Update

Hello everyone! Hope each of you had a nice Christmas. The special service on Sunday was quite lovely. Gave us a time to reflect on where we are in our lives. It's almost a shame that it's time for the decorations and pointsettias to come down. Soon we will be on the eve of a new year. Twill be the dawning of a new day, time for starting over. This time of year always makes me reflect on things I need to work on both personally and spiritually. With the guide of His loving hand, I will strive to become more like the person God wants me to be.

Just to mention a few things going on in our church. As always we encourage each of you to join us each Sunday for Sunday School (starts at 9:45am). There are classes for everyone. Would love to have you become a part of one of our classes.

Don't forget that Wednesday night and Sunday activities will ge back to their regular times. This means: Wednesday night suppers will resume their normal time at 6pm with Prayer Meeting following in the fellowship hall. Sunday activities will remain the same for the most part, the only change is the choir will go back to having practice at 7pm following the evening worship service. We also encourage you to come out and join us on Wednesday night and become a part of one of our organizations (Prayer Meeting, RA's, GA's, Mission Friends, and WOM --which meets the 3rd Wednesday of every month).

In light of WOM....they will be hosting a Prayer Tea for the women of the Muslim world on Tuesday, January 3rd at 7pm. As stated in the bulletin, "God's precious gift of prayer allows us as Christian women to touch the lives of Muslim women across the street or around the world for God's glory. Sharing a cup of tea allows us to identify with Muslim women and the hospitality they value. Plan to bring a scarf to cover your head and a bath towel to use as a prayer rug (scarves and prayer rug are optional)".

We would also like to say "Welcome to Our World" to those who have new additions to their families. Also "Happy Birthday" or "Happy Anniversary" to those who are celebrating birthdays or anniversaries.

That is about all I have for now. I would also like to thank those who have commented on this website. Thanks for the encouraging words. Please let me know of any activities, etc. you would like to have mentioned here. Will be glad to do so. Until next time, take care and God bless!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Happy birthday Jesus! You came to us many years ago in the form of a baby and grew to be a man. You died on the cross to save us from our sins. You are the reason for the season. Without you there would be no Christmas. All you have done for us gets lost in the hustle and bustle of trying to find the right gift, going to all the holiday festivities, etc. Let us not overlook the true meaning of this glorious day. Remember to join us this morning at 11am for a special Christmas worship service. We will be observing the Lord's Supper during this service. Once again, Happy birthday Jesus and Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!

Only 2 more days til Christmas. Where does the time go? Seems like yesterday it was only January 1, 2005. We have so much to look back on and be thankful for. This has been a year of many events throughout the country and the world. As for our little part of the world, we have many things going on around us. This past Sunday the adult choir performed the annual Christmas cantata. Being a member of the choir, I am very pleased with all the hard work our faithful conductor put into leading us. He and his wife have truly been a blessing to our church and I am very thankful for them. The cantata (both musically and setting wise) was very beautiful. A special thank you to those who helped with the lights and sound as well the actors that participated. It would not have been the same without them.
Not that I am biased or anything, but I have always loved our sanctuary and its beauty. It is especially beautiful this time of year with the lighted garland, wreaths and lovely poinsettias. All in all, if you weren't there, you missed quite a treat.

In other news around our church, we have a special Christmas service planned this Sunday. There will be no Sunday School or evening services. We will only have worship at 11am Sunday morning with the Lord's Supper. A very special way to commemorate the birth of our Lord and Saviour.

I want to remind and encourage those of you who might be looking for a Sunday School class to join, we have classes available for folks of all ages. Come and join us and bring a friend or two. We also have classes for everyone for Discipleship Training at 5pm Sunday nights.

At this moment, I can't think of anything else. I wish each of you a very Merry Christmas. Remember to pray for those in need as well as the folks in the armed forces. Tis a difficult time of year for those who have loved ones serving. Will close for now. Til next time, take care and God bless!

Happenings at North FBC

What a busy time of year it is for everyone! All the hustle and bustle of trying to get all the shopping done, planning of family or work gatherings, decorating, etc. I urge each of us not to forget the true meaning and reason for this blessed time of year. It can so easily get lost in all the rushing around. Here are just a few things that are happening in our little part of the world.

Christmas card deadline is Sunday, Dec. 18th. The plans are to have them all delivered by next Sunday, Dec. 25th. The youth have been doing a fantastic job of delivering the cards they have received, as always. Remember, they are for members who attend on a regular basis and are 25 cents per card! I also understand that $700 or so dollars was donated at the lunch the youth hosted last Sunday. What a blessing for them!

The children's choir did a marvelous job with their program Sunday night. It takes lots of hard work from all involved to make it all come together. We appreciate and applaud all who participated. It's always wonderful to see God's little angels perform in His name!

Men.....don't forget...Men's breakfast is this Sunday (Dec. 18th). As always, all men are invited to attend and bring a friend. Breakfast starts at 8am and I have been told on many occasions it is a great time of fellowship. If you have not been attending, I encourage you to do so. Am sure you will enjoy it!

Thanks to the help of our faithful church secretary, here is an update of the trip the pastor and his wife made to West Virginia with the shoeboxes. FBC sent 72 shoeboxes, 1 food box, 13 blankets and a number of afghans. An estimated total of all who contributed: 585 shoe boxes, 88 food boxes, 7 pastor boxes, $680 for Pastors, a number of cases of food items, hundreds of comforters/blankets and a number of afghans. This is truly a Christmas blessing for those in need in that area.

Don't forget to bring your donations for the children who are in need in our community as well as the items that are needed for food baskets for folks in our community. Tis far better to give than to receive.

Also, the adult choir will be performing "The Christmas Light" this Sunday, Dec. 18th at 6pm. I encourage you to be in attendance. It is sure to touch your heart.

I think that just about covers things for now. Don't forget to give to the Lottie Moon Christmas offering. Take care, stay safe and God bless!

Weekly News

Hello everyone! I trust that each of you are having a blessed week thus far. We have many things happening in the life of our church. Some of items on the agenda are as follows:

Sunday, December 11th at 6pm, the Children's Choir will be performing their Christmas program entitled "The Christmas S.O.C.C.E.R. Team". Make plans to be there and bring a friend or two. It is always a blessing to see the children perform. I know they will do a grand job this year as they always do!

Also, the XYZ will be going out to eat Friday, December 9th at the Cracker Barrel in Orangeburg. They will meet at the chruch at 6pm and ride together in the church van. If you haven't signed up to attend, you might still be able to contact the church office and let them know if you wish to join them for a fun evening of fellowship.

A reminder about the Christmas poinsettias....the deadline is Sunday, Dec. 11th. Please fill out the order form found in the bulletin and remember to include if the flower is in memory of, in honor of, who it is placed by, etc. The cost of the flowers is 12.00 each. Contact a member of the Flower Committee if you have any other questions, etc.

Some other items are: the WOM organization is still taking up donations for food baskets for the North Cooperative Ministry. You can find a list of the items in the bulletin insert. An example of some the things that are needed are: Sunday, Dec. 11th Grits/Rice; Sunday, Dec. 18th canned meat, stew beef, salmon, tuna or chicken. I know these items will be welcomed and are needed. Beginning Sunday, Dec. 11th, the WOM will also be putting together baskets for children who are in need in our community. Some of the items they are requesting are sweatshirts with football logos on them, teddy bears, Barbie dolls, baby dolls, trucks, crayons, coloring books, puzzles and board games. They are also accepting Bibles, Bible story books, underwear and socks. What better way to extend a Christian hand and share a Christmas blessing!

Don't forget to get your Christmas cards ready for the youth to hand out at church. They are being handed out to members who attend regularly. The cost per card is 25 cents. Help support our youth!

It has also been brought to my attention that there will be a special covered dish supper on Wednesday, Dec. 21st at 6:30pm. There will be no RA's, GA's, Mission Friends or prayer meeting that evening. Remember to mark your calendars and make plans to be there. It is sure to be a great time of worship and fellowship. Another item of importance is there will be no Sunday School or evening services on Sunday, Dec. 25th. There will be a special worship service that day at 11am with the Lord's Supper and will truly be a blessed event. I can't ever remember having church on Christmas day, but am so looking forward to it this year!

It is also the time of year to give to the Lottie Moon Christmas offering. If you are unable to find the special envelopes located in the pews, simply mark the regular offering envelopes with your name, dollar amount and Lottie Moon Christmas offering. If you wish to give to an organization, in memory of, in honor of, etc. please remember to include your name, dollar amount and to what area you wish to have this given.

Before I forget, the youth will be hosting a chili and baked potato lunch immediately following the worship service this Sunday (Dec. 11th). Donations are accepted.

I believe this just about covers all the activites for now. The adult choir is still practicing for their Christmas cantata. It will be on Sunday, Dec. 18th at 6pm. I encourage you to come and be a part of this. Bring a friend.

We also need to remember the pastor and his wife as they travel to West Virginia to take the Christmas baskets. They left out early today. This is always a wonderful time of sharing and caring. Let's keep them in our prayers for a safe trip there and back home.

If you have any other items that you would like to have posted here, please let me know. Will be glad to do so. Take care and God bless!

