PHONE # FOR MINISTRY MEETINGS

The phone number for any Ministry wishing to have a conference call is…

(470) 480-9021.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE AS OF JUNE 30, 2020

LOCALE CONFIRMED CASES RECOVERIES DEATHS

MASSACHUSETTS 108,882 --- 8,054

UNITED STATES 2,751,043 1,146,683 130,390

GLOBALLY 10,688,727 5,855,755 516,356

source: worldometers.info

Mt. Zion Baptist Church, 33 Oak Street, Springfield, MA 01109

Volume 22; Issue 2 Rev. Dr. Atu White, Pastor July 2020

WEEKLY EVENTS FOR JUNE

Prayer & Meditation Call Wednesdays from 12 to 12:20 p.m.

*Dial-in Number: 1-646-749-3117 Access Code: 140-800-541

When using it, follow these 3 simple steps: 1. Dial the number. 2. At the prompt, put in the Access Code

followed by the # sign. 3. Press the # sign again.

~~~~~

Virtual Bible Study Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m.

Livestreamed on Facebook.com

~~~~~

Virtual Worship Service Sundays at 10:00 a.m.

Livestreamed on Facebook.com; YouTube.com; http://www.wearemtzion.com;

or *Dial-in Number: 1-646-749-3117 Access Code: 140-800-541

If you desire special prayer or would like to join Mt. Zion, you may call the Church at 413-785-5664

following Sunday service until 12 noon.

THE DUNBAR CENTER UPDATE

The Dunbar Center reopened this month to accommo-

date two (2) Summer Camp Programs. (See article in-

side this issue.)

Regarding our on-site Worship Services, Bible Studies

and Ministry Meetings, we are praying on potentially

reopening in August or September, but a reopening

date has NOT been set. Later this month, we plan to

conduct a survey of members via our One-Call tele-

phone system to get your feedback on when you think

we should open.

Whenever we return to the sanctuary, it is all but certain

three (3) things will be required:

1. Because of reduced seating in the sanctuary, at-

tendees will have to R.S.V.P. for each service.

2. Attendees will have to wear masks throughout the

service.

3. Attendees will have to practice social distancing

(i.e., stay at least 6 feet apart).

More information to come! Stay tuned!

HAPPY

JULY

BIRTHDAYS July 1-----------------Sis. Barbara Stewart

July 5--------------------Sis. Eula Johnson

July 5-------------------Sis. Jametria Rowe

July 5-------------Bro. Richard Scroggins

July 7---------------------Sis. Pamela Miller

July 9-----------------Sis. Saryah Brantley

July 11------------------Sis. Taylor Holmes

July 11------------------Sis. Shirley Walker

July 13-----------------Bro. Clifton Garner

July 14----------------Sis. Sonya Williams

July 15---------------Bro. Marcus Maddox

July 23------Sis. Kaitlin Holmes-Murphy

July 27----------------Bro. Michael Garner

July 28------------------Sis. Elaine Clough

July 29-------------------Dea. Steve Powell

July 29-------------Sis. Zanyah Roberson

July 30------------------Bro. Isaiah Garner

July 30------------------Sis. Judy Williams

July 31-------Sis. Chaunacey Hammond

July 31-----------Sis. Chelcey Hammond

July 31-------------------Sis. Valerie Hinds

HAPPY JULY

ANNIVERSARY

July 12................Bro. Bobby Hartsfield

& Sis. Christine Hartsfield

July 26.................Dea. Jesse McKnight

& Sis. Linda Gail McKnight

STRENGTH Written by Ericc Powell

We are all unique people, Coming from different places,

We all bring our talents, And our beautiful faces...

However, we are all the same, Sharing the mission of love,

To help and support each other, And our members like a glove.

Each and every one of us, Carries strengths in our heart,

To plant, to grow, to use abound, And to help set us apart.

It is in that strength, That we find joy and rest,

Because individually and as a team, We are the best! ☺

Think of your strengths as plants, For them to grow they need care,

Nurture them and give them water, Give them some light and lots of air.

Plants are visible and seen, Just like our strengths should be,

They give us energy and life, Beyond what we may be able to see.

The strength I see in us, Is that we are who we are, Being our special selves,

No matter how near or far…

I am very thankful and happy To be around people like you

Who want to make a difference For this person, and that person, too…

To say “thank you” is not enough, To you for what you bring,

To this group and our community, To make it a special thing.

We are many, but we are one. We are strange, but we are fun.

We are talented, and we are small, We are mighty, and we won’t fall…

[Note: This is not the entire poem,

rather an exert from it. The original

poem was written by Ericc for his

work team to give them encourage-

ment. But it works for us here at Mt.

Zion as well.]

UPCOMING MEETINGS The teleconference meetings listed

below are scheduled for this month.

