SPENCER ó Jerusalem Baptist Church will honor their pastor, the Rev. David L. Bracken, with a two-day celebration to commemorate six years as their leader.
Today, 1-5 p.m., the congregation will host Family Fun Day with a cookout, games, prizes and entertainment.
Tomorrow at 11 a.m., the Rev. Wallace Powell, associate minister of New Light Baptist Church, Greensboro, will deliver the morning message and Jerusalem’s mass choir will render the music. Lunch will be served in the fellowship hall at 1:30 p.m.
At 4 p.m. tomorrow, the Rev. Dr. Clarence Johnson, pastor of Elm Grove Baptist Church, Reidsville, will bring the afternoon message, accompanied by his choir, ushers and congregation.
Cynthia Stoner is chairperson of the Pastor’s Appreciation and Anniversary Celebration. The church is located at 1570 N. Long St. Ext. in Spencer.
Gray’s Chapel
The Outreach Ministry at Gray’s Chapel F.B.H. Church extends an invitation to all community churches for an Outreach Workshop convening 9:30 a.m., June 9.
The theme is “Perfecting Your Church Ministry for Growth for Such a Time as This.”
Free breakfast will be served at 8 p.m.
The facilitator will be Elder Lucille Spears of Bellefonte Presbyterian Church in Harrisburg.
Also, outside evening services will be held at 7:30 p.m. with Elder Shay Geter from New Faith of Lexington as guest speaker.
Hall’s Chapel
Hall’s Chapel Primitive Baptist Church, 611 E. Monroe St., will celebrate Elder Richard L. Johnson’s 17th Appreciation at 4 p.m. tomorrow.
The Rev. Samuel Thompson of First Beginning Baptist Church in Clover, S.C., will be the guest speaker. His choir and congregation will accompany him.
Elder Richard L. Johnson is pastor of Hall’s Chapel.
Veterans honored
CHINA GROVE ó South China Grove Church of God, 163 Third Ave., will remember deceased veterans and honor those still living at the 11 a.m. service tomorrow. The Rev. Joyce Miles is church pastor.
Gloria Ross is teaching a series on Wednesday nights called “Deliverance from the Demonic.”
For more information call 704-467-4555.
Empowerment crusadeAn interdenominational fellowship of more than 15 area churches will sponsor a Community-Wide Empowerment Crusade May 28-June 1 at Gethsemane Baptist Church, 719 S. Caldwell St.
The theme for the crusade will be “Building Up the Body of Christ,” with the goal of empowering the faith community and citizens of Salisbury and Rowan County to address issues that challenge society.
Music will be rendered each night by an interdenominational fellowship mass choir. Friday night is Youth Night with music by an interdenominational youth choir.
Empowerment seminars will be held 6-7 p.m. each night, and focus on topics including what God is saying about family, spiritual gifts, evangelism, gang awareness and winning back our children. Area pastors, lay persons and community leaders will serve as facilitators. Dress is “come as you are.” Worship begins at 7 p.m. each evening.
The Rev. Billy Houze, pastor of First Baptist Church in Lawndale, will be guest evangelist. He is a former member of the nationally award-winning gospel singing group, The Brooklyn All-Stars.
Houze served two terms on the Kings Mountain Board of Education and was moderator of the Ebenezer Baptist Association. He presently serves on the Cleveland County Tomorrow Board of Planning, United Way Board of Directors, the Day Detention Advisory Council and the Ministerial Board of Associates of Gardner-Webb University.
He is active in the General Baptist State Convention of N.C. Inc., where he serves as chair of Institutionalized and Homeless Ministries, the General Board and has served as chair of the Statewide Evangelism Committee. Houze has also done missionary work in Jamaica.
St. Luke Baptist
St. Luke Baptist Church, 410 Hawkinstown Road, celebrates its annual Family and Friends Day tomorrow. A dinner will follow the 11 a.m. service.
Guest speaker will be the Rev. George M. Greene, minister of outreach for Macedonia New Life Church in Raleigh.
Greene also works for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He is a 20-year veteran of the N.C. National Guard, deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1997.
The Rev. Arthur L. Heggins is church pastor.
‘Faith of Our Mothers’STATESVILLE ó On Saturday, June 9, from 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. women of all faiths are invited to the Starrette Farmhouse Retreat in Statesville.
“Faith of our Mothers” will be the focus. The group will explore the impact of faith in the lives of a number of women in the Bible, influential women and others. Georgia Harris Krueger, past executive director of the Lake Norman YMCA and current national speaker/trainer and owner of her own company specializing in leadership and organizational development, will facilitate the day.
The fee is a $35 donation (or what you can pay). Bring a bag lunch. Beverages and all materials are provided.
For more information or to register, contact Ann Starrette, founder of The Lydia Group of Lake Norman, 704-488-5825 or Starrette@mindspring.com. Interfaith camp
The Concord-Kannapolis Ministerial Association has expressed its support for the interfaith children’s summer camp “Our Founding Family: Re-discovering the Ancestors of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.”
The program is an important effort to help build bridges and promote understanding among the citizens of Cabarrus County through exploring and sharing the unique contributions of each faith and their many shared beliefs. The Association encourages area faith communities to support this program through their generous donations.
The Rev. Marion Rhyne, minister of music and Christian education at Trinity United Church of Christ in Concord, Dr. Barbara Thiede, rabbinic intern with the Alliance for Jewish Renewal and spiritual leader of Havurat Olam, and Dr. Kathryn Johnson, professor of Islamic Studies at UNC-C, are co-creating the program. Their interfaith efforts will be aided by musicians, teachers and volunteers of all three faiths.
The program will be held July 23-29 at McGill Baptist Church in Concord. Donations may be made to McGill Baptist Church with “Our Founding Family: An Interfaith Summer Camp” in the memo line. The church’s address is 5300 Poplar Tent Road, Concord, NC 28027.
For more information, call Steve Ayers at McGill Baptist, 704-784-1239, or Barbara Thiede, 704-784-4616.
Devotional Web site
The New Covenant Outreach Ministries is sponsoring a devotional Web site for Rowan County law enforcement, fire and EMS personnel.
The site is updated regularly by the Rev. Mark Williams of New Covenant.
Comments are welcome. The site address is www.freewebs.com/mustercall.