Hello to all!

Hello everyone! Hope you are all having a good week. I have never done anything like this before, so please bear with me. I hated to see this website end and have decided to take it on. I will try to do my best and strive to make this a positive form of communication for our church. I feel this can be a wonderful form of ministry and is a good means to help keep our church family and friends as up-to-date as possible. Currently the children's and adult choir are working on their respective Christmas program/cantata. I always look forward to these events. The youth are delivering Christmas cards to members that attend on a regular basis and as always they do a wonderful job with this. The flower committee will be taking orders for poinsettias, so remember to let them know if you wish to have one placed in the sanctuary (the cost is $12.00 per flower). They also need to know if the flower is in memory, in honor of, etc. The WOM is also taking up donations every week for supplies that are needed for the North Cooperative Ministries (please refer to bulletin insert for items that are needed for each week). I know these items will be very much appreciated. As you can see, we are very busy and have many things going on. I know I haven't mentioned them all. I do ask that if there are any activities, etc. that you would like to have posted, please let me know and I will be glad to do so. Also, a quick word before I close, we had a great turn out for the Christmas parade and tree lighting festivities on Sunday. It was a great time of praise and fellowship. It's always nice to see people come together and remember the reason for the season. Until next time, take care and God bless!

SAD NEWS!

Yes, I have sad news to report to the church family tonight! Pastor Donny, our children and youth minister since June 1 will be leaving our staff as of December 11. We did enjoy having Donny on our church staff, and thank him for the excellent job which he did. I was especially happy to have my oldest son here in the same church with Carolyn and myself, and we were very proud of how Donny handled himself in that special position. Working with teen agers is a most difficult task, and one that takes a lot of help from the parents and the church members in order to have an effective ministry. But the expectations of members of the church, and several of the parents, and some of the youth, made it almost impossible to establish a strong youth program. Perhaps the Lord will send someone who will satisfy and please all the members of the church, I pray that He will.

Along the same line, Carolyn and I have decided to spend some time ministering with our other son, David, who is pastor of Double Branch Baptist Church in Pinehill community. We are blessed to have two sons in the ministry, and for some months I was at Fellowship Baptist Church helping Donny when he was pastor there, so now I feel that I can help David in his great work at Double Branch church.As many of you know, I have been having a lot of medical problems, and had to slow down some.But as long as my health and stength hold out, I will try to serve the Lord as He leads me.
A few weeks ago I resigned from North FBC as minister of education/administration and am giving up the discipleship training class each Sunday night. Susan Gleaton is an outstanding teacher and I am proud to return the class back into her faithful hands.

Now, one of the final things. I have been writing this blog since April of 2004, and tried to make it sort of a journal of activities of the church. But now since I will be away quite a bit, I will not know of all the activities. So, is there someone out there who reads this blog that would be willing to pick it up and keep it going? It would be a matter of writing some of the weekly events in the life of the church. If not, then it will just stop here. The past blogs will remain on line for sometime, but they will not be current. This would be a good ministry for someone who can do this. Let me know, I will give you the password and show you how to do it all.

So, God bless you...Please pray for us as we seek the Lord's leading and serving in the Double Branch Baptist church with our son and grandson..
Bye, God loves you, and so do I.

CATCHING UP!

Since I have retired from the staff of the church I have not had much to say in the blog department. Our church is going well, and we enjoyed a great time of Homecoming and fellowship on November 6. Rev. James Watterson, pastor of this church in the mid-70's, was our guest speaker.

This week our pastor is attending the annual SC Baptist Convention in Columbia, and a good crowd of pastors and church members of all our SC churches will be in attendance. I have not been in years, because there is a lot of standing and walking and with my knee problems, and now a back problem, I do not enjoy going any longer. Carolyn and I used to go every year, and we would meet and talk with our preacher friends and visit with each other for a time. But, now, all the pastors seem so young! I do not known very many of them, and all of us older pastors are sort of fading away. Guess that is the price of getting older.

Pastor Donny and wife Sondra are to be away this week attending the National Youth Ministers meeting in Nashville, TN. We wish them a safe trip and a good meeting there in Nashville. Donny will come back all fired up with youth and children ideas I am sure!

It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is next week. And that the football season is almost over. I used to hear older folks say that time really did go fast when you got into the golden years, but this is unbelieveable! Days pile upon days, and months upon months, and how fast they do go. Sunday to Wednesday to Sunday seems to just dart by anymore. So after next week, we can look forward to Christmas, the choir is working on the cantata, everyone is busy getting food baskets and health baskets and shoebox gifts ready to go to West Virginia, and of course, trying to get in that Christmas shopping. And, praise the Lord, we are having some cooler weather and sweaters and long sleeves are the mode these days. Can we even get a glimmer of hope for any snow this year?

By the way, for those of our church family who read this blog from time to time, If you would like to post a blog, or make an announcement, or just write a column once in a while, let me know, and I will show you how to post the blog. I didn't intend this blog to be mine when I started, but it is the news of the church and church members. Let me know. Help me out and I will appreciate it very much.

Also, as a matter of information, I now have a new email address, drr@tds.net, since we were able to go to DSL. The old address, royster@aikenelectric.net is no longer any good.

See you Sunday if not before, bye for now.

Pictures from around the church

From time to time I will be inserting some of the various pictures which I have taken around the church in the past several years. I hope these pictures will please you, and will give our blog visitors an idea of the type of church family we have here in North.
We started passing out the new church directories last Sunday, and most everyone has now received their copy. If you were pictured in the directory, then you are to receive one free copy. Please call the church office if you haven't picked up your copy yet. I think they turned out fairly well, though I am somewhat disappointed at the photography of the family members. And I do apologize to those who find errors in the spelling of their names or addresses. We tried to proof read the directory before it was printed, and asked for any member of the church family to stop by and help us, which some of you did, and still we find some names mispelled. Sorry about that.It is always very difficult when you are working with hundreds of names and addresses, and even though we corrected some of the mistakes on the proof copy, they missed some at the publishers. Anyhow, it is a historical record of our church, and a treasure for the future.

Looking ahead, we are getting prepared for the annual Homecoming Day celebration and "dinner-on-the-grounds" on Sunday, November 6, 2005. Rev. Watterson will return to preach in the morning services. He is a former pastor from many years ago. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend this great day. Bring will filled covered dishes and we will enjoy the combined fellowship meal.Invite former members and friends of the church family to come and help us celebrate.

Speaking of meals at the church, we have started a Wednesday night meal at the church, so that working folks will be able to come directly to church and eat supper before the Wednesday night activities. We will have the Bible study and prayer meeting in the fellowship hall also. There is no charge for the meal, however you may make a donation if you would like. The meal starts at 6:00 PM.

Lots going on in our church, come and be a part of it. God Bless YOU...

A GREAT DAY IN THE LORD!

We enjoyed a great day Sunday as we had such beautiful weather and there seemed to be a lively spirit in our fellowship. The choir is doing an outstanding job, and our music director, Adam Stich is doing an excellent job. We enjoyed the singing of the newly formed trio of Linda Gunter, Lori Creech and Adam Stich. We do have some great talent in our church family.

I had the privilege of preaching in the morning service, and son Donny led in the evening hour. Pastor Larry and his wife were away on a brief vacation and we did miss having them with us, but we are assured that they will be here on Wednesday night.

Our church directories are in, and I plan on passing them out tomorrow night, Wednesday, at the supper and Bible Study and Prayer Meeting. They turned out very well, but lots of folks think their pictures don’t look like them! We just have to be satisfied with what God has made of us, and know that someday in heaven we will all be beautiful, inside and outside. We had about 85 families that had pictures made for the directory, the first one since 1998, and there have been many changes of course. This directory is loose-leaf and will be easy to update with new pictures and names and addresses of new members who join with us in the days to come.  My appreciation to Joan Buckheister, the church ministry assistant, for all the work she did in helping me get this directory prepared and distributed.

So much for now, will share more later. Keep on keeping on, and if you are participating in the Faith Cometh by Hearing campaign to listen to the complete Old Testament on tape or CD which ends on Christmas Day, I hope you are still on schedule. Don’t quit, even if you don’t finish on time, just keep on listening each day. You will be blessed.

General Information

Dear Church Family and friends of the church,
I am so grateful to each of you for allowing me to be your Minister of Education and Administration for the past 18 months or so. But as you know, I have had to give up my position due to my health, and am now just a regular member! of the church. I still will help out as I am able, but not as a paid staff member. I hope to be able to do some things from home on my own computer, and help the church and secretary each week with the necessary paper work that we generate.

You might change my email address if you think about it. I have had the new DSL installed at home, and my new email address is drr@tds.net if you would like to change it on your address book.


We are beginning today our On Celebration Missions Conference with Rev. Joel Flowers, Director of Missions in Kokomo, Indiana as our morning guest, and we will have different missionaries each night through Wednesday. It promises to be a great time of Missions emphasis, and we are asking all of our members to come and bring a friend or two.

Time to stop, more later, God loves YOU, and so do I!

Time to Quit!