Please plan to attend:

Youth Ministry

Friday, July 17th

at 6:00 p.m. Zoom Meeting

ID: 890 1565 3743

Password: 799603

~~~

Missionary Ministry

Thursday, July 23rd

at 6:00 p.m. Missionary Ministry members

and anyone who would like to

join are invited to attend.

To attend, dial:

+1 (470) 480-9021

~~~

Mancave

Friday, July 24th

at 6:00 p.m. All men are invited to attend.

To attend, dial:

+1 (646) 749-3122

Access Code: 223-542-437

~~~

She Shed

Friday, July 31st

at 6:00 p.m. All women are invited to

attend.

To attend, dial:

+1 (872) 240-3212

Access Code: 725-177-285

SUMMER CAMPS AT THE DUNBAR

Two (2) organizations, The After School Program, Inc. (one of our ten-ants) and the Criminal Justice Organi-zation of Hampden County are holding Summer Camps at The Dunbar Center.

The After School Camp runs from July 6th to August 31st, while the Criminal Justice Camp runs from July 6th to Au-gust 7th. Both Camps are Monday through Friday only.

Crucial

Conversations

Last month, our Pastor, Dr, Atu

White held a series of discussions

called “Crucial Conversations.”

These very timely and important

discussions were livestreamed on

Facebook.com., YouTube.com, &

our website, wearemtzion.com.

[Note: If you missed any of them,

they can be seen on our Facebook

page.]

Pastor White served as moderator

for each.

June 10th at 6:00 p.m.

“Faith & Policy”

Panelists:

Justin Hurst, City Council President

Eric Lesser, State Representative

Tracye Whitfield, City Councilor At-Large

June 10th at 7:00 p.m.

“Faith & Protest”

Panelists:

Rev. Catharine Cummings, Pastor of Wesley United Methodist Church

Dr. Barbara Headley, Pastor of Zion Community Baptist Church

Bishop Talbert Swan, Pastor of Spring of Hope COGIC &

Springfield NAACP President

June 17th at 7:00 p.m.

“Faith & Education”

Panelists:

Daniel J. Warwick Springfield School Superintendent

Denise Hurst School Committee Member

LaTonia Monroe Naylor School Committee Member

June 24th at 7:00 p.m.

“Faith & Therapy”

Panelists:

Whitney Dodds, LMHC, LPC Wellness for the Culture LLC

Jocelyn Cash Sailor, LCSW The Practice of Arthur E. Cash

LICW and Associates

A New Member Joining Mt. Zion in June was:

SIS. QUADNESA KELLY Date Joined: June 28, 2020

Method: Candidate for Baptism

Welcome Sis. Kelly!

UBC Annual Session Cancelled!

The 98th Annual Session of the United Baptist Convention of Mas-sachusetts, Rhode Island, & New Hampshire, which was scheduled to be held here in Springfield at Mt. Zion on July 9th, 10th, and 11th, has been cancelled. Our Pastor, Dr. Atu White, serves as the 1st Vice Presi-dent of the UBC Parent Body.

Another Recipe From Sis. Andrea Dixon

Here’s another quick and easy recipe

for the summer:

Easy Fruit Cheesecake (I call it pie.)

Ingredients:

1 8 oz. pk of cream cheese

1 14 oz. can of sweetened

condensed milk

¼ cup lemon juice

1 tsp. vanilla flavor

1 6 oz. graham cracker crust

Directions:

1. Beat cream cheese until fluffy.

2. Add condensed milk & vanilla.

3. Stir in lemon juice.

4. Mix well all above together

5. Pour into crust.

6. Chill for 3 hours or until firm.

7. Top with fruit (fresh or canned,

any topping you like).

Enjoy!!

The word “fruit” is mentioned over

66 times in the Bible. Pastor Atu

has been teaching us to be “fruit-

ful” in all areas of our lives. Let’s

pay attention; the signs are telling

us something, but are we paying

attention? Continue to pray & stay

safe. Mimmie

MOBILE FOOD TRUCK The Western Mass Food Bank

Mobile Food truck will be at The

Dunbar Center in the Union Street

parking lot on Friday, June 24th

from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Free

fresh produce is available to all on

a first-come, first served basis,

regardless of income. Invite family

and friends.

A Note from One of Our Readers

It’s not very often that the Newslet-

ter Ministry gets feedback on what

we do, but last month we did. We’d

like to thank Sis. Mary Richardson

for taking the time to write us a

note and for being such a dedicated

“Messenger” reader…

***

“Wanda,

I am Mary Moore’s niece, but that has no bearing on what I’m about to say…

I truly, truly enjoy the newsletters from Mt. Zion, “The Mt. Zion Messen-ger.” The puzzles and brainteasers are always tops for me.

The article you wrote on the corona-viruses (April 2020 issue) was tops. Neither TV nor newspaper could have done better.

I’m still on the fence with the brainteaser about the two ladies, Lu-cille and Mimmie, whose watch was slow. I had my grandson, who is a senior in college, helping me figure it out. He agreed with the answer for the first one. I still do not.

I have been sending the newsletters to my sister in Palm Beach, Florida. She even read something from one issue about ‘Mothers’ to her church last year.

Thanks for the good work and keep it up--you and the Staff.”

God Bless, Mary Richardson

While We Were Away…

Before The Dunbar Center closed in March, several projects to renovate and/or decorate various rooms in the building had begun. Three (3) of those rooms were completed…while we were away: The Youth Room Written by Sis. Charlette Scott

