Clam “Chowdah,” Baked Stuffed Quahogs, called “Stuffies,” and Baked Stuffed Fluke (flounder) were the star players in this event. We also had some Italian food and great desserts. Yum!  See more pictures of this and other events by clicking here.  Be sure to keep scrolling down to see other events!

Our church folks so enjoyed visiting with everyone from the Heritage Tour.  It is great when other Free Will Baptists from around the country can come to visit.  Thank you so much for being a blessing to Beacon!  Come back anytime!

It was so nice to get to see Pastor & Mrs. Dann Patrick again!  They are from Christy’s childhood church, Faith Free Will Baptist Church in Goldsboro, NC.  He also married Bill & Christy.  What a wonderful treat that they came with the Heritage Tour! Christy’s parents, Ed & Mary Edmonds, pictured left, also came for a visit.  It was wonderful to take them on a tour of the church and spend time with them.  We are so thankful that they could come up!  It was such a privilege to give everyone from the Home Missions Office a tour of the church in person!  What a blessing!

Thank you so much for praying!  Our Free Family Fun Fair was awesome.  We had a great turnout despite the occasional showers! We were able to invite a lot of children to VBS, as well.  The kids had a great time at VBS this year as we sang, did crafts, played games, and learned, from God’s Word, to put on the whole armor of God: the Belt of Truth, the Breastplate of Righteousness, the Helmet of Salvation, our Gospel Shoes of Peace, and to take the Shield of Faith and the Sword of the Spirit–God’s Word–the sharpest blade!!!  Praise be to God, five children asked Jesus to forgive their sins and be their Savior!  Thank you for praying!!!!

Pictured with Point Judith Lighthouse is the group who came from Lake Road Free Will Baptist Church in Maine.  What a blessing they were to us not only during the Fun Fair, but also during VBS.  Pastor Carl DeMerchant preached for us on Sunday morning, as well.  Thank you, Lake Road!

It was so nice to see so many of you in Tampa at the National Convention in July.  Thank you so much for your prayers and continued support!  What a blessing you are to us!

One of the blessings in a church is seeing God call people into the ministry.  Matt Gedeon feels God is calling him to ministry and will be leaving us this summer to go to college.
We are thankful for the ministry Matt has had here at Beacon.  Among so many other things (including innumerable volunteer hours on the church building), he designed our website, took care of our sound system, and was heavily involved in our music ministry.  Please pray for Matt as he prepares to follow God’s call.
Please pray for God to send us someone that can help lead our music program.  Thank you so much for your prayers!

Wednesday Nights at Beacon
We have 3 ladies who rotate cooking a meal for everyone at 5:30.  At 6:00, The boys & girls alternate playtime and scripture memory time with Luke Gedeon, while the praise team practices and the adults play Scrabble and other board games.
At 7:00, we all get together to pray.  At 7:30, the kids go out to the auditorium where  Michaela teaches them Patch the Pirate music to sing in church, Pastor Bill sings active fun songs with them, and Christy teaches them a CEF lesson.  Meanwhile, Tommy Goodfellow teaches the teens and adults a Bible study in the fellowship hall.  The bottom right corner features a picture of the kids singing 2 Sundays ago.  They sang “I Love You, Lord” by Ron Hamilton.

Archery Day at Beacon!
The kids lined up to shoot at 3 targets after our fellowship dinner.  Pastor Bill, Ben & Corina Essex, & Dave Quinn helped instruct them in bow safety and effective archery.  They had a great time learning how to draw the bow, take aim, and release the arrow.  Although many arrows went whizzing past the targets, there were quite a few VERY good shots.
We began our new ladies’ Bible study with Sue Goodfellow.  She is using the book Traveling Light by Max Lucado.  To introduce the study, she and two other ladies came into the room carrying a lot of luggage with various labels like“Guilt,” “Hopelessness,” “Envy,” “Discontentment,”etc.  When they tried to hug and care for each other, they could not because of their baggage.  Sue did an amazing job bringing to life the importance of having a Shepherd with this study based on Psalm 23.

Pastor Rick Murray from Linneus FWB Church in Linneus, ME, and his daughter Kamerin and friend Kent came to visit.  Rick preached for us!

