Historical Events
September, 2006 – August 2007
Spencer Baptist Church, Spindale
In September, Super Buddies, our after-school tutoring ministry began it’s 7th year with 3rd – 4th graders from Spindale Elementary School. Mitzi Ensley is the coordinator for this ministry, which serves 12-15 children.
In October, the children of our church were “treated” to a special “Trunk or Treat” and Fall Family Festival on October 29. 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!
Our thanksgiving Lovefeast was held 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.
Our Senior Adults enjoyed an annual trip to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee at the end of November. While there, they were able to see some shows and enjoy a special time of fellowship together.
Spencer partnered once again with the Dept. Of Social Services during the month of December to provide Christmas gifts for children in our community in need of toys and clothes. Also in December, we joined forces with some of the Spindale Area churches for our 5th Annual Tree Lighting! This year’s worship service and tree lighting was held on the lawn of the Spindale House.
The rest of the Advent season was full of activity around our church. We hosted the Rutherford County Chorus presentation of Handel’s “The Messiah” under the direction of Malone Thomason during the first week of December. There were many special presentations throughout the Advent season. Our children’s choirs presented “Miracle on Main Street” and The Adult Choir presented ”Come, Let us Worship the King”. Our church family also gathered to go caroling to our Homebound Members during this month. The season was concluded as we gathered for a Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at 9PM on Dec. 24th.
In January, we began an intentional Discipleship Training Program which we now call Life Transformation Groups. Three or four courses are offered for adults during each cycle. There are groups for all ages, from birth through senior adult, and each course is facilitated by staff and by lay people as we seek to transform lives for Christ. Our first cycle was 12 weeks, followed by a 6 week cycle, and then a brief break for summer, then back to work on another 6 week series.
Beginning in January and continuing for 3 months, the youth sponsored a “coat drive” to collect new and gently used coats for the people living in Kentucky who work in the coal mines. This was a huge success, and In March a group of 12 from our church went on a one day mission trip to deliver the coats, as well as medical supplies, clothing and appliances to this area.
The Youth Winter Retreat was in Boone, on January 19-21.
In February, Spencer members participated in the “Souper Bowl of Caring” project to help feed the hungry/homeless in our area. As attendees left the worship service, our youth held soup pots, collecting dollars for this ministry. Also after morning worship, a soup lunch was held in the Family Life Center to raise additional money.
“The Bells of Praise” participated in the Adult Handbell Festival in Hickory, sponsored by the Baptist State Convention on Feb 23 – 24.
Spencer participated once again in the Weekly Lenten Services sponsored by Spindale Area Churches. Area churches took turns providing the Worship Time and the Lunch Meal. These services were held each Tuesday at noon throughout Lent at the Spindale Untied Methodist Church.
In April, our church held our Annual Easter Egg Hunt for children. The Adult Choir presented the cantata “No More Night” during Palm Sunday worship services. During Holy Week, a series of services were held in our sanctuary which we called “Quiet Moments for Holy Week.” These services were at noon each day during the week and consisted of instrumental, meditative music. After the thirty minute service, lunch was served in the Family Life Center. On Easter Sunday, sunrise services were held, followed by breakfast.
Special services in May included our children’s choirs end of year worship concert and a service of special recognition for high school and college graduates.
Also in May, we placed our order for a new church bus. The bus arrived on the first day of Vacation Bible School in June and the first trip it made was to pick up children for the Bible School activities. To pay for the bus, members generously donated items to be sold at a church auction, which raised over $11,000. When the new bus arrived on site, all of the funds were available to pay for it in full!
Over the summer, our church hosted three special community events for our church and community. The first was a VBS Kickoff (June 3) in which we registered kids for VBS. This event was held at the Spindale House and we had inflatable games, hot dogs, sno-cones, etc. Then in celebration of Independence Day, we again went to the lawn of the Spindale House and held an Ice Cream Social and Special Concert by “In His Glory”. Finally, on August 19th, we invited the community to join us for a Back to School Bash, to be held at the Spindale Elementary School. Once again, we had inflatable games, free hot dogs, sno-cones, popcorn, and crafts as we tried to encourage people to enroll in our ministry opportunities. Each person who participated in this event was given a Spencer Baptist backpack, water bottle, mug, or other prize. All three of these events were a huge success and helped our community understand that Spencer Baptist Church cares about the people of Spindale and surrounding areas!
Vacation Bible School was held the first full week of June. We enrolled 256 participants this year, with an average attendance of 192!
We held “Terrific Tuesdays” throughout the summer for children in grades 1-5. Participating children went to the movies, Earth, Glaze & Fire, Swimming, Chuck-E-Cheese, and more.
Our youth and young adults traveled to Kentucky on a mission trip in July, where they did major repair work on a house for a family in need.
In late July, our youth attended Youth Week at Caswell
The Sunday prior to school starting, Spencer Baptist participated in an Education Prayer Day. We went to many of the schools in our county to pray for the teachers, students, and administrators who would be at that location the following week.
In August, our WMU sponsored “Christmas in August.” We received school supplies for Spindale Elementary School and for our Super Buddies Ministry.