Sunday, January 5, 2001 |
Fayetteville First Baptist still reaching community and beyond By CAROLYN CARY One of the six oldest congregations in Fayette County, the Fayetteville First Baptist Church has continued to grow through the years and has reached a membership of 1,500 people. Growing churches must add to their ministries and this one is no exception. This past summer about 90 members, from seventh grade through the senior adults, traveled to New York for a week. Working with a church there that is, in a sense, a mission church of Fayetteville First Baptist, the group held sports clinics, assisted in construction, conducted Bible Schools and worked with locals in English as a Second Language classes. Twenty-five adults spent two weeks in Ethiopia installing a water line from a mountain, about a mile and a half away, into the village of Keyafer. Church member Kevin Gober, an engineer, had been contacted to carry out the project and he did so with the help of his church members. The church's Korean ministry is an ongoing one with the Rev. John Kim in charge. It has grown from six participants to about 60 who meet in the chapel. Teaching English as a second language also is an ongoing program and those interested can contact the church for details. The church is looking forward to May of this year, when it expects to enter a worship/recreation facility now under construction. Over 60,000 square feet will accommodate additional Sunday School rooms and a choir rehearsal room, as well as serve for recreational activities. New programs include a ladies exercise class three times a week, and an approved kindergarten added to its preschool program for 4-year-olds and older. The Mom's Day Out program is from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and it accommodates infants and older on these two days. An appointment must be made for the preschool and Mom's Day Out programs. Ongoing programs include a singles ministry, the senior adult exercise programs, and AWANA on Sunday evenings, for youth in kindergarten through sixth grade. Sunday services are at 8:25 a.m.,
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