Newsletters - Park Place Baptist Church (Thomasville, NC)

Park PlaceFamily,

Greetings in Jesus’ Great Name....2022...a New Year before us! This will be a very im- portant year as we continue to prepare to move forward. Let me remind you of some important opportunities: (1) Sat.,Jan.15 10 AM—“The Second Coming Of Sunday School” Training Conference for ALL who care about Sunday School...(2) Sat.,Jan.29 10 AM— “Developing Dedicated Deacons And Deacon Wives” Training Conference for ALL active and inactive Deacons and their wives....(3) Sun.,Jan. 30, 4 PM—Joint Worship Service with Hillside Park Baptist Church...exciting music by their choir and message by Dr.Steve Chipps....for ALL Park Place Family!...So, we have a great jumpstart to the New Year 2022. And YOU will want to take advantage of every opportunity. I believe we are going in the right direction and must not turn back!!

Because He Lives,

Preacher Andy (II COR. 4:5)

“Our hope is not in the new year…but in the One who makes all things new.” (Revelation 21:5)

One year. We figure that’s about how long Park Place has left as a church. And that may be an overly optimistic estimation.

If you have been attending Sunday school and/or worship services within the last year, or have viewed these on Facebook, you know that we are slowly losing members. Weekly attendance is extremely sparse.

Since hiring Preacher Andy back in November, we have had the best viewership we have ever had for worship and Wednesday evening Bible study. Each one averages hundreds of views. That’s the good news.

The bad news is that the increased viewership hasn’t resulted in increased attendance.

As you undoubtedly know, this problem isn’t new. We have been slowly declining in membership for several years now. And the Covid pandemic of the last two years has not done anything to help our situation.

Members have decided to go elsewhere for a variety of reasons. Unfortunately, when most people leave a church they don’t say why they’re leaving, they just up and leave without notice.

At the beginning of this church year, we had several of our more active members either step down from leadership positions or leave. This has left vacancies in our security and leadership teams and in Sunday school for our children. We have members who have stepped up to fill some of those vacancies, but some of them are also busy in other areas as well, which means they’re being stretched pretty thin.

Kent Thompson, who has done a phenomenal job as the church’s treasurer, has stepped down from that position. The chairman of the Finance Committee, Michael Robertson, has volunteered to take over that responsibility but will need someone to help by writing the weekly checks. As of this writing, we are still looking for that person. In the meantime, Kent has graciously agreed to act as a consultant as we make that transition.

Having said all that, we would like to add that we’re not dead yet. There is still hope for Park Place. We believe there is still life in these bones (Ezekiel 37:4).

To that end, the Leadership Team has adopted this theme for this new year: “What Will I Do In 2022?” We are asking each member to assess their level of involvement in the ministry of Park Place and to commit to doing at least one additional thing for the church during 2022. What can you do for Christ’s church this year? What can you do to help reach the lost for Christ? What are we capable of doing that we’re not doing but could be doing?

After our worship service on Sunday, January 9th, we will have a special called meeting solely for the purpose of sharing ideas on what each of us can do to grow the Kingdom between now and December 31st. Please be thinking and praying about this between now and our meeting on January 9th.

Blessings,

The Leadership Team