Nettie Baker Sunday....

MISS NETTIE BAKER

While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people dropping their gifts in the collection box.  Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two  small coins [or “mites”].  “I tell you the truth,”  Jesus said, “this poor widow has given more than  all the rest of them.  For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.”  Luke 21: 1-4 (NLT)

          The second Sunday in June is “Nettie Baker Sunday.”  The following is the story of Miss Baker, and her contributions  

          Many years ago, Miss Nettie Baker lived on Hawkins Avenue near the railroad station where she kept house for her widowed brother and his daughter.  She loved this little church at Five Corners and participated in all the activities.  She was a frail woman, but she managed to walk to the church each Sunday unless some church goer took her.  As time passed, her brother died, her niece moved away, and Miss Baker was alone.  But, her support of her church by her presence and her prayers never wavered.  In her last few years she boarded on Ronkonkoma Avenue.  

          When she died she left her entire estate to the church.  It truly was a “widow’s mite” (see Luke 21:2 above) amounting to under $25.00.  At that time, the minister of this church, The Rev. Harold Sabin (who was as clever with his hands as he was with the written word) used the money to buy the materials to make the brass light which shines on our present day altar.  Rev. Sabin made this brass lamp with his own hands – fashioning it in a little building behind Newton's Garage.

          In this way, Miss Baker's final gift to the church has become a memorial of beauty which you will never see in any other church.  Because there was no family left to remember Miss Baker, the Sunday school at that time filled a wooden cross, made by The Rev. Sabin, with their flowers.  That cross was built from the altar rail which had graced the church.

          Each year a plain wooden cross filled with many holes similar to the one made by Rev. Sabin, is filled with flowers by the Church School children and congregation members.  After the church service it is taken to the cemetery and placed on Miss Baker's grave.  Just as she remembered her church, so 

          What a beautiful tribute to a woman, who would otherwise have been forgotten.  She gave all she had to the church she loved, and to the glory of God.  This is only one of the many stories of people who have remembered our church in their last will and testament, and left donations for 

         Please remember to bring some flowers to service on the second Sunday in June to help remember this remarkable woman and the heritage of our church.