Tag Archive for: #firstbaptistchurchhenderson

First Baptist Church To Provide Shuttle From ACTS To RAM Clinic Saturday

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Volunteers from First Baptist Church will be at ACTS, 201 S. William St., Saturday to provide shuttle service for anyone who may need transportation to the Duke RAM pop-up clinic.

Church Deacon Bert Long said the plan is to run two vehicles to the clinic between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Day 1 of the two-day clinic. The clinic doors open at 6 a.m. on Saturday and a cadre of physicians, dentists and other health care professionals will provide free care until 4 p.m. The clinic opens at 6 a.m. again on Sunday and will run through 12 noon or 1 p.m., depending on the number of clients.

This is the third year that the free medical, dental and vision clinic has set up shop in the parking lot of Vance Charter School on Ross Mill Road.

“We don’t know how much demand there will be…we’ll play it by ear,” he said of the shuttle service.

“If folks don’t have transportation, (and) they have a way to get to ACTS, they’ll have a ride to and from the clinic.

Long said providing transportation adds a new facet to the clinic, and he said that Duke University senior Saajan Patel, one of the clinic’s organizers, is excited at the prospect.

TownTalk: Remembering Dr. Marion Lark

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Colleagues and community members are remembering their beloved friend and pastor, Dr. Marion D. Lark, who died late Saturday, Aug. 19. Lark came to The First Baptist Church in Henderson in 1973 and was minister there for 29 years.

“It’s a sad day for First Baptist Church and for our community,” remarked Senior Minister Ron Cava as Sunday’s worship service began. “Our beloved senior minister emeritus …entered his rest last evening.”

A memorial service will be held at First Baptist Church Henderson, Wednesday, August 23, 2023 at 3 P.M. by Dr. Ron Cava, Dr. Glenn Phillips and Dr. Phil Young.  A private interment will be held for the family.  

“He will be sorely missed,” Cava told the congregation Sunday morning. “His impact in this congregation, in this community…cannot be quantified.”

Dr. Phil Young, First Baptist’s longtime minister of music, remembered his friend fondly. “We remained close friends after our retirement,” Young said Monday on TownTalk. “I will miss him terribly…how often I have thanked God that we were able to work together and what a blessing he has been on my life. He was a great preacher and a great pastor and we will miss him.”

Mark Hopper, FBC’s minister of music until 2022, expressed sadness and disbelief. “He has been such a constant North Star in my life for 22 years,” Hopper wrote in a statement to WIZS News.

“Marion Lark was integrity personified,” he said. “He was first and foremost a pastor in the way of Jesus: feeding the hungry, caring for the sick. He was completely devoted to his wife Jean in good times and bad.  He loved his congregation like his own family, and he saw First Baptist’s role in making Henderson a place where Christ was shown and not just talked about.  He commanded respect through humility and through modeled action and servant leadership. He was a fine musician, was unbelievably well-read, and was the definition of wisdom.  The loss to First Baptist, to Henderson, and to the Christian community is immense.”

The Rev. Dr. Paul Baxley remembers his time learning from and alongside Lark. Baxley, now executive coordinator for Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, was 23 years old when he was selected to be associate minister at First Baptist. “He offered trust, encouragement, patience, grace and support to me in really definitive years of my ministerial life,” Baxley said of his fellow pastor and friend.

“Dr. Lark created an environment at The First Baptist Church in which the colleagues who were called to serve with him could use their gifts, grow in ministry and thrive. I was by no means the only person who benefitted richly from the freedom he provided and the trust he extended,” Baxley said in a statement Monday to WIZS News.

One of those individuals was Amy Russell. When she came on staff at First Baptist, Lark was retired and simply a member of the congregation. But Russell, now associate pastor of children and families at First Baptist Greensboro, said he supported her growth and development as a minister.

“After each sermon he would give feedback,” she said in a statement to WIZS News, “from ‘that one really made me think’ to ‘I struggled with that text, too’” Russell said.

“He was unafraid to share the truth of the gospel and it was always a privilege to get to hear him preach. He built a legacy at First Baptist Church of Henderson that shaped the congregation and the community. But he didn’t build a legacy for himself. He built a legacy as an outgrowth of his deep love for the church and for Henderson and Vance County.”