Greetings to all who read this blog. I trust that you are having a great late summer and now that we are into football season, that cooler weather will make us all feel a lot better,until it gets really cold!
As the title of this post indicates, it is time for me to quit my position at the church as minister of education and administration. For some time, as you know if you have been reading these blogs, I have been having all sorts of problems with my health, and just recently spent 4 days in the Richland Hospital in Columbia with a pulmonary embolism, or blood clot in my lungs. I am happy to say that a subsequent CT scan has indicated that the clot is gone, apparently broken up by my immune system. I am still having a lot of trouble with headaches and shortness of breath. It really takes all my breath to go from one room to the other at home. Doctors don't know what might be causing it, but I am going to have to stop working for a while and just take it easy until we can find what is causing this. At the moment that are looking at my sleep apnea and thinking that the CPAP machine which I use at night might be giving me the problems. I did turn in my resignation to the church last week, and will be vacating my position as of Sunday, September 25th. My son Donny, who is our Minister of Youth and Children, will probably pick up a lot of what I have been doing. As for me, I will be just a regular member of the church, and will continue to lead my Discipleship Training Class each Sunday night. Other than that, I will do what I can as a volunteer member of the church. As for this blog, I probably will continue sharing with you as time permits, and letting you know what is happening around the old North Church!
So until the next time, may God bless you in many ways...sincerely, in Christ...Bro. Don

North UPdate

We are having some October weather this week in North, and does it feel good! I just wanted to give you an update on some of the church activities for North FBC. First of all, we have Ms. Hannah Nelson, TV personality coming on Friday night at 7:00 PM to speak at our covered dish supper. There was some doubt if Hannah would be able to come due to the Katrina hurricane. Hannah's family is in Mississippi, and she spent several days in Mississippi with them during the terrible devastation along the gulf coast. But she was on TV this morning from WIS-TV in Columbia, so I am assuming she is back on schedule. We are so happy to have her come and share with us.

Another big emphasis is our On-Missions Celebration which we will have October 1-5. We will have a number of visiting missionaries who will rotate among our churches and share with us. Each church will host one missionary, and provide them a place to stay and food to eat, and transportation to the different churches. Our missionary will be the Reverend Joe Flowers, who is an associational missionary and church planter from Kokomo, Indiana. We are still in the process of finding him a place to stay. We have been talking about putting furniture in the Min.of Youth house, and allowing him to stay there. When the Celebration is over, then Adam and Ashley Stich can use the house when they come on Sunday to work with the choirs and lead the worship. We also need drivers to carry Joe Flowers around to the churches he will be speaking in each night. These are Norway, Neeses, Calvary, and Salem.

The church family will be electing six new deacons next Sunday, and if you are able, please come and vote your choices. In addition, the Church Budget proposal for the coming church year will be presented, and the report of the Nominating Committee will be received. Necessary church business as we start a new church year October 1.

A New Church Year

Yep, it is September and a new church year is beginning in our church. We are busy with the report of the nominating committee, and will be voting on the officers on Sunday, September 11. Also, our Budget will be presented, and our church will nominate and elect 6 deacons to serve for the next two years. And, our USC Gamecocks won their first football game last night, but it was more of a struggle than anyone had anticipated. Now if the Clemson Tigers can just get off to a good start!
I thought it would be a shot of cold air if I added a picture of our church when it was covered with snow! In a rare snow storm several years ago, Brenda Shull took this picture, and it really does stand out in our different publications. We have used it as a picture for the cover of our church directory, plus in the bulletin from time to time. Perhaps we will get another snow fall this winter!
In more serious matters, we are all praying for the trials and tribulations which our Gulf Coast states are facing as a result of hurricane Katrina roaring in and leaving the area in a great devastation. We are encouraging our church family to help in any way that they can. And our Southern Baptist Convention has help already in the area and are asking for additional funds to help these distressed friends and loved ones.

A REMINDER TO OUR DEACONS:
The regular meeting of the active deacons will not be held on Sunday morning coming, but will meet on Wednesday night after the Bible study and prayer time. Tell all the deacons you see about this change.

FRIDAY NIGHT: September 9th at 7:00 PM is our Covered Dish fellowship meal, with our guest speaker Ms. Hannah Nelson coming to share with us. Please tell all the church family to come and bring covered dishes and enjoy the meal and fellowship.

Back To School Days

There is a feeling in the air that summer is rapidly fading away! No, the temperatures are still in the high 90's and upward with the heat index, but still, what with school back in session, football season already upon us,the baseball world series coming in a short while, and the new church year coming soon, there really is a feeling that good things are going to be happening in the next few months. We are excited around our church because we have a World Missions Conference coming our way the first week in October. This is where a number of missionaries come to our association and visit the churches, with a different missionary each worship service. Lots of good teaching and preaching, and seeing a 'real live missionary'!
More details about that a bit later.
We are having a local TV news person come on Friday, September 9, 2005 at 7:00PM to speak to us. This is Hannah Nelson, a very familiar face to most all of the TV watchers, as she is on the news reports daily. Hannah is a committed Christian and we are looking forward to having her.

We have been working on the new church directory all summer long, and finally have the proof set ready to be sent to the printer for final print. What with my sickness and hospital trips and such, and with having to correct many mistakes in the proof copy, it just seemed to take time. Anyhow, I will be glad to get it back to the directory people. At the moment, I am working on a tri-fold brochure about our church, and this will also be in color and printed by the directory people. We will ge a 1000 copies of the brochure, which we can use to witness to others about our church.

The Nominating Committee has completed their task of finding willing workers and officers for our church programs for the coming year. We will vote on their nominations at the September church conference. We will also be selecting new deacons for the next two years at that meeting. Plan on coming and participating in the business affairs of your church.

More later, have a great day, and pray for the soon coming of our Lord!

FELLOWSHIP MEAL PLANNED

A reminder to all our church family and friends, that tomorrow, Sunday, August 13, 2005 we will have the after church fellowship meal to officially welcome Adam and Ashley Stich to our church family and staff. As you know, we have called Adam as our music man and worship director, and he is already doing a great job. The meal will be a covered dish luncheon furnished by the members of the church. Everyone is invited to attend.

Of course, you are all invited to the regular Sunday worship and Bible study activities in our church. We have a Bible class for every age group, and a place for the children. Be sure to invite a neighbor or friend to come with you. Let us see how many we can have in Sunday school and worship services each Lord’s Day.

I would like to report that I came home from the hospital last Tuesday, was able to go to the office and do some work on Thursday, and had to spend a good portion of Friday in the doctor’s office getting my blood tested. But, and praise the Lord for this, I am feeling much better. Thank you for your prayers and concern.

HOSPITAL REPORT

Well, as I write this blog spot today, I am in the Richland Hospital in Columbia, SC, where I have been since last Thursday. Seems as if my problem for the past several weeks has been a pulmonary embolism, or blood clot in my lungs. By the grace of our Lord, I am doing well, and should be able to go home on Tuesday. The clot is still there, but the medications, which they are pumping into me, have made a great deal of improvement, and I feel very good today. The doctors claim that I “missed a bullet” this time, but I know that it is the healing power of the Lord in response to many prayers and much faith. I should be back on duty at the church soon, but will have to go back and forth to the lab for many days to keep a close check on something they call the INR which tells how the clotting is doing. Thanks for your prayers and concerns, and I do really appreciate it very much.

On hold right now is the finishing up of the Church Directory, which I should be able to get to the first of the week. It only needs to be sent to the printer and we should have it back in final form in a few weeks or so. I appreciate having a good pastor, as Pastor
Shull has visited with me several times in my stay here in the hospital. You know, us pastors are not used to having a pastor, and I am blessed to have a gooood pastor! And I am also blessed to have two pastor sons, Donny and David, who minister to me also. Of course, Miz Carolyn takes such good care of me. She wouldn’t take no for an answer when she insisted that I come see the doctor last week. As usual, she was right. Once the doctor saw me, I was hustled off to the hospital!

So, that is it for this time, will add more later from home and the office. Will look forward to seeing many of you next Sunday, if not before. Depends on the doctor’s instructions, of course. But, praise the Lord, I feel much much better.

AUGUST IS A GREAT MONTH!

Yes, August is a great month, one that I have come to love and appreciate for nearly 73 years, since I have been in the world since August, 1932. Imagine, being that old! And the Lord is still using me! And I have found myself in a church family like this! I am so blessed, and praise God for it. You are my church family, my brothers and sisters in Christ, and I love you all. You have really blessed Carolyn and me with your expressions of concern, love and fellowship during these past 5 years. God is soooo Good! All the time!

What a fresh spirit we felt in our worship services last Sunday. Having Adam Stich come on board as our worship director has really been a blessing for us. You could just feel that the congregation was enjoying the singing, and the choir did an outstanding job. We are blessed to have Adam here, and he and Ashley are the answers to the many prayers we have made over the past year or so.

Pastor Donny and the Children's Spot during the morning worship service received an ovation of applause as he led them in marching forward for the Lord. You had to be there to appreciate it. Donny has brought a sense of excitement to our church also, as he leads the Children and Youth.

