Star Staff

 

The Carter County Ministerial Association met at the Bonnie Kate Cafe on Wednesday.

 

The ministers talked about Holy Week and their recent prayer retreat.

 

The prayer retreat was held at Fairhaven Ministries, Roan Mountain, earlier this month. "The prayer retreat went well," said the Rev. Tim Tapp, the pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church and CCMA Vice President.

 

"Harold Pryor did a great job, I felt, leading it," said Tapp, who encouraged other ministers to attend a retreat next year if one is held.

 

The ministers who attended the retreat were encouraged to be involved in community building and supporting each other.

 

Midday services will be held Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday during Holy Week. First Christian Church will host Monday's service. Wednesday's service will be hosted by Immanuel Baptist Church. Tuesday's service location is still to be confirmed. Participating churches will be providing a light lunch to attendees after the services.

 

Those who attended the meeting mentioned the possibility of doing something to help the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

 

 

Food for the Multitude will serve lunch at St. Thomas' Episcopal Church, Elizabethton, tomorrow from 10:30 a.m.-noon. All needy, elderly and lonely citizens of the community are invited to share in the meal. In addition to St. Thomas,' participating churches include First United Methodist, First Presbyterian, Memorial Presbyterian, Hampton Christian, Southside Christian and St. Elizabeth Catholic.

 

 

The Rev. Ken Bewley, pastor of the Roan Street Church of God, is celebrating 25 years as the congregation's minister.

 

A special service to commemorate the milestone will be held at the church on Sunday, Feb. 7, at 11 a.m., not last Sunday as reported in last Friday's church news. A covered-dish lunch will be shared at the conclusion of the service. Bewley's son, the Rev. Jody Bewley, will preach.

 

Bewley previously pastored two other churches, the Church of God at Bean Station, and Mt. Vale Church of God near Jefferson City.

 

Several milestones have been recorded during Bewley's tenure as the church's pastor, including paying off the debt on church property, purchasing more property and building a parking lot, buying more property and building a fellowship hall, putting an addition on the church that doubled the square footage and completely remodeling the sanctuary and the outside of the church.

 

Bewley has an AS degree in Environmental Health from Walter's State College in Morristown, a graduate in Biblical Studies from the Church of God Continuing Education Program and an MA degree in Pastoral Counseling and Biblical Studies from the Church of God Theological Seminary in Cleveland.

 

Bewley and his wife, Judy, have one daughter, Missy Birdsong.

 

 

 

 

Star Staff

 

The Rev. Danny A. Bright is the new pastor of Union Baptist Church, Hampton.

 

Feb. 7 will be Bright's first Sunday as the congregation's full-time pastor. The church will host a welcome/Valentine fellowship for Bright, and his wife, Judy, on Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 6:30 p.m.

 

As the church's pastor, Bright says his goal is to "preach the Word and teach and bring the church as a whole back to the aspect of what the Church is all about. What do we belong to when we say, 'We belong to the Church?,' Are we talking about Union Baptist, the visible, local church, or are we talking about the living, invisible Church that Jesus started?"

 

Bright stresses the importance of the congregation and the pastor being of the same mindset. "They need to have the vision as God unveils the vision to His man," Bright said. "People have to grab ahold of that vision, because if they don't grab ahold of that vision and see what God is trying to do, it would be futile efforts to try to go forward with things. But when people get ahold of the vision that God has, and they're willing to say, 'Yes, Lord, we'll follow your vision,' we can see God begin to move and work and do things that we only dream of sometimes."

 

Bright grew up in Blacksburg, S.C., and was a member of East Side Baptist Church. "Mom and dad started us off at about four years of age singing," he said. "It started growing, from one Sunday to the next we were singing in church. Then through the years it became a family ministry and we sang until the Army got part of them and marriage got the other part, and basically we went in our separate ways."

 

Bright says he was a 19-year-old high school senior when he was called to preach in King's Mountain, N.C. "I had helped lead music in churches through my high school years," he remarked. "I really felt the move of the Spirit of God in a way that I wasn't really sure of. I talked to my pastor, Barnice Hampton, who is in heaven today. I told him what was going on inside my heart and inside my mind, the things I was thinking. He said, 'God is calling you to preach. Are you willing to surrender your heart and life to be a preacher?' I said, 'I sure am.'"

 

Romans 1:16 is Bright's favorite Scripture verse. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek."

 

"I love to preach on Jonah," Bright said. "We can learn a lot from studying the book of Jonah."

 

Bright declares his mission: "Having been born again, receiving the call of God for a lifetime of service to Him as a young man, it is a joy to serve God and His people. It is my desire to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ unto all, for the goal of salvation, service and fellowship, with pastoral guidance to God's people that is relevant for our day."

 

Bright's ministry experience includes serving churches in Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina. In addition to being a pastor, Bright has also served churches as interim pastor, associate pastor and music minister.

 

Bright, 57, earned an Associate degree in Biblical Studies from Fruitland Bible Institute, Hendersonville, N.C. He earned a Bachelor of Theology degree from International Bible College & Seminary, Plymouth, Fla. He earned a Master of Theology degree from Jacksonville Baptist Theological Seminary, Jacksonville, Fla.

 

The Brights have one son, Stephen Bright, and one daughter, Brachelle Dailey, and five grandchildren.

 

For more information, call 725-3751 or e-mail dannyabright@aol.com.