Our theme for this year is Invited, based on Romans 15:7: “So reach out and welcome one another to God’s glory. Jesus did it; now you do it!” Out of love for Christ and others, we are called to take the initiative in inviting, including and supporting newcomers to our church. We commit ourselves to this work with the same care and joy that we give to nurturing those already in our church family. To help us see how meaningful this can be, I’ve invited a few individuals who are relatively new to First Baptist Greenville to share their experiences. Their stories remind us that our hospitality can have a lasting impact. May their reflections encourage us to keep extending the same invitation Christ has so generously given to us all. —Carol
Here is a reflection by Jake French:
It’s hard to believe that my wife, Savannah and I are approaching three years since we first visited FBG. We had been searching for a new church home for several months, looking to establish ourselves in a community where we felt belonging. We were at a transitional point in our lives, preparing to welcome our first child and hoping to find a church community we would be proud to take her each week, especially as she begins to realize her great worth and place in the world.
Savannah and I each grew up in the Baptist tradition. In the first few years of our marriage, we each began to “deconstruct” and refine our perspectives about the type of church we wanted to engage. We highly value when women are in prominent ministry roles, and that was key for us, especially because we wanted our daughter to grow up seeing women in leadership at church. We also wanted to find a church where all are welcome, without any hidden expectations that members must align with precise ideals, other than having faith in Christ. We hoped to find a church that shared these perspectives. It seemed like a long shot. When we found FBG online and we visited, we were surprised, to say the least.
We attended a few services, which reminded me of my years growing up at Earle Street Baptist. Soon after our first visit, Camille reached out to us, and we began to get a glimpse of just how at home we would feel at FBG when Camille and Matthew took us to lunch and wanted to hear our stories. We also met with Matt Rollins, and I was fortunate to already know who Matt was, thanks to my involvement with the Cothran Center at Furman University, which is led by his wife, Rolyn. Matt shared with us that FBG is a place where all are welcome because we are all equally in need of God’s grace through Christ. There were no further qualifiers.
Through Camille and Matt’s leadership, we knew FBG was different. Dr. Tony Hopkins welcomed us as members in 2023. Shortly after, Carol joined as senior minister, and we are grateful for her leadership and example. Now, Savannah is Carol’s assistant, and we are part of The Bridge Sunday school class. Rosalie loves seeing her friends on Sunday. Our family is blessed to be a part of the family of faith at First Baptist Greenville.
—Jake