Thank you for your faithful prayers and continued support!!!
Thanks for your continued prayers  for our new Sunday School program and teachers.  We began Sunday, May 5!
These are pictures of our brand new breakfast ministry.  When Pastor Bill announced the new Sunday School program, Bruce (above) came to him and asked if he could begin a breakfast ministry to help families more easily attend Sunday School.  What a blessing!! Above are pictures of three of our breakfast makers, Shirley, Melissa, and Bruce.  The other, Cheryl,  is pictured serving a cup to a child in the top left photo of this group.  We are so thankful!
One Saturday in April, Pastor Bill, along with some adventurous adults, took the teens on a canoe trip picnic.  Some of them brought some fishing poles, and one canoe is getting the hook out of the tree for another canoe.  Not pictured is Pastor Bill’s canoe.  They had a great time!
These three photos are from our fishing trip after our April Fellowship Dinner.  Everyone got plenty to eat, and then anyone who wanted to fish came out for a great day!
FINALLY, here is a a picture of our Men’s Prayer Breakfast.  Our men get together once a month to pray, do a Bible study, and eat  a great breakfast!

Happy Easter!  Here are some of the kids from our church posing for us between Sunday School and Church.  We are very thankful for the children God has given us at Beacon Church!
We would especially like to thank all of our supporters for your faithful support of our ministry.  God is using your faithful prayers and giving to minister to the people of Rhode Island.
How nice to have Richard and Sandy Atwood from Home Missions to visit! We had such a nice time of fellowship with them.  What an encouragement they are!  Bro. Richard preached for us, and then he helped judge the annual Youth Baking Contest.  We really had to twist his arm to be a judge!  Our young people made some amazing pies this year!  They have a good time making them, and we have a great time eating them.  It’s a win-win situation!  All the contestants (pictured on page 1) received an ice cream cone gift certificate from The Inside Scoop, and the winners (pictured on page 2) received $10 Inside Scoop gift cards.
Our Ladies’ Bible Study Luncheon was a nice time of fellowship last month.  We are really looking forward to the next one this Sunday because Sue Goodfellow will be taking over the study, and we can’t wait to hear what she has planned.  We are very thankful for her!

What a yummy feast we enjoyed at our Wild Game dinner!  Dishes of Teriyaki Duck, Venison Stroganoff, Wild Turkey Pot Pie, Braised Dove, and Venison American Chop Suey filled the countertop.  We had quite a few visitors that day, as well.  Thank you for praying! God is good!

It was nice to attend the Northeast Association of Free Will Baptists’ annual Mid-Winter Refresher in Maine.  We fellowshipped with our New England churches and enjoyed the snow together. Praise the Lord, we have not had snow in 2 weeks!  Spring is hopefully around the corner!

This past month, we had 2 “firsts.” First, (ha!) our church was the site of a wedding for one of our couples on February 16–a first for the new building!  Second, one of our dear members went home to be with the Lord in late February.  Norman Hargraves will be terribly missed, but we are thankful to know he is at rest with our Lord!  So on March 4, we held our first funeral in the new building.

We are so thankful for a place to worship, learn, fellowship, cry,  grieve, laugh, and celebrate together.  God has instituted the church, His church, to be a family–His family!  What peace it brings to know that our church family is there for us no matter what comes!

The love and support we can offer each other represents the love and support that Jesus Christ offers those who trust in Him for salvation.  Not only do we have the joy of a relationship with our Lord, but we become a part of something so wonderful–a place of belonging and a place of service–the local church.

How nice to have a visit from our friends, Danny, Dawn, Summer, Autumn, Joshua, & Jonathan Elliott–FWB Missionaries to Quebec.   What a blessing it was to have Danny preach for us that Sunday.  While here, we celebrated Autumn’s  birthday with an Allie’s Donut Cake! (Allie’s is an amazing local donut shop.) It is nice to fellowship with other Free Will Baptists!

Please pray for us as we start some exciting new things in our Wednesday night programs.  On Wednesday nights, we will be incorporating some creative play time, Bible memory, Child Evangelism Fellowship Bible lessons, and a choir to teach the children some theory and special music for church.  Tommy Goodfellow will be teaching the teens and adults what the Bible says about child-rearing. We will continue with the half-hour prayer time with adults and children together.  That has been a tremendous blessing and faith-builder for all of us!