Looking ahead to August 14, all church members and friends are reminded that we will have a covered dish luncheon in the Fellowship Hall immediately following the morning worship hour to officially welcome Adam and Ashley Stich to our church family. You know us Baptists, we celebrate everything we do by eating! Come and bring a friend.

That is all for now, remember who loves you....
Bro. Don

Music Is In The Air!

OUR NEW MINISTER OF MUSIC IS ON THE JOB:
Adam Stich has accepted the position of Minister of Music for our church, and will be starting immediately. Adam and his wife Ashley will be sharing in our ministry and we are very happy to have them come here to serve.
Adam is a graduate of Rollins College, Winter Park, FL, and has a Masters of Music degree from USC. He will be teaching music at the Pelion Middle School this year.
Ashley is a student at USC majoring in elementary education. They live in Lexington, SC, and will be commuting back and forth to work with us. Adam’s family lives in Georgia, where his father is a Baptist minister. Adam most recently completed serving the St. David Lutheran Church as coordinator of music ministries for three years. Please join the church family in welcoming Adam and Ashley to our church.
NOTE: Adam pronounces his last name as “Steek.”

Many thanks to our Personnel Committee as they have worked so hard in searching for the right person for this job. We now have a full staff of ministers and are praying that the Lord will allow us to grow a greater work here in North.

The church family is involved in listening to the Old Testament these days. We have a large group who have committed to listening to the OT for 20 minutes each day until Christmas day. I have had many good comments from folks who say, "I didn't know that was in the Bible!" What a joy to listen to God's Word, read by someone with perfect diction and proper pronunciation of the names and places. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Try it. If you need cassette tapes of the OT, I have some available for you to use. Just let me know.

Speaking of cassette tapes, I am sure that many of you are aware of the ministry we have in our church of taking cassette tapes to our homebound and shut-in members, or to those who miss Sunday School from time to time. We are blessed to have Mrs. Iris Cade and Mrs. Nellie Lu Reed to pick-up and deliver the tapes each week. They usually deliver about 30 or so tapes, of the TEL Sunday School Class, the Sunday morning and evening services, and other special tapes that we make from time to time. We have a cassette duplicator that has worked very well for a long time, but last week it gave out, so we had to order a replacement copier. We are now back in business with a brand new machine. If you need copies, please let me know and I will try to get them for you. We save the master tapes for about six months, so if you want to find a particular sermon, we probably will have it.

Pastor Donny has really been doing things with our Youth and Children these days. What with a trip to Atlanta to a Bible Conference, to the Braves baseball game, to the Six Flags Over Georgia park, and just yesterday, a large group went to Carowinds park for the day. And what a hot day it was! We have a place for everyone and invite all the Children and Youth of the community to come and enjoy the fellowship and fun. The Youth Building is also open each weekend for games and such, so check it out!

That's all for now, please pray for me as I continue to fight the anemia which the doctor's say that I have. What we called "tired blood" years ago. I do feel it too!

Summer is here and is it HOT!

Hello to the FBC family and our friends. Summer is here, and wow, is it hot!! Just a few posts ago, I was writing about how cold it was, or how rainy, and now, is it hot! Are we ever satisfied with the weather? No. But the only thing we can be satisfied with is Jesus, or Lord and Savior. And how He is working these days in our church. Of course, we are in the summer slump, with lots of vacationing members, in the mountains and at the lakes and the beach. But, we are still having exciting worship services and good attendance to the activities of our church. It is good to have faithful church members who continue to come and support the ministry of our church.

Our pastor brought two outstanding messages to us last Sunday. We are privileged to have such a good preacher and pastor to lead us. Please continue to pray for Larry and Brenda as they lead us during these days. We are blessed!

Pastor Donny has taken over the Sunday Morning Seminary Class which I started several years ago. This is a great discussion class, and he is a capable leader. If you are not involved in Sunday School, or just looking for a change of pace, visit the Fellowship Hall classroom next Sunday morning at 9:45 AM and check it out. We want you to be involved in Sunday School, and if you would like to change classes, you are welcome to do so. We just want everyone to be where they want to be.

And speaking of Sunday School, Michael Ann Bolin will be the new Sunday School director for the coming church year. Please pray for Michael Ann, and support her with your attendance each week. One of her desires is for each class to have an active outreach program, to seek out new members and involve them in the life of our church. Invite your friends and neighbors to come to Sunday School with you. I believe they will enjoy it, and have a good time with us.

I covet your continued prayers as I have been having some very difficult health problems lately. It seems that, even though I am as big as a house, and healthly looking for a man who is coming up on 73 years in August, that I am anemic! Can you imagine? With all the red meat that I consume, I still am not getting enough iron in my system. I take heavy doses of iron each day, but my body does not absorb it, so all the blood tests show that I am anemic. Thank you for your prayers; that the Lord will give me an infusion of spiritual iron and I can get back to doing the work that He has called me to do.

What a Great Time to Be ALIVE!

Here it is, the middle of July, and it is hot, and humid and rainy all this week, but what a great day to be alive and serving the Lord! I trust that you are doing well and all your problems are small and insignificant these days. I pray for you, and for your health problems, and also for the other areas of our lives that press us so hard.
our church family is doing well, most of our sick are home from the hospital, and the biggest problem we are having now is in the summer slump! Vacation, beach, mountains, golf, travel, all sorts of interruptions and our attendance really shows it. But we realize that we all need to get away from time to time for recreation;re-creation.Check that word out, it means a re--creation...a renewal, and that is what recreation is supposed to do for us. But you know, I feel re-created each time I enter the house of the Lord for worship and fellowship. There is something special about being with my church family.
Had a nice interview with a young man and his wife that we are asking to be our new minister of music. He is much in prayer now about this part-time position, and is actively seeking God's will in this matter. Please join the personnel committee in prayer about this need. When we fill that space, we will have a full staff, with senior pastor, min. of education, min. of youth and students, and a minister of music and worship. Surely the Lord is blessing our church and getting us ready for something exciting to happen! I cannot wait to see what the Lord is doing each day here in North. We have so much to offer the North community, with in-depth Bible preaching and teaching,worship services filled with God's music; great buildings and facilities, outstanding leadership, all sorts and types of activities for all ages. And, we have a church family that is eager to see God work here in our place of service. Talk up our church. Invite folks to come and see. Be a witness for our Lord and urge them to come and visit with us.
Don't hestitate to call on anyone in the church family or on the staff for any need that you might have. We care for you, and want only to help you. Please pray faithfully for each member of your church staff that we will be able to do the work that God would have us to do.
And for those who are away and read these words, remember that our thoughts and prayers are with you and know that each time you check into this Web Blog you will be reaching out and touching us in a special way. God loves you, and so do we!

CELEBRATION OF INDEPENDENCE

WOW! Is it really the weekend of July 4th already? What happened to the spring? Now we are here in the hot summer days and anxiously looking ahead to the cooler days of fall. Are we ever satisfied with the weather?

Well, we finished VBS with a good turnout, and now we are looking into the summer activities for our youth and children, and a continuing program for our church family. As I mentioned in the last post, we are in the process of interviewing a prospective minister of music, and are praying that the Lord will send us the right person soon.

We have been having some great discussions in both the Sunday Morning Seminary class which I lead during the Sunday School hour, and also in the Adult Discipleship Training Class which we have on Sunday nights at 6:00PM. Both classes are discussion type programs, and we really teach one another. We have covered all areas such as other denominational beliefs, what we believe as Southern Baptists, the end time prophecies, the rapture, Spiritual Warfare, and on and on. We are especially interested now in the creation account in the Bible, as opposed to the worldly view of evolution. I have been praying that the Lord will lead some of our church members who are not coming to Sunday School of Discipleship Training to come in and join with us, and perhaps we will see some new folks coming in from time to time.

We are living in exciting days! There seems to me to be a sense of impending activity in the spiritual realm, an excitement that the day of the Lord is drawing closer and closer. We can study the Scriptures and make a pretty good case that the Lord is coming soon. I am waiting for the rapture of the church with great anticipation. Looking for that "Blessed Hope." How about you? Are you Ready??

The proof copy of the Church Pictorial Directory is in, and I am asking several of our church family to come, take a look at it, and help correct the inevitable errors and typos that are there. Come by the church office and either Joan or I will show you the book and let you eyeball it. As soon as we finish the corrections and mail it back, the finished directory will be sent to us.I believe that it will be a real treasure and keepsake for our church members, and a historical document as well. The directory is in a loose-leaf notebook format, and we will be adding pages from time to time in order to keep it fairly current.

Ramblin' Road Trip

We are in the midst of VBS this week, and having a great time. We have been having more than 100 students, both children and adult, and enjoying a great time of fellowship and fun.
Time does move right along, doesn't it? Here we are halfway through 2005 and wondering where the time went. Did you realize that it is almost football time again? The season starts in August for some schools, and that is just around the corner.Then our annual rivalry around the church is between the Clemson Tigers and the SC Gamecocks. As always, us SC supporters are hoping that THIS WILL BE THE YEAR!
Joan and I have been busy trying to put the finishing touches on the Church Directory which will be distributed soon. We are making some corrections, adding some pictures, and trying to present a beautiful, as well as historical, document. I think the pictures look very good, and it will be a keepsake for many of our church family. More details later. Each family who sat for the pictures will receive one Directory for free. If you would like to have an extra, they are 5 dollars each, and must be ordered ahead of time. Once we get the Directory, it will be too late to order more. Will have more to say about this in the church bulletin each week.

