Pastor Tom Swilley and associate pastor Bud Dyer led Cedar Grove Baptist Church in Waccamaw Association to reach out to its community on May 30 with a “Love Your Neighbor” festival.
Associate pastor Bud Dyer is shown with some of the children who attended.“I wanted to lead the church to do a special missions emphasis for the month of May,” Swilley said, “and Bud took the idea and ran with it.”
The festival was one of many activities the church has been doing, including a backyard Bible club, free coffee on Fridays and free outdoor movies on Friday nights, all for the purpose of leading people to a relationship with Christ, Swilley said.
Church members canvassed the area and passed out 3,200 flyers inviting people to come to the festival, where several free goods and services were provided, including children’s clothing, bags of canned food, lunch, live music, financial and tax planning, medical screenings and Social Security information. Before the event took place, a family that received a flyer began coming to church, and one member of the family was baptized, Swilley said.
Nurse Crystal Squires does blood pressure screenings.Several soloists sang at the event, including Tracey McClellan, Corey Anderson, Caroline Blanton and a senior adult choir. The clothing drive was coordinated by Sonya Edwards, Angela Moore and Teresa Brazier. “We wanted to do this to share Jesus and show this community that we love them and he loves them,” Brazier said.
Sammy Snowden, church Brotherhood director, coordinated the collection of more than 600 canned goods. Crystal Squires was one of the nurses present to take blood pressure. For Swilley, the day was a family affair, as he and his wife Dibbie were present to counsel with people, and his son Floyd and his wife Laurel provided financial advice.
Students Samantha Bolton, Jenny Jones and Tamara Thompson helped out with the festival.Cedar Grove averages 200 in worship. Over the past eight years, the church has had 244 additions, 200 by baptism. The church gives 11.5 percent of its budget to the Cooperative Program, and overall missions giving has increased from $10,000 to $56,000.
Although Cedar Grove Baptist has existed for more than 100 years, it is clear that members still have a desire to impact their community with the gospel, Swilley said. “They are living out Leviticus 19:18: ‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.’?”
Clothing coordinators were Sonya Edwards, Angela Moore and Teresa Brazier.For tips on planning a “Love Your Neighbor” event, contact Swilley at tomswilley@aol.com.