|
Community Outreach & Home Missions
The Chepachet Baptist Church, despite its small size, ministers to the local region in many different ways -- helping to support individuals and charities, sponsoring community events, offering programs designed to spread the Good News of the
Gospel, and creating (or hosting) historical, cultural, and civic events to bring fellowship to the community.
Ten percent of our weekly collection is set aside for missions, including those overseas as well as those at home. Because we are a small church, our home missions program typically consists of
monetary and in-kind support for other local charitable organizations, such as the Glocester, RI Food Bank and the Salvation Army. However, we also at times provide
assistance directly to local people whose special needs have come to our attention. Moreover, we host fund-raising events for special purposes. For example, we held a summer concert at which
funds were raised to help a local family obtain a seizure-alert dog for one of their children. We have also sponsored fund-raising events for Rhode Island charitable organizations (such as
Providence's Steere House Assisted Living and Alzheimer's Facility).
In addition to home missions to help those in need, we have sponsored programs aimed to bring fellowship to the community. Many of these have a spiritual message:
- We have sponsored a very successful and well-attended Easter Egg Hunt for local children. This took place at the church (and in the adjacent field). Over 2000 plastic eggs
containing candy were hidden in the field or secreted in the shed for kids to find and gather. We also had a fire truck and police car available for the them to inspect and "take the wheel." We
hope to have a repeat performance in 2015.
- We have held a community event led by Lynne Andrews, a parishioner and nationally-recognized artist, at which participants
fashioned exquisite Christmas decorations out of weathered siding removed from our historic carriage shed.
- We have sponsored an experimental series of Alpha study groups, open to the public, that featured a series of thought-provoking video presentations on important religious
and existential topics, followed by a group discussion. The topics discussed were structured around a set of questions, including: Who is Jesus? Why Did Jesus Die? How Can We Have
Faith? Why and How Do I Pray? Why and How Should I Read the Bible? How can I be Filled with the Holy Spirit? How can I Resist Evil? How can I Make the Most of the Rest of My Life?
These, and other questions, were explored in a relaxed and supportive atmosphere that encouraged open conversation as well as personal reflection and spiritual development. For a
more detailed description of our ministries, please see the Ministries page on this website.
- We worked with members of a local trailer park to rehab the community hall on the grounds. The facility helps residents by providing a place to host Bible studies as well as family
and community celebrations.
- For the last quarter century we have sponsored a Music at the Meeting House series, with a half dozen performances (or so) each year, featuring area musicians. These
programs include a wide variety of music. We try to give encouragement to young performers, and each year we devote a significant portion of our programming to inspirational music with a
spiritual message, including an annual Christmas concert that features the reading of the Christmas Story from Luke and Matthew; programs honoring individual hymns (such as Amazing Grace)
or hymn writers (such as Fannie Crosby or Charles Wesley); contemporary Christian music; and old fashion hymn-sings. See the page describing the Music at the Meeting House series elsewhere on this website.
- Given the Church's long and rich historical heritage, it is not surprising that it (and individual congregation members) participate actively in celebrating
regional history and in commemorating regional historical events as part of our outreach to the community. In conjunction with the Glocester Heritage Society,
we have mounted exhibits and hosted lectures at the church on the Dorr Rebellion and Chepachet's Old Home Days. We provided material (and footage) for a three-part CD series
on the history of the Town of Glocester (recently produced by Betty
and Carlo Mencucci), which gives extensive coverage to the church. Back a few years, we invited the town to participate in four well-attended celebrations of our 175th Anniversary. We sponsored
several events in conjunction with the Blackstone Valley National Heritage Corridor Footsteps in History Program, including one that featured a recently-discovered diary of Alexander
Morrell, a national figure who was pastor of our church in the 1880s. We host historical and family association meetings. We have recently hosted the Rhode Island Grange. Our website is a
major historical resource. On April 25, 2015, the church played an important role in a conference sponsored by the Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission. See the Our History
page on this website for detailed accounts of many of these programs.
- We participate in ecumenical events. In 2002, we helped launch an
Ecumenical Thanksgiving service with three other churches in Chepachet (Chepachet Union Church, St.
Eugene's Roman Catholic Church, and Glad Tidings Church). The first program was at Chepachet Baptist, and the tradition continues today, with the service rotating among the churches. Right after the
tragedy of September 11, we helped organize an ecumenical memorial service, we participated in a commemorative service on its anniversary, and we held a memorial service at the
church on its tenth anniversary. We participate annually with other churches in the Town's Memorial Day Parade.
All in all, we as a church try to be a responsible and supportive community citizen by helping to bring fellowship to the community while at the same time inviting members of the community to come closer to God.
|
