Christmas Cantata 2009

The choir did a wonderful job presenting the Christmas cantata this year. The cantata was entitled Joy To The World and included many different styles of music.

Below you'll find some excerpts from the cantata.

This is Mary Was The First One To Carry The Gospel which is an upbeat song made popular by the Gaither Vocal Band.



This song is a medley containing What Child Is This? and Who Is This Child?. Ask any choir member - this was either their favorite song in the cantata, or their least favorite, and for many of us, that opinion changed from practice to practice :)

Jillian's Baptism

During the service on December 27, Jillian was baptized. Rob was our guest speaker and performed the baptism.

Christmas Eve: Sweet Boy In The Hay

Caroline wrote the words and music for this song called Sweet Boy In The Hay and it was presented for the first time ever by Caroline and Robyn at our Christmas Eve service.

Youth 2009 Christmas Movie

At long last, we proudly present the 2009 Youth Christmas movie. If you missed the world premiere during the church service, now is your chance to enjoy the movie in the comfort of your own home.

Special thanks to Robyn for all of the hard work directing this play, and an even bigger thanks to all of the kids who worked so hard to make such a great movie.

The movie is presented in two parts and is about 20 minutes long. Thanks again - and we look forward to an even bigger production next year!!!

Part 1 (stops right before the appearance of the "wise guys")


Part 2 (begins with the appearance of the "wise guys")


As always, if you start playing the video, you can click on it to be taken to Youtube. There, you'll have some options to play the video in higher quality.

40th Birthday Party for Brian and Anthony

The church celebrated Brian and Anthony's 40th birthdays with a surprise party last night during Youth Group! It was a great way to welcome them to old age :)

Celebrity Stalking With Matt and Caroline

Matt and Caroline always enjoy stalking celebrities at concerts.


Matt with Sonya Isaacs from The Isaacs.


Caroline with her hero, Wes Hampton from the Gaither Vocal Band. Be sure to ask to see Caroline's autographed CD!! She's proud of that one!

One More Batch of Pictures From Gaither Homecoming

OK, one final batch of pictures from the Gaither Homecoming Christmas concert.



Hemenway members enjoying the concert in the 2nd row on the floor!!

Judi, this one's for you - this is Judi's new hero, David Phelps from the Gaither Vocal Band.

More Pictures From Gaither Homecoming 2009

Here's some more pictures from the concert!



Judi's new hero - David Phelps, singing O Holy Night.


Gloria Gaither sharing a Christmas message.



Gaither Vocal Band (David Phelps, Mark Lowry, Michael English, Wes Hampton and Bill Gaither)



Lynda Randle singing a stirring rendition of Go Tell It On The Mountain.



The Isaacs shared some bluegrass music, as well as some accapella favorites.

Gaither Homecoming 2009

Hemenway was well represented at the Gaither Christmas Homecoming concert last Saturday night. Ten church members were in attendance, sitting in row 2 on the floor!!! Here's a few pictures from the 3 1/2 hour concert!!



Russ Taff singing.


Buddy Greene - these guys were amazing playing guitar, harmonic and accordion!



Charlotte Ritchie singing a solo. She used to sing backup for Jeff and Sheri Easter.


Reggie and Ladye Love Smith singing a duet.


Bill Gaither showing off his infamous "Gaither Lights".

Mess Olympics 2009

Thank you to everyone who attended Mess Olympics 2009!! Ted and Linda, we appreciate you letting us tear up your yard!!

This year's event was saw bigger teams, more messes, and a lot of fun.

Congratulations to the blue/teal team for winning the event. While the event was declared a "tie", after watching this video you will see the lengths that the other teams went to in order to win.

I'm especially proud of the blue/teal team for their dedication to playing fair, and for ensuring that the spirit of fun remained far more important than winning.

Without further ado... here is the video:

Special Music from the Past Few Weeks

Here's a few videos of our music from the services from the past few weeks.

Robyn sang Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) and was accompanied by her son Kyle:



Robyn and her cousin sang Jesus Messiah as a duet.



If you like these songs, check out the Christian artist Chris Tomlin - he sings these and many other great inspiring worship songs!

Congratulations to Jody!

Just got word that Jody passed her nursing state boards!! Way to go Jody!!!

July Newsletter

Here is the July newsletter. Thank you to Gene, Judi and everyone who contributed!

Bible School 2009 Videos

Bible School is coming next week. Here are two videos that will be used at our church during lessons. Be sure to check out the Sunday School rooms this Sunday to see all the decorations and props that were created for this event.

Thanks to Robyn, Allison, Marshall, John and a few of their friends for their hard work in filming these illustrations.

