2025 is here--isn't that hard to believe? I was born in 1955, and in my childhood, I would have found it nearly impossible to envisage what life would be like in 2025. Maybe, I would have imagined something like the Jetsons cartoons--but, we aren't there--at least not yet!
It should be an exciting year of change and challenge, hopefully not as much crisis, yet we admit it is always possible. Still, we rejoice in a God who does not change, a Gospel message that will not change, and a Great Commission that remains our mandate.
Looking back on the final two months of 2024, here are some updates.
My wife and I left for Scotland and Ireland a couple of days following our Fall Meeting. Thank you for your prayers for us as we did so in celebration of our 50th Wedding Anniversary (which was in August). I thought that a good wife to put up with me for half a century should be rewarded. The Lord blessed us with such a memorable trip.
I continue to serve as Interim Pastor at Dutch Cove, and ask you to join them in prayer as they search for the next man to lead them. I am meeting with the Pulpit Committe to assist them. I have also offered Sunday School worker training and am doing Deacons training. I would be thrilled to assist your congregation in any type of leadership training.
I was able to deliver some checks from Baptists On Mission to some of our churches that had suffered extensive damage from Hurricane Helene. The congregations of Bethel, Camp Branch, and Emmanuel were most grateful. Our Administrative Assistant, Karen Holcomb, took checks to Riverside and Dellwood. We have also distributed funds to other churches whose pastors, staff, and members have had losses--namely Crestview, Orchard, Casa de Dios, and High Street. There is still money available, if you know a need and contact our office. We have coordinated giving from individuals to other needs as well.
Calvary continues to provide space for Disaster Relief teams still responding to Hiurricane Fred rebuilds, and Crestview is now the base of operations for Helene repairs. We are grateful for all the efforts of our churches to make a difference in meeting not only material needs, but the spiritual needs of the community.
We are still working at renovating our offices and turning them into a Mission Center. Wesley Stephens helped with getting the ceiling back in place after HVAC installation in the Fellowship Hall. I have painted my office and converted it from the Sunday School class it was. The former pastor's office has become the Administrative Assistant's office complete with a seating area. One thing that slowed our progress down was the sickness and now death of our architect, Bob Smith. Bob was a fine Christian gentleman and I ask you to pray for his wife in her sorrow. We have met with a couple of contractors and are seeking God as to how to proceed.
I have spoken twice at our Pastors' Conference. Also, I am doing one to one discipleship with a young man. I was blessed to speak at a Men's Conference at Ratcliffe Cove.
It was a wonderful Ministers' and Wives' Christmas Dinner! Thanks to my wife, Marilyn, our Administrative Assistant, Karen, and her husband, Bron for decorating and putting it together. We are grateful for Janet Frazier leading us in games and Dan Page leading us in singing Christmas carols. All this was possible through the generosity of the Little River Baptist Association, led by former Haywood County resident, Marty Dupree, and my mother, Margaret Thurman, who sponsored it.
Thanks for the privilege of serving Haywood Baptist Churches!
Your Brother,
Dennis Thurman
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