Praying for our brothers and sisters of the Mother Emanuel AME Church

LETTER FROM SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTIST CONVENTION STATE OFFICE

 

From: Dr. Richard Harris, Interim Executive Director-Treasurer, South Carolina Baptist Convention


The news of the tragic shooting in Charleston at the Emanuel AME Church breaks my heart and that of our leadership in the South Carolina Baptist Convention. This act of violence against our brothers and sisters in Christ is deplorable and evil, and appears to be anti-Christian. We stand with our brothers and sisters in prayer and in Christian love and sorrow. We stand ready to assist this church and its members where their beloved Pastor and District 45 State Senator, Reverend Clementa Pinckney, was killed. Our leadership is calling our South Carolina Baptist Convention staff to a time of prayer today, and we are calling on all of our 2,138 churches and church leaders to join us in prayer and support of our fellow Christians in Charleston. We stand ready to assist in any way possible and will be investigating how we can assist in any way.

The violent acts of unspeakable evil committed by this young man on Wednesday evening in one of our sacred houses of worship is evil and deplorable beyond words. He obviously needs the prayers of Christians. The appearance of such a tragedy in a Christian church in South Carolina is a wake-up call for the need of Christians all across the state and America to stand heart to heart and hand to hand in total rejection of such horrendous acts of violence upon anyone, particularly Christians. I would request that any Christian anywhere would join us in prayer and support for this wonderful church and church family in Charleston. Let’s be praying for all the families who have been touched by this tragedy.

RENOVATION OF THE WORSHIP CENTER UPDATE #3

TWO MONTHS AWAY We are approximately 2 months away from the renovation of the Worship center. I have been writing articles to share the vision and purpose. This will actually be the second major Worship Center/Sanctuary renovation in my 30 years here at JIBC. The first one took place almost 15 years ago. We moved away from the more traditional 1960’s gothic and dark worship center to more bright, welcoming warmer colors and fabrics. It was more of the trend in the 1980’s. We are now moving to a warm and welcoming style that reflects the 21st century and who we are as a church family.
THE LEADERSHIP TEAM APPROACH I am grateful for the team put together to lead in this project. It began with me moving the possibility of renovation forward. It moved to a Renovation Team listed in the first renovation article. That team then reported their findings and suggestions to the entire staff and Elders. We met with various church members seeking their input and ideas. We called in consultants with Church Interiors, Inc and others to help in the process. Then we presented the plans, as we had them, for the approval of the Church Leaders/Ministry Management Team.
WHAT IF IT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE CHURCH? The only real question we have heard is concerning updating the pews with high quality chairs. I realize there is a love in many of us for the pews. But the pews really do not make us look like church…you do. Pews or chairs are just seating devises. Church seating in the 13th century started with stone slabs. They quickly updated to wooden benches with no backs. Stone, wooden benches, pews or chairs…the function was seating. It is not the pew that makes us look like a church…it is you. You and I are the church, the Body of Christ. The Worship Center is just the place we gather. The renovation will be warm, comfortable and inviting. The chairs will give us a little more versatility in that they can be moved, rearranged for weddings or larger crowds and, if need be, cleared out in case of a Hurricane Hugo type disasters. We are planning to keep and reupholster the pews in the balconies. We already have a sister church family in St. Stephens that had their entire worship center destroyed. They would like to have the pews and we think that would be a wonderful use for them.
THE GOAL The Renovation and Leadership Team is committed to continuing our warm and inviting place of worship. We want to reflect more of who we are…a more casual, comfortable church family. Changing the carpet and paint gave us the motivation and opportunity to address many issues in the worship center; carpet, paint, fixing cracks, better protecting the stain glass windows, addressing light, completing unfinished work from the last renovation, improving the balcony line of sight, etc. Praise God we are in the position to consider such a renovation. While some are just holding on…by God’s grace we are moving forward. To God be the glory.
Pastor Tom

WORSHIP CENTER RENOVATION UPDATE #2

This is the second article related to our Worship Center Renovation. Even as I am typing this article, some plans are still being made and fine tuned. So let me speak about what we know for sure. No one will be concerned at all or have questions about the change of our carpet. It has lasted 15 years and is now, because of the humidity, wrinkled in more places than it is not. It has stains that carpet professionals have not been able to remove. It is time. New carpet led to a new paint color for the walls. So now would be the time to sand the walls and woodwork, caulk and re-caulk the stain glass windows, fix cracks in the walls etc. It is not JUST putting on new paint. Just painting the ceiling is a major task requiring the best of professionals. Our renovation team and the consultants have come up with a lovely color for the walls.   

Direction of Renovations. 

Imagine a line like this:

Elegant    Classic    Traditional           Comfortable    Casual   Contemporary

Our last renovation 15 years ago leaned more toward the elegant, classic, traditional side of the line. We have never been elegant…we were just leaning that way. We certainly were a more traditional looking worship center. We are really not a traditional church. We are more comfortable and casual. We are far from what some would call fully contemporary. We are a younger, more casual and comfortable church family. It is reflected in our ages, our families, our ministries, our music, our values and our mission. Our last renovation 15 years ago took us from an early 1960’s look to a 1980’s kind of look. This renovation will still look lovely, warm and inviting. A great example is Victory Baptist Church on Woodland Shores: a very conservative church with a wonderfully beautiful more contemporary look. We really are looking to reflect who we are now and who we will be for the next 15 years.

