Bishop S.C. Madison, national leader of the United House of Prayer for All People, will be the guest at the local sanctuary, 501 Old Concord Road, Monday, beginning at 8 p.m. Many out of town choirs and bands will be present.
Apostle A.M. Oakley Sr. is the local pastor.
Union Lutheran
Union Lutheran Church, 4770 Bringle Ferry Road, will be celebrating Easter at two worship services this Sunday.
Pastor Robert Howard, Pat Miller and Tonya Brittain will lead both services.
Sunrise service will begin at 7 a.m. in the church cemetery. Preparations have been made in case of inclement weather.
Silver Bells and the senior choir will lead hymns and provide an anthem. Breakfast will follow in the fellowship hall at 8 a.m.
Festival service with Holy Communion will begin at 10:30 a.m. Belles and Beaus, the wind ensemble, Cherub Choir and Senior Choir will all provide music.
First Presbyterian
KANNAPOLIS ó The First Presbyterian Church of Kannapolis will conduct an Easter sunrise service this Sunday at 7 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall.
The service of praise and worship will be led by the youth and children of the church. Following the service, a light breakfast will be served.
The celebration of the resurrection will continue during the 11 a.m. worship service. The Praise Ringers Handbell Choir, Kidz Khoir, a brass quartet and the Chancel Choir will present special music during the service.
Call 704-938-4623 or go to www.firstpresb.org for additional information.
Cleveland service
CLEVELAND ó Three churches will combine for a Cleveland community sunrise service Sunday at 6:30 a.m.
The service will be hosted by Cedar Grove AME Zion Church, the Rev. Dr. Patricia A. Tyson, pastor. Other churches participating will be Mount Vernon Presbyterian and Third Creek AME Zion.
The message will be delivered by the Rev. Donnie C. Kent, pastor of Third Creek. The Rev. Robert Fulwood is pastor of Mount Vernon.
Breakfast will follow the service. The public is invited.
St. Peter’s Lutheran
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, 2570 St. Peter’s Church Road, will have their second annual Lantern Tour of the church cemetery today at 7-8:30 p.m.
This event is part of the 50 years celebration of being in the present church building.
The Rev. Dave Ridenhour, Jean Holshouser, Anis Boyd, Holly Tomlinson and Sierra Barger will portray some of past church members from heaven. Those from the past are the Rev. H. A. Trexler, Mamie Goodman, Lydia Harkey, Millie Pool, Sister Pearl Lyerly and an infant, Sarah Jane Earnhardt.
A fellowship time will follow the tour in the Scout hut.
The public is invited. There is no charge.
First Calvary Baptist
The Rev. Dr. James D. Ballard, evangelist and Baptist minister, will begin a quarterly series of sermons at First Calvary Baptist Church at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The public is invited to attend this series of worship services which will be held in the sanctuary located at 400 S. Long St.
Ballard, a native of High Point, has a career as theologian, educator and civil rights advocate spanning more than 53 years. He currently serves as interim pastor at First Baptist Church in Fuguay-Varina. He led the merger of two Baptist congregations: West End Baptist Church and First Institutional Baptist Church, both of Winston-Salem. He partnered with Dr. David Hughes and First Baptist Church for better race relations in Winston-Salem.
He has served as a teacher and counselor in the Winston-Salem-Forsyth County Schools, as an assistant chaplain in the U. S. Air Force and as chaplain at Winston-Salem State University. Ballard was one of two black students to attend and graduate from Duke University Divinity School and, in 1966, was honored by the mayor and city council of Winston-Salem for leadership in strides for civil rights and equality in the city.
Ballard was awarded the doctor of divinity degree by Shaw University. He is a member of the general board of the General Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, the general board of the Lott Carey Foreign Missions Convention and the general board of the National Baptist Convention USA Inc.
The Rev. Leamon Brown is pastor of First Calvary.
For more information call 704-633-2818.
Macedonia Baptist
Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, 2865 Enon Church Road, will hold a sunrise service, 6 a.m. Sunday.
Guest speaker will be the Rev. E.V. Hackett, pastor of Mighty Miracle Temple Church. Breakfast will follow.
There will also be an evening service at 6 p.m. for the building fund. The speaker will be the Rev. Joseph Robinson, pastor of New Creation Baptist Church, Statesville.
Dr. W.T. Jackson is pastor of Macedonia.
Trinity Presbyterian
A Ressurection Celebration Sunrise Service will be held at 6 a.m. Sunday at Trinity Presbyterian Church.
Annie Bates is the lay host. The Rev. Samuel Washington, pastor of Solid Rock Church of God in Salisbury, will be the messenger and Elder Timothy Bates, pastor of Calvary Presbyterian Church, Statesville, will serve as worship leader.
Breakfast will be served immediately afterward.
Mt. Moriah Lutheran
CHINA GROVE ó Mount Moriah Evangelical Lutheran Church will have two services on Easter Sunday, March 23.
At 7 a.m., there will be a sunrise service, including a dramatic presentation, “Risen.”
Before the service, at 6:45 a.m., those who come early are invited to join in a “Litany of Saints” at the corner of the graveyard.
Following the sunrise service, the Mount Moriah Lutheran Men in Mission will serve a full breakfast. There is no charge but donations will be received to be used for improvements to the church’s facilities.
There will be no Sunday school Easter morning.
At 10 a.m. (note time change) there will be a festival service of Holy Communion The sermon will be “Rise and Shine” and the service will include special music by the chancel choir, the Rejoice Believers, handbell choir, and Kingdom Kids Children’s Choir.
For information call 704-857-5034.