As many of you know, we are still searching for a part time minister of music. We did have one applicant who called this week, and our Personnel Committee is in the process of setting up an interview, and also having the young man come and work with our choir and lead in the worship services perhaps on the 10th of July. Please be much in prayer for this person, that he will be the man the Lord has prepared for us.

With our new Minister of Students and Youth, our church seems to have a more exciting attitude these days. Our young people are stirred up and eager to go and do and we are eager to help them. We will be having special activities for the younger children also. Our Youth will be leading the missions action at the nearby Santee State Park for one week in July. God is so good to us!!

"PRAYER WORKS....HAVE YOU TRIED IT?"

Good day to all the blogspot readers. Here it is, Friday again, and lots to things going on in North First Baptist Church. We are getting excited about Vacation Bible School which commences Sunday evening at 6:00 PM with a light meal. We have classes for all age groups, and are expecting a good crowd of students. I am teaching the adults again this year. A special thanks to Lori Creech and to Sarah Wannamaker for all the work they have done, and for those willing workers who helped them. You know, VBS has developed into a theme based emphasis, and this year, we are going on a "Rambling Road Trip". So, the fellowship hall and the classrooms are decorated with road signs, travel signs, traffic lights and such, to really give you an impression of going on a trip. Sounds like a fun week each night next week through Thursday.

Pastor Donny and the Youth got away to their conference on Thursday morning. Donny called me from Gainesville, GA in the PM and said the brakes on the church van had gone out, so he was at a Firestone store waiting for them to repair the brakes. He was able to safely deposit the Youth at their motel before the repair job was necessary. Sondra had followed along behind the van on the trip, so they had transportation until the van was repaired. I did not hear back, so I am assuming they were all able to attend the night session of the Youth Conference last night. Now today, according to his schedule, they will spend from 10 AM to 4 PM at Six Flags over Atlanta, and then from 6:30PM until 11:00PM at the Conference again. Tomorrow, Saturday, they will check out of th motel and go to Turner Stadium for the Braves baseball game. Following that, they will be on I-20 heading back to North. I know some folks who are going to be tired out, but won't they have a good time!

We are into the first week of Listening To The Old Testament audio tapes, and having a good time in the Word of God. We will be doing this for six months at 20 minutes each day, but most listeners are already so far ahead of the planned schedule that they will finish much sooner. What a great way to spend 20 minutes each day.

Pastor Larry and wife Brenda are returning from the annual Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville this weekend. We are looking forward to seeing them, and hearing all about the Convention activities.

Well, that is about all I can think of for this post, just a few announcements and thoughts concerning our church and the programs we are trying to enjoy. We are looking ahead to Sunday and the great time of worship we have. I always try to say that "we are God's people, in God's House, doing God's things, in God's way." It all should focus God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Someday, soon perhaps very soon, we will hear the voice and the shout and the trumpet, and we will be changed and raptured? What a day that will be!

GOD IS SO GOOD....ALL THE TIME!

HELLO ALL: I pray that you are having a great day in the Lord and that you are praising the Lord for it. This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

I just wanted to post a few comments about the activities of the FBC of North and help to keep you informed of the things that are either going on or that are planned. Of course our big interest now is this coming Sunday, which is Father's Day. We are thankful for our Fathers and for the leadership they provide in their Christian homes. I will be preaching the morning sermon in the absence of our pastor, who will be away to the SBC convention in Nashville. The title of the message is "A man is a man. . ." and is using the text of Psalm 8:1-9 to get us started. A man is really a man,and only a REAL man, when he is a man in Christ. For the evening service, Donny will be speaking for his first time as our minister of children and youth. We look forward to that.

Donny will be taking the Youth on a trip to Atlanta this next week, with a Youth Rally in Gainesville, GA, followed by a visit to see the Braves baseball team play, and an exciting day at Six Flags over Georgia. After three days of that, the youth will be ready to come home!

I am still seeking Bible Listeners as we start our Old Testament Listening program on Father's Day, and extend it through the Old Testament at twenty minutes each day until Christmas Day. What a blessing it will be to hear the Old Testament come alive with the narration of skilled and eloquent speakers reading each precious word. I hope that you will participate along with the others who have committed to do this. Let me know if you need to purchase the tapes, or if you have tapes already. Don't wait too long to start, because it will be difficult to catch up.

More later..don't forget to pray for your church family, and remember that God loves you...and so do we!

BUSY SUMMER APPROACHING!

Yes, we are planning an exciting summer of activities for our church family, especially the Youth. Now that Donny is on board, the children and youth can expect a busy summer. Already this month a trip is planned to Atlanta to see the Braves baseball game with the Baltimore Orioles, and then to an all day trip to Six Flags. Of course, there is also a Youth Bible Conference going on that they will spend most of their time attending. Sounds like a great time for all.

Our new roof on the Fellowship hall is still in progress. The shingles should be installed soon, and then the leak problem will be solved, we pray! Plans are to add a storage building to the rear of the Youth building to hold the sports equipment and such.
We are getting ready to start the Faith Comes By Hearing Bible listening program as we listen to the Old Testament each day for six months. The program stretches from Father's Day, June 19th, to December 25th and asks that folks listen to the Bible for 20 minutes each day. We just finished the New Testament, and now we can get deep into the Old Testament. Not as many of our church family are committing to this program, probably because it requires such a long period of time. I try to encourage our listeners to try each day, and not get behind, because it is easy to do. The main interest is in listening every day, at work, at home, on the way to work, etc.

Also, Vacation Bible school is here again, starting June 26 and going through the 30th. We had a great time last year, and pray for an even better VBS this year. If you can come, please do. We have classes for every age, and I will be teaching the Adult VBS section again this year, and am looking forward to it very much.

Please remember to pray for pastor Larry and his wife, Brenda, as they attend the annual Southern Baptist Convention this month in Nashville, TN. In our pastor's absence, I will be preaching the Father's Day sermon and Donny will preach in the evening service. Come and share with us. This will be the first time most of our church family has heard Donny preach.

Thank you for taking the time to read these ramblings from time to time. I just wanted you to be kept fairly up to date about the activities of your church, and remember that as I write these notes, I have you in my mind and heart. You are a grand church family, and I do praise the Lord that I am able to serve you in some way as your staff member. And I do especially want those who are away from North to know that we love you and pray for you. Let us know how you are doing.

By the way, you can leave a comment on any of these pages by clicking on the red star beside the minister of education tag on these pages. Try it and send me a note.

Thanks again, and my God Bless you in special ways.

SUNDAY MEET, GREET AND EAT!

A special notice to all our church members who might check this site from time to time. Next Sunday, June 5, following the morning worship service, we will have a covered dish luncheon in the fellowship hall to celebrate the addition to our church staff of Rev. and Mrs. Donny Royster, our new Minister of Youth. All members are urged to bring covered dishes and we will share in this great time of meeting, greeting and eating! You are urged to attend this important event in the ministry of our church.

Work is coming along very nicely on the new roof building on the fellowship hall. This will be a nice addition to the appearance of the building, plus it will stop the frequent rain leaks we have been having in the building.

As for the covered walkways, the new cement walkway between the church building and the educational building is in, and now we are waiting for the installation of the covered walkway. Soon you will be able to go from building to building and stay out of the rain. There will be a drive-in arrangement also so that a car can drive under the covered walkway and discharge passengers out of the rain.

We do praise the Lord for all that He is doing for the First Baptist Church and the church family.

REVIVAL REPORT

Just a brief note to share with all that the Drawing People to Jesus revival was a great four days of renewal for many of us. Rev. Dan Gardner, and his wife Judy, brought a powerful word picture and also an artistic picture to our meetings and it was outstanding. We had a number of our church family and friends who responded to the public invitation, and I believe that many hearts and lives were touched. I do heartily recommend Bro. Gardner to any church group that is seeking something different.Check out his web page at www.drawingpeopletojesus.com for his schedule and look at some of the pictures he has drawn.

WELCOME TO OUR NEW MINISTER OF YOUTH!

It is our joy and privilege to announce that the Reverend Donald P. “Donny” Royster will be added to our church staff beginning on June 1. Donny will be the new Minister of Children and Youth, and will be working in this area full-time.

He has stated that his desire is “to develop and lead a well-organized, high energy, exciting, growing educational program for children and youth at a large church. He offers maturity to lead, yet young enough to get on the floor with the kids, enthusiasm, and modern training to bring about a relevant and cutting edge program.”

Donny has been the bi-vocational pastor of nearby Fellowship Baptist Church for the past eight years, and served the First Baptist Church of Cope for four years prior to that. He is a graduate of the University of South Carolina, and Columbia Biblical Seminary and Graduate School of Missions and has a Master’s degree in Christian Education. His most recent position was on the teaching/administrative staff at the Seminary.