A Final Tribute to the organ. Fox music installed our Allen organ back in the early 1960’s. They had just become Allen distributors and they believe we were their first Allen customer. The organ has been in disrepair for years. Years ago, one visiting organist said he would never agree to play it again because it was in such poor shape. The Hunts paid to have someone try to repair it. They were not successful. They were among the very few who could work on that type organ and now they have gone out of business. The Allen organ we have is an “analog” organ. It is the same technology as the old TV’s with rabbit ears. Those were analog. Almost all of us now have digital televisions. It is the same technology as the very old cars and buses with governors to control the engine. Our organ is actually in the Allen museum. Really… no kidding. It is so old it is in a museum. Fox music and the Allen Organ companies told us no one would ever buy our organ; it was not likely to ever be repaired; and they did not want it even if we would give it to them free of charge. Have you tried to give away an old analog TV? Goodwill, Habitat and the Kidney Foundation will not take them. You can only take them to the garbage dump or maybe sell them at a yard sale.

 Fox and Allen did offer to sell us a new organ. You know what they call it? A keyboard with a midi. It is a digital keyboard capable of making organ music better than our Allen organ. Guess what? We have one. We have used it on occasion to play organ music. Currently the Korg Keyboard is being used upstairs in the weekly youth worship service. It is available anytime someone would want or need an organ sound. The organ was a fine instrument in its day. So was the Studebaker automobile last made when we bought the Allen Organ. It is not who we are. We live in a digital age. Not many drive a Studebaker with a governor. Fewer and fewer people still watch an analog TV. Likewise, not any thriving churches are playing 55 year old organs with governors. So, soon and very soon, the organ will be making an exit from the stage. We are grateful for the way it served faithfully for years and blessed by those who played it well. Finding someone who plays the organ is very difficult. They are a rare and dying breed. By the way, my favorite song to hear on the organ: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.


See you Sunday, Pastor Tom

RENOVATION OF THE WORSHIP CENTER

Today’s article is the first out of four to share the current renovation plans.  We have not shared the plans before since we did not have plans to share.  Once the process began, we followed the same process we have for years.  We make sure we have approval and complete buy in of Pastor, staff, Renovation Team, Elders and then the larger Leadership Team.  Here is how the process began. 

Several months back JIBC received a very generous financial gift.  Shortly after that we received yet another.  This allowed us the opportunity to think about replacing the carpet in the sanctuary/worship center.  Perhaps you have noticed the terrible wrinkles just about everywhere in the worship center?  It is caused by the extreme temperatures and high humidity.  There was really no good way to repair the carpet, although we have addressed the problem.  You may remember we replaced the old boiler system (yes, I know it seems crazy that we still used a boiler system in the 21^st century).   We now have a controlled, updated, efficient heating and air conditioning system for the worship center.  No more lighting the boiler on cold mornings or draining and refilling the water tower when we need the air conditioning.

So, replacing the carpet led to the need to change paint color and repair cracks and unfinished wall repairs.  If you have ever done a remodel project, you know it is like pulling a small string on a sweater.  Once you start, it is hard to find a stopping place.  We were encouraged by our Elders to go ahead and think about fixing, replacing, repairing, updating everything that needed to be addressed. So we put together a renovation team to begin the process of putting a plan together.  It included myself, Dean Kelly, Pam Bingham, our Hispanic Pastor, Claudio (he is a paint contractor) and Pastor Sean.  Once this team started moving, they brought their ideas to the staff for input and help.  Once we had basic colors and fabric, we gathered with the Renovation and Team, Elders and Staff for further input.  This process took a month or longer to come together.  Word would start getting out that we were planning to renovate because we would include other church members by asking for their opinions and input.  But there were still no plans to share.

Bring in the experts.  Once we got the basics of the renovation plans in place, we called in others to help us.  And will still be calling in people with expertise to help us.  One example would be Church Interiors, Inc.  This is the company that the Southern Baptist Convention recommends to churches considering building or renovating.  They sent their consultant to look at our plans.  He did and he liked them.  He also, like pulling that string I talked about, made several more recommendations of remodeling.

Each week for the next three weeks, I will write an article about the renovation and why we are doing it.  Keep us in your prayers. To God be the glory!

Pastor Tom

A Personal Word of thanks:  You may or may not have heard, that our 30 year old daughter, Erin, went into full cardiac arrest on Wednesday, May 27.  Some of you are still learning about our family.  Our oldest child is our son, Bryon; then Brook; and then Erin.  All are married and are the parents of our 8 grandchildren.  Erin Wilkins, our youngest, is in MUSC-CICU.  As I type this, she is waiting to have an internal defibrillator put in.  They do not know what caused the event.  They know she is at risk of having it happen again.  She has come miles and miles from that horrible event at the playground.  Thank you all for your prayers, love and support.  Your love reached beyond our family to feed us, families in the waiting room and many nurses.  We are deeply grateful.  Pastor Tom, Janie and our whole family.