Henderson City Council member Garry Daeke shared a memory that he said resounds with him to this day. There was some discussion about downtown development – not a heated debate, but the topic had everybody involved and working hard to find a compromise and move forward.

It was Lark’s advice that Daeke tries to keep in mind with every decision he makes: “‘If we are to err, let’s err on the side of grace.’”

Daeke called Lark a “consummate gentleman who loved his community.” Lark always had time to discuss issues in the community, he added. “He would always thank me for my service.”

“Dr. Lark simultaneously embodied what it meant to be a deeply committed pastor to a congregation while also working actively for the well-being of a much larger community. He gave his life and his gifts for almost 50 years to Henderson/Vance County and to The First Baptist Church. In these ways, he was an embodiment of what it means for a pastor to be a community leader,” Baxley said.

CLICK PLAY for TownTalk Broadcast

CLICK PLAY for WIZS News Broadcast

Area Churches Participate In Read-Aloud Bible Project With Local Ties

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Members from area churches participated in an activity earlier this week during which they read parts of the Bible aloud – a simple act with profound effects. And although the idea didn’t originate here, there are definitely ties to Vance County.

Lois Murphy, a member of First Baptist Church in Henderson, has helped organize this effort for the past few years – at least six, she said in a telephone interview Friday.

Murphy said nine churches in the Henderson area participated on Wednesday, May 4, but she would be very happy to have more join in. “We try to add some each year,” she explained. Island Creek Baptist Church joined for the first time and were given Lamentations and part of Hosea to read, according to Pastor Johnny Yount.

Each church is assigned a different section of the Bible to read aloud, Murphy said. Her church was assigned Genesis and Exodus, the first two books of the Bible. She and a partner began the day at 8 a.m. and read, taking turns, for 15 minutes until their hour was up. Then two different readers came in and continued until the two books were completed.

One church began at 6 a.m. and continued on until late in the afternoon, she said. Although they didn’t read the entire Bible in one day, Murphy said past participants have said the experience was meaningful.

“We feel that the word of God is very powerful,” she said, “and if we read it to Him, He will listen.”

One church reported that sickness among some participants prevented them from completing their entire reading assignment, so they saved the parts that had not been read and the children and youth finished the readings when they met. “I think that is just marvelous,” Murphy said.

The read-aloud project is intentionally held on the day before the National Day of Prayer, which was observed on Thursday, May 5 this year.

“We would also like to include other towns or other areas,” Murphy said, “because this is something that we don’t care to keep to ourselves.”

Murphy said she is passionate about this project, which she learned about a number of years ago from someone who was friends with the Rocky Mount woman who inspired the project.

And here’s where the local connection comes in: In January 1982, Janice Gravely successfully landed a private plane in a field in northern Vance County. But she wasn’t the pilot – her husband was piloting the plane and suffered a heart attack mid-flight. Gravely was injured, but she was able to crawl to a nearby home to get help.

Gravely wrote a book about this life-altering event which became the catalyst for the project to read the Bible aloud. Gravely died in 2020 and her daughter is continuing her mother’s efforts, Murphy said.

“She said that God spoke to her and asked her to start a day when people would read the Bible aloud,” Murphy said. Gravely’s obituary stated that she created the project as a way to declare the importance of the Bible in our nation’s life.

She died in December 2020 at the age of 99.

Gravely’s book is titled “Won’t Somebody Help Me!” She would have celebrated her 101st birthday Monday, May 9.

Interested in participating in next year’s event? Contact Murphy at 252.432.0681.

Vance Co. Regional Farmers Market

Farmers Market Site of Second Thurs. Food Distribution, Aug. 9

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-Information courtesy Betty Boyd

The Second Thursday Food Distribution will be held at the Vance County Regional Farmers Market off Beckford Drive, Henderson, on Thursday, August 9, 2018, from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.

This is a partnership of St. James Missionary Baptist Church and First Baptist Church offered to supplement the food resources of Vance County citizens. Recipients remain in their vehicle. No identification is required.

Contact Betty Boyd at 252-432-3967 if you would like to volunteer or have questions.

(This is not a paid advertisement)