Volume 2, Issue

April 2017

STAFF

Dr. Terry Prichard

Director of Missions

Sandi King

Ministry & Finance

Assistant

OFFICE HOURS

M - TH

9AM - 2PM

Our Mission

“The mission of the

Mount Zion

Baptist Association

is to serve as a

resource to the

churches, engaging

them, enabling them,

and encouraging

them to serve their

community and the

world and to

promote the gospel

of Jesus Christ.”

Lifeway VBS Clinic

** Date Change**

May 9th at 6:30pm

First Baptist Alamance

4363 S. NC Hwy 62 * Burlington

Gail Ledbetter with the NC Baptist State Convention and

Lifeway will be presenting this clinic. Representatives from

our local Lifeway will also be on hand. We will have some

VBS treats to sample, craft ideas and more! There will also be

some giveaways from the Association of Lifeway VBS

Materials!

Sign up early to get your spot!

Call 336-226-0249 and register today!

Administrative Leadership Team Meeting (ALT)

May 16th at 7pm We are excited to have the following churches

serve on our Leadership Team for 2017

Altamahaw Edgewood Kerr’s Chapel Northside

Antioch Fairview Kinnett Memorial Oak Grove

Bethel Fellowship Mars Hill Ossipee

Cross Roads Grove Park Moore’s Chapel Riverside

Eastlawn FBC Haw River Mount Zion Snow Camp

Holly Hill North Graham

Each church may have their Pastor along with 2 other church members to serve as members of the ALT. Your input is vital!

Page 2 Mt. Zion News

Five Keys to Renewing Evangelistic Growth in Your Church By Thom Rainer

“What can we do to help the churches in our state become more evangelistic?” “We need more good evangelism programs. Why aren’t you providing them?” “Why are we reaching fewer unchurched people than we used to?” Those three questions were asked of me in the span of a just a few days. Each of them came with hints of frustration, confusion, and anger. It is true. Most churches reach fewer lost and unchurched people than they did in the past. It is no longer necessary to be a part of a church to be culturally accepted. That pool of immediate evangelistic opportunities has been reduced dramatically. Is there hope? Absolutely! I am observing carefully churches in North America that are truly making an evangelistic impact. Most of them transitioned from evangelistic apathy to growth. Though there is no formulaic approach or magic-bullet program, here are five common themes I see repeatedly: 1. A small group of church members dedicated themselves to pray for an evangelistic harvest. Evangelism is not a hu-

man-devised program. It is a Spirit-led endeavor. I am saddened when I see churches with no intentionality about praying for evangelism and the lost in the community. It is absurd to think we can separate prayer from evangelism. “And they devoted themselves to . . . prayer . . . And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved” (Acts 2:42, 47).

2. Pastors make evangelism a personal priority. I have yet to find evangelistic churches where the pastors have not commit-ted themselves personally to evangelism. It’s not easy. Pastors are pulled in a multiplicity of directions. It is easy to respond to the tyranny of the urgent. Pastors must make time to make personal evangelism a priority. Church members must give them time to do so.

Leaders in the church teach church members to invite people to church. Most church members do not realize what hap-pens more than half the time when they invite an unchurched member to church. They show up at church! Such is the rea-son I encourage leaders to have a singular day focused on inviting people to church (We created a resource to help in that process called Invite Your One). Though a single day of inviting people is not another magic-bullet solution, it does typically create a positive ethos toward inviting people.

1. These churches love the communities in which they are located. I love the focus on the nations evident in many of our churches. I love the national church planting emphasis we see in many places. But churches that are evangelistic do not forget that the commission of Acts 1:8 begins with Jerusalem, the local community. What percent of your church’s budget goes to direct ministry and evangelism in the community? 2. These churches have consistent, usually weekly, efforts to connect with unchurched people in the community. The efforts may be as simple as Facebook ads or communications with new residents. It may be a basic email campaign to reach out to those who have visited the church. These efforts are not solutions in themselves, but they do help create an outwardly-focused ethos in your church.

What is your church doing to reach people evangelistically in your community?

Page 3 Volume 2, Issue

FOCUS ON MISSIONS

APRIL2017

As I look out my window, I see lovely flowers blooming and trees budding. Spring is here and God has painted the landscape in beautiful colors for our

enjoyment! We are blessed!

We had a wonderful WMU Annual Missions Celebration on Tuesday, March 21, 2017, at First Baptist of Haw River. The members of the church were great

hosts and our Area II churches provided delicious refreshments. We thank each person for helping us have a wonderful night. We had 70 people in at-

tendance. Our special music was “Amazing Grace” by Holly Hunter, soloist. Holly is a talented young lady and we thank her for sharing her talents with us.

Our guest speaker for the evening was Amy Pardue Boone, the Executive Director/Treasurer of WMU NC. Amy shared with us the activities of WMU NC

and told us of opportunities. She shared her life on the mission field with us also. She made us laugh and she also brought tears to our eyes. It was such

a blessing to have Amy with us!

WMU Missions Extravaganza was held March 24 -25, 2017, at First Baptist of Greensboro. Our theme for this year in WMU is “BY ALL MEANS” and this

was also the emphasis for this event. We had many great speakers and missionaries that made it a wonderful weekend. To keep from interfering with

other events, it was voted on to move Missions Extravaganza to the last weekend in April starting in 2018.

