Alice Drive Baptist Church, Sumter, exists to help people take their next step toward Jesus. “We do this by helping them to ‘Know Jesus, Know Community, Grow Character and Go Share,’ ” according to pastor Clay Smith. The strength of the church stems from the more than 100 prayer warriors who cover the church and community 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Gary Hensley (left), Christian Life and Public Affairs Committee, read the citation to pastor Clay Smith (second from left), who accepted the award from Robert Dickard, chairman of CLPAC. The entire staff of Alice Drive came on stage for the presentation.Within the past year, 65 adults and youth from Alice Drive ministered locally and abroad in Mamelodi, South Africa, and in East St. Louis, Mo., building homes and ministering to the urban poor.
Local outreach ministries include leading weekly worship at nursing homes and in jails, stocking a food pantry, and supporting a pregnancy care center. Seasonal ministries include feeding and sharing with county fair workers, providing a community alternative to Halloween, filling Prisoner Packets at Christmas, and producing a Passion Play that involves more than 150 volunteers. Adult Sunday school classes also choose a service project such as mentoring children at an orphanage for boys.
Alice Drive members sponsor five support groups for those who need to learn a new set of life skills. Other outreach ministries include a once-a-month PowerLunch, which attracts local business men and women, and a banquet to honor 115 persons with special needs.
The church also supplied community baseball and soccer jamborees with volunteers, a nursing station and free water. More than 100 Alice Drive volunteers participated at these events, and the city has asked them to help again next year.
Their ministry to women and children is reflected in a number of ways. Ladies Night Out attracts more than 500 women, many of them unchurched. HELPS is a ministry of practical home repair and lawn maintenance to elderly, single, or divorced women. The Quilting Ministry provides handmade quilts for babies born to mothers in abusive/negligent situations.
This year, 30 volunteers prayerwalked 33 schools the day before school started. Volunteers prayed with principals, teachers and staff. Another 50 volunteers were involved in S.O.S. (Serving Our Schools) – painting, landscaping and cleaning five area schools the weekend before the beginning of the school year.
The church also hosted a marriage conference to encourage and strengthen area families. Pastor Smith wrote a 60-page booklet entitled “Family Imperfect” for families seeking emotional and spiritual health. More than 630 copies have been distributed.
Because this church gives love and shares faith so actively, the Christian Life and Public Affairs Committee recognized Alice Drive Baptist Church as the 2007 Impact Your World award recipient during the state convention in Florence.