Apalache Baptist Church, Greer, held groundbreaking May 17 for a Christian life center. The facility will be more than 19,000 square feet and will include a gymnasium, commercial kitchen, education space and a fellowship hall that will seat approximately 240. Pictured, from left: Roger Ware, vice chairman of deacons; Wayne Kay, chairman of deacons; Eddie Hewitt, finance committee; Eddie Cooper, pastor; and Wayne Dillard, chairman of building committee.
Tommy Pillow, left, pastor of State Street Baptist Church, Cayce, welcomes new staff members Matthew Hornsby, center, youth director, and Michael Cates, minister of music.
June 7 was “Barefoot Sunday” at Southside Baptist Church, Gaffney. Members donated new and gently worn shoes – 369 pairs of them – to be distributed through the ministry of Soles4Souls.
Pastor Carrol Caldwell, right, with deacons and members of Padgett’s Creek Baptist Church, Union, gathered recently for a groundbreaking ceremony for construction of the church’s new fellowship hall.
A team of volunteers from Powdersville First Baptist Church and Aldersgate United Methodist Church, both from the Greenville area, traveled to Allendale on May 1 to help renovate the campus at Allendale Elementary School. Having painted seven rooms at the school on a previous trip, the group returned with new plants and mulch. On May 2, nearly 30 people from the two churches and the school worked together on the project, using pre-existing shrubs and plants to recreate the flower beds at the school.
Carolyn Hodge has retired as secretary of Jonesville Baptist Church, Union County Baptist Association. She was presented a crystal vase and a love offering from the church. Pictured, from left: Jeff Addis, vice chairman of deacons; Jeff Dean, associate pastor for students; Hodge; Edelyn Moore, minister of music; and Ralph Brown, senior pastor.
The children’s ministry of Green Sea Baptist Church, Waccamaw Baptist Association, has been busy with missions work. In April and May, church members donated items for Connie Maxwell Children’s Home, which the children and their teachers delivered to the Florence campus. On June 16, the group baked cookies for Hospice Care of South Carolina for Father’s Day. They also gave out door hangers created in Sunday school with messages about God’s love.
The WMU and other members of First Baptist Church, Vaucluse, held the 13th annual “Trash to Treasure” sale for missions May 2. Over the years, more than $18,000 has been raised for missions, including such causes as Adopt-a-Family (to provide food, clothes, coats, shoes and toys at Christmas) and to pay the shipping cost for Christmas shoeboxes. Proceeds have also paid for migrant worker health kits and prisoner packets and to help fund air-conditioning for Camp LaVida. Donations have also been given to members and church friends for mission trips to Africa, Honduras and Kentucky.
Twelve South Carolina Baptist men recently traveled to Russia, where they spent a week helping with construction of a church in Moscow. They also presented a check for further work at Golgotha Baptist Church. Golgotha is one of 28 Baptist churches in a city of 15 million, where 5,000 Russian Baptists seek to grow the kingdom. Mission teams from South Carolina have worked to help the church over the past three years. Pictured are: Will Washburn and Justin Robinson (Pleasant Plains Baptist, Lancaster), Charles Ackerman (Harleyville First Baptist), Kenny Smoak (Old St. George Baptist), James Powers and Scott Mosely (Buffalo Baptist, Kershaw), Kent Kizer (New Hope Baptist, Orangeburg), David Banner and Clay Shook (Memorial Baptist, St. George), Tom Deese (Pontiac First Baptist, Elgin), Harry Collins and Boley Wimberly (Mt. Tabor Baptist, Bowman).
The Mission Friends, GAs, RAs and their leaders of First Baptist Church, Olar, recently collected work clothes for migrant workers in the area and food for Barnwell-Bamberg Baptist Association’s food pantry. The group is standing in front of a new church sign that was erected in May. Wayne Lovett Sr. is pastor.
Edna Sams, longtime pianist and, later, assistant pianist at Monte Vista Baptist Church, Mountain Rest, was honored by family and friends on her 90th birthday April 19. The celebration coincided with the church’s 86th anniversary. Sams has attended Monte Vista since 1946 and has been active as a Sunday school teacher and in WMU, VBS and other groups. She is pictured with four generations of her family.
The GAs, RAs and Mission Friends of Barkers Creek Baptist Church, Honea Path, recently held a bike-a-thon to help raise money for the church’s Annie Armstrong Easter Offering.
Nebo Baptist Church, Gresham, honored three of its high school graduates on May 24 with a special PowerPoint presentation titled “From Diapers to Diplomas.” The graduates, shown with their families, are (l to r) Cindy, Katie, Josh (graduate) and Bobby Dennis; Terri, Taylor, Austin (graduate) and Thad Williams; and Cameron (graduate), Tyron, Conli and Stephanie Williams.
Pine Bluff Baptist Church, Columbia, recently underwent emergency first-responder training. The classes were taught by David Crossland, battalion chief with the City of Columbia Fire Department and member of Pine Bluff. Fifteen church members received certificates in CPR/first aid and AED (automatic external defibrillator). The class was sponsored by Pine Bluff’s WMU.
Two former deacons of Norway Baptist Church, Orangeburg-Calhoun Baptist Association, recently received Christian flags in appreciation of their many years of service. In top photo, pastor Johnnie Bailey presents a flag to Mendel Garrick at Longwood Plantation in Orangeburg, where he is a resident. In next photo, chairman Coker Fogle presents a flag to Carolyn Walker Davis at her home. Davis and Garrick are unable to attend services at the church due to health problems.
Mission teams from Dean Swamp Baptist Church and Pleasant Hill Baptist Church (Edisto Baptist Association) combined forces to assist Mission Service Corps missionaries Mark and Sherri Rodenhauser in York, June 11-13. Their work at The Cornerstone Ranch ministry included building a woodshed, washing vinyl fencing, plumbing and installing bathroom fixtures, chopping wood, landscaping, and painting signs. Twenty-one adults and youth participated in the project.