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Wow! Lent, Holy Week, and Easter have just been concluded and it was quite a whirlwind. Thanks to all of you who contributed to making this special time of the year that much more special for everyone. And I am sure the Lord is proud of all of us at Calvary Baptist Church for the effort that was put in!

I enjoyed getting involved with the Belmar Council of Churches for the first time. We attended Lenten Luncheons at the First Presbyterian Church of Belmar and enjoyed the fellowship, study, and prayer with more of the body of Christ outside of our Church. I am looking forward to a greater involvement with this group of churches in the future. I enjoyed meeting Rev. William Morris who is the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Belmar. I also enjoyed getting to know the secretary of the Presbyterian Church, Nancy Steel, and other parishioners from their church.

Most of the events of Lent should be on our Facebook and YouTube account as they were livestreamed: the Prayer and Contemplation (Ash Wednesday) Service, Maundy Thursday Service, The Good Friday Community Service held at the First Presbyterian Church of Belmar in Belmar, NJ (view at: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1CfXtv3SJ1/), the Sunrise Service, and the 10:30am In-Person Service at Calvary Baptist Church. You can view any of these services at Calvary Baptist Church by going to cbcbelmar.org, then go to the menu bar and click on LIVESTREAM, then click on YouTube to view past services.

We also had a Lenten study on Max Lucado’s series ‘He Chose the Nails’. I really enjoy Max Lucado as an author, teacher, and storyteller. We used Max’s material for last year’s Advent series and this year’s Easter Lenten Study. The next study with Max is his series on John 3:16, with DVD, study guide, and classes coming up starting on Tuesdays April 13, 20, May 4, 11, and 18. Actually, May 18 is my Anniversary!

We are looking forward to Branden’s baptism sometime in May and if you would like to be baptized during that time, please see me or Pastor Nancy.

This month is Earth Month. We will be hearing from a former Church member, Will Henniger. Will will be coming to talk to us about an upcoming tree donation he will be making to the church. Will will share at the beginning of our April 12 10:30am In-person service during the announcement time. What a great day celebrating Earth Month with the possibility of adding additional trees to our church property!

Please keep the church in your prayers as we continue to fix up our parsonage and look forward to doing a fundraising campaign to address the needs of the church. I will also be talking with the Church Staff regarding outreach and evangelism. Please keep us in prayer during these discussions. Nothing works without prayer.

Looking forward to the spring in Belmar!

In Christ,

Pastor Dwayne