FERGUSON<\/b> \u2013 Long before a police shooting, protests and a grand jury decision put Ferguson in the national spotlight, the First Baptist Church here had been sharing Christ\u2019s love by serving the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod has opened door after door for ministry,\u201d Ron Becker, associate pastor, said. \u201cWe have forged partnerships with many groups in the community over the years.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n FBC Ferguson is known in the area for programming for children. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe average about 80 children on Wednesday night for AWANA,\u201d Ruth Kotlarczyk, director of preschool and children ministries. \u201cI have 35 Sparks and we\u2019ve never had that many before,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019ve looked at the addresses of the children and most are from Ferguson. Parents find out about the program by networking, and they want a safe place for their children to have fun and learn. They know we offer that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Since Ferguson has offered the AWANA program for more than 20 years, Tony Jones, FBC Ferguson youth minister, said AWANA has contributed to the youth group at the church. \u201cOn Wednesday night, we have about 30 youth coming who graduated from AWANA and loved it, or they have siblings they are bringing now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe are connecting with these kids,\u201d Jones said. \u201cWe\u2019ve developed a Bible study for them. We\u2019ve also started feeding them, and that is drawing the teens. One of our church members, Clay Riddlesperger, fixes the meal for them each week.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Jones is also a rap artist and a member of Surrender2Him, a Christ-centered music group.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOur group partnered with FBC Ferguson to present \u2018Take It to the Streets,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cWe planned to do it on Aug. 16, but it rained that day, so we postponed it to September. We did hand out backpacks with school supplies on the August date. Then, on Sept. 6, we had live music and free barbeque on the church parking lot. We had games, and I arranged to have barbers give free haircuts. A lot of our church members donated desserts for the event.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n According to Jones, many people thought that \u201cTake It to the Streets\u201d was planned in response to the tensions in Ferguson.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe planned it a long time in advance. We wanted to pour out love on the community,\u201d Jones said. \u201cWe are always looking for ways to reach out to the youth, that\u2019s what is on my heart. We want to get out of the walls of the church.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Kotlarczyk and Beckner both mentioned the impact that \u201cTrunk or Treat\u201d has also had as an outreach to the community.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted to give families a safe place to \u2018Trick or Treat,\u2019\u201d Kotlarczyk said, \u201cand to let them see a piece of what we are like.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n FBC Ferguson has also been conducting \u201cTrunk or Treat\u201d for several years. \u201cWe\u2019ve developed a system,\u201d Kotlarczyk said, \u201cto handle the large number of people. We bring in 50 at a time to watch the puppet ministry present Scripture. Then we take them out the back to visit our church members and the trunks. We had 1,000 visit our church. We had more fathers join us this year, and many were in costume.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Beckner is part of the \u201csystem\u201d for moving the families through \u201cTrunk or Treat.\u201d \u201cI stand out in front of the church and talk to the people as they wait to go in,\u201d he said. \u201cWe laughed and engaged. They all so appreciated that we held it this year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n According to Kotlarczyk, two of the church\u2019s community neighbors, Aldi Supermarket and Negwer Building Materials, gave financial donations to purchase some of the candy for the event. Most of the treats were donated by the congregation in the weeks before.<\/span><\/p>\n FBC Ferguson cooperates with many businesses and groups in the community. \u201cWe have one of the largest venues in Ferguson,\u201d Beckner said. \u201cGod has blessed us with this wonderful facility and we can offer a lot of flexibility with large groups and breakout sessions.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Beckner said calls come in all the time because the community understands our willingness to partner with like-minded people. \u201cWe got a call from the Christian Hospital to host a Christmas Party for 75 families with health issues,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Hospital will staff the party, supply the food and provide Christmas gifts. They will hold it in our fellowship hall and all they asked was for custodial help and technical support. I checked with our staff before I accepted and they were willing and able to help.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Beckner said that the positive attitude of the staff has promoted much of the cooperation with community. \u201cWe get in on lots of good things in the community because they are willing and able to serve.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n In discussing the recent turmoil in Ferguson, Beckner highlighted the directive for FBC Ferguson: \u201cWe are not to pray for Him to shield us. He knows we are serving in a broken, fallen world. We are to serve in the midst of chaos and bring Him the honor and glory.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" FERGUSON \u2013 Long before a police shooting, protests and a grand jury decision put Ferguson in the national spotlight, the First Baptist Church here had been sharing Christ\u2019s love by serving the community. \u201cGod has opened door after door for ministry,\u201d Ron Becker, associate pastor, said. \u201cWe have forged partnerships with many groups in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":17246,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_selected_social_profile":[]},"categories":[41,17],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n