OZARK – From Town Square to busy highway, First Baptist, Ozark continues to serve the community. FBC Ozark, established in 1868, met on the town square until the new building was constructed near the highway in 1993. The mission for the church is to share the gospel with the entire area.
“We use the Sunday School as the foundation of our ministry,” Chuck Ross, minister of education, said. “We believe that the Sunday school system accomplishes the five tasks of the church.”
Ross outlined those tasks as encouraging relationships with Christ and membership in the church; maturing people in the faith; teaching members about the need to serve and how to serve; and emphasizing the local mission field as well as state, national and international.
“We want all of our efforts to magnify God,” Ross said, “and to bring Him glory.”
According to Ross, FBC Ozark is reaching people in different areas of life. “We have an active Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS),” he said. “We also have a divorce care program.”
The physical needs are addressed through the community. “We’ve worked with Garments of Praise out of Kansas City to bring new clothes to the community,” Ross said. “We work with the Least of These, a local pantry, also to help the needy.”
Ross said that the church’s building is also a center for Christ-centered activity. “We are a ‘go-to’ for shelter,” he said. “Recently, when we had the severe ice storm, we housed the chain-saw crew who came as part of Disaster Relief to work.”
In addition, FBC Ozark opens the doors to minister to other community needs like blood drives and voting.
With the move to the new building, FBC Ozark gained a gym. “We run an Upward Sports program,” Ross said. “We invite boys and girls to learn basketball and cheerleading skills. We give devotions during practice time and during the game,” he said. “It serves as an outreach to the community and it gives children a safe place to gather and learn. During the devotions, they all hear about Christ.”
FBC Ozark is going through a transition time. Because of the retirement of the pastor, FBC Ozark is using the time to evaluate their direction as well as their ministries. “This time is allowing us to focus again on what we need to do. We are using the transition time to develop who we are and where we are going. We’ve done a needs survey in the community and we are looking at each of our ministries to determine what they are accomplishing.”