Historical Events
September, 2009 – August, 2010
SpencerBaptistChurch, Spindale
September was a busy monthfor SpencerBaptistChurch. As this new church year began, we began an intentional prayer ministry for the children and youth in our church. A prayer card was made for each child (birth through 12th grade) which included a picture and some basic information about the child. These cards were distributed throughout the church until all of them were gone. Members were asked to commit to praying for the child whose card they received for one year. This prayer ministry has been a wonderful asset to our church’s sense of community and accountability. Also during September, we hosted a huge Yard Sale and Breakfast to support our benevolence ministry. It was a successful day of food, fun, and fellowship and we will continue to benefit from it as we meet the needs of those in our church and community. In the middle of September, we sponsored a young versus old football game – encouraging our youth and young adults to play a friendly game of flag football against our median adults (there was no upper age limit)! It was a wonderful night of fun and fellowship – and even sore backs and aching knees! No one remembers which side won (actually, the old forgot that the young won hands down)!
Our workgroup continued to do repairs and light construction for members of our church and community. They participated in many projects throughout the year (from roofing to ramp building), and remains active today. We also collected offerings to the NC State Missions Offering throughout September. Our 2 ladies WMU groups began meeting again, after a summer break, and helped arrange this NC State Missions Focus.
In October, the children of our church were “treated” to a special “Trunk or Treat” and Fall Family Festival. This was a wonderful alternative to trick or treating and our members enjoyed a special time of passing out treats from the trunks of their cars! Also in October, our organist, Timothy Scruggs, presented an organ concert at the First United Methodist Church of Forest City.
Our Thanksgiving Lovefeast was held on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. This formal banquet is an annual event in which we fellowship, eat and worship together as we give thanks to God for the many blessings of the year. At the end of the evening, our youth assembled fruit baskets for our Homebound Members. They met the following day to deliver these gift baskets to each person.
At Christmas, Spencer sponsored our own Project Angel Tree, with names of children in our area who needed assistance with toys and clothing. Each applicant was given an angel ornament and church members and Sunday School classes selected ornaments off the tree and then bought gifts for that “angel.” We were able to help 53 children with Christmas this year! It was a huge blessing to all involved.
The rest of the Advent season was full of activity around our church. There were many special presentations throughout the Advent season. Our children’s choirs presented “Stranger in the Manger” and The Adult Choir presented ”God Speaking”. Our preschool choir presented “Room Around the Manger,” and the youth of our church presented several Christmas musical selections throughout the month of December. Our church family also gathered to go caroling to our Homebound Members during this month. The season was concluded as we gathered for a Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at 9PM on Dec. 24th.
We received the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering/Global Mission Offering through the month of December. We met our goal of $12,000 and we were recognized as the top giving church in our association per capita by the International Mission Board. During this time, the WMU hosted an International Missions Study to educate us on the needs of others.
In February, Spencer members participated in the “Souper Bowl of Caring” project to help feed the hungry/homeless in our area. As attendees left the worship service, our youth held soup pots, collecting dollars for this ministry. Also after morning worship, a soup lunch was held in the FamilyLifeCenter to raise additional money. Over 45 youth participated in our Youth Winter Ski Retreat during the 2ndweekend in February. During the next weekend, we held a Young versus Old Basketball Game at the Spindale House. It was similar to the Young/Old Football game from the previous September, and was a lot of fun for all those involved.
Also in February, was our Focus on WMU week. The week began with a week of prayer for NC WMU, and concluded with a special day of worship in which we emphasized the various WMU activities/opportunities at our church. We hosted a WMU Breakfast with special guest speaker, Dee Thomas, President of North Carolina WMU. During worship that day, we had a ladies choir, a children’s message by our Children-in-Action, and once again heard from Dee Thomas. She brought a wonderful message, and the day was a great reminder of God’s call to each of us to missions. We received the Heck-Jones Offering during the month of February as well.
Spencer participated once again in the Lenten Services sponsored by Spindale Area Churches. Area churches took turns providing the Worship Time and the Lunch Meal. This year the services were held each Tuesday of Lent at SpindaleFirstBaptistChurch.
Our church held our Annual Easter Egg Hunt for children the Saturday before Easter. The Adult Choir presented the cantata “See, What A Morning” during Palm Sunday worship services. On Easter Sunday, sunrise services were held on the front steps of the church, and a special Resurrection worship service was held at our normal time of 10:55 AM.
We received the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering/Global Mission Offering during the month of April. Also, “The Bells of Praise” participated in the Adult Handbell Festival “PraiseRing” in Charlotte, sponsored by the Baptist State Convention.
Special services in May included our preschool and children’s choir end of year worship concert and presentation of “Hans Bronson’s Gold Medal Mission” and a service of special recognition for high school and college graduates.
For the summer, Spencer welcomed our own Jordon Crowe as our Summer Ministerial Intern for the third summer in a row. Jordon is a student at WingateUniversity and feels called to vocational ministry. He helped with our summer programming for youth on Wednesday nights, organized our Terrific Tuesdays ministry, and led 2 Wed. night Bible Study for adults. This internship was created to give ministerial students some “hands-on” learning while having the support of a church staff.
Over the summer, our church hosted a special community event for our church and community. This event was held at the Spindale House and we had inflatable games, hot dogs, sno-cones, etc. The purpose was to register children and adults for VacationBibleSchool. The event was a huge success and helped our community understand that SpencerBaptistChurch cares about the people of Spindale and surrounding areas! VacationBibleSchool was held in June. We enrolled 255 participants this year, with an average attendance of 210! We also held “Terrific Tuesdays” throughout the summer for children in grades 1-5. Participating children went to the movies, Swimming, Chuck-E-Cheese, and more.
Our youth went on a mission trip in June back to the Outer Banks, where they led BibleSchool for OceanViewBaptistChurch. Also, over 50 young people and chaperones attended Youth Week at Caswell in July. Our youth continued their participation with the Kentucky Mission Efforts, making 6 trips to KY throughout the year to deliver clothes, household supplies, and other items collected by Spencer.
For the July 4 holiday, we held a special 9 AM worship service. It was a great time of worship and celebration.
In August, the WMU sponsored “Christmas in August.” Amy Revis, Community in Schools rep from SpindaleSchool, came and spoke to us about the backpack lunch program at the school. We encouraged everyone to bringlunchsupplies for Spindale Elementary as our gift to them for their special ministry. The event was a huge success, and we will continue to support it in ways that we are able.
As school began, we “re-launched” our children’s mission groups. We began GA’s and RA’s for the first time in many years. The children are now participating in age-appropriate missions groups, and we are experiencing a renewed sense of purpose for our Wednesday night children’s ministry.
It’s been a busy year and a blessed year for SpencerBaptistChurch. God is blessing us as we seek to serve Him in all that we do!