The Picnic for the Visually Impaired will be held this year on May 9, 2017 at 6 pm at Riverside Baptist. This event is always a blessing. Please plan to

attend.

This month as we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, I hope each of us will share the story of our Lord in greater ways than

ever to the ones around us.

In Christ,

Pat Parks

Sign up is required for ALL events

NC Baptist Aging Ministry - July 13th, 11:00am with lunch at Noon at Holly Hill Baptist

Sign Up is Open - Last Day to Register is July 6th

Stretching your Budget - November 2nd, 11:00am with lunch at Noon at Eastlawn Baptist

Senior Adult Banquet

June 1st, 5:30-7:30pm at Riverside Baptist

(Cost $7 per person)

SIGN UP IS OPEN!

Tweaking Your Memory Lunch and Learn held on March 30th with Dr. Hermang Shah, Neurologist at

Kernodle Clinic. We had a great time with our speaker, and the meal was fabulous, and we had 65 in

attendance. Thank you to our host church, First Baptist of Alamance, at to all of our lovely hostesses -

Kathy Boyd, Glenda Carden, Pat Parks, and Ann Perry.

The Mt. Zion Association

Office is blessed to help with this ministry by being a

collection spot for your donations. Please feel free to

drop off your boxed donations

M-Th, 9am - 2pm

FINAL DAY TO DROP OFF IS Thursday, April 20th **Please remember that the BCH asks that food donations be placed in sturdy boxes for easy handling, and that food has a long shelf life and is not expired.**

Beverly Lewis Christian Fiction Author

Book Signing Event

Wednesday, April 12th at 7pm

Lifeway

1348 Java Lane , Burlington

(Alamance Crossing)

For more information contact Lifeway at

(336) 584-8200

Monday, April 10th at 11:30pm

Western Steak House

Graham-Hopedale Road

Come join us for a time of food,

and fellowship!

North Carolina Library

Ministry Conference

Saturday, April 29th

Watkins Chapel Baptist Church

Zebulon, NC If you can attend the conference please

respond to: furrjudy@gmail.com. If you

cannot attend the April Conference, but

are interested in training, please respond

also.

We wish you a Happy Easter.

Celebrate the King of Glory!

Mt. Zion Association

Page 6 Mt. Zion News

APRIL CHURCH PRAYER LIST

Oak Grove Baptist Church

Ossipee Baptist Church

Riverside Baptist Church

Pastor: Rev. Bob Stephenson

Snow Camp Baptist Church

Pastor: Rev. Kevin Byers

Visit us on the web at

www.mtzionassociation.com

Mt. Zion Baptist Association on N.C., Inc.

Financial Statement

YTD as of March 23, 2017

Alamance [First Baptist of] ............................ 0

* Altamahaw Baptist .................................... 1142

* Antioch Baptist ......................................... 1095

Bethel Baptist .................................................. 0

Burlington [First Baptist of] ........................... 0

Calvary Baptist ................................................ 0

Cane Creek Baptist ..................................... 275

City Lake Baptist ......................................... 100

* Cross Roads Baptist ................................... 836

Crosslink Community Church ....................... 0

* Eastlawn Baptist ......................................... 207

* Edgewood Baptist ....................................... 258

Elon [First Baptist of] ................................. 250

Fairview Baptist .............................................. 0

* Fellowship Baptist ...................................... 400

Glen Hope Baptist ........................................... 0

* Glencoe Baptist........................................... 300

Gospel Road Baptist ....................................... 0

Graham [First Baptist of] ................................ 0

* Grove Park Baptist .................................... 1167

* Haw River [First Baptist of] ........................ 250

* Holly Hill ..................................................... 511

Integrity ............................................................ 0

* Kerr’s Chapel Baptist ..................................... 0

* Kinnett Memorial Baptist ............................ 180

* Mars Hill Baptist ........................................ 2085

Mebane [First Baptist of] ................................ 0

* Moore’s Chapel Baptist .................................. 0

* Mt. Zion Baptist Church ............................. 293

Nall Memorial Baptist ..................................... 0

New Life at Hocutt ........................................... 0

* North Graham Baptist ..................................... 0

* Northside Baptist ........................................ 423

Oak Grove Baptist....................................... 313

* Ossipee Baptist ......................................... 1212

* Riverside Baptist....................................... 4149

* Snow Camp Baptist ........................................ 0

Staley Memorial Baptist ................................. 0

Swepsonville Baptist ...................................... 0

*Indicates Covenant Member

www.facebook.com/MtZionAssociation

@MtZionAsc Join us on Facebook and Twitter!

Positions Available

Mount Olive Baptist Church, Pittsboro,

NC, is seeking a part-time Music Minister.

We are a conservative, SBC church with

an average attendance of 150 located in

southern Alamance County. Looking for

someone to plan and lead blended wor-

ship. Please send resume to Pastor David

Crowther, 5043 Mt. Olive Church Rd.,

Pittsboro, NC 27312

or ministrysearch15@gmail.com.

First Baptist Church of Elon is seeking a

part time organist. Anyone interested in

this position is asked to contact Gay

Collins, Minister of Music, either by phone

or email.

Church) 336-584-2735, Cell) 336-263-1509,

or email: music@fbc-elon.org.