River Street Baptist Church, Anderson, broke ground in September 1976 for its current sanctuary and dedicated it in May 1977. A campaign was begun to pay off the debt, with a target date of May 8, 2005. The church started with a balance of $39,000 and received $15,000 by its target date. On Jan. 3, 2006, the debt was paid. Shown burning the mortgage Jan. 15 are (l to r) Stewart Fowler, contemporary service leader and minister of music; Jim Shirley, deacon; and Bob Burriss, pastor.
The Martha Franks Baptist Retirement Center in Laurens has named a private dining room for former chaplain Robert Cooper and his wife. The dedication was held Feb. 16 during a trustee meeting for South Carolina Baptist Ministries for the Aging. The room, which is adjacent to the main dining room, was a temporary chapel for 20 years. It was recently renovated with donated funds. Cooper was chaplain of the center for 10 years after retiring as senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Laurens, for 28 years. At the dedication were administrator John Medlin, SCBMA president Richard McLawhorn, the Coopers, and current chaplain Russell Dean.
The English-as-a-Second-Language ministry of Lakelands Baptist Association (formerly Abbeville Baptist Association) recently celebrated 10 years of classes. Since 1996, more than 1,000 students from 30 countries have attended classes on Thursday evenings and English lessons from the Bible on Sunday mornings at the family life center of South Main Street Baptist Church, Greenwood. Attending the celebration were David Little, Lakelands director of missions; Judy Davies, director of the ESL ministry; Sue Johnson, literacy missions consultant, South Carolina Baptist Convention; Steve Scudder, missions mobilization, SCBC; Wallace Hughes, former DOM for Abbeville Baptist Association; and Donnie Hughes, former ESL teacher. Not pictured: Phil McMinn, pastor of South Main Street.
Women of all ages recently came together at Whitefield Baptist Church, Belton, for a seminar, “Intimate Issues: God’s Design for Intimacy in Marriage.” Led by Mikie Cole, it was the first of four Woman-to-Woman workshops that will provide practical helps for living a godly life. Other topics for the Saturday seminars will include decorating tips, kitchen helps, and beauty (see Down the Road events).
Five Ridgeland area Baptist churches – Maye River, Shell Point, Grays Hill, Great Swamp, and Ridgeland – recently came together for the first annual Xtreme D-Now. Pastors Jason Patterson and Jack Eason and the Sound of Light Band, assisted by four college students from Anderson, led the weekend renewal event.