2025!! It is hard for me to comprehend the year 2025. When I surrendered to the ministry on August 26, 1973, married Monica on February 12, 1977 and started our family when Jamie, our first child, was born on March 16, 1979, 2025 seemed like an eternity away. Through the years it has been quite a journey filled with lots of joy and moments of sadness. However, I am excited about the rest of my journey and the journey of First Baptist Church not only in this New Year but the future. After experiencing our Secret Candlelight Service and hearing about the persecution of Christians around our world, my challenge for our church is to focus on memorizing scripture in 2025.   

“Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against You” Psalm 119:11.

Let’s pray for 2025 to be our very best year for God’s glory!

What a year 2024 was! God has done some incredible things, and I trust that in 2025, He will continue to be so good to us. We saw so much improvement in the safety and security of our children this past year, and none of it would have been possible without the provision of the Lord and the dedication and hard work of our Ad Hoc Committee for Children’s Safety. I am so grateful for their diligence this past year, and I look forward to their continued efforts to bring about change for the protection of those in our ministry. As we move into this new year, we are kicking things off with some exciting changes. The church recently voted to expand my role to include the nursery. I have been working closely with the nursery leaders, and we are excited to welcome three new paid nursery workers. We have also decided to alter the Sunday Morning Nursery schedule to include two separate hours. This means that instead of volunteering for the entire morning, you can volunteer for Sunday School or worship hours. If you would like to be added to the volunteer schedule, please contact the nursery coordinator or me, Staci Fitzpatrick. In our Children’s Ministry, we are excited to bring two new additions to our ministry activities. This month, we are bringing back the Children’s Choir and Bible Drill to the Wednesday night schedule in addition to our regular mission groups. Another change that we look forward to is taking a week off from Children’s Church each month to allow kids to worship with their families and the rest of the church. Along with these changes and additions, we have so many annual events on the calendar for 2025 as well. My prayer is that God will move in a mighty way this year as He continues to bring about growth in our ministry and provides heart transformation in the lives of our children.

Happy New Year, 2025! I am so grateful for all the Lord has done in my life and our student ministry this past year. We have seen growth in every area, and students are excited to be a part of our ministry. The Lord has been faithful and kind. In December, we had a very successful Christmas party and a great trip to the Memphis Zoo for their Christmas lights and ice skating. Moreover, I am looking forward to all that the Lord will do for us in 2025 as we seek to disciple our students by teaching them the Bible, pouring into their lives, and investing in their families. In January, I intend to share my philosophy of Student Ministry and Family Discipleship with the church and my plan for discipleship in our student ministry, along with the different ways parents and church members can serve our students. We are also looking forward to our trip to the Briar Ridge Hunting Retreat from January 24–26, and I would like to thank Mark Fitzpatrick for doing such a wonderful job in leading that ministry for our students. As always, I’m so grateful for a supportive and encouraging church family, and I couldn’t do anything without a great team of volunteers.