Arundel Association
Jessup Baptist will have a Valentine’s dinner on Feb. 13.
New Hope Church, Curtis Bay, kicks off a new ladies’ Bible study this month studying the book of Esther. The group will use Beth Moore’s study, “Esther: It’s Tough Being a Woman.”
Baltimore Association
Bethlehem Baptist has a “Kidz Safe” before and after school care program. The outreach ministry offers students a chance to be in a safe environment to do their homework, work in the computer lab, meet some new friends and eat nutritious meals.
Darnell Ranson, pastor of Bethlehem, said the program offers the church an opportunity for hands-on ministry, getting to know the children and their families. Ranson said Kidz Safe has also brought more diversity to the church.
Bethlehem Baptist is developing partnerships with other churches and city organizations. They are working with Mt. Calvary Baptist Church on Fulton Avenue with a Thursday evening weekly feeding ministry, serving meals to people in need in the West Baltimore area. The church has a new van and is using it for their outreach and on mission trips.
Colonial Baptist, Randallstown, will host its 13th annual Missions Conference Mar. 10-12. For details, please call the church office at (410) 655-1080.
Blue Ridge Association
Blue Ridge Baptist Association will have their annual “inservice training” event on Feb. 20 at South End Baptist, Frederick. A worship rally begins at 6:45 p.m. Course offerings include building an effective praise and worship team, Internet evangelism, military support, prison ministry, dance worship and church planting.
Phil Graves has accepted a call as pastor of First Baptist, Brunswick. Graves has been serving as media ministry for the Blue Ridge Baptist Association since 2002 and will continue to serve in that capacity.
Delaware Association
Bethany Baptist, Wilmington, is in the process of planting an Hispanic church. Alexis Vides is the planter and small groups are meeting in homes for Bible study.
Hockessin Baptist, Wilmington, had a church planting conference last month. The church partnered with Embrace Wilmington and with BCM/D to host the event.
North Baptist, Wilmington, was the first church in Delaware to go through the transformational church process. Director of Missions Mitch Dowell said it was a “good process” and the church will soon receive recommendations.
Ogletown Baptist will launch their Celebrate Recovery (CR) ministry to the community on Feb. 9. The church began preparing for the CR launch in August, training leaders for the ministry. Paul Manieri, a member of the CR leadership team, said God used Celebrate Recovery to grow his faith.
“Our Father is a grantor of second chances, especially for people that have survived the broken road and have chosen the narrow road to eternal life,” Manieri said.
“There is a wave of healing taking place in 2012 and a wave of blessings. It is important for us to have people in place as leaders – servant leadership. We are living in an economy and state where people are fearful and hurting and don’t know where to turn. They don’t want to trust the church. Celebrate Recovery is an outreach ministry and program meets people where they’re at.” The group will meet from 6:45 to 9:15 on Thursdays.
Eastern Association
Immanuel Baptist, Salisbury, has a growing international ministry. Pastor Andrew Morgan is thrilled with the growth of the Hispanic congregation led by Wilfredo Rodriguez. The average Sunday morning attendance is 130 for the Anglo congregation and 80 for the Hispanics.
Wilfredo Rodriguez is the associate pastor leading the Hispanic church. Rodriguez is now working with the congregation to develop church planters to start more Eastern Shore churches. Morgan said there are “vast numbers” of unreached Hispanics in the area.
Immanuel also has a Korean congregation, World Vision Baptist, that meets regularly, led by Kee Chul Kim.
Recently, God provided the church with the opportunity to build a relationship with a local Hindu priest. The priest and his family attended the church’s Christmas Eve service and were warmly received. He said he is thankful God is blending cultures at Immanuel.
Mid-Maryland Association
Manchester Baptist will have a women’s retreat from 10 a.m. to noon on April 21. The guest speaker will be Lucinda Mills. Mills authored the book, “Let Yesterday Go,” a story about her experience of being raped repeatedly through the years by her father, a deacon in a local church, and the long aftermath of dealing with her hatred, her struggle with God and her eventual triumph through Jesus. The conference is free but reservations are requested by April 1. Please call the church office, (443) 291-6317.
Rather than have their usual gathering before Christmas, members of The Village Church invited the community to come to the church for free bags of groceries with the “fix-ins” for Christmas dinner. Village members purchased over $2,000 worth of food for those in need.
“The response from the community was great as our building was full of hope during these difficult times,” Dan Hyun, pastor of The Village Church, wrote in an email newsletter.
The church also had a “free store,” offering clothing, toys and household items. “The response was humbling as many shared that these simple items would function as their Christmas gifts this year,” Hyun wrote. The church also had live music, refreshments, children’s activities and prayer.
Northwest Baptist Church, Reisterstown, sent their third mission team to Senegal, Africa, last month to help build a church. They assisted International Mission Board (IMB) missionaries there, one of which grew up at Northwest Baptist. The couple’s goal is to build one church a year.
In June, Northwest Baptist will send a team to Tasmania, Australia, where former Northwest members and IMB missionaries Ben and Judy Armacost serve. Here they will do prayer walks and one-on-one evangelism.
“What a joy to see your church children grow up to be missionaries within our great denomination,” Northwest pastor Gary Glanville said.
Westminster Baptist is planning a mission trip to Huntington, W. Va., in July. They’ll be repairing homes, doing VBS and visiting the elderly.
