Bloomington/Normal Great Banquet Community
Welcome in the name of above all names, that of our Savior, Christ Jesus! Our community continues its nearly 20 year history of worshiping Jesus by celebrating Fourth 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.
Tidbits from Around the Banquet Table
The latest community news to keep you in the know!
Women's Guest List (LAST UPDATED 27 MAR 2008 @ 10:00PM) for Great Banquet #83 is available here (a new browser window will open; be sure to allow blocked content if your browser settings are such). Please remember these guests in your prayers and agape.
Logan #43 team information is available here. Be sure to remember this team and guests in your prayers.
New Dates Galore for your calendar by going here!
February Newsletter is available here (a new browser window will open; be sure to allow blocked content if your browser settings are such).
Sponorship allows our community to share Christ with others ...to make Him known! Our spring weekends are coming soon (Men's March 13-16; Women's March 27-30) which means your opportunity to invite a guest to attend is now!! Our BNGB's Lay Director shares her thoughts on Extending The Invitation here. To learn more about sponsorship, go here. For an application to sponsor your guest, click here (a new browser window will open).
We Need Banners for a Banner Banquet Weekend! It is the tradition of the Great Banquet movement to pass banners along to other communities after a set of weekends. So…get creative, grab your reunion group and start making banners. Intricately sewn, hand crafted, drawn with crayons on poster board … it doesn’t matter! We need fresh banners to share on our weekends. Won't you help? *Please Note* You will not be receiving your banners back at the end of the weekends as banners will be sent on to other Great Banquet communities.
Help Wanted: Name Badge Makers This fall our name badge makers will be busy celebrating a wedding anniversary which will include some travel. Congratulations! … After many years of faithful service, they are asking for a weekend off. So we are in need of a volunteer to help make our name tags. If you are interested, please contact Iris Sonkin at 309-661-4630 for more information.
Help Needed: Set-up/Clean Up Workers We are in need of 3-5 volunteers to help with both the Men’s weekend set-up and clean-up and the Women’s weekend clean-up. These are often rewarding but under appreciated jobs. The board cannot stress enough that this is an area where we really, really need help. Please contact Alan Bruehl at 309-662-1930 or Scott Riddle at 309-962-2447 to volunteer.
Service Opportunity: Meal Servers It’s called the Great Banquet for a reason! Meal times are an important time of casual sharing on the weekends. We need meal servers to set the tables, serve the food, and clean up. Meal servers may also provide agape and simple centerpieces or decorations. Each meal needs 6-8 volunteers for everything to run smoothly. Contact Lynn Fletcher at 309-378-4602 to sign up.
The Commnunity Training and Mini-Gathering was a great blessing and success! On February 2, 2008, Rev. Jack Pitzer - the founder the Great Banquet - conducted a time of Worship and Communion then gave an overview of the Great Banquet weekend followed by questions from the audience. The large community turnout then feasted at our own "Great Banquet" potluck! A great time of information sharing and fellowship was had by all.
Our Spring weekends at East Bay will consist of a blended team of experienced Great Banquet and Bloomington/ Normal people. Teams will meet together in Decatur and Bloomington/Normal as we prepare to host our first set of Great Banquet weekends.
Our Lay Directors will be Bob Hauskins and Donna Whitsett. Both have traveled the country serving on first time weekends. Please keep this group in your prayers.
Our Logan Lay Director will be Marty Thornton. His team will also consist of experienced folks for Logan #43, which will be held April 11-13.
For those who have requested clearance, be sure to mark your calendar for the Candlelight and Closing. Unfortunately, at this time, it is too late to request clearance for Logan #43.
For Women's Banquet #83 team roster and information click here.Please mark your calendar with these important dates of upcoming BNGB Community events:
| Thursday March 27, 2008 to Sunday March 30, 2008 |
Bloomington/Normal Women's Great Banquet Weekend #83 at East Bay Camp, Lake Bloomington For team roster and information click here. |
| Thursday April 3, 2008 7:00PM |
Fourth Day Meeting for Weekends #82 and #83 at Resurrection Lutheran Church, 4114 East Oakland Avenue, Bloomington, IL |
| Sunday April 6, 2008 6:00PM |
Logan #43 Dedication Service at Calvary United Methodist Church, 1700 North Towanda Avenue, Normal, IL |
| Friday April 11, 2008 to Sunday April 13, 2008 |
Logan Correctional Center Great Banquet #43 at Logan Correctional Center, Lincoln, IL For team roster and information click here. |
| Thursday September 18, 2008 to Sunday September 21, 2008 |
Bloomington/Normal Men's Great Banquet Weekend #84 at East Bay Camp, Lake Bloomington |
| Thursday October 2, 2008 to Sunday October 5, 2008 |
Bloomington/Normal Women's Great Banquet Weekend #85 at East Bay Camp, Lake Bloomington |
| Friday October 17, 2008 to Sunday October 19, 2008 |
Lincoln Correctional Center Great Banquet at Lincoln Correctional Center, Lincoln, IL |
| Thursday March 5, 2009 to Sunday March 8, 2009 |
Bloomington/Normal Men's Great Banquet Weekend #86 at East Bay Camp, Lake Bloomington |
| Thursday March 19, 2009 to Sunday March 22, 2009 |
Bloomington/Normal Women's Great Banquet Weekend #87 at East Bay Camp, Lake Bloomington |
The entire Board would like to extend a note of thanks for the generosity shown during our Fall 2007 weekends. It costs around $15,000 to host a set of weekends. Through the generosity of this Community, all the expenses for those Fall weekends have been paid. Praise God!
It has always been the spirit of our Community that money is never an obstacle for someone who wishes to attend. Work is underway for our Spring weekends and tax deductible financial gifts can now be made to:Many have asked recently about the relationship of SonRise Chrysalis and B/N Great Banquet Community. The B/N Great Banquet respects the fact that Chrysalis now has a new sponsoring community in Heartland Emmaus and understands that they will be looking to them for direction, support and advice as needs arise.
We encourage our community to support the SonRise Chrysalis Community through prayers, sponsorship, weekend events, team service and financial contributions. Please contact Jeff Moss at (309)531-9161 to be added to the SonRise Chrysalis Newsletter mailing list or visit www.SonRiseChrysalis.org to sign-up online.