Logan Community Info Updated. Click here for the details.

» Logan Great Banquet #47 details are here.

» The February 2012 Newsletter (our latest) is here along with prior newsletters, too.

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

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

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

 

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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.

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Logan 2012 Great Banquet Team

Logan Men's Team #47 Lay Director is Joe Kreiter. The time to request clearance for attending events at the Banquet has passed. If you have requested clearance, check back often for updates and please make attendance a priority! 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.

Please support this teams in your prayers, presence (if you have clearance), 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!

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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!

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“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.

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