Donny is the son of Rev. and Mrs. Donald R. Royster, and is retired from the US Navy as a Master Chief Petty Officer after 21 years of active service. For most of his early years, he was active in his dad’s churches, working in a number of positions, and while in the Navy was active in the chaplain program.

He and his wife Sondra, live in the Pine Hill community.
Sondra is a teacher in the Edisto Primary School, and has a Master’s Degree in early childhood education. They have two children, Michelle and Rebecca, both of whom live in Cope, and have three grandchildren.

Please add them to your personal prayer list that the Lord may bless our church with Donny’s faithful leadership in the years to come.

A PERSONAL NOTE: As a proud parent, I am thankful and excited about the opportunity to work with my eldest son on the staff here at FBC. What a rich blessing that promises to be.

REVIVAL

Spring means REVIVAL....and it is here, along with Mother's Day! Sunday morning, May 8, we will recognize our mothers in the morning worship service,we will dedicate three babies, and then start our revival in the evening service. The revival will extend each evening from Sunday through Wednesday, with Rev. Dan Gardner, chalk artist and evangelist as our speaker. We are looking forward to having a great time, and urge you to attend if you can, and bring some friends. Casual dress, informal services, and good fellowship.

We are getting ready to begin our Old Testament listening to the Word. The plan is to get all our tapes or CDs ready, and start listening to the entire Old Testament on Father's Day, going through Christmas Day. Six months of listening, at 20 minutes each day will do it. Sounds like a lot, but ask those who did the New Testament for 28 minutes a day how easy it is, and what a blessing it is. If you are not a part of our church family, but would like to participate with us, let me know. Reember, Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing the Word of God. More on this later.

I have been asked to return to a former church on Sunday morning, May 15, for their annual Senior Adult Sunday. What a blessing it is to go back to my former churches and meet with old friends once again. I served as pastor of the Bethany Baptist Church for nearly nine years, and it does seem as if we are going home again. The only thing is that for those years I had the duty of asking old ministers to come and speak, and now I am one of the old ministers!! Time has a way of marching on, doesn't it? I used to be one of the youngest men in the church, and now I am one of the oldest. What happened? All my friends sure do look old now these days. Oh well, God is so good to allow us to live these many years we have.

I notice that a few folks check into this blog each day, according to the counter, and I do appreciate them coming by and checking out these ramblings. We are just trying to make our presence known by this blog, and hopefully to keep our church family computer users informed about church activities.

Pray for us....

Spring means busy around North FBC

Yes, spring does mean we begin to get busy around our church. Summer plans are being made for Vacation Bible School, children's activities, Youth trips, a revival meeting in early May, and just so much to do with so little time to do it!
Well, not that busy, but it is keeping us going.

We are in the interview process of seeking a Minister of Music and Youth, as you know from reading the past posts on this page. We have had a large number of applications, but so many have failed to respond to our emails and phone calls. Nevertheless, we have had successful interviews with some good prospects, and we are waiting for the Lord to direct the right one to us, and us to him/her.

Our church directory is in the final production process, and we should have the completed Directory back within the next few months. I do appreciate all who took time to get their photos taken, and for those who helped in the directory program.

A special thanks also to those who participated in the Faith Cometh by Hearing program which we completed on Easter Sunday. We are blessed that a good number of our people committed to listening to the New Testament for 28 minutes a day for 40 days. BUT NOW....soon I will be asking you to listen to the Old Testament! I don't have the details yet, but this promises to be a great time of Bible Listening as you hear the Word of God spoken by the outstanding narrators on these tapes. And for those who choose the dramatic versions, it is just like being on the scene in Bible times. Will have more details later.

In our services this next Sunday, May 1, we will have a Gideon speaker in the morning service, and I will be speaking for the evening. Our pastor will be away that weekend performing a wedding for former church members.

REVIVAL: On Mother's Day evening at 7 PM, we will begin a three day revival with a bit of a different method of preaching the Gospel. We will have Rev. Dan Gardner, a chalk artist, who will be speaking and drawing. Using colored chalk on a large chalkboard, and using blacklighting techniques, the message is presented in a powerful way. Please plan on coming, bring some friends, and enjoying this time of revival. May 8-11 at 7 PM each evening.

ANOTHER HAPPY EASTER AT NORTH FBC

What a great day for the Lord! Though it was raining very heavily, windy and cold, we had a wonderful time of Easter Sunrise services, followed by a very filling breakfast, and then by our Sunday school classes, and finished up with a powerful Easter message from our pastor. The fellowship of several different churches and the sharing around the tables gave us all a sense of Christian love and fellowship. It is especially wonderful to see the little children and how they enjoy being with all these people.
Our worship services were filled and all were stirred by the moving of the Holy Spirit as Mr.Will Richardson responded to the invitation by receiving Christ as his Savior, and asking to be baptized and become a member of the church. Of course the vote to accept Will was unanimous.
Reminder:Next Sunday, April 3rd, will be the time change as we set our clocks ahead one hour before going to bed on Saturday night. Please do this, or you will be late for the morning activities. Also, our evening service times will revert to the summer schedule, as we begin Discipleship Training at 6 PM, and evening worship services at 7 PM. The days are getting longer, and we are rapidly approaching the long daylight of summer.
Please remember to pray for me as I go to Fellowship Baptist Church for both services next Sunday. As you know, my oldest son, Donny, is pastor there, and he and his wife are taking a weekend off to travel to Florida, so he has asked Daddy to preach for him, which I am always happy to do. The Fellowship family is a sweet group of people that I was privileged to work with for about six months a few years ago.
So, that is all for now. Thanks for reading these ramblings, and please pray for our church at North First Baptist.
God bless,
Bro. Don

SPRING HAS SPRUNG AND ALL IS WELL!

Well, it was a beautiful day last Sunday, the first day of spring, and we had a great time of fellowship, Bible teaching and preaching, and just being together. There is something wonderful in Christian fellowship. I cannot imagine how much greater it will be in heaven when all this is over.
Now we are looking ahead to Easter Sunday, with the sunrise service, a fellowship breakfast, then the regular services moved up one hour. Remember, Sunrise service at 7:00 AM with Rev. Sam Warwick as guest speaker, breakfast to follow, and then at 9:00 AM we will go to Sunday school, followed at 10:00 AM by the morning worship hour. And, there will be NO evening services on Sunday night, so that you can enjoy being with your family and friends that afternoon. Sounds like a great day, huh?

The 40 Days of Faith cometh by Hearing listening finishes up this Easter Sunday. I am so proud of all who participated in listening to the New Testament Bible tapes for at least 28 minutes each day for 40 days. I have heard nothing but good reports from many who did this program, and I know they have been blessed by hearing the Word of God. Some time later on we will challenge you to listen to the Old Testament for a period of time. And, if you would like to go back to the beginning of the New Testament tapes and do it all over again, you will certainly be blessed. Consider it "spiritual" exercise for the soul.

Time changes the first Sunday in April, the 3rd, and since it is the spring of the year, you must "spring" your clocks and watches ahead one hour before going to bed on Saturday night, April 2nd. Here is where we lose that hour we gained last fall!
Don't forget to do this, or your Sunday morning schedule will be dramatically altered.
Prayer needs are many in our church family. Don't fail to pray daily for the situations that surround us each day. There are so many needs, so many to help, and about all that most of us can do is pray. You would be surprised at the number of calls and visits we receive at the church office each day from people hunting for financial help. It burdens our hearts to turn them away, but that is all that we can do, that and prayer.

We are still searching for a minister of music and youth, and a summer youth worker.Keep on praying that the Lord will send us the right person soon.

Remember that you are loved....God loves you, and so do I...
Bro. Don

Finally, A picture inserted!

Well, after trying for a good while, I finally got a picture inserted in the blog. The picture is of me, in the center, left is eldest son, Donny, pastor of Fellowship Baptist in North, and on the right is David, my youngest son, who is pastor of the Double Branch Baptist church in Orangeburg. The Lord has blessed us in His work, and I also have my daughter, Susan, who is a teacher in Fairfax, SC. Now that I can do this, I will begin to add church pictures from time to time.Stay tuned! Also, check out the attack cat.
Bro. Don

ANOTHER EXCITING DAY IN NORTH!

Good morning dear readers, church members and friends,
I trust that the Lord is blessing you in every way these days, and that you are being faithful to Him and to His church each week.

We are still in the hunt for a minister of music and youth for our church, and are having a difficult time of it. We have received a number of applications, but none has worked out. I think that some of the resumes are old, because when we contact the applicant, they have already taken a new position with another church. But, we are keeping on, and trust that you will be much in prayer for FBC North in the staff search. We are also looking for a summer intern for our children and youth, someone to come and lead them for the two months of summer activities.

We have been busy these past few weeks working on the new church directory. Now we are in the process of getting all out snapshots organized and ready for the publisher. I believe that we will have a great directory with lots of pictures, with each family picture included, and the roster of names and addresses. And, since the directory will be loose leaf, we can add additional pages as the days go by to keep it current.