The first video is the story of two broken items. A girl forgives her sister when her prized digital camera is broken, however that same sister doesn't forgive her own friend when she ruins her new CD.



The second video is the story of the ungrateful servant. The king forgives the debts of his servant, only to find that servant refusing to forgive someone who owed him a debt.

The Long Awaited Video...

The wait is over... the video of the year is finally year!

Described by many as "unlike anything you've ever seen" and "you have to see it to believe it", Joe-sephine and Matt-ilda performed a stirring rendition of Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On.

As you can tell, the crowd was deeply moved during the number.



For those of you who did not attend, this was done to raise $300 which our Outreach Committee used as part of a larger donation to local food banks.

Congratulations to Josh for having his first kiss caught on film!!

Mother's Day Youth Sermon

During our Mother's Day Service, the youth talked about their mothers during the sermon portion of our service.

June Newsletter

Here is the June newsletter. Thanks to our volunteers for all of your hard work each month getting this prepared!

Miniature Golf/Pizza Outing

Last Sunday night, 18 youth/adults from the church went miniature golfing in Newburgh, followed by a lot of pizza and video games at Pizza Chef. We all had a great time of fun and fellowship.

Anthony proved he still is the man when it comes to Galaga. Ask his children - they were impressed!

Mother's Day Service

Our youth ran the entire service on Mother's Day and did a wonderful job. Here's a few highlights from the service.

Cheryl's class (pre-k and kindergarten) sang a song about our risen Jesus.



Robyn's class sang a medley of songs including Jesus Loves the Little Children and Jesus Loves Me. Lizzie served as a special guest vocalist :)



Several of the youth read Mother's Day poems. Here is William reading one.



We sang a few songs, all lead by our youth. This is The Heart of Worship led by Alyssa, Shelby, Karyssa and Adrienne.

Adult Sunday School Lesson - May 24, 2009

We will be discussing the beginning's of Absalom's plans to attack David.



Sunday school classes meet in the education wing at 9 AM. We will be continuing classes throughout the summer.

If you would like to teach the kids during this time for one or more Sundays, please let Matt, Robyn or Anthony know. Summer is a great time for everyone to get involved in the education of our youth!

New Church Website

Our Young Adults Sunday School class has been hard at work on a new church website. It can be found by clicking below.

View New Church Website

So why do we have 2 church websites?

What you are viewing here is the "blog". This is more of a running stream of things going on at the church - pictures, videos, etc. It consists of short little posts and is updated on a frequent basis. Think of this as the day-to-day view of Hemenway.

The new church website contains more static information. It talks about our church, the service times and what to expect when coming to Hemenway to worship. This site will also include the current newsletter and possibly a calendar of events (depending on what direction our Young Adults take it).

Hemenway Men's Christian Outreach

The first meeting of the Hemenway Men's Christian Outreach took place at Robert's Stadium last week. As you can see, we all had a great time!! Stay tuned for more outings like this in the near future.

Here is a video of some of the action. Pay particular attention to Anthony's commentary when the music fades out about half way through the video.

Concert at Library

Yesterday, Alyssa and Karyssa were in several concerts around town. First they went to all the nursing homes in Boonville and performed, then ended up at the library for one last big performance. They performed a lot of good ole fashioned rockin' oldies, with lots of singing and dancing and did a great job!



I thought it was funny what Lizzie said when she saw the girls. She said "There's Karyssa... and there's another Karyssa!".

Hemenway Has a Published Author!!

Did you know Hemenway has a published author? Robyn has recently published her first book, entitled Singled Out in Center Field: Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend. You can see the book on Amazon.com, or better yet, stop Robyn at church on Sunday and pick up an autographed copy!

Congratulations Robyn on getting published!!

Youth Sports

If you haven't had an opportunity to see our youth play soccer, don't miss your chance! Their season is winding down quickly. Clay, Josh and Tyler all play on the same soccer team (coached by Cody), and as you can see from the pictures, it can get muddy out there!

Loge vs. Oakdale Track Meet

The Loge vs. Oakdale rivalry lived on last Thursday in the form of a track meet. Several youth from our church were part of this.

Katelyn ran a great 800m race and shaved 12 seconds off her best time! Ian participated in boy's shotput and Shelby, Alyssa and Karyssa participated in girl's shotput.

William also got a chance to throw the shotput (he almost dropped it on his toe!).

Adult Sunday School Lesson - May 3, 2009

We will be discussing the first events that take place after Absalom takes control in Jerusalem.

Music from the Past Few Weeks

Here's some clips of the music at Hemenway over the past few Sundays.

