Historical Events(September, 2012 – August, 2013)
SpencerBaptistChurch, Spindale
September was full of new beginnings as we kicked off a new missions year, a new Sunday School year, and a new music year. All of our preschool and children’s choirs, GA’s, RA’s, Mission Friends, and Youth on Mission groups resumed and our Wednesday night activities indeed made Spencer “The Place To Be.” Our Pave the Way Committee/Ministry continues to operate fully within the Spindale area, providing transportation to church for many children and adults.
On Sept. 7 our church participated in Rutherford County’s Relay for Life, and ended up raising close to $4,000 for the American Cancer Society. We had a great time of fellowship together as we worked towards this common goal.
The RAs held a breakfast in early October to raise money for a new playground for our church. The RA leaders did the cooking, while the boys refilled drink and took trash away from the tables. The boys are learning about service to others and giving to God. Also in October, the children of our church were once again “treated” to a special “Trunk or Treat” and Fall Family Festival. We had hot dogs, games, a hayride, crafts, and more. This was a wonderful alternative to trick or treating and our members enjoyed a special time of passing out treats from the trunks of their cars! Also throughout the month of October, we collected toothbrushes for the Red Box ministry of NC WMU.
A new WMU group was launched at Spencer Baptist Church on October 15, 2012. We now call it the “Caring Hearts” group and this group meets once a month to sew. They make dresses, shorts, dolls, blankets, hair bows, and more – all with a message of salvation attached. It has been a joy to see this group grow throughout the year.
November was a busy month for Spencer. We hosted the ”The Sound of Singing Men” on Nov. 3. This concert was preceeded by a BBQ supper which was used as a fundraiser for a new playground. We also participated in the Baptist World Day of Prayer. Our annual Thanksgiving Lovefeast was on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. This formal banquet is an annual event in which we fellowship, eat and worship together as we give thanks to God for the many blessings of the year. At the end of the evening, our youth assembled fruit baskets for our Homebound Members. They met the following day to deliver these gift baskets to each person.
Spencer Baptist Church worked in conjunction with Van Shehan’s “Rev It Up for Christmas” Toy Run again this year to promote a toy collection across the community. His huge 18 wheeler made stops at all the elementary schools in Rutherford County and children brought toys which were used for others. Over 1000 toy items were collected for children who otherwise would not receive such items at Christmas. Volunteers from our church helped to distribute these toys and gifts to families and schools that had been selected to receive the gifts. In addition, Spencer sponsored our own Project Angel Tree, with names of children in our area who needed assistance with toys and clothing. Each applicant was given an angel ornament and church members and Sunday School classes selected ornaments off the tree and then bought gifts for that “angel.” We were able to help 57 children with Christmas this year! It was a huge blessing to all involved.
Throughout the year, our RA’s sponsored a recycling campaign and have been encouraging our members to bring all of their aluminum cans to the church. When they turned them in for money, they had enough to purchase Christmas dinners for 17 families. The boys met and packed the food for each family who otherwise would not have enjoyed a holiday meal.
The rest of the Advent season was full of activity around our church. There were many special presentations throughout the Advent season. Our preschool and children’s choirs presented “A Shepherd’s Story”and The Adult Choir presented ”Jesus Emmanuel.” Our church family also gathered to go caroling to our Homebound Members during this month. We participated with the other churches in the Central Rutherford Ministerial Association at the annual Candlelight walk and worship experience at the Spindale House. The season was concluded as we gathered for a Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at 9PM on Dec. 24th.
We received the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering/Global Mission Offering through the month of December. We met and then exceeded our goal of $10,000 by raising $12, 190.00. Several special events helped us work up to this goal. Our Mission Friends, RA’s and GA’s held a poster contest about The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Each group designed a set of posters to illustrate important point about this offering. Church members then voted for the winning group by putting money in the corresponding group’s container. It was a great way to raise money with a little friendly competition between our children’s mission groups. Our RA’s won the contest but all of the children were treated to an ice cream party! Also during this time, the RA boys held a Punt, Pass, and Kick campaign. They took pledges from people based on the number of yards they could punt, pass, and kick a football. After church in one Sunday in December, we gathered in the back yard for the boys to hold this event. They raised close to $300 with this campaign. During this time for adults, the WMU hosted an International Missions Study to educate us on the needs of others. The youth once again sponsored the Missions Posat Office allowing members to send Christmas Cards to other members (with all money being raised for missions)
Our Youth participated in an annual Winter Retreat January in Boone, NC. Thirty-five youth and adults participated in this weekend time together at the Covington Lodge. The youth also led us in participating in the “Souper Bowl of Caring” project to help feed the hungry/homeless in our area. As attendees left the worship service on Feb 3, our youth held soup pots, collecting dollars for this ministry. Also after morning worship, a soup lunch was held in the FamilyLifeCenter to raise additional money. The total we received for hunger for hunger ministries was $750.00.