Montgomery Association
A new grief support group meets at Ashton Baptist from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on Mondays. The group is open to anyone suffering from the loss of a loved one. Barbara Sweeney will be the facilitator. For more information, or to register, call (301) 802-0283.
Poolesville Baptist will be hosting The Parenting/Faith Intersect Conference with special guest speaker and author Steve Wright. Emphasis will be on how the church and home can work together in raising our kids.
The conference will be from 7-9:30 p.m. on Mar. 2 and from 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. on Mar. 3. The cost is $30 per couple before Feb. 12 and $40 afterwards. For more information, or to register, call (301) 948-5440.
Viers Mill Baptist, Silver Spring, has a free movie night on the second Saturday of each month at 6 p.m. This month’s movie is “The Encounter,” about five strangers who find themselves stranded at a diner with a man they discover is Jesus.
Robert Wilson, pastor of Viers Mill, said the monthly outreach sometimes draws over 50 people. The church serves light refreshments and offers child care.
Viers Mill has four congregations meeting at the facility. In addition to the Anglo church there is: Fellowship Baptist Church, which worships in an African-American tradition; Montgomery Chinese Mission, conducted in Cantonese and Mandarin; and Viers Mill Spanish Mission.
Every quarter, the churches meet together for worship, singing the same hymns in their own languages. Each church is responsible for leading a quarterly service.
Potomac Association
Dunkirk Baptist hosted Safenights last month. The church opened its doors for a week to provide nighttime shelter for the area’s homeless. Church members provided meals, had games, provided laundry service, transportation and friendship.
The church also provides Sunday shelter the second Sunday of each month.
Hughesville Baptist has a “Coping with Illness through Christ” support group.
The Potomac Baptist Association will have their 2012 men’s retreat March 23-24 at Camp Wabanna.
Brian Sandifer has accepted the call of senior pastor of Potomac Heights Baptist, effective Jan. 1.
Waldorf Baptist took their first international missions trip in November. The church sent a team of 12 to Bolivia.
The church started their annual Upward Basketball program last month.
Prince George’s Association
Landover Hills Baptist, Kent Baptist, Faith Fellowship Community of Laurel, and Kettering Baptist provided Christmas gifts to the inmates at the Prince George’s County Correctional Center.
Susquehanna Association
CUTLINE: In December, Oak Grove Baptist, Bel Air, hosted several local schools for John Archer Day. Students and faculty from John Archer and Prospect Mill Elementary School, some students and faculty of the newly formed Oak Grove Classical Christian School, residents of Jacob’s Well Assisted Living, as well as groups from The Arc in Belcamp and Family Services in Bel Air participated in the event.
On Monday, Dec. 12, 2011, Oak Grove Baptist, Bel Air, hosted several local schools for the John Archer Day. This has been an annual event for more than 20 years for the church and school that sit adjacent to each other across from Harford County Community College. Each year Oak Grove invites the students and faculty of John Archer, a public special education school, to come over for a fun time of singing Christmas carols and enjoying some festive lights and decorations.
This year students were joined by 125 fourth grade students and faculty from Prospect Mill Elementary School, some students and faculty of the newly formed Oak Grove Classical Christian School, residents of Jacob’s Well Assisted Living, as well as groups from The Arc in Belcamp and Family Services in Bel Air. Ministers and members of Oak Grove also participated.
Those who attended were able to see some of the special lighting effects used in the annual Christmas program, which is attended by people from Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, D.C. and throughout Maryland. The students were also treated to some secrets about the specially designed set pieces and how they transformed by revolving and even opening up to create the onstage illusion necessary for performing a Broadway-style Christmas musical.
Steve Poole, music and worship pastor, makes the John Archer Day an annual family event. His wife, Wendy, plays the piano for the carol singing, while his two teenage sons, Ashton and Zachary, often help with sound, lighting, projection and even singing in the choir. “It is a great way for our family to share some of the joy of Christmas with others,” Poole said.
Oak Grove Baptist will host its 2012 Spring Women’s Conference from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Mar. 31 at the church. The theme is “When Love Takes You In.”
Guest speakers are WPOC disc jockey Laurie DeYoung and Advocate, Veteran and Missionary Erika Clark. (For information about Laurie DeYoung see the accompanying article on page 20. For information about Erika Clark see https://bcmd.org/erika-clark/) The cost is $25 and includes a continental breakfast and lunch. For more information or to register, see www.oakgrovebaptist.com or call (410) 838-9898.
Western Association
La Vale Baptist pastor, Jim Jeffries, reported that the church gave presents and stocking stuffers to nearly 300 area children in needy families during the church’s annual “Christmas Shoppe.” Supplies were exhausted, including surplus left from last year’s effort, but there were still 102 kids/37 families standing in line.
Western Baptist Association’s Director of Missions Kenny Heath wrote in an email, “God was not finished… and and neither was the church! They stepped up to the plate, got the gifts for all the other kids/families…plus seven more kids in four more families that He added on, in the process. Although this was a partnership effort with Baptist Family & Children’s Services of Maryland/Delaware, this quickly became a ‘much-bigger-than-La Vale Baptist & BFCS-thing’, a God-sized thing…God’s people responded in faith, and God, as always, showed Himself faithful! Already, Jim has seen some of the families they ministered to visiting the church.”
Second Baptist, Cumberland, sent a mission team to Jenkins, Ky., in December. They distributed 40 baskets of food as well as diapers and wipes.