My Life Is In You Lord (Congregation)



Precious Lord, Take My Hand (Congregation)



My Lord, My Love, Is Crucified (Choir)

Adult Sunday School Lesson - April 26, 2009

We are in the middle of discussing David's troubles following the incident with Bathsheba. In this lesson, we will be discussing how Absalom begins his attempt to take over Jerusalem from his father, David.

Adult Sunday School Lesson - March 1, 2009

The lesson today is on 2 Samuel 9. In this chapter, David seeks out a relative of Saul and show's him God's kindness.

Adult Sunday School Lesson - February 22, 2009

We will be discussing the many wars of David in 2 Samuel 8.

Service Music - February 8, 2009

The choir opened with a medley of songs that included songs such as The Old Rugged Cross, Old Time Religion, Standing on the Promises and In the Garden. There is a rumor floating around that Brian was quite tired after singing, due to the fact that he had to carry that new guy in the back row through the whole song...



Robyn and Caroline sang Thy Word.

Adult Sunday School Lesson - February 15, 2009

We will be discussion 2 Samuel 7. In this chapter, David wants to build a nice house for the Ark of the Covenant, and you might be surprised at God's answer!

2nd Annual Basketball Fundraiser

Here is a video with some highlights of our 2nd Annual Basketball Fundraiser.

We played 3 games, and you'll see highlights of each one. The first was the Mommies vs Kids game featuring our kindergarten and preschool kids. The 2nd was a non competitive game with adults vs. youth and the 3rd was the competitive game with adults vs. youth.

Obviously this game wasn't about who won or lost - but the adults did win, and they won BIG. In the competitive game the youth started out with a 30 point advantage, and lost by 20. No matter how you add that up - they lost by 50 points!! Wow...



NOTE: For better quality, start the video, then click anywhere inside the video. This will take you to YouTube. Look for the link that says "watch in high quality" that appears directly below the video.

Adult Sunday School Lesson - February 8, 2009

We will be discussing how David transports the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, and some of the mishaps along the way.

Service Music - January 25, 2009

Better late than never! Now that power is back on, I'm back in town, etc.... I can finally get the music from two weeks ago online!!

The service on the 25th was a service of music.

The choir opened with an anthem entitled I Believe In You/Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus.



The congregation learned two new songs. The first was Hallelujah (Your Love Is Amazing).



The second new song was Amazing Love (How Can It Be).



The service continued with Shout to the Lord.



Two old time favorites were also sung. The first was Redeemed.



The service concluded with Victory in Jesus.

Service Music - January 18, 2009

The choir opened the service with On Eagles Wings.



The congregation joined in singing two hymns. The first was Precious Lord, Take My Hand.



The second hymn during the opening of worship was He Keeps Me Singing.



The offertory was played on the piano. The song is called Ancient Words.

Adult Sunday School Lesson - January 18, 2009

This week, we will be discussing the capture of Jerusalem, and how David becomes the recognized king of Israel.

Snow Skiing

The annual church trip to Paoli Peaks for snow skiing will be Saturday, January 24, 2009. You can find out more information about Paoli at www.paolipeaks.com.

We are asking all adults to pay for themselves, but the church will pay for all of our youth.

Plan to meet in the church parking lot at 7:30 AM on that Saturday. Please contact Matt if you want to sign up for this outing. The sign up sheet will also be circulated this coming Sunday.

Fundraising Notes

You will see the youth of the church walking around with pledge sheets for the 2nd Annual Adult vs. Youth Basketball Fundraiser, which will be held at Studio B on Sunday, January 25, 2009 at 5 PM. Please consider pledging our youth, as this money is how we will pay for the ski trip. The cost per youth is slightly over $50 for Paoli.

Service Music - January 11, 2009

The choir opened the service by singing My Savior.



The congregation joined in for two songs during the opening of worship. The first was When the Roll is Called Up Yonder.



The second was an old time Southern Gospel favorite I Feel Like Travelin' On.

Ernie Haase and Signature Sound in Concert - Thursday Night/Newburgh

Ernie Haase and Signature Sound will be in concert at First Christian Church in Newburgh this Thursday night (January 15, 2009) at 7 PM.

Tickets are $20 and are still available. You can get them at iTickets.com or by calling 1(800)965-9324.

All tickets are will-call which means you'll pick them up at the door, and are general admission. So even if you get a ticket at the last minute, it doesn't mean you'll have a bad seat!

If you want to carpool, contact Matt and Caroline and we can arrange to meet at their house and all ride together.

Adult Sunday School Lesson - January 1, 2009

We will be discussing the assassination of Ishbaal, and how David reacts to the assassins when they bring him the news.