Mableton First Baptist Church

2005

We celebrated Light the Night on October 31 as a gift to the community.

On February 2-5, 2005, a team from FBCM traveled to Pattaya, Thailand to assist with Operation Southern Cross. They were able to reach thousands with the Good News of Christ.

On April 24, 2005, the Personnel Committee recommended that Javier Lopez be called as the volunteer pastor of our Spanish Mission. There were no objections.

Jim Caldwell resigned as Associate Pastor for Education, Administration and Community Ministries on May 29, 2005, effective June 12. He left Mableton to be the lead pastor of Riverside Baptist Church in River Ridge, LA (New Orleans).

The Lighthouse Women's Center opened during the second quarter of 2005, providing shelter and counseling for pregnant women.

FBC Mableton held its annual Vacation Bible School in a different manner this year. An outside area of the church was decorated to recreate a Jerusalem Marketplace, and the children moved from spot to spot in the "town" for their lessons. Susan Caldwell and Gina Lineberry were the VBS Directors, and did a superb job with this massive undertaking. 70-80 children learned about the life and love of Jesus each night.

The Women's Ministry hosted its annual Back-to-School event in the fellowship hall. This gift to the community's less fortunate families included eye exams, dental exams, hair cuts and the distribution of donated school supplies and backpacks. Over 400 people came, with attendance growing each year.

On September 2-8, 2005, Russ Danser, Jenifer Brooks,Kirby Shaffer and Chris Ayers traveled to Chiquian, Peru to assist local missioinaries in ministering to the Quechua people group in the Andes. Over 530 Bibles were distributed to every household in the village. Through the assistance of local interpreters, 46 people prayed to receive Christ in three days.

The worship center grand piano was completely refurbished and restored to its original quality in November. This piano had originally been donated to the church by accomplished musician Chris Ayres, beloved son of long-time members Brawnson and Janie Ayres. A dedicatory concert after the refurbishment was given by church pianist, Gail Morris, on April 30, 2006.

The Celebration Choir recorded a Christmas CD, "The Glory of Christmas". Its release was on November 27 at a special service. Two hundred CDs were distributed to the community through Christmas Caroling on December 3.

The church voted to make major facility improvements totaling almost $600,000 at conference on December 18, 2005. These improvements included work on storm water drainage, worship center roofing, parking lots, playground upgrades, breezeway, landscaping, foyer (decor, carpet, kiosk, elevator), worship center (multi-media, lighting, carpet, paint, choir chairs), chapel (projection system), fellowship hall (flooring, sound system, chairs), student center (lights, stage, sound system, multi-media, foosball table, pool table, pinball machine, gaming systems, televisions, tables, chairs), and a 15 passenger van. These improvements were made by securing a line of credit and rolling it into the loan already existing at Georgia State Bank.

Giving averaged $56,707.14 per month for 2005. This was an average of $15,785.73 per month short of budget requirements for the year. Sunday School attendance averaged 231 per month.