Archives

Organ Concert.
Saturday, September 10, 7:30 p.m.

Donald Dame, a nationally renowned organist, will perform works by Bedard, Balcom, Franck, Gigout, Jongen and Pachelbel on the church’s 116 year old Brennan & Gleason tracker organ on Saturday, September 10 at 7:30 p.m.

Mr. Dame, a native of Rhode Island, is currently organist/music director at St. Joseph Church in Providence.  He is a graduate of the New England Conservatory where he studied with Donald Willing and Yuko Hayashi.  Mr. Dame has been connected with several local churches, including Grace Church, First Unitarian Church and the Cathedral of St John in Providence.  He is a past winner of the AGO Worcester Chapter national organ competition, has concertised widely in New England and has made two concert tours of Leipzig, Germany.

Admission $10 general/$5 student.  A 200 Cupcake Collation will follow.  .

~ Also~
Sunday, September 18, 2011, 2 p.m. the 200th Anniversary Celebration and Rededication of our congregation led by Rev. Nathaniel Manderson with special guest Rev. James Miller, former pastor of The First Baptist Church in America, Dr. Stanley Lemons, Roger Williams Scholar, visiting clergy, members of our congregation, and other dignitaries.  A reception, history exhibit, and tours of the church follow this special service.    

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Holy Week Services
March 28 - April 4, 2010

The central theme for this Easter season is the book of Mark’s account of the days leading up to Christ’s transformation of the temple, betrayal, crucifixion, and resurrection.  For Palm Sunday, March 28, Pastor Manderson will deliver the message “A House of Prayer”.  There will be special music by Faure and Livingston and palms will be distributed at the end of the service.  Maundy Thursday, April 1, is a special observance of reflection and readings in remembrance of Christ’s last supper.  It will be held at 6:30 p.m. and includes hymns, prayers, and communion. A simple meal of homemade soup and bread follows.  On Easter morning, April 4, Rev. Manderson will deliver the message “Go into the World”.  In addition there will be familiar scripture readings and hymns, and special choral music by the senior choir and youth music ministry directed by organist Terry Taylor. 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
                            Coming soon -
Our popular corned beef & cabbage dinner!

                                       
        Betty G. peels potatoes for yummy dinner!

Once again Bristol's Baptist Church will host its popular corned beef and cabbage dinner.  Along with the corned beef and cabbage, each dinner includes sweet and white potatoes, carrots, linguiÇa franks, Brussels sprouts, and onions.  Homemade desserts, coffee, tea, and soft drinks will be available. All this will be put together by Chef Bob and his band of happy leprechauns.  The annual fund raising event helps people in need throughout the community.

And, back by popular demand will be special guest performer Michael Carroll, singer, songwriter, and storyteller from Bristol via Ireland.  Mike will provide Irish music throughout the evening. 

Tickets for the dinner are $12 for adults and $6 for seniors and children, and can be purchased at the door.  Take-out orders are available. Dinner will be served from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.  For directions please go to home page.
                                                               

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Fund Raising Event
May 30, 2009
Rev. Nate Manderson, Pastor First Baptist Church, Bristol, Rhode Island
The First Baptist Church of Bristol will hold a pasta dinner on May 30, 2009, between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. to raise funds for Rev. Nathaniel Manderson, pastor of First Baptist, to travel on his fifth mission trip to Haiti, to work with Partners in Development (PID.) 

Fund Raising Event

Bob Desmarais, First Baptist Church’s popular chef, will offer his famous Penne Pasta Supreme along with salad and garlic bread, followed by a choice of homemade desserts and coffee, tea, or soft drink.  Dinners are $9 for adults and $4.50 for children.  All proceeds will go toward the mission trip.  PID, headquartered in Ipswich, MA, is a Christian service organization committed to education and economic advancement in the developing world to help foster community transformation.  Programs focus on education, employment opportunities, adequate housing and medical assistance for families in need.

The First Baptist Church, known as the Stone Chapel on the Common, is located at
250 High Street, Bristol.   

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Easter Week Plans
2009

Worship service begins at 10:30 a.m. and is led by Rev. Nathaniel Manderson.  Communion is served on the first Sunday of every month.  A time of fellowship and refreshment follows the service.  All area residents and visitors are welcome to attend. 

On Palm Sunday, April 5, the morning message is “Your King is Coming”, by Rev. Manderson. Special guests, the inspiring Haitian ensemble D’Sword Gospel Choir, led by Josmanie Weche, will sing two energizing songs: Now Behold the Lamb and Yes. All members are students at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth and are partners with First Baptist’s mission activities in Haiti.  Also, the time-honored piece The Palms by Faure, and the rousing Lord of Our Hearts He Will Be by Pethel, will be performed by the senior choir.  Palms will be distributed at the service.

On Maundy Thursday, April 9, at 6 p.m. the church will host a special observance of reflection and readings in remembrance of Christ’s last supper, and will include hymns, prayers, the message “A Humble King”, and communion. A simple meal of homemade soup and bread will follow.

