Memories of FBC by a Beloved Member

      In 1941 Zoe and Earl Robinson married and Zoe joined the FBC family.  Dr. Barr was the pastor and many wonderful memories of her beloved church were formed.  She recalls the sudden deaths of Dr. and Mrs. Barr in a tragic accident.  While helping teach the primary class with Mrs. Severance, and Zoe laughingly recalls one child asking if “Jesus ever wore diapers?”  Zoe fondly thinks about the dedication of Mrs. Jinsie Underwood, a high school teacher by profession, but an outstanding role model for young Zoe.  Mrs. Underwood worked diligently in the FBC Youth Department and touched many lives during those years.  Zoe remembers several active WMU circles.  While all of her memories of FBC are good, the downtown church memories remain most vivid for her.  As we enter this time of Capitol Campaign commitment, will your special memories of First Baptist Church span more than sixty years to still influence hearts for Christ?

 

 
 

 

Memories of FBC by Paul Smith

“One of my most significant memories while taking pictures of the construction process

was seeing the steeple, not fully assembled, lying on the ground.  And almost the next day

it was in its place, reaching upward as a beacon to our community.”   
 

 

Memories of FBC by Faye Gillespie

     Faye remembers the months in 1982 she and Arthur and Ann Rouse and Maude Peeler were on the Missions Committee.  Later in 1983 Ed and Miriam Taylor, and others were on the Committee.  While our church met for worship in the sanctuary, the Vietnamese friends met in our Chapel.  This was to help them get established as a church as they had no home church.  Faye has pictures of their worship at Easter when they portrayed the Easter Story with Jesus carrying his cross, being buried, and resurrected.  Faye’s first impression was “what’s the big deal” everyone knows the Easter story.  Yet that was not true for some of these Vietnamese who had not heard the Easter Story or other Bible stories as they had not been Christians, some had, others had not.  So this enactment of the Easter story done in our own church was a means of spreading the Gospel to friends who had never heard!  After their services were over they came to the fellowship hall for a meal that the missions committee cooked and served.  Our church had helped with the resettlement of Vietnamese refugees by sharing food, clothing, furniture, blankets and other items used in homes.  Some of us taught English to an adult lady in her home.  Faye does remember when she and Arthur took some Vietnamese to our Kings Mountain State Park for a cookout and hike on a trail there.  Faye has gained several very good friends through the Vietnamese ministry, and still keeps in touch with them.  The Vietnamese pastor then is now with the Home Mission Board in Georgia.  What a blessing it was to make new friends and be friends with them – all through our church’s ministries!  Maude Peeler came to love the Vietnamese people so much she devoted her last years helping in the Vietnamese church nursery where we heard “Oh we love Miss Maude!”  She stayed with the Vietnamese people and helped as she could right on to her death.  Faye and Arthur were invited to several Vietnamese weddings, one that occurred in our church.

    Faye remembers her daughter getting married in our church in 1984, and in the new church Faye and Arthur celebrated their Fiftieth Wedding Anniversary.

     Perhaps a great memory is moving to the new church.  On the last Sunday at the uptown church, we had a short service in the Sanctuary and everyone left with a hymnbook in our hands as we left and drove to the new church and assembled there for another short service!  A good way to get hymnals moved!  Faye recalls looking through the WMU cabinets and deciding what to keep and what not to take to the new church.  J. W. Brown and others spent a lot of time getting furniture sorted and then taken to the new church.  Lots of hard work was done by lots of members.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

A Youthful Perspective

      Young or old, we all have special memories of FBC.  Dottie Eddings active church involvement began when she was three, but she doesn’t remember carrying the hymnal from the downtown location to the new church.  Dottie joined the church and was baptized at eight.  Dottie’s early church memories involve GA’s.  She remembers the challenging pot-a-pen project to earn money for missions and the joint GA/RA craft evenings.  Now, active in the Youth Department, Dottie has a different focus.  While loving the fun bowling nights, Camp Caswell experiences have helped her develop the ability to form deeper friendships.  Dottie volunteered for Operation In As Much where she pruned a giant bamboo tree at a yard in Belmont.  She worked hard on rehabbing houses in Virginia last summer and looks forward to that church’s upcoming reciprocal visit.  Dottie plays hand bells and sings in youth choir.  Perhaps Miss Tammy and the Music Makers had something to do with that.  Are your memories of involvement in service and fellowship at First Baptist Church similar to Dottie’s?  If not, why?

 
 

 

Memories of FBC by Rob Collis

Rob Collis and his family joined FBC in November,  1998.  His memories of FBC are vivid.  He recalls Dawn volunteering in two Vacation Bible Schools prior to their joining.  He remembers seeing the parade of cars pass his office on it’s way from the old church to the new one on Union Road.  He became a Deacon in October of 2000.  He believes his youngest daughter, Hailey, may be the only person to ever fall into the church’s fountain.  Hailey was in Mrs. Sherry Smith’s Sunday School class.  Rob remembers becoming a R.A. Leader with Mrs. Sybil Wilson.  He shares that Sybil checked him out for almost two months before she told him that her prayer for a dedicated R.A. Leader had been answered.  He remembers flying to Chicago, then Nashville to drive the church bus back to Gastonia with Dr. Ammons.  The trip took several hours, but it was a great time for Rob and Ray to get acquainted.  He tells of his first mission trip to Honduras to build a church with several FBC men in 2002.  In 2002 he also co-chaired the Capital Campaign Building Fund with Andy Lisk.  They became close friends through that experience.  Perhaps Rob’s memories may help you recall the lasting ways FBC has influenced your own life.