In the winter of 2019, the Youth Ministry was assigned the old dance studio space that was once occupied by the great world-renowned dance instructor, community leader and musical artist, Frank Hatchett. The Youth Ministry Leaders, along with Minister of Music Rev. John Orr, designed a youth room that embodied the artistic expression of the past and em-braced the current and future needs of Mt. Zion's children and youth. We envision that once we resume services that our young people will have a space that allows them to openly worship and fellowship.

In the future, we look forward to inviting you to an open house tour of the space that God has blessed us with. Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he shall go; and when he is old; he will not depart from it.” The Toddler Room Written by Sis. Wanda Powell

A room for infants and toddlers, appropriately named “Little Scholars Clubhouse,” was furnished with items to occupy the attention of our youngest church goers. Adults with restless kids during Sunday worship service, (from infants to age 4), are encouraged to bring them to this space. The kids can talk and play freely, and the adults can continue to supervise their child(ren) while still watching the service via the TV provided in the adjoining blue room.

A special ‘Thank You’ to Sis. Brenda Hogan and Sis. Tina Tucker-Garner for taking the lead on this project, as well as donating both new and used items, cleaning and sanitizing all the donated items, and setting up and arranging the items in the room. Also, a ‘Thank You’ goes out to Sis. Lakisha Coppedge and Sis. Judy Williams for their toy donations, the Young Deborahs Ministry for cleaning some of the toys, and to Sis. Angela Westbrook for making and hanging the brightly colored curtains that top off this child-friendly space. [Note: If anyone other than those listed above contributed to this room in anyway and your name was not mentioned, we apologize. Please let Sis. Tina Tucker-Garner or Sis. Brenda Hogan know so we can recognize you next month.] The Founders Room Written by Sis. Wanda Powell

Another room that was completed during our absence is one that we are calling the “Founders Conference Room” in hon-or of those who had the vision, the desire, and the fortitude to start Mt. Zion Baptist Church in 1977. In addition to a plaque on the wall in this conference room with the names of our Charter Members on it, there is a collage of photos fea-turing 29 of them. [Note: If anyone has photos of Founding Members who are not in the collage, please see Sis. Wanda Powell.]

This room is also our room of history. Currently, it holds plaques that list names of our deceased members, and both in-side and outside there are photos that depict Mt. Zion’s 40+ year history.

A special ‘Thank You’ to Sis. Wanda Powell for pulling together the historical plaques and photos that adorn this room, and again to Sis. Angela Westbrook for the beautiful curtains which, if you look closely, continues our ‘history’ theme with curtains that feature a ‘tree’ motif (as in our family tree).

For All Three (3) Rooms

Finally, we send a very special “Thanks” to our Volunteer Maintenance Crew who assembled furniture, built and installed shelves, set up tables and chairs, hung curtains/curtain rods, hung plaques and pictures, and performed any other job--especially the tough ones--that needed to be done. You are hugely appreciated! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!

When we get back in the building, we invite everyone to stop by and see these rooms.

BRAINTEASERS Submitted by Dea. Steve Powell

Have you been exercising your brain during the COVID-19 pandemic?

If not, here are a few brainteasers to give you a little bit of a workout. (Answers will be in next month’s newsletter.)

SUM-THING TO CONSIDER Each letter from A thru H has one of 8 values listed below, and no two letters have the same value.

Which number goes with which letter to make all the equations true?

2 3 4 5 8 12 13 17

F + A = C G + B = D F + D = H B + H = C E + G = B

RIGHT TIMING Eric lives in the Eastern Standard Time Zone. His friend Martin lives in the Central European Time Zone, six hours ahead of Eric. Eric works between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. in his local time and goes to sleep every evening at 10 p.m. on the dot. Martin works between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., and always goes to sleep at 11:30 p.m. in his own local time.

Is there any window in which Eric could call Martin after Eric’s workday without interrupting Martin on his job or disturbing Martin’s sleep?

BEE CAREFUL Alice is playing in a field where there are bees buzzing around some flowers. She notices that if one bee lands on each flower, one bee doesn’t get a flower. She also notices that if two bees land on each flow-

er, one flower doesn’t get any bees. How many flowers and bees are there?

