GREENSBORO — Eight churches that joined
forces in mid-June to conduct a successful Vacation Bible School(VBS) are working together for a community-wide “Back To School
Community Day” Saturday, Aug. 16.
The event will be from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. in
a field between Southside Baptist Church and Motel 6, off U.S. 85 on the
south side of Greensboro.
The goal is to attract at least 500 children to
the event and provide them bags of school supplies, said Matthew Bowden,
youth director at Southside That was approximately the average
attendance each night for the VBS, according to Patrick
Fuller, Southside pastor.
Pastors of the
eight churches reaped great spiritual rewards and established
fellowship during that program, Fuller said. So they decided to work together
again for the back-to-school block party.
“We found out we can get a lot more accomplished working together than
competing for the attention of the children in our neighborhoods,” Fuller said.
Three black congregations and five predominately
white churches sponsored the VBS at Southside. Seven are Baptist
churches, and one is an Assembly of God.
Each church has taken responsibility for getting
various supplies, and for helping invite children to play games, and enjoy
popcorn, cotton candy, ice cones, refreshments and play game, Bowden said. The
area is being blanketed with flyers inviting participation. Mail invitations are
being sent to those who participated in the Bible school.
Success of VBS has cleared a
lot of hurdles for all of the churches involved, according to Rodney Mitchell,
pastor of Rocky Knoll Baptist Church.
“The most exciting thing about it
was that it showed what could be done by working together,” he said. “It
was an opportunity to see what can take place when churches get together in a
common purpose for the Lord. I looked out across the children gathered each
night, and it was like a glimpse of heaven with the diversity of people there —
white, black and Asian.”
The churches also included
Groometown Baptist, Christian Fellowship Missionary Baptist, Water of
Life Community, Whosoeverwill Baptist, Pinecroft Baptist and Central Assembly of
God.
The hand-in-hand work among these churches won’t end
with the back-to-school party. “We’re now talking about doing a Christmas
program together,” Bowden said.
(EDITOR’S NOTE — Burchette, a retired
editor/writer for the
Greensboro News & Record, can be reached at [email protected]).