Please join us in praying for our Sunday School attendance to increase.  Sunday School is a small group Bible study for all ages.  God has given us some additional teachers, so here are the classes we will be offering very soon:

Nursery         Preschool        Primary        Junior

Teen            Adult            Married Couples

Please also pray with us as we continue to strive to live up to our Mission Statement:

Beacon Free Will Baptist Church is dedicated to helping you and your family have a close relationship with Jesus Christ through biblical teaching and warm Christian fellowship.

We are so thankful to announce that Tommy and Sue Goodfellow are moving to Rhode Island to help us in the ministry at Beacon.  Please pray for them as they search for housing and get settled in.  What a blessing they are to us!

The church is piled high with snow after the Blizzard of 2013!
Thank you for your continued prayers for Christy.  Praise God, she does not have a collagen deficiency as was thought originally. Apparently, it was a spontaneous bilateral dissection of her carotid arteries.  We are continuing the Gerson Therapy Diet for now, and she feels great!  We are confident, God willing, that she will make a full recovery.  Thank you again for your prayers!  You have been such an encouragement to us!
After our January fellowship dinner, we went over to Wickford Lanes and had a ball! (Ha, Ha!)  How great to have such a good time together! We filled that bowling alley!  Praise the Lord!
We are very thankful for our wonderful church family.  God is good!
Thank you for your faithful prayers and continued support!!!

How exciting to have our Living Nativity on the beautiful stage in the new church building!  Once again our children and teens did an amazing job of portraying the first Christmas.  It was a great service full of joy at remembering our Savior’s birth.  After Pastor Bill’s sermon entitled, “A Wise Approach to Christmas,” we enjoyed a delicious ham dinner together in the fellowship hall.  We even played ping pong and Pictionary/Charades and had a great time!  Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support for Beacon Free Will Baptist Church!!
We want to thank all of you for your prayers regarding Christy’s recent health crisis.  She was diagnosed with bilateral dissection of her carotid arteries due to a collagen deficiency.  Thank God she suffered no brain damage or stroke, and doctors said they expect a full recovery with an aspirin a day and 2 weeks of bedrest.  She is currently following the Gerson Therapy Diet to promote more rapid healing.  We can see God’s hand at work and are very thankful.  Thank you for your continued prayers!  Your overwhelming support means so much to us!

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, & Happy New Year!!

What a great year 2012 was!  God has been so good to us!  He blessed us with a mild winter last year enabling us to build the church more quickly.  Already this fall we had a Nor’easter with freezing rain, snow, and icy winds.  If that had happened last year when we were trying to put the roof on, it would have made things move more slowly for sure!  That is just one example of the provision God gave for getting the church built.

Our Harvest Party went so well this year at the church!! Our kids & grown-ups alike especially look forward to Pinatas, Games, Great Food, Hot Spiced & Cold Cider, Pie Baking Contest, Candied Apples, Campfire Sing-a-long, Devotion, Marshmallow Roasting, Great Fellowship, and Tons of Fun! (Campfire Marshmallow Roasting took a raincheck for the following week due to bad weather.  We had a great time around the fire-pit after some planning meetings.) It was great to have Dave & Gaye Nobles and Tommy & Sue Goodfellow visit that day!  What a blessing!! We had multiple first-time visitors who said they loved the church.  Please pray for us as we reach out to them and to others!

As we look toward Thanksgiving and Christmas, we’d like to ask you to pray about our outreach ministries.  We are planning a Thanksgiving Outreach Dinner with fresh turkeys for Sunday, November 18.  Please pray for us as we prepare food for 200 + people and that it would be an effective outreach ministry.

December 16 is our Living Nativity and Church Christmas Dinner–please pray as we prepare and advertise these events and for many people to respond to God’s great offer of Salvation in Jesus Christ!  Thank you!!

We want to personally thank each of you for your faithful prayers and support!  May God bless you with a wonderful Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year! 

Thanks again,
Pastor Bill, Christy, Michaela, Hannah, Billy,  Sarah, & Cocoa