Community Calendar | FYI | Support BNGB | Guest Application | Newsletters | Contact Us | About Us | BNGB Board | Simple Schedule | National Site

Welcome in the Name of above all names, that of our Savior, Christ Jesus! Our community continues its more than 20 year history of worshiping Jesus by celebrating 4^TH Days made possible by 72-hours of renewal...or as we say in the Great Banquet: To know Jesus as Savior and Lord and to make Him known!

» Is a Great Banquet Weekend for you? See what folks from First Presbyterian, Normal, Illinois say here.

» Spring Teams latest details are here along with clearance for Logan here.

» Discussing the Formation of an Awakening Weekend is here.

» The Rev. Dr. Charles B. "Chip" Hardwick tells what team service means to him here.

» The August 2011 Newsletter (our latest) is here along with prior newsletters, too.

» The Calendar has been Updated! Check out what's planned here.

»»» Additional FYI is available here. «««

 

Please use the scroll bar on the right to access future dates.

Back to Top

Should I Attend a Great Banquet Weekend?

What is a Great Banquet weekend and should I attend? These two questions are almost always the beginning of a life changing and eternity securing event known as a Great Banquet weekend. Rev. Becca Bruner and some folks from First Presbyterian Church in Normal, Illinois, have put together a YouTube® video to help try to answer if a Great Banquet weekend if for you:

For more information on the Great Banquet 4^TH Day experience including Great Banquet's image, history, and recommendations on who should attend, click here.

To attend a Great Banquet weekend in the Bloomington/Normal area, simply contact a member of our community for sponsorship or contact our community by your preferred method (mail, email, specific board member) here.

Back to Top

Spring 2012 Great Banquet Teams

Men's Team #98 Lay Director is Al Beherens. The team's dedication service will be 6:00PM on Sunday, March 11, 2012 at Calvary United Methodist Church, 1700 North Towanda Avenue, Normal, Illinois. This Great Banquet weekend will begin with check-in at 7:00PM on Thursday, March 15, 2012 at Pilchard Hall at East Bay Camp, Hudson, Illinois.

Women's Team #99 Lay Director is Karen Reginelli. The team's dedication service will be 6:00PM on Sunday, March 25, 2012 at Calvary United Methodist Church, 1700 North Towanda Avenue, Normal, Illinois. This Great Banquet weekend will begin with check-in at 7:00PM on Thursday, March 29, 2012 at Pilchard Hall at East Bay Camp, Hudson, Illinois.

Logan Men's Team #47 Lay Director is Joe Kreiter. The team's dedication service will be 6:00PM on Sunday, April 22, 2012 at Calvary United Methodist Church, 1700 North Towanda Avenue, Normal, Illinois. This Great Banquet weekend will run from Friday, April 27, 2012 to Sunday, April 29, 2012 at Logan Men's Correctional Center, Lincoln, Illinois. Information on clearance is available here.

The East Bay teams hope that you are are in prayer for the answer to this question: Who are you sponsoring? Also, room banners will also be greatly appreciated, too. Please support all of these teams in your prayers, presence, agape (especially notes for Logan), and gifts as they show Christ to His guests and give God all the glory for the opportunities He provides!

Back to Top

Clearance for Logan #47 Great Banquet Weekend

The Bloomington/Normal Great Banquet Community has always held a special place for His prison ministry close to our hearts. The words of our Lord, “I was in prison, and you came to Me” {Matthew 25:36} are actually lived out by more than just team members as clearance allows anyone within the community to participate in Candlelight and Closing at Logan during this Spring's banquet.

Temporary clearance (which is good for the two events during the banquet at Logan) may reqeusted by supplying your full legal name, date of birth, social security number, and your contact phone number to Board Prison Liaison Harry Jiles by email at sabinahjDE COLORES!@hughesDE COLORES!.net (please remove the DE COLORES! to make it look like a regular email address) or by phone at 309-830-2642. Please get this information to Harry as soon as possible but no later than Thursday, March 1, 2012. Please note that temporary clearance from prior Logran or Lincoln banquets have expired and must be re-applied for for this Logan banquet.

Even if you have permanent clearance at Logan please get your name and contact phone number to Harry by either email or phone (see above). Your name must be on the clearance list at Logan for this banquet to be admitted to the Candlelight and Closing even if you have permanent clearance to Logan; had clearance to Logan in Spring 2011 or before; or had clearance to Lincoln last fall.

Make attendance a prirority if you request it and it's granted. Harry, the team, and the officials at the facility go to considerable effort to clear folks in our community for attendance during these banquets. Show your appreciation for their efforts and the love of Christ to His guests by attending!

