Ministries
Better Health TMBC
One consequence of a visioning process during late 2005 and most of 2006 was the TMBC Better Health Initiatives. The initiatives included several new efforts and umbrellaed some pre-existing health related activities:
Pre-existing activities included:
First Place .... a Bible-centered program of study, exercise, and diet, this 13-week ministry is generally offered at least once, often twice, per year. Contact Gilda Everett – 252-756-9859.
Prescription Newsletter .....To reach more individuals from an education standpoint the health ministry news letter, The Prescription, was developed. It’s goal is to take health information and condense it to easy to read and understandable format as well as focus on health topics specific to the current time of the year to increase disease awareness i.e.: Breast Cancer awareness in the fall, Heart Disease awareness.
Articles are written by Scott Eldridge, RN BSN, and other interested health care professionals and the information is evidence based. Currently the newsletter is published quarterly. Anyone wanting to contribute to the news letter please contact Scott Eldridge.
Health Classes....Since the fall of 2004 classes have been held in child bicycle safety, blood pressure screening, Health Care Power of Attorney and Living Wills, and teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.
Recent Initiatives:
Seminars .... During Fall of 2007 a series of presentations were made focusing on nutrition and exercise utilizing professionals. Similar presentations will be made at future dates.
Book Distribution .... Over 70 copies of “Start Strong, Finish Strong --- Prescriptions for a Lifetime of Great Health” by Drs. Kenneth H. and Tyler C. Cooper were distributed at no charge to members and neighbors. Plans are being made to teach the book at Cornerstone Missionary Baptist Church.
Walking Trail .... A quarter-mile walking trail was prepared on the church property and made available to our neighbors.
Pedometers .... Furnished at no charge to Seminar and First Place participants to aid ascertaining daily activity regimen.
Line Dancing .... Starting in late January 2008, Jane Wang, a Chinese TMBC participant, began teaching Line Dancing in the Fellowship Hall/Multi-Purpose Room on Thursday evenings from 7:00pm-8:00pm. Over 75 persons had participated by late May of 2008. Having suspended for the summer while Jane and her husband George Wang were traveling away from Greenville, weekly classes resumed on September 11, 2008. At least one new participant has attended every class to date. Participants include TMBC members, Chinese, Hispanic, Caucasian and African-American folks from the community, and African-American folks from Cornerstone Missionary Baptist Church. There are no fees involved and child-care is provided.
The Music Ministry
The Music Ministry of The Memorial Baptist Church seeks to minister to the entire congregation — young and mature alike — with styles from traditional to contemporary. There are opportunities in worship leadership, service participation and musical training for preschoolers through adults.
Chancel Choir
The Chancel Choir provides weekly service music and choral selections for the TMBC traditional worship services. Membership is open to adults of all ages. Rehearse Wednesdays at 7:30 pm
TMBC Youth Choir
The Youth Choir is our most recent addition to the Music Ministry. Youth grades 7 through college comprise this student choir. Traditional and contemp-orary music is sung with emphasis upon worship leadership and seasonal events. Rehearsal Sundays at 4:00 p.m.
Handbell Choirs
The Praise Ringers – Adults, Rehearse Sundays @ 5:30 p.m.
Children's Choirs
Graded by age, provide appropriate training and instruct-ion to experience God and encourage worship leadership through a participatory church music curriculum using hymns, anthems, scripture, and sound doctrine.
Rehearsals Each Wednesday
Music Friends (ages 4-5)~ 6:00
Music Makers (Gr. 1-3) ~ 6:00
Young Musicians (Gr. 4-6) ~ 6:00
TMBC Worship Team
Adult Worship Team - Mondays at 7:00 pm
For additional information regarding the Music Ministry, please contact Walter G. Byrum, Minister of Music.
Boy Scouts
Troop meets every other Monday evening from Sept. – May.
Contact Larry Koscianski –752-0603
Benevolence
2nd & 4th Tuesdays from 1:30 – 3:30 p.m.
Food assistance as well as pastoral prayer / counseling.
Contact Ron Stephenson – 757-3876
Weekday Early Education
The WEE program is a half-day preschool for ages 15 months– kindergarten.
The program has a staff of approximately 24 teachers and assistants led by Kay Godwin, WEE Director – 756-8167. There were 224 children enrolled for the 2007-08 year. Our Children & Family ministry works closely with WEE.
Senior Adults
The “WAO’s” (We Ain’t Old) conduct luncheon meetings the 4th Thursday of each month, Sept. – May. Two – three trips are generally planned each year as well as periodic “day trips” to regional points of interest. Contact the church office, 756-5314.
Disaster Relief and Recovery
Utilizing TMBC’s disaster recovery trailer, Disaster Recovery a church wide mission ministry and is an integral part of the N.C. Baptist Men Disaster Relief Program. Designed primarily for recovery operations following a natural or manmade disaster, this ministry is actively involved locally, regionally, and nationally when called upon to support the overall mission of the N.C. Baptist Men disaster relief ministry.
The main ministry focus, in coordination with the Red Cross, is food preparation for local shelters and other pockets of affected persons. Volunteers also receive training in counseling, child care, as well as in post-disaster clean-up. Volunteers have served following hurricanes Hugo (1989), Floyd (1999), Katrina (2005), and in western North Carolina following sever flooding in 2004.
Offering a variety of specific areas of focus, annual Disaster Relief Training is conducted for men and women under the auspices of the N.C. Baptist Men. There are approximately 27 trained individuals at TMBC.
Missions
Foreign Health Related Missions
In 2006 the opportunity to send a medical mission team to Honduras occurred. We partnered with Mercy Ships and took a medical team to San Pedro Sula, Honduras to provide community health education and operate a medical clinic. During this trip we learned about an opportunity developing that would take a team to Benin, West Africa.
Benin has a dark history that includes the birthplace of voodoo worship and the place of origin for the slave trade of the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries. The Memorial Baptist Church has developed a relationship with the MIERS (International Mission for Evangelisation and Spiritual Revival) ministry in Benin. The MIRS ministry has been planting churches for 15 years, operating children’s homes and maintaining an outlying health center that is staffed with nurses and midwives.
Health care for its citizens is all but non existent, but what is more tragic is that 80% of the population still practices voodoo. The good news is that Christianity is growing. Coupling the medical skills within the church and the desire to continue to reach others for Christ, The Memorial Baptist Church is looking foreword to continued medical mission trips to Benin and anticipates doors to continue opening for this unique witness.