I am still trying to figure out this blogging business! I have downloaded a new program which will allow me to include photos in these pages, but am not exactly sure yet how to use it. So, one of these days, we will possibly have a picture of the church and of some of the members who don't mind being on the WWW. The new photo program is Picasso, and I recommend it highly for the novice like me. It seems to be user friendly, and I have installed it on all my computers and now here on this computer in my office. With a good color printer and photo quality paper, I have been able to print great pictures. The editing features are easy to use.

Another new program I am trying is the Opera web browser. I really do like it, it is faster in Internet Explorer, smaller in size, and has lots of neat features. It is a free download, and will, I think, replace IE on my computers. The free version has some limited amounts of ads, but the purchased one is clean. It also will block all popups very effectively. Try it at www.opera.com and see what you think. You can always remove it.

Our church activities include the monthly Men and Boys breakfast next Sunday morning, March 20th at 8:00AM. Rev. Ashton Feagin, pastor of the nearby North PH church will be our guest speaker.

We are looking forward to Easter Sunday, March 27th, and will have the annual Sunrise Service here at our church at 7:00 AM that morning, followed by breakfast, and then Sunday School at 9:00 AM, and the worship service at 10:00 AM. There will be NO EVENING SERVICES ON EASTER SUNDAY so that families may enjoy the afternoon and evening together.

Our commitment to Listening Through the New Testament ends on Easter Sunday, with the final tape of Revelation. We have had 45 persons who have agreed to do this, and all reports are that they have all been very blessed. Soon we will do this for the Old Testament tapes.

Guess that is about all for the moment, please remember us here at the church office in your prayers each day. We all have been having some physical difficulties for which we need your prayerful intervention.

God bless you all,
Bro. Don

MARCH COMES ROARING IN!

The winds are blowing and it is cold here in mid-South Carolina. But spring is just around the corner, and we are excitied about all the activities which will be taking place in North FBC this spring and summer. As for now, I am especially happy that the Church Directory photo taking session is over! We only had 79 family sittings, but nearly 1500 different pictures were taken. It is no easy task to schedule and maintain some semblance of order for three days of intensive activity as families came and waited their turn to be photographed. But we are all finished with that, and now all that the office has to do is gather the snapshots of various departments and programs and add them to a series of five color pages. I really believe the Church Pictorial Directory will be a blessing. It should be returned fully completed within the next two months. So, that is finished.
One exciting program going on now is the listening to the Word of God for 28 minutes each day. We started that on Valentine's Day, and will end this particular series on Easter Sunday. Of course, we can always be listening to the Bible, and develop our own program.
Coming up on March 27 is Easter Sunday, and this year we will host the North UMC for Easter Sunrise Services, followed by a breakfast. This is always a great time of worship and fellowship. The service will be inside our church, and will begin at 7:00 AM. If you are close enough, we urge you to come and be a part of this service.
Another of our dear saints has gone to be with the Lord. Mrs. Maggie Fogle Crim was 99 years old, and if she had lived until April, would have made the century mark. But now she can celebrate her beginning of her eternity with Christ. What a joy it will be when we all see Jesus!
I hope you are all praying about the Ten Commandments case which the Supreme Court is considering now. May God grant these 9 judges the wisdom which they sorely need to render the right decision for God's people.
Please continue to pray for us as we continue the search for a Minister of Music and Youth. We have several resumes which look very good, and we are in the process now of setting up appointments for interviews.
Okay, so much for today, will report from time to time in these pages, but I encourage you to keep up with the church activities by reading your church bulletin and the monthly newsletter, the Messenger, and you can also contact us at any time by email at the fbcnorth@tds.net address. I would be most happy to hear from you.
God bless you for now and ever,
Love, In Christ...
Bro. Don Royster

North Report

Good morning again to all who peruse these pages of the First Baptist Church of the lovely little town of North, South Carolina, the jewel of the midlands. All the activities of the church are on schedule, and we are being blessed as we serve the Lord here in the North community.
Here is an excerpt from the latest bulletin just to give you an idea of what is happening.


MEN AND BOYS BREAKFAST! Next Sunday morning, Feb 20 at 8:00 AM for breakfast and fellowship. Our guest speaker will be the mayor of North, Mr. Earl Jeffcoat. Come and enjoy, let us have a good crowd. PLEASE REMIND ALL MEN AND BOYS OF THIS MEETING!

FAITH COMETH BY HEARING TAPES: The tapes and/or cds are in and you can pick them up from Bro. Don today. Remember, the official listening dates begin tomorrow, Monday, February 14th, Valentine’s Day, and extends through Easter Sunday, Mar 23rd. A listening plan for you to use is inserted in this bulletin, to help you stay on schedule. If you have not made a commitment to listen and would like to, please let Bro. Don know and he will get you into the program. It is never too late to start listening to the Word of God!
[Note: We are now in the process of Hearing the New Testament through the forty day period, and I have heard several good testimonies of how it is blessing our church family.

The 2005 Church Directory:
PICTURES: SUNDAY, FEB 27, MONDAY, FEB 28, AND TUESDAY, MARCH 1.
We have sent the appointments into the First Choice company, so if you would like to make an appointment, please call Bro. Don, and he will call the First Choice and add your name to the list. We have 2 spaces available on Monday afternoon, and 14 spaces available on Tuesday.

HELP NEEDED:
We will need a number of people to come and spend an hour or so with us and help in checking in those who have appointments. If you will have some free time on any of those days, please see Bro. Don so he can add you to the list of helpers.

WE REJOICE AT RECEIVING A NEW MEMBER: Brother Eric Goodman has come on his profession of faith in Christ, and wants to become a part of the family of God here at North. We expect to baptize him soon. How grateful we are to have Eric join with us.

So, those are just a few notes regarding our church and its ministry. We are still searching for a Minister of Music and Youth, and I must say it is going slow. But we are convinced the Lord will send us the right person at the right time! So be it, Lord!

NORTH REPORT

My dear church family, and friends of the church that are interested in what is going on in the lovely little town of North, SC, and of what might be happening in the First Baptist Church. All things are well, and the biggest difficulty the past weekend was the icy cold weather, and today, the rain is falling. A good day to stay home and enjoy the warmth and comforts of life.
Church services on Sunday were great, but lots of folks couldn't make it due to the ice and cold. I did have a good group in the Sunday Morning Seminary Class, and also had 16 in the Discipleship Training Class on Sunday evening, for which I am very grateful. In both classes we just discuss the Bible verses, and have a good time listening to others ideas and opinions. Very informal. I do appreciate the fellowship I have enjoyed as I have tried to teach the Word of God to different groups in the church. And even though Bro. Larry, our pastor, and I do not confer on sermons or lessons, it seems as if what I teach in classes, he confirms in sermon, and vice-versa. I do really believe the Lord has something exciting coming along for not only this church, but for all churches who believe in, and teach, the precious Word of God.
Our Faith Cometh By Hearing Bible listening program is about to get off the ground. The tapes of the New Testament are in the hands of the committed, and starting on Valentine's Day, we will be listening to the New Testament for 28 minutes each day. One of our ladies who drives 30 minutes to and 30 minutes back from work plans on doubling up her listening pleasure, which I promised her would bless her very much. This is a private commitment between the listener and the Lord.
Our search for a minister of music and youth has slowed down. I have several letters out to prospects, but have not had any reply from them yet. I have sent them complete information regarding the position, and the salary and benefits compensation plan, and should be hearing from someone soon. Continue to pray is my request for you, and let me know if you hear of someone who can do the combined job of Music leader and Youth/Children minister.
So for now, let me sign off by using two terms used by ham radio operators when they finish a contact, such as 73, which means best regards, and 88's, which means love and kisses. And, of course, my favorite term is "God loves you, and so do I."

FRIDAY UPDATE

Friday in North, cold, windy, threats of rain or possibly sleet and ice for the weekend. What better place could we be to celebrate the winter season, than here in this beautiful little town in western wrongfully county, in the lovely state of South Carolina.
We are sad around the community today, as the Lord has called another of His dear saints home to be with him. Bro. John Jeffcoat, faithful member of our church for many years, died last night in the Orangeburg Hospital, after a difficult illness. We will miss John and his humor and quick wit, and will be much in prayer for his wife and children and other family members. Funeral services are planned here in the church for Sunday at 3:00 PM, and burial in the Sardis Baptist Church cemetery in Swansea. Our pastor, Rev. Larry Shull, will lead in the funeral service.

Our next emphasis is on the "Faith Cometh by Hearing" commitments that many of our church members have made as we commit to listen to the audio New Testament for 28 minutes each day for the 40 day period starting on Valentine's Day, February 14, and extending through Easter Sunday, March 27. A number of our listeners purchased special audio versions of the New Testament, and others already have them. Some of us plan on listening through the computer each day, and have discovered that there are many web sites that provide not only the audio reading of the Bible, but sermons also. Oh, the wonders of the cyberworld around us!

As already mentioned in previous posts, we are also emphasizing the Church Directory photo sessions that we have scheduled for Sunday - Tuesday, Feb. 27-Mar 1. So far we have Sunday and Monday completely filled, and are working on Tuesday. We hope to have a good response and have the new directories before Mother's Day.
An update of the search for the Minister of Music and Youth states that we had another prospect that had just taken a church in central Illinois. At the moment, we are dealing by e-mail with a young man on the staff of the North Greenville College. We have other feelers out, and ask that you continue to pray for God's man to show up and minister to our church family.

Keep looking up!! God loves you and so do I!!

COMING EVENTS AT FBC

Some of our activities are included here for your consideration. These items are from the weekly bulletin which will be presented on Sunday, Jan 16th.

WELCOME TO OUR GUEST SPEAKER: It is our pleasure to have Mr. Justin Mcguire as our guest speaker today. Justin is from Irmo, SC, was an all star high school football player, and played for the USC Gamecocks from 1999 to 2003. We welcome this young man to our services today.
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WHAT’S HAPPENING AROUND OUR CHURCH
We are busy these days with lots of activities, and trust that you will participate in those that will bless you. Here is a listing of some of the events which are before us:

TIME CHANGE FOR EVENING SERVICES: We voted last Sunday in church conference to change the time for Discipleship Training and Evening Worship. So, starting tonight, the schedule will be: 5:00 PM Discipleship Training
6:00 PM Evening Worship
This will be our schedule during the winter months, until the time changes back to Daylight Savings time on April 3rd.

SOUPER BOWL SUNDAY: Looking ahead to Sunday, February 6th which is the day of the football Super Bowl, we will be asking you to contribute one dollar as you leave the church that morning to the Soup bowl which will be at the door. This is a great way to show our support for local missions, as all the monies received will go to our local Cooperative Ministries here in North.

FROM THE BUILDING/GROUNDS COMMITTEE:
The committee recently purchased a new Kirby vacuum cleaner for the church and reports that a great price was given to the church by Mr. Steve Schmidt, of the Kirby Co., 1712 Neeses Highway, Orangeburg. We do certainly thank Mr. Schmidt for his generosity, and pray that our Lord will bless him in many ways as he seeks to help people in their housework. If you are interested, Mr. Schmidt will come and demonstrate the Kirby in your home and will vacuum one room for you as a demonstration of the capabilities of this machine. If you are thinking about the purchase of a new machine, please contact him at 803-535-4335. He may be working the North area in the near future.

REPORT ON CHURCH DIRECTORY: We got off to a good start by totally filling up the Sunday reservations page, and then we began to work on Monday. Due to a misunderstanding, we started scheduling on Monday too early and must rearrange the list. Instead of starting at 9 AM, the photographers will start at 2:00 PM. Our registration will continue this morning and we ask you to stop by and help straighten out the list. If you haven’t registered, please do so. We want all our church family, friends, neighbors, just anyone who would like to be in the directory to participate. There will be no charge for your directory picture. If you decide to order a packages of pictures, there are various packages and prices, which you will be given when you view the pictures.
Also, as a matter of information, the pictures will be taken and you will be able to view them immediately afterwards, so there will not be any need to return to view the pictures.
We pray that this will be a rich blessing to our church, and to the history of our church in the days to come.
Thank you for participating in this worthy effort.

LOOKING FOR SNAPSHOTS FOR THE DIRECTORY:
Let us use your pictures for the color pages.
Also, the shut-ins who cannot come to church need to have their picture taken by someone and we can include them in the black and white page of the directory.

MAMMOGRAM VAN HERE AT OUR CHURCH: Attention ladies, the Palmetto Baptist Hospital Mammogram unit will be at our church on February 7, 2005 starting at 8:00 AM to offer this important medical examination. If you or anyone you know is interested please pick up a registration form and choose an appointment time as soon as possible. The forms are at the front of the church. For details, please see Brenda Shull.

MINISTRY LEADERS NEEDED: If you are looking for a ministry that is exciting and filled with lots of youthful exuberance, please consider helping in being a leader of the Jr. Kid’s Church from time to time. These are the preschoolers who leave the church and go to their own church each Sunday morning.
See Michael Ann Bolin to signup for this important job. The possibilities are endless.

We do appreciate all the prayer support which we receive through the news distribution in this blog. Always say a prayer for the entire church family each time you think of the church or see the blogs on your computer screen.

SUNDAY BULLETIN INSERT

EDUCATION/ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT

MINISTER OF MUSIC /YOUTH DECIDES NOT TO COME
It is my sorrow to announce that Stephen Sims called Thursday and said that he after much prayer and consideration had decided not to come to North FBC. So we are back to the beginning of our search for a music and youth minister. I do appreciate all the preparations and plans that were made to welcome Stephen to our church today, and ask that you will continue to pray that the Lord will direct someone to us who really feels led to come to North.

CHURCH DIRECTORY:
It’s that time! We are starting today to take reservations so that you can be included in this historical document. The Sunday Morning Seminary Sunday School Class has taken this on as a class project, and invites everyone to participate. This time we will schedule the appointments for a Sunday and Monday. Today you can sign up as you leave the church services by stopping at the table in the vestibule and filling in the time you desire. More details as time goes by.
WE NEED PICTURES. If you have snapshots of our church, can we use them? We will have 5 color pages to fill, so we need your input.

NEXT SUNDAY IS BAPTIST MEN’S DAY!
Our annual Baptist Men’s Day will be held next Sunday, January 16th, starting with breakfast for the men and boys, at 8:00 AM. The guest speaker will be Mr. Justin McGuire, former member the USC football team in 2000. He will also be our guest speaker for the church services Sunday morning.

MEN’S CHOIR NEXT SUNDAY
OUR MEN ARE REMINDED THAT THEY WILL FILL THE CHOIR AND ARE URGED TO REMAIN AFTER THE BREAKFAST TO PRACTICE A SPECIAL HYMN TO SING.

YOUTH TO PIZZA NEXT SUNDAY NIGHT JAN 16TH AFTER CHURCH

CHURCH CONFERENCE THIS MORNING
Today we conduct the business of the church. You are urged to pray for the activities of you church, the financial affairs, and the various concerns which we face in doing God’s Business each day. He has truly blessed FBC and we need to praise and thank Him every time we pray for His Son, Our Salvation, and His Church, of which we are a vital part as we serve, work, give, pray, and go.

“SOUPER” BOWL SUNDAY: You will be asked to participate in the annual ‘souper” bowl fund-raising drive on Sunday, February 6, 2005. Each person is asked to drop at least one dollar into the soup bowls as you leave the church on that Sunday. This money is collected and distributed to local needs, in our case, the Cooperative Ministries. This is one special offering where ALL the money stays in the community.

PRAYER LIST
We are grateful for the privilege of prayer, and have all seen evidence of God’s answers to our prayers in these past months. As we pray, we need to remember that when God answers prayers for those names on our prayer list, we should remove them and claim the victory of healing and blessing. We need your help in keeping the Prayer List up-to-date, so if you know of those on the prayer list that are doing well, please let the office know so that we can remove their names.

BULLETINS AND NEWSLETTERS
It is the privilege of the office staff to prepare and distribute the weekly bulletins and the monthly Messenger newsletters. We feel that it is a great ministry of the written word about our church ministries. We do appreciate comments, critiques, and suggestions on improving the product. We want to do the best job for you that we can do, but you must realize that changes are made from time to time, and errors happen. Please be patient with us as Jesus is.
Love to you all, In Christ, Bro. Don

NOTE: In the church conference, the church voted to:
1. change the evening activities schedule time from 6 PM for Discipleship Training and 7 PM for evening worship to 5 PM for Discipleship Training and 6 PM for evening worship services.

2.To purchase an interface for the new digital copier for the office to allow the church computers to connect directly to the copier, in a sense making it a hard drive and a printer.

3. Approve the plans for the new church directory, with photographs to be taken on Sunday and Monday, February 26 and 27.

Your prayers are encouraged for our church and the ministry for Christ that we have in the North community. Remember, we are the church that really loves....and the church that really prays.... and, for those who read these blogs from time to time that are some distance from our church, we do want you to know that we do love and appreciate you and all that you are doing in His ministry, wherever you are, so is He.

CHURCH ACTIVITIES BOOMING!

The new year is here, and we are excited around FBC. Everyone seemed to have a great Christmas season, with lots of family members coming and sharing around the tables and in the fellowship of the church. Our biggest concern was that the true meaning of Christmas not be overshadowed by the 'holiday sales' and such. We appreciate our pastor for sharing a number of great messages that reminded us of the birth of our Savior and what He means to us. Now if we can really get excited about Jesus in this new year of 2005, we might see great things happen here in our church and community.
We are especially excited about he visit we are having this weekend from a prospective minister of music and youth/children. Bro. Stephen Sims will be traveling from near Louisville, KY and will arrive on Friday evening. We have a full weekend planned for him as he will meet with the Personnel Committee, the leaders of the church, and will lead in the worship hour on Sunday. Stephen is a Dec. 2003 graduate with a Master of Church Music degree from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and has worked as choir director and youth director in his first years of ministry. His undergraduate work was at Campbellsville College, Campbellsville, KY. He is unmarried, and is in his late 20's. We pray for God's leadership in this important matter of calling a full-time minister of music and youth. This is a giant step for our church, and one that we have looked forward to for a long time. This church truly is an exciting church!