Back to Top

Discussion on Forming an Awakening Weekend Are Underway

What is the “Awakening”? It is an orderly, structured weekend designed for teens who have completed their freshman year of high school through those who are in their senior year of high school with the intent of awakening an awareness of each one's need to accept Jesus as their Savior, and then begin to make Him Lord in all areas of life. It is a Friday through Sunday teen retreat that is similar to Chrysalis® which is familiar to many in our community. Additional information about Awakening can be found at the Great Banquet National website.

Your Bloomington/Normal Great Banquet Board is in the process of discerning if we should begin hosting Awakening weekends. Should we begin offering Awakening, additional support of prayers, time, and money will be needed from our BNGB community. Please keep your board and our BNGB community held up in prayer during this time of discernment.

The Board wants to hear from you! The Board's decision will affect the entire BNGB 4^TH Day Community. Proverbs 15:22 tells us “Without consultation, plans are frustrated, but with many counselors they succeed.” Help our community to succeed in the this decision by telling us your thoughts on or before February 3, 2012. Contact methods (mail, email, specific board member) are available here.

Back to Top

Chip Hardwick on Team Service and Attending a Great Banquet

In the Fall of 2011, the Rev. Dr. Charles B. Hardwick (pictured at right) - or just Chip to those that have served with him - wrote the following piece for an electronic newsletter for the members of Second Presbyterian Church in Bloomington, Illinois. He was getting ready to serve as an Assistant Lay Director giving the A Life of Grace talk on our Men's Banquet #96. With his permission, here's what Chip wrote:

“For a month, I've been working with [Second Presbyterian Church, Bloomington, IL] members Finn Amble, Emily Bruehl, John Dirks, and Laurie Heermance on the Great Banquet team. The Great Banquet is…[a] version of the Roman Catholic Cursillo® or the Methodist Walk to Emmaus®. The team and its coordinators are from many different denominations. The Great Banquet is a way for people to view Christianity through teaching as well as the ‘Christian experience’ in a Thursday-Sunday retreat.”

“I went on a Walk to Emmaus® weekend in 1988 when I lived in Kentucky. I was young and new to town and the retreat was so helpful in finding community and feeling loved in a place where I did not have many friends. The weekend is designed to overwhelm the guests with Christian care and encouragement; it did just that for me!”

“The weekends are often very powerful for guests who come to understand God's grace and forgiveness for the first time. The weekend includes a number of different talks by laity and pastors. These talks combine to form a view of Christianity which lifts up the amazing good news that God does not love us because we have done something to earn it...he loves us simply because he loves us. The weekend is filled with surprising acts of grace which help guests not just believe this truth, but to feel it.”

“This will be my second time to serve on a team here in Bloomington-Normal. One year ago I was so glad to be able to see lives transformed. I could go on and on, but I remember one conversation in particular where a guest turned to Christ, again, for the first time in years. Without that retreat, it's hard to say where he might be now.”

“A lot of folks from [Second Presbyterian Church] have gone on one of these weekends. If you have not attended one, I encourage you to do so! The event goes from Thursday evening through Sunday evening…It would be fun to see God on the move in your life through one of these weekends!”

Since writing this article, Chip has moved on from being the Pastor/Head of Staff at Second Presbyterian Church in Bloomington, Illinois since 2007 to Director of Theology, Worship and Education for the General Assembly Mission Council [PC(USA)] in January 2012 at Louisville, Kentucky. The loss of Chip from Second Presbyterian and BNGB is a tremendous gain to GAMC. We wish him God's blessing on his work and life as well as our thanks for his service and this great article!

Back to Top

“Could I Get In A Reunion Group, Please?”

Over the years, we have received several requests for Reuunion Group information from folks who are interested in a joining one. We don't keep a list of existing Reunion Groups and who to contact, but it is an important topic for our community. After all, even our Savior and Lord, Christ Jesus, knew the importance of support when He sent out His disciples two by two and Solomon in Ecclesiastes reminds us of the importance of support.

Reunion Groups take effort: to start, to join, and to just keep going...and, if the group you are in is not working for you — well, it all starts again. Yet, the fellowship and blessing from a Reunion Group make the efforts all worth it! So, if you are not currently in a Reunion Group, what can you do to get into one? Here are some suggestions:

• Support the Community and the Banquets: Attend community gatherings and events. During Banquet weekends attend Thursday Night Send-Off, Candlelight Worship, and Closing on the East Bay weekends. Attend the Fourth Day meeting after the Women's weekend.
• Support our Prison Ministry: Just like the weekend Banquets, our prison ministry at Logan and Lincoln Correctional facilities need your presence, too.
• Give of Yourself: Volunteer to serve meals on Banquet weekends. Organize a group to make pillow or meal agape, banners, or snacks for the guests. During prison weekends, organize others to write agape notes to our guests.

What do all of these have in common? Fellowship. Fellowship with others so you can find out who is in a Reunion Group or who is interested in starting one. Take advanatage of these fellowship opportunities to get connected to, or start a new, Reunion Group.

Back to Top

Contact Us | Support BNGB | Home

 

Back to Top