First Baptist Church
of Hamilton, New York

Founded in 1796, First Baptist is an American Baptist church with an ecumenical congregation. First is the "Mother Church" of Colgate University.

2007 Pastor’s Report

Rev. Joseph E. Glaze, Pastor

2007 has been a good year for the First Baptist Hamilton church family—a year of wonderful worship and fellowship, witness and ministry.

This year First Baptist continued its practice of initiating and providing ecumenical worship services for the Hamilton community: the Christmas Mourning service before Christmas for all those for whom the holidays bring a heavy sadness from some loss; the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity this past January (in which members of local churches worshipped with other congregations); ecumenical Ash Wednesday and Maundy Thursday services; walking the Stations of the Cross throughout the village on Good Friday; and, Easter Sunrise. On July Fourth, our organist, Dr. Chris Warren, once again thrilled the community with a concert of classic American music.

Our pastor offered a church-wide Bible study during Lent: The Moral Teaching of Jesus—the Sermon on the Mount. Reverend Glaze also led four sessions on Human Sexuality, the Gospel and the Church concerning sexual orientation and the church—and, in particular, what scripture and recent understandings can contribute to the discussion. A final pastor-led study was four sessions during Advent on What Scripture Really says about the Birth of Jesus.

Our community involvement continued this year by our church hosting and supporting meetings and programs of: the Chenango Summer Music Fest; the Red Cross Blood Bank; the Hamilton Interdenominational Women’s Bible Study; the Interfaith Christmas Project; the Community Memorial Hospital Tea and Sale; and AA.

First Baptist also provided twice-yearly Square Dances which drew not only community residents but also Colgate students—funds raised from the dances went toward our many mission projects. Our Missions Committee has been quite active in 2007. The Missions Committee once again hosted in September the Hamilton CROP Walk which raised over $6400 to alleviate world hunger and through our Ten Thousand Villages sale we sold over $3100 of third-world crafts with the profits returned to those struggling craftspeople.

The Missions Committee also hosted major films for the community at the Hamilton Theater: The Cotton Patch Gospel (an award-winning musical based on the life of Christ as interpreted by Clarence Jordan) and Theologians under Hitler (the complicity of the German church with the Nazis and in the Holocaust). Al Gore’s documentary on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth, was shown at FBC.

Three of our members went on mission trips: Wendy Simcoe to Tijuana, Mexico to work with Ray and Adalia Schellinger, ABC missionaries; Amy Pennenga to the Philippines to work with Compassion International; and our Pastor, Joe Glaze to North East India to trace the steps of the great Colgate and FBC Hamilton missionaries there in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and to lecture at area Baptist theological colleges.

The 2007 Christian Women’s Fellowship annual yard sale netted over $7000 for Fellowship programs and ministry support.

In June our pastor attended the ABC-USA Biennial in Washington DC. At that meeting, FBC Hamilton was one of fewer than thirty ABC-USA churches named a “Centennial Champion” church in appreciation for our support of ABC-USA and this momentous occasion.

In June the FBC Deacons and congregation totally surprised Reverend Glaze with a celebration in honor of the 35th anniversary of his ordination on June 11, 1972.  It was a much appreciated recognition—thanks to all who were so thoughtful in planning the event!

The Deacons were active this year in many ways, but especially appreciated is Operation Glaze Heroes with many packages and notes being sent to Reverend Glaze’s children serving in Iraq—James and Lauren Glaze, and Grace and Jim Freeze.  The Deacons also coordinated several much appreciated and enjoyed Fellowship Dinners.

First Baptist Church
27 Broad Street
PO Box 73
Hamilton, New York 13346
315-824-2780