Easter Sunday service, April 12, includes familiar scripture readings and hymns, along with an Easter morning message, “Jesus Shows the Way.” The upbeat anthem, Glory, Glory, Glory by Vicki Courtney, will be sung by the senior choir under the direction of Terry Taylor.  And there will be a special Youth Music Ministry performance by young people Audrey Duarte and Cheyanne Grimshaw, clarinets, and Alex Duarte, trombone, playing Beethoven’s Hymn to Joy.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  Pastor's Page

During the past few years I have had the privilege of traveling to Haiti with Partners in Development (PID) along with students from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth (UMass Dartmouth), where I work.  Since the powerful earthquake that devastated Haiti on January 12, 2010, many students and administrators on campus felt compelled to organize events to raise awareness of this terrible event.  Because of my connection to past mission teams I was asked to coordinate a Candlelight Vigil that would include various religious leaders who would represent the many different faiths on campus.  As a result, on Wednesday, January 27 I hosted the event on campus which included Rabbi Jacqueline Rom Satlow, Director of the Center for Jewish Life, Father Michael Fitzgerald, a University chaplain, and Oson Mahmoud, President of the Muslim Center of Southeastern Massachusetts.   There were also representatives from various student groups who shared their thoughts and feelings through words and song.  The vigil was well received and we all felt blessed to share the time together and to extend our prayers to the Haitian people. 

A second event was held the next day for the entire campus to raise funds for PID and future mission teams that wish to travel to Haiti.  There were some amazing performances and also a powerful speech from a Haitian American graduate student who was in Haiti during the earthquake.  His stories made a deep impact upon all those in attendance.  My role was to speak on behalf of PID and their twenty year ministry in Haiti.   I spoke of the lives that had been saved and transformed, and the message that the mission teams bring to the Haitian people.  The message is simply that we, here in America, have not and will not forget them.

Hello All!

I am writing an open letter to all my family and friends to report on my trip to Haiti.  It was an honor and privilege to be with a team of sixteen people going to this place and trying to make a small difference in these wonderful people’s lives.   The organization is called Partners in Development (P.I.D.).   This particular group I traveled with was the first international team that went to Haiti from this organization.  There were students from UMASS/Dartmouth who know and have been taught by Nate Manderson.   He is the minister of the First Baptist Church in Bristol.   Some of the students have roots in Haiti and can speak French Creole, so they were able to double duty as interpreters.   There was a student who is Nigerian, one Ethiopian and another from Africa.    Another first was this team had the first nurses to go, myself and Trisha who is a traveling nurse.

The team was led by Gail Hull who is the director and founder of P.I.D.  We stayed in Port Au Prince at a guest house (Providence House) which is run by a lovely Haitian woman.  We had wonderful Haitian food served to us at breakfast and supper.   We took cold barely dripping showers, drank and brushed teeth with bottled water, and were able to get ice in the morning and evening.  No AC, just big fans.  Electricity for the guest house is provided by generators. 

We traveled together at all times on a tap-tap.  It is a big truck with benches in back, a roof and open sides and back.  It broke down twice, but was fixed by the driver.  Many gas stations water the gas down, so a filter has to be taken out and drained. 

Our team worked quite well together.  I never heard a complaint from anyone the entire trip.  The mission we went to every day is in Blanchard, a tiny place right outside Port Au Prince.  The mission has been built from the ground up.  Part of the last two surrounding walls around the compound was near completion when we left.  The team members’ jobs varied.  The concrete bricks had to be made, which is a three step process.  Most of the guys and some of the girls did this grueling work in 100 degree weather.  Some of the girls played and did arts and crafts with the kids. 

As for Trisha and me, we faced the most challenges in nursing ever in our lives.  Between the two of us, we saw over 300 patients.  Many had to be turned away because of time restraints.  Obviously, if someone was very sick, they came to the front of the line.  Age of patients ranged from ten days to eighty years old.  Most of the medications we had to work with were over the counter stuff along with some antibiotics.  We started mixing things together (creams with antibiotic, anti-itch, antifungal) with the hope that the mixture would get rid of skin bites, sores, etc.  We were giving children’s liquid Tylenol to babies who should be dosed by doctors, but there was no choice.   We would give the mom a vial and instruct how to give a micro dose.   A lot of the people just needed to get a finger stick for blood so we could check for anemia.  Most of the people we saw are indeed anemic from lack of iron and food in general.  We saw many rotted teeth in all mouths.   I could go on and on.   We also set up the pharmacy and a (future) lab which will get a microscope in the next year.  One of the rooms got a sink with plumbing and was wired for electricity provided by a generator.

So, we all worked hard and slept hard.   The areas we were in have trash piled everywhere.  There are roaming pigs, horses, donkeys, goats, and chickens everywhere.   Drivers drive FAST with their horns blowing the whole way.   Many roads are dirt with huge potholes which one drives down into and out of!   Houses are concrete or tin and consist of one to two rooms—no house is larger whether there are two or fifteen people living there.  Most people have no plumbing or electricity.   People I met were soft spoken, kind, smiling, grateful for help and seemed to be happy with whatever they could get.   A bar of soap and toothpaste given to them would get you a big hug and smile. 

On Sunday we went to a Catholic service which lasted two hours.  We attended there because two of our group had relatives there and they begged us to go to church with them.  We did not understand a thing, but listening to the people singing their hearts out to God gave one a shiver down the spine.  These people have a lot of faith.

After church we traveled an hour and a half to a beautiful beach resort.  We had to drive through the desert to get there.  Crystal clear blue water, white sand and the mountains in the background provided a very scenic view.  The day before, we traveled up a mountain where only rich, white Haitians live.  They have NOTHING to do with the poor down below.  What a dramatic difference to drive from one extreme to another. 

I would like to thank all of you who have given me kind words, encouragement, emotional support, financial support and just love in general.  I am already planning on my next trip back to Haiti, hopefully by next summer.

Love and thanks to all, Lisa