OPPOSITES In each of the following pairs of words, switch one letter from the first word with one letter from the sec-ond word to form pairs of opposites. The switched letters can come from anywhere in either word.

FLESH / STARE ___________/___________ ALMS/REGS ___________/___________

COAL / WORM ___________/___________ HELM/HARP ___________/___________

HITCH / PIT ___________/___________ DASH/WRY ___________/___________

PLUM / SINUS ___________/___________ COT/HOLD ___________/___________

WED / TRY ___________/___________ SHADE/HIRE ___________/___________

FILL-IN THE BLANKS How many common English words (no proper nouns, please) can you make by adding a letter to each of

the blanks below? We came up with 6.

__ __ I __ Z

HOTDOG!! Arlene is shopping for her big weekend barbeque. Her budget: $100.

It cost $4 for a package of 10 hot dogs, and $3 for a package of 8 buns. How many packages of each should she buy to maximize the number of hotdogs she can serve? (Hint:

She can have extra of either, but she won’t serve a hotdog without a bun.)

ANSWERS TO LAST MONTH’S REBUSES

1. Mt. Zion 9. The Last Supper 17. The Arc of the Covenant 2. To Bear Fruit 10. Many are Called; Few are Chosen 18. High Priest 3. Forever and Ever 11. Deacons 19. Bethlehem 4. Ten (10) Commandments 12. Semon on the Mount 20. Forbidden Fruit 5. Three (3) Wise Men 13. Forgives & Forgets 21. Turn Water into Wine 6. Morning Star 14. His Eye is on the Sparrow 22. In the Upper Room 7. Faith in God 15. Father, Son & Holy Spirit 23. Jordan River 8. Is there no balm in Gilead? 16. Atu White 24. An Eye for An Eye

25. Amazing Grace

Youth Ministry News

Celebration of Graduates Congratulations to our Graduates from this school year!

Name Grade School Achievements Future School

Cameron Scott

12th Springfield Central

High

YouTube channel with 93,000 followers &

eBay entrepreneur

Keene State College Major: Business Marketing

Minor: Film/Digital Media Studies

Zachary Caudle 8th St. Michael's Academy National Junior Honor Society,

Perfect Attendance, High Honors

Pope Francis Academy

Taylor Holmes 8th Libertas Academy Springfield Honors Academy

Young Scholars It's that time of year again. We are calling all Young Scholars to turn in their A's for the 4th marking period and be reward-ed for all their hard work. Parents, please email or text a copy of your child's report card to Sis. Patrice Caudle. If you are a College Scholar, please submit a copy of your spring semester transcript. Awards will be given out once we return to the sanctuary for in-person service.

Let’s Get Ready to Vote:

VOTER REGISTRATION

It is not too early to start preparing for upcoming elections that will affect all of us. Are you a registered voter? Are your children—ages *16 or older registered? Are all adult family members in your household registered? If your answer to any of these questions is “NO”, then read on…

Those who need to register to vote are encouraged to go the website of the Massachusetts Secretary of State: (https://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/covid-19/covid-19.htm) and use the online voter registration system. If you are unable to register online, you may also register by mail.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may change the ways that we vote. But until we know more, let us be prepared.

You may submit an application to register or pre-register to vote in Massachusetts if…

• You are a citizen of the United States; and

• You are 16 years old; and

• You are not currently incarcerated by reason of a felony conviction.

[*Though you must be 18 years old in order to vote, you may pre-register to vote once you are 16 years old…Once you become old enough to vote, your local election will mail you an acknowledgement notice which is confirmation that your name has been moved from the list of pre-registrants to the list of registered voters.]

If you meet the above requirements, you may apply online, by mail, or in-person. The deadline to register to vote in any election or regular town meeting is twenty (20) days prior to the date of the election.

So…

Mark Your Calendars for these 2020 Upcoming Elections & Register to VOTE!! Type of Election Primary Election General Election

Date of Election Tuesday, September 1, 2020 Tuesday, November 3, 2020

Registration Deadlines:

By Mail, In Person, or On-Line Wednesday, August 12, 2020 Wednesday, October 14, 2020

For more information about Voter Registration, visit ‘http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/eleifv/howreg.htm’

____________________________________________________________________________________

PRAY FOR OUR SICK & SHUT-IN MEMBERS

Please keep our known sick & shut-in members in prayer. They are:

Bro. Mitch Andrews Sis. Charlotte Caldwell Sis. Bessie Cole Sis. Lugussie Dean Sis. Bamma Garvin Sis. Vivian Hines Sis. Helen Kitt Sis. Carolyn Scarnici Sis. Zula Wright

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

THOUGHTS FOR THE MONTH “A riot is the language of the unheard.”

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.~

“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity!” ~Author Unknown~