Rico Ellis memorial
CLEVELAND ó A memorial service and musical program for Rico A. Ellis will be held at 6 p.m. today at Cedar Grove AME Zion Church in Cleveland.
The program is sponsored by The New Brothers by Faith, in which Rico was one of the lead singers. He lost his life in an automobile accident March 22, 2007.
Groups from in and out of town will appear. Roland Carter of Lexington will be emcee. ,
Cedar Grove is located at 2430 Hildebrand Road. The Rev. Dr. Patricia Tyson, pastor.
For information, call Demario Ellis at 704-278-1218 or Greg Ellis, 336-470-1215.
Alpha course
St. John’s Lutheran Church will begin the Alpha course on March 26. This 10-week practical introduction to the Christian faith encourages active discussion of such questions as: What is the meaning of life? Why read the Bible? What relevance does Jesus have for my life? How can I be sure of my faith?
Each weekly session begins with an informal dinner and fellowship, followed by a video presentation, and ends with small group discussion and interaction.
Alpha, begun in England, is now held in thousands of churches worldwide each year.
The group meets Wednesdays at 5:45 p.m. in the church library, 200 W. Innes St. Child care is provided.
To register for the course, contact Alpha director Steve Butner at 704-637-9744 or Pastor Jennifer Ginn at 704-636-3431.
Yadkin Grove Baptist
Yadkin Grove Missionary Baptist Church, 325 Leonard Road, Salisbury invites the public to celebrate the first pastoral anniversary of the Rev. Paul S. Rhinehart Sr. March 26-30.
There will be a guest speaker for each service.
At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, the speaker will be the Rev. F. Willis Johnson of Shiloh Baptist Church in Greensboro.
Thursday’s speaker, at 7:30 p.m., will be the Rev. Thomas A. Bannister of Temple Memorial Baptist Church in High Point.
At the Friday service, also 7:30 p.m., the speaker will be Elder Marshall McCoy of Zion Tabernacle in Thomasville.
The 11 a.m. service on Sunday, March 30 will feature Bishop Nehemiah Rhinehart Sr. of Solid Rock Full Gospel Baptist Church, Capital Heights, Md.
For more information, call 704-637-1311.
Calvary Baptist
Calvary Baptist Church voted to extend the call to Dewayne Lambeth to fill the position of associate pastor in Youth and Education.
Lambeth comes to Calvary from Winston-Salem where he recently received his B.A. degree in Bible and Youth concentration from Piedmont Bible College.
He and his wife, Kim, have three children: Will, 10, Kendall, 7, Wes, 5.
Lambeth has experience in organizing mission trips, Upward Sports,small group leadership in Word of Life, camp counseling, AWANA’s Child Evangelism and in crusade counseling.
Lambeth has already assumed his duties at Calvary.
Outreach Christian Ministries
Outreach Christian Ministries, 722 W. Horah St., will sponsor the following guest speakers for a series, “Like Father, Like Son,” during the coming week:
n Bishop Harvey L. Rice and Chip Rice of Mount Calvary Holy Church, 7:30 p.m. March 25;
n The Rev. Joe Siler and Trey and Ain Siler of Prayer and Praise Cathedral in West End, N.C., 7:30 p.m. March 26;
n Bishop Gary Graham and James Graham of New Life Holy Temple in Spencer, 7:30 p.m. March 27;
n Apostle R.E. Taylor and Bradley Taylor of Outreach Christian Ministries, 6:30 p.m. March 30.
Church Women United
A community prayer breakfast and program was held March 8, sponsored by the Salisbury-Rowan Unit of Church Women United in NC.
The theme was “Praying for Unity and Peace.” Phyllis Thomside, breakfast co-chair called the group to order. Jean Kennedy, SRCWU president, welcomed the group of 130 persons, and the Rev. Paul Jones, host pastor of New Zion Baptist Church, gave the blessing and also prayed for the community tragedy and all the fire fighters and their families.
Following a breakfast catered by Maggie Reid, the group moved to the sanctuary, where Betty Wilson, pianist played a medley prelude. Christine Scotton, host church SRCWU representative, welcomed everyone and introduced Natasha Charleston, Tanasha Charleston, Jasmine Kerr and Jessica Wilkerson who performed a lovely liturgical dance to “My All” to begin the worship.
A hymn titled “Unity” was sung and the Rev. Arthur Heggins of St. Luke Baptist Church blessed the offering received, which will help to support the outreach by Salisbury Rowan Church Women United to local agencies.
Virginia Shuford, Area II chair, then explained the small scrolls given to each person present. It was a take-home reminder of a special prayer, “The Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi,” as well as a meditation thereon.
Brenda Venning, recording secretary and breakfast co-chair, introduced the speaker Jean Lowery, who also serves as Ecumenical Celebrations chair. Lowery had a scripturally-based message on “Positioning Ourselves to Hear from God.” She cited Solomon in the book of II Chronicles and God’s message to him.
Her four main points were to humble ourselves, pray and ask for forgiveness, seek God’s face and turn from our ways. Lowery reminded worshippers that the struggles of today need prayer and concluded by leading an echo prayer for many of the local and world’s needs. Jacquelyn Sims, chaplain, led the Litany for Unity and Peace. President Jean Kennedy then awarded the attendance banner to Gethsemane Missionary Baptist Church with 30 members present. Loretta Baker serves as Gethsemane’s SRCWU representative.
The closing hymn of “Hear Our Prayer, O Lord” was sung followed by the benediction given by the Rev. Jones.
The next event will be the celebration of May Friendship Day on May 2 at noon at First Presbyterian Church. All interested persons are welcome to attend any Church Women United Events.