Our children participated in “Children’s Ministry Day” in February as well. They learned about budgeting money and being able to help others with only a limited amount of money. They were split into groups and sent on a shopping spree with $30 per group and instructions to buy the most items possible for the Communities in Schools Backpack programs as possible with that money. The winning group came back with over 100 items, and all of the items were then donated to the backpack program at Spindale Elementary School.
Spencer participated once again in the weekly Lenten Services sponsored by the Central Rutherford County Churches. Area churches took turns providing the Lunch Meal. This year the services were held each Tuesday of Lentat First Baptist in Spindale Church.
Also in February, Spencer Baptist voted to begin a Non-Profit Ministry to refurbish old houses and provide housing and hope for the working poor. The foundation has since been named the Resurrection Housing Ministry and is currently working to obtain grants and other resources for this ministry. Three houses are already owned by the Foundation.
Our church held our Annual Easter Egg Hunt for children the Saturday before Easter. The Adult Choir presented the cantata “In The Presence of Jehovah” during Palm Sunday worship services. On Easter Sunday, sunrise services were held on the front steps of the church, and a special Resurrection worship service was held at our normal time of 10:55 AM. During the month of April, we observed our Week of Prayer of North American Mission and received the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering/Global Mission Offering. We received close to $5,000 for this year’s offering.
In April, Spencer celebrated 87 years of ministry. A special worship service and dinner on the grounds was held to mark this occasion. Our youth participated with the Rutherford Housing Partnership’s “Youth Workday” in April, and we hosted a Youth Ministry Training Lab as well.
Special services in May included our preschool and children’s choir end of year worship concertand presentation of “That’s So Daniel.” We also had a worship service with specialrecognition for high school and college graduates. In late May, we celebrated with our GA and RA groups as they held an end of the year recognition service. The boys and girls received numerous badges representing all the work they had completed throughout the year. They also shared with us the many wonderful things they had learned about missions and ministry as they had participated in GA’s and RA’s.
Over the summer, our church hosted a special community event for our church and community. This event was held at the Spindale House and we had inflatable games, hot dogs, sno-cones, etc. The purpose was to register children and adults for VacationBibleSchool. The event was a huge success and helped our community understand that SpencerBaptistChurch cares about the people of Spindale and surrounding areas! VacationBibleSchool was held in June. We enrolled 264 participants this year, with an average attendance of 214! We also held “Marvelous Mondays” throughout the summer for children in grades 1-5. Participating children went to the movies, Water Park, nature centers, and more.
Our youth went on a mission trip with in July to do roofing! This wasn’t the original plan, but God calls us at times to change plans, so we did. The youth had a great experience as they joined FBC, Maiden for this missions opportunity. Also, over 50 young people and chaperones attended Youth Week at Caswell in July. Our youth/adults continued their participation with the Kentucky Mission Efforts, making numerous trips to KY throughout the rest of the year to deliver clothes, household supplies, and other items collected by Spencer.
The last week of July/first week of August, we held a “Worship Arts Camp” for kids entering grades 1 – 12 in partnership with Mt. Vernon Baptist Church. The camp was designed to teach children and youth and we are all made to worship God in all that we do – whether it is singing, playing and instrument, doing a drama sketch, using puppets, dancing, etc. We had 72 campers, and 20 workers. The campers spent the day singing in large group, and then participating in small groups of their choice. Some of the children were able to minister at Henderson Care on Thursday of our camp week. Our camp was a huge success and we ended the week with a worship experience which showcased all that the campers had learned. We hope this experience will be one that we can continue in the years to come!
In August, the WMU sponsored “Christmas in August.” This year’s efforts were aimed at helped children in our community who need school supplies. As part of this night, our RAs sponsored a Donut Hole Eating Contest. They took pledges from people by how many donuts the boy could consume in 60 seconds. All monies raised went to support the 2013-2014 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering/Offering for Global Missions.
The handi-men and women of our church have been very active this year as they have built several wheelchair ramps for people. They have also roofed a house for one of our members. These people have been working hard and restored two bathrooms within our church, adding showers to the existing space since our facility is used as an emergency shelter for the Red Cross if needed. These shower facilities will also allow mission teams to use our space for overnight accommodations if needed while ministering in the local area.
It’s been a busy year and a blessed year for Spencer Baptist Church. God is blessing us as we seek to serve Him in all that we do! During this year, we have baptized new believers, watched others grow in their faith, and said goodbye to those who are now with the Lord.. Thanks be to God.