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Church sees CP as ‘tried and true’ in missions
Marilyn Stewart, Baptist Press
November 02, 2009
5 MIN READ TIME

Church sees CP as ‘tried and true’ in missions

Church sees CP as ‘tried and true’ in missions
Marilyn Stewart, Baptist Press
November 02, 2009

GRANITE FALLS — Dudley Shoals Baptist Church goes with the

“tried and true.” This is true in Sunday School and in its Cooperative Program

giving.

Seeing the need to reach the families in two local trailer

parks, each a mile from the church in Granite Falls, church members took Sunday

School “on the road.”

The church built small “children’s chapels” in each trailer

park and brought Sunday School to the children. On Sundays, adult teachers lead

the Bible Study for up to 50 children before bringing them to the main church

campus for “big church.” The church has baptized 30 children through the

outreach.

Using Sunday School as an outreach tool is a time-tested

strategy, pastor Ronald Winkler said. “It still works.”

Contributed photo

Dudley Shoals Baptist Church’s chapel services at local mobile home parks has been a successful way to minister to the church’s community.

Going with what works also is why Dudley Shoals Baptist

Church gives 25 percent of its undesignated receipts to missions through the

Cooperative Program.

“The Cooperative Program is the lifeblood of our church,”

Winkler said of the way state conventions in the Southern Baptist Convention

work together the Acts 1:8 way — supporting local, regional, national and

international missions and ministries.

Winkler credits a strong missions education program as the

driving force behind their missions giving and their mission service. The

church has an active Woman’s Missionary Union as well as Acteens, Royal

Ambassadors (RAs) and Girls in Action (GAs) programs.

Winkler also credits the 32-year pastoral leadership of his

predecessor — Donald Ingle — for building the church’s steady commitment to

missions. Winkler stepped into the senior pastor position five years ago after

serving as the church’s associate pastor.

A decade of children’s chapel Sunday School has produced

tangible results. The parents of the children are invited to participate and

have been touched with the gospel as well, Winkler said.

A Wednesday evening Bible study also takes place at the

children’s chapels.

Crime had been a problem in the trailer parks prior to the

opening of the children’s chapels. The high rate of resident turnover and the

number of broken homes in the trailer parks made them an unstable environment.

A drop in crime after the children’s program began prompted

the local sheriff’s office to thank the church for its contribution in

stabilizing the community.

Other Dudley Shoals mission projects include the

distribution of Bibles and ministries at a women’s shelter and a local prison.

The church’s successful children’s chapels, local mission

projects, national and international mission trips have fueled its passion for

missions, Winkler said. Nearly 40 percent of the church budget is dedicated to

missions giving and missions service.

“We try always to keep missions before our people,” Winkler

said. “We are growing up a generation to be involved in missions.”

Four young men in the church are preparing for the ministry,

three of whom are enrolled at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake

Forest, where tuition is supported in part by Cooperative Program funds.

Randy Smith, who recently joined the church staff as

director of ministries, and his wife Debbie served as career International

Mission Board missionaries. Winkler said the church is anticipating Smith’s

leadership in involving more members in short-term international mission trips.

International mission service projects under consideration

by the church are designed to appeal to, and involve, a broad range of

membership, including retirees and farmers. Winkler said mission trips help

members understand the importance of giving through the Cooperative Program as

well as giving them an opportunity to see the work that Cooperative Program

dollars accomplish.

“Letting people see the results of what we give is

motivating,” Winkler said.

The church’s many years of commitment to the Cooperative

Program have not always been easy.

“In spite of difficulties, we still gave to the Cooperative

Program,” Winkler said. “Supporting missions is what we are commanded to do.”

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Stewart is a freelance writer and

member of Edgewater Baptist Church in New Orleans.)

A legacy spanning generations

Grandfather Mountain forms the horizon at Mt. Zion Baptist in Hudson.

The name stirs a sense of legacy.

The century-old church’s evangelism and missions education

programs have forged a legacy generations deep. God has called from its

membership three International Mission Board missionaries and several full-time

pastors, youth and music ministers.

“We give through the Cooperative Program because of missions,”

pastor John Green said.

“It hasn’t always been easy, but we made that commitment a

long time ago.”

Mt. Zion’s total members in 2008 Annual Church Profile,

1,065; baptisms, 11; primary worship service attendance, 300; undesignated

receipts, $393,724; Cooperative Program, $82,229; CP percent, 20.9; total

missions expenditures, $124,167.

Connected to the world

Pastor Rit Varriale calls it “a beautiful picture of the

body of Christ,” noting how “God-called and God-equipped” individuals in the

church challenged and led fellow members of Elizabeth Baptist Church in Shelby,

to strengthen their commitment to reaching people through the Cooperative

Program.

Church members now see themselves as part of a larger

picture of missions. So strong is the church’s commitment to mission service

that the work of their Baptist Men’s Handy-Man Ministry was featured on a local

television station.

“The beauty of the Cooperative Program is that it connects

the body of Christ here in Elizabeth with the larger body of Christ around the

world,” Varriale said.

Elizabeth Baptist Church’s total members in 2008 Annual

Church Profile, 849; baptisms, 14; primary worship service attendance, 456;

undesignated receipts, $1,015,996; Cooperative Program, $170,256; CP percent,

16.8; total missions expenditures, $314,209.