Loyalty Day at Lake City First Baptist Church on Sept. 19 was a special homecoming. Former members of the church’s youth choir from the 1970s came to remember good times and to share some of their favorite songs in worship.
Former Lake City First Baptist Church minister of music John Stoudenmire conducts the church’s 1970s alumni choir.Former minister of music John Stoudenmire, whose leadership during the 1970s inspired many from the youth group to later serve in music ministry, led the rehearsals and directed his former choir members, who accompanied and provided special music on guitar, organ and piano.
Among the choral pieces sung was a Milburn Price arrangement of “I Sing th’Almighty Power of God,” which was commissioned for the youth choir in the mid-1970s, and “People to People,” arranged by choir member Rusty Floyd. Choir members also sang solos.
Shane Patrick, pastor of Lake City First Baptist, said, “Remembrance is at the heart of worship. This year we decided to emphasize the 1970s, a time when our church, like so many churches in small towns across the South, was experiencing dynamic growth in youth choir ministry. It was a time in the history of our church that we had an unprecedented number of young people enter seminary pursuing a church-related vocation.”
The church’s focus is not solely on the past, Patrick said. “At the same time that we have been seeking to be true to our worthy heritage, we have been all the more striving forward to reach our promising future,” he said. “On this year’s Loyalty Day, over 500 worshippers joined together to give in tithes and offerings over $170,000 to help underwrite the ministry and mission causes we believe that God is leading us to accomplish.”
Making the weekend more special was the attendance of the former pastor families from the 1970s, including Bob and Molly Cuttino, (Beaufort), Lester and Dot Branham (Lake City), and Mike and Barbara Vipperman (North Myrtle Beach). Vipperman was guest speaker in the worship service.