James Stevens, pastor of Welcome Baptist Church, Laurens, made an early pass and held on to win the 10-lap Faster Pastor Race at the Laurens County Speedway May 26. The event, sponsored by Racing for the Cross Ministries, featured a field of eight cars that included seven ministers from area Baptist churches.
Racecar driver Morgan Shepherd, left, talks with pastor James Stevens, a chaplain for the Laurens County Speedway.Chris Garrison, pastor of Union Baptist Church, Laurens, finished second, and Monty Osborne, youth minister at Second Baptist Church, Laurens, was third. Other Baptist drivers included Tony Crouch, pastor, Chestnut Ridge, Laurens; Robert Dorn, pastor, Bethabara, Cross Hill; Kenny Moore, pastor, Davidson Street, Clinton; and Ronnie Blackwell, Northside, Laurens.
Racing for the Cross Ministries, a non-denominational ministry of Welcome Baptist, was started in 2005 after a need for a chaplain at the local speedway was noticed. “Overall, our goal is to provide the most effective ministry to the race track as possible using biblically based methods,” Stevens explains on the organization’s Web site.
Osborne expressed the sentiments of the race participants when he told Nick Herman, sports editor for the Laurens County Advertiser, after the race that he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take part in something that could help bring both churchgoers and race fans together.
Faster Pastor participants included (front, from left): Chris Garrison, James Stevens, Kenny Moore and Robert Dorn. Back: Bobby Lowman, Tony Crouch and Ronnie Blackwell. Not pictured: Monty Osborne.On the Sunday prior to the Faster Pastor event, Nextel Cup driver Morgan Shepherd shared his testimony and signed autographs at Welcome Baptist Church’s annual race day banquet. “The banquet was designed to bring the race fans to church where they could hear the gospel, while the Faster Pastor Race was an opportunity for the church to take the gospel to the race track,” Stevens said.
The event is open to pastors across the state, and RFTCM is planning to hold another race in August or September. For more information, contact Stevens at rftcm@prtcnet.